Trouble in Paradise: "Hokuloa Road" by Elizabeth Hand

 Grady is a 28 year old out of work carpenter living back home with his Mom. The pandemic has made
it hard to get jobs.  Then he gets a text from his brother. It's an ad from someone in Hawaii looking for a caretaker. Figuring "what the hell", he answers the ad.
Next thing he knows, he's on his way to meet this mystery man who has paid his flight. Seated across from him on the plane is a young woman. They chat and it turns out she's been to Hawaii before and is staying with a friend. Maybe they could meet up once they are both out of the required quarantine.

Grady is met at the airport by Dalita, a former caretaker for Wes Minton, the man he'll be working for. A man so wealthy he owns an estate and lands that Grady will take care of and who also owns property that is impossible for anyone else to access.

From the moment Grady lands at the estate, we will follow him on a journey into a territory seemingly breathtakingly beautiful, yet with an undercurrent of dread. The landscape is filled with exotic plants, trees and flowers and wildlife that seems to lurk around the periphery. But there's something else, something he feels is watching him. Is it his imagination? Or are the Island legends haunting more than his dreams?

If you've ever dreamed of going to an island paradise and enjoy a story filled with intrigue and secrecy then this is the book for you! Thank you to NetGalley for the DRC!

You Were On My Mind: "Night Will Find You" by Julia Heaberlin

 Vivvy Bouchet is one of those memorable characters whose story will grab you right from the beginning! She is both an astrophysicist, searching the stars for signs of life on other planets... and a psychic. A gift she inherited from her mother who gave readings to clients in their home and kept secrets that will impact Vivvy later on.
When she was 10, she saved a neighborhood boy from certain death by throwing herself in the way of an oncoming car . He had ignored her countless warnings, and now was a friend for life. And married to her smart, beautiful sister, Brigid. He is also a policeman who brings her in on occasion to help with missing person cases. Her record is pretty good, but there are doubters on the force. The main one, Jesse Sharp, an outsize cowboy Detective, a man who sets up a meeting with her to prove Mike's claims. 

From the introduction of Jesse Sharp and the cases he's investigating, he and Vivvy form an uneasy alliance. Vivvy will search for a famous missing girl, a girl who disappeared from her home when her mother turns away for a moment, and a shock talk radio host seems bent on finding as he turns on the UFOlogist Medium as a subject for his highly rated show.

This was a book I could not put down and I am now a fan of author Julia Heaberlin who creates such vivid characters you feel as if they are alive.  Get a copy for yourself and follow Vivvy  and Jesse Sharp as they search for clues and hide secrets from one another.
Thank you to Edelweiss for the DRC!