Meet BTB Reviewer Teresa Brock

Background: Teresa Brock, married to Andrew Brock. Mother of 4 (3 girls and and 1 boy) ages 25-19, grandmother of 3 boys. Currently learning how to wade through the empty nest life after raising a house full of athletes. I own and operate my own business that has allowed me to be involved in my kids lives, church and community. I love anything outdoors including hiking, kayaking and boating. Reading is my go to activity. My favorite genres include thriller, mystery, horror, true crime and historical non-fiction.

Go-To Author: For thrillers, Lucinda Berry is a go to for me. I would also put her with the likes of Lisa Gardner, Rachel Hawkins and I adore Gregg Hurwitz. I count on authors who give me all of the tension without giving anything away and making me feel like I am part of their story. I love a well researched book that validates the words I am reading as fact.

Author People Should Discover: Jenny Kiefer. She just published This Wretched Valley. A horror/thriller book that takes place in Kentucky. She is also the owner of Butcher Cabin Books. If this book gets picked up for a horror movie I will not be surprised.

Book You Would Recommend From 2023: I Kill Killers by ST Ashman (yes I know volume 2 is coming out in 2024 but I had to pick something else t- tee hee). This book just grabbed me from the beginning. I love a BA woman. She has all the money and talent and everything needed, but a thirst like no other for justice (I may be jealous).

Most-Anticipated Book Of 2024: The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown. Why? Time travel plus good versus evil plus super powers mixed with books = count me in while I do the pee peep happy dance waiting on this one.

Favorite Local/Indie Bookstore: Butcher Cabin Books in Louisville, Kentucky and A Likely Story in Midway, Kentucky. Both of these are in The Bluegrass State, locally owned and work with local authors and other businesses to support reading.

Favorite Charities: We support The Wounded Warrior Project, the Knox-Whitley Humane Association and FRYSC Knox County Public Schools

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View Teresa’s Latest Reviews (book pub. dates)

A Better World by Sarah Langan (4/9/24)

A Better World By Sarah Langan

A Better World is a dystopian psychological thriller that will have you thinking about your future and asking yourself a lot of questions.  What secrets are being hidden from us?  How easy are we all led around?  What will you do for your family?

Richard, Linda and their twins are living in turmoil.  During the ‘Era of the Great Unwinding’ all things that people came to depend on (ie healthcare, government, roads) were falling apart. The world was split between the haves and the have nots, the colonies, and the cities, the clean and the dirty, the fed and the hungry.

Richard had the ability to get his family into a colony, Pleasant Valley (PV).  PV and other colonies are owned by Better World, the producer of Omnium and the only way to survive. BetterWorld offered everything they needed to stay alive, to raise their family and to prosper.  However, outsiders are not easily welcomed.  There are conditions to be met, barters to be made and traditions to learn. 

Once they get to PV, everything is not how it seems and fitting in does not seem possible.  They must learn, accept, and participate in a series of customs, events and beliefs called The Hollow.  Adapting must be quick and quiet without fanfare.  The family must break into the right clique to get their ‘Golden Ticket’ (a lifetime pass into the colony).  Linda breaks into the right group of women and is able to practice medicine.  However, she doesn’t like to take things at face value.  Linda is a doctor, her husband does research, they have lived outside the walls and the numbers are not adding up.  Linda is warned over and over again to stop asking questions.  The more answers she gets, the more frightened she becomes.  Can they ever leave PV?

Let me leave you with this… Cognitive dissonance is real.  Should you accept the discomfort you feel and get in line with the others, or do you do what aligns with your morals?

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Purchase A Better World
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)

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Meet The Review Team