I read some nice books last month. After a boring February, March brought me some cool thrillers. Not necessarily great but interesting for other reasons.

Best

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett – this was the best read for the month by a wide margin. A beautiful story in a beautiful hardcover print. It inspired me to look for other books by the same author and I’m currently reading City of Stairs. 5/5
• Exit Strategy by Lee Child and Andrew Child – there was a hint of the former Reacher in this story, which awarded it 4/5. I’m very surprised that this, from all the books, is what I remember as the second best story for the month.
• The Missing File by D.A. Mishani – an intimate story about a detective from Tel Aviv who will find the path to the truth for a missing person’s report. The storytelling is quite unorthodox, which made me give it a 5/5.
• The Revenge of the Damned by Chris Bunch and Allan Cole – an interim end of the Sten series. There will be another end later on after the emperor resurrects but I’ll probably skip that one because the story became too grim. I am looking for less stressful reads. 4/5
• Killman Creek by Rachel Caine – a horror I wouldn’t like to remember. 4.5/5
• The Edge by Lucy Goacher – “nobody believes me” type of story, right at the bottom of the list but still fine. 4/5

Worst

• Gone Before Goodbye by by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben – this was not great, not even close to something I can recommend. It was still exciting because of the authors, which I generally like. There’s a non-trivial chance it had AI slop.

I got a signed copy from the new book by George R. R. Martin, Winds of the Winter. The wait is over!