Category: Mystery/Thriller

#BookReview Overkill by Sandra Brown @sandrabrown_NYT @GrandCentralPub #SandraBrown #Overkill #GrandCentralPub #GCPInsider

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#BookReview Overkill by Sandra Brown @sandrabrown_NYT @GrandCentralPub #SandraBrown #Overkill #GrandCentralPub #GCPInsider Title: Overkill

Author: Sandra Brown

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Aug. 16, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Romantic Suspense

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown delivers a riveting thriller in which a conflict of conscience for a former football star and an ambitious state prosecutor swiftly intensifies into a fight for their lives.
 
Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rebecca Pratt, for some time—not since their volatile marriage imploded—so he’s shocked to receive a life-altering call about her. Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, and he—despite their divorce—has medical power-of-attorney. Zach is asked to make an impossible choice: keep her on life support or take her off of it. Buckling under the weight of the responsibility and the glare of public scrutiny, Zach ultimately walks away, letting Rebecca’s parents have the final say.
 
Four years later, Rebecca’s attacker, Eban—the scion of a wealthy family in Atlanta—gets an early release from prison. The ludicrous miscarriage of justice reeks of favoritism, and Kate Lennon, a brilliant state prosecutor, is determined to put him back behind bars. Rebecca’s parents have kept her alive all these years, but if her condition were to change—if she were to die—Eban could be retried on a new charge: murder.
 
It isn’t lost on Zach that in order for Eban to be charged with Rebecca’s murder, Zach must actually be the one to kill her. He rejects Kate’s legal standpoint but can’t resist their ill-timed attraction to each other. Eban, having realized the jeopardy he’s in, plots to make certain that neither Zach nor Kate lives to see the death of Rebecca—and the end of his freedom.

Review:

Tight, ominous, and action-packed!

Overkill is a suspenseful, twisty tale that features the handsome, troubled former NFL quarterback, Jack Bridger who, after learning that the narcissistic predator who left his ex-wife in a vegetative state after a night of dangerous sex play has been released from prison after only four years due to good behaviour, joins together with the feisty state prosecutor Kate Lennon to do whatever it takes, even finally take Rebecca off life support, to put her attacker behind bars for good.

The writing is brisk and intense. The characters are persistent, driven, and multilayered. And the plot is an eerie, riveting tale full of twists, turns, violence, desire, attraction, deception, danger, romance, and murder.

Overall, Overkill is a menacing, alluring, edgy tale by Brown that has all the elements I’ve come to know and love in her romantic suspense novels, including a fierce heroine, a sexy hero, and a fast-paced, highly entertaining storyline that I can happily say I devoured in one sitting.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown is the author of sixty-nine New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 Seeing Red. There are over eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide, and her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. She lives in Texas.

 

Photograph courtesy of grandcentralpublishing.com.

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#BookReview The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier @PaulaSMunier @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #MercyCarr #TheWeddingPlot #PaulaMunier #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier @PaulaSMunier @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #MercyCarr #TheWeddingPlot #PaulaMunier #SMPInfluencers Title: The Wedding Plot

Author: Paula Munier

Series: Mercy & Elvis #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jul. 19, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The Wedding Plot, USA Today bestselling author Paula Munier’s fourth Mercy Carr mystery, finds Mercy and Elvis at a deadly Vermont wedding.

Love never dies a natural death…

When Mercy’s grandmother Patience marries her longtime beau Claude Renault at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn, it promises to be the destination wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza is due to begin, the inn’s spa director Bodhi St. George disappears—and Mercy’s mother Grace sends Mercy and Elvis to find him. But what they discover instead is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on the goat farm where St. George lived.

As Mercy tries to figure out who the victim is and where St. George is hiding, the bride and groom’s estranged relations gather for the first of the pre-wedding festivities. Long-buried rivalries and resentments surface—and Mercy realizes that they’re all keeping secrets that could tear both families apart. When Elvis interrupts the escalating melodrama to alert Mercy to an intruder on the estate, she finds a wounded St. George in the cottage where she and Troy are staying. St. George is not who he says he is—but when he escapes from the hospital and disappears again, Mercy thinks he’s gone for good. With the wedding imminent and the families at each other’s throats, she decides finding St. George will have to wait.

The big day arrives—but the danger is far from over. With the families and the festivities still under threat, it’s up to Mercy and Elvis together with Troy and Susie Bear to stop the killer and save the bride and groom—before death do they part.

Review:

Mysterious, cosy, and intricate!

In this satisfying fourth instalment in the Mercy & Elvis Mysteries, The Wedding Plot, Munier has written an amusing, sinister thriller that finds former MP Mercy Carr having more than just her hands full with pre-wedding mayhem at the location of her grandmother’s upcoming nuptials, the Lady’s Slipper Inn when the spa director goes missing, an unidentified person is found dead on the property of the local goat farm, and her special sidekick Elvis accidentally uncovers the skeletal remains of a woman who seems to have been murdered and buried more than twenty years ago.

The prose is fluid and smooth. The characters are persistent, resourceful, and clever. And the plot is an engaging tale full of twists, turns, surprises, red herrings, familial drama, danger, tension, a smidge of romance, and murder.

Overall, The Wedding Plot is a clever, fun, easy read by Munier that is absorbing, entertaining, and the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a lighthearted mystery featuring some very intelligent, helpful, four-legged friends. 

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Paula Munier

PAULA MUNIER is a literary agent and the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Mercy Carr mysteries. A Borrowing of Bones, the first in the series, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and named the Dogwise Book of the Year. Blind Search was inspired by the real-life rescue of a little boy with autism who got lost in the woods. The Hiding Place debuted in March 2021. Paula credits the hero dogs of Mission K9 Rescue, her own rescue dogs, and a deep love of New England as her series’ major influences. Paula has also written the popular books on writing: Plot Perfect, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings, and Writing with Quiet Hands, as well as Fixing Freddie and Happier Every Day. She lives in New England with her family and Bear the Newfoundland-retriever rescue, Bliss the Great Pyrenees-Australian cattle dog rescue, pandemic puppy Blondie, a Malinois rescue (much like Elvis in her books), and Ursula The Cat, a rescue torbie tabby who does not think much of the dogs.

Photo by Lynne Wayne.

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#BookReview The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell @lisajewelluk @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #LisaJewell #TheFamilyRemains

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#BookReview The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell @lisajewelluk @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #LisaJewell #TheFamilyRemains Title: The Family Remains

Author: Lisa Jewell

Series: The Family Upstairs #2

Published by: Atria Books on Aug. 9, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.

After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.

In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.

Review:

Suspenseful, gripping and intense!

The Family Remains is a well-executed, intricate thriller that takes us back into the lives of the Lamb family, specifically Lucy, Harry, and Libby, as they continue to struggle with the actions, scars, repercussions, and tragedy from their childhoods and they endeavour to find Libby’s birth father and Harry’s childhood obsession, Phin, whom they haven’t seen since he managed to escape the mansion of horrors more than twenty years ago.

The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are troubled, devious, and vulnerable. And the plot told from various timelines and multiple perspectives unfolds and unravels quickly into a compelling tale of twists, turns, lies, secrets, manipulation, obsession, loyalty, extortion, vengeance, family, and the long-lasting effects of childhood trauma.

Overall, The Family Remains is a creepy, engrossing, complex sequel by one of my favourite authors that once again showcases her exceptional ability to not only delve into the psychological and behavioural actions of the most depraved of society but also those of the victims who have suffered and been permanently damaged by their hands.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell is the internationally bestselling author of sixteen novels, including the New York Times bestseller Then She Was Gone, as well as I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In. In total, her novels have sold more than two million copies across the English-speaking world and her work has also been translated into sixteen languages so far. Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

Photograph by Andrew Whitton.

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#BookReview Stay Awake by Megan Goldin @megangoldin @StMartinsPress #StayAwake #MeganGoldin #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Stay Awake by Megan Goldin @megangoldin @StMartinsPress #StayAwake #MeganGoldin #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Stay Awake

Author: Megan Goldin

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 9, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers―a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, the same message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget―permanently.

In the vein of SJ Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep and Christopher Nolan’s cult classic Memento, Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that plays with memory and murder.

Review:

Tight, sinister, and gripping!

Stay Awake is a propulsive, intense mystery that introduces us to Liv Reese, a disoriented, troubled young woman who, after waking in the back of a cab with a pocket full of cash, a bloodied knife, arms covered in messages to not fall asleep, and no idea how she got there, finds herself visiting old jaunts and doing whatever she can to try and remember and piece together the last two years of her life since the day her life was violently turned upside down and her memories all but disappeared.

The writing is taut and brisk. The characters are resourceful, confused, and persistent. And the plot told using a mixture of flashbacks and alternating POVs unravels quickly into an intricate, action-packed tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, questionable personalities, duplicitous motivations, manipulative actions, parasitic relationships, violence, and ruthless murder.

Overall, Stay Awake is an unpredictable, chilling, entertaining tale by Goldin that was a little nutty in all the best ways while also being engaging, engrossing and impossible to put down.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Megan Goldin

MEGAN GOLDIN worked as a correspondent for Reuters and other media outlets where she covered war, peace, international terrorism and financial meltdowns in the Middle East and Asia. She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs. THE ESCAPE ROOM was her debut novel.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering @StMartinsPress #CantLookAway #CarolaLovering #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering @StMartinsPress #CantLookAway #CarolaLovering #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Can't Look Away

Author: Carola Lovering

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jun. 14, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In 2013, twenty-three-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in East Williamsburg, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map.

Nearly a decade later, Molly has given up writing and is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Their life looks picture-perfect, but Molly is lonely; she feels out of place with the other women in their wealthy suburb, and is struggling to conceive their second child. When Sabrina, a newcomer in town, walks into the yoga studio where Molly teaches and confesses her own fertility struggles, Molly believes she’s finally found a friend.

But Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly’s own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried.

Meanwhile, a new version of Jake’s hit song is on the radio, forcing Molly to confront her past and ask the ultimate questions: What happens when life turns out nothing like we thought it would, when we were young and dreaming big? Does growing up mean choosing with your head, rather than your heart? And do we ever truly get over our first love?

Review:

Brisk, sinister, and tight!

Can’t Look Away is a gripping psychological thriller that takes you on a journey into the life of the sweet, lonely Molly Hunter as she juggles living in a small community, being a caring wife and mother, ongoing struggles with infertility, memories of an all-consuming relationship that changed her life forever, and a new friend who is too good to be true.

The prose is crisp and tense. The characters are secretive, troubled, and vulnerable. And the plot using flashbacks and a back-and-forth, past/present style, intertwines and unravels quickly into a menacing tale of family, friendship, deception, lies, drama, manipulation, jealousy, secrets, revelations, tragedy, betrayal, and young love.

Overall, Can’t Look Away is another taut, tortuous, riveting tale by Lovering that highlights just how fine the line between love and obsession can truly be and reminds us that every choice, good or bad, always has a consequence.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Carola Lovering

Carola Lovering is the author of TELL ME LIES (Atria Books) and TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (St. Martin's Press). She attended Colorado College, and her writing has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and son.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson @Mobius_Books #TheThreeDahlias #KatyWatson #MobiusBooksUS

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson @Mobius_Books #TheThreeDahlias #KatyWatson #MobiusBooksUS Title: The Three Dahlias

Author: Katy Watson

Published by: Mobius on Jul. 26, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 9/10

Three rival actresses team up to solve a murder at the stately home of the author who made them famous – only to discover the solution lies in the stories themselves. A contemporary mystery with a Golden Age feel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Jessica Fellowes.

In attendance: the VIP fans, staying at Aldermere; the fan club president turned convention organizer; the team behind the newest movie adaptation of Davenport’s books; the Davenport family themselves – and the three actresses famous for portraying Lettice’s 1930s detective, Dahlia Lively.

National treasure Rosalind King, from the original movies. TV Dahlia for thirteen seasons, Caro Hooper. And ex-child star Posy Starling, fresh out of the fame wilderness (and rehab) to take on the Dahlia mantle for the new movie.

Each actress has her own interpretation of the character – but this English summer weekend they will have to put aside their differences, as the crimes at Aldermere turns anything but cosy.

When fictional death turns into real bodies, can the three Dahlias find the answers to the murders among the fans, the film crew, the family – or even in Lettice’s books themselves?

Review:

Humorous, atmospheric, and mysterious!

The Three Dahlias is a clue-like murder mystery set in England on the estate of the late mystery writer extraordinaire Lettice Davenport, as long-time fans, family members, as well as some of the cast and crew from the past and present movie and tv adaptions converge for a convention and weekend to celebrate their love for her 1930s based Dahlia Lively series, but when things don’t go as smoothly as expected and bodies start racking up quickly the three actresses lucky enough to be chosen to play the famed female detective decide to work together and use everything they know from fiction to solve the real-life crimes playing out right in front of them.

The prose is witty and light. The characters are quirky, intelligent, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, engaging whodunit full of secrets, greed, suspects, deduction, red herrings, amateur sleuthing, and the unlikeliest of friendships.

Overall, The Three Dahlias is a cosy, satisfying, entertaining read by Watson that was so much fun with all its intricacies and drama, and which I do hope, and was slightly hinted at, may just be the first in a multitude of books in a series that would definitely have a spot on my must-read list.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Katy Watson

Growing up in a family of murder mystery addicts, KATY WATSON learned early to look for means, motive and opportunity.

After studying English Literature - with a sideline in crime fiction - at Lancaster University, she set about teaching herself to write her own stories, while also experiencing enough of the world to have things to write about.

Two careers, a lot of air miles, one husband, two children, three houses and forty five published books for children and adults later, lockdown finally gave her the means, motive and opportunity to create her own murder mystery - with the aid of her scientist husband's knowledge of potions. Three Dahlias is the result.

 

#BookReview The Unkept Woman by Allison Montclair @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AllisonMontclair #TheUnkeptWoman #SparksAndBainbridgeMysteries #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Unkept Woman by Allison Montclair @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AllisonMontclair #TheUnkeptWoman #SparksAndBainbridgeMysteries #SMPInfluencers Title: The Unkept Woman

Author: Allison Montclair

Series: Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jul. 26, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Allison Montclair returns with the fourth Sparks & Bainbridge mystery, The Unkept Woman: London, 1946, Miss Iris Sparks–currently co-proprietor of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau–has to deal with aspects of her past exploits during the recent war that have come back around to haunt her.

The Right Sort Marriage Bureau was founded in 1946 by two disparate individuals – Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge (whose husband was killed in the recent World War) and Miss Iris Sparks who worked as an intelligence agent during the recent conflict, though this is not discussed. While the agency flourishes in the post-war climate, both founders have to deal with some of the fallout that conflict created in their personal lives. Miss Sparks finds herself followed, then approached, by a young woman who has a very personal connection to a former paramour of Sparks. But something is amiss and it seems that Iris’s past may well cause something far more deadly than mere disruption in her personal life. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn is struggling to regain full legal control of her life, her finances, and her son – a legal path strewn with traps and pitfalls.

Together these indomitable two are determined and capable and not just of making the perfect marriage match.

Review:

Suspenseful, immersive, and engaging!

The Unkept Woman is a clever, mysterious tale set in London post-WWII that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Miss Iris Sparks, the former intelligence agent, now partner in a matchmaking service whose previous personal life may make her the primary suspect in the murder of a young woman with a complicated past, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a young mother and widow who’s ongoing accidental associations with the criminal underworld may once again set back her struggle to regain the legal independence she so desperately desires

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are sharp, plucky, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, entertaining mystery full of secrets, suspicions, espionage, duty, friendship, flirtation, duplicity, and fun.

Overall, The Unkept Woman is a rich, atmospheric, highly entertaining tale by Montclair that is the fourth title in the Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery series and is also, in my opinion, the perfect choice for anyone who is looking for an amusing, lighthearted historical whodunit to pick up.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Allison Montclair

ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. She is the author of the Sparks & Bainbridge historical mystery series, which begins with The Right Sort of Man.

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#BookReview The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @HBGCanada @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #The620Man #HBGCanada #GCPInsider

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#BookReview The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @HBGCanada @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #The620Man #HBGCanada #GCPInsider Title: The 6:20 Man

Author: David Baldacci

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jul. 12, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 432

Format: Hardcover

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city’s most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next grueling day in the cutthroat realm of finance.

Then one morning Devine’s tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead.

Sara Ewes, Devine’s coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building—presumably a suicide, prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn’t enough, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the Army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm.

This treacherous role will take Travis from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country’s economic halls of power…where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there’s a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bullseye.

Review:

Riveting, suspenseful, and tortuously thrilling!

The 6:20 Man is an edgy, menacing tale that takes you into the life of Travis Devine, a former U.S. Army ranger, now entry-level Wall Street analyst whose mundane life is suddenly turned upside down when his coworker and former lover is found hanging in a company storage closet and it becomes quickly apparent that this isn’t just a simple case of suicide and something a lot more sinister involving high finance corruption and some extremely powerful people is underway.

The writing is compelling and tight. The characters are sly, secretive, and resourceful. And the plot is an intense, mysterious tale filled with twists, turns, mayhem, coercion, politics, power, obsession, lies, secrets, revenge, and murder.

Overall, The 6:20 Man had everything I’ve come to expect in a David Baldacci novel, as well as a new hero with so much charisma it was hard not to swoon. It’s action-packed, intricate, and exceptionally twisty, and for this long-time Baldacci fan, all I can say is I WANT MORE!

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to HBG Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

Photograph by Allen Jones.

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#BookReview After We Were Stolen by Brooke Beyfuss @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #AfterWeWereStolen #BrookeBeyfuss #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview After We Were Stolen by Brooke Beyfuss @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #AfterWeWereStolen #BrookeBeyfuss #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: After We Were Stolen

Author: Brooke Beyfuss

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jul. 19, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

An emotionally wrought debut novel perfect for book clubs about a girl who escapes from a cult after a deadly fire destroys her family’s compound, only to be haunted by That Night as she tries to build a new life for herself.

A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie.

When nineteen-year-old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family’s remote compound, she knows it’s her only chance to escape her father’s grueling survival training, bizarre rules, and gruesome punishments. She and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time in their lives, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. After months of hiding out, they are arrested for shoplifting and a shocking discovery is made—Avery and Cole were kidnapped fifteen years earlier, stolen by cult leaders they knew as Mom and Dad.

Cole is immediately returned to his birth family, leaving Avery alone and desperate. She is uncertain if her “parents” survived the fire and is terrified to find out. The loss of Cole and the trauma of her former life threaten to undo her, but when the police investigation reveals there may be more survivors, Avery must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free.

Suspenseful, emotionally charged, and deeply thought-provoking, After We Were Stolen delves into the idea of family—those we’re born into and those we make—resilience, and the lengths a cult survivor will go to finally be free of her painful past. Brooke Beyfuss’s powerful debut novel sparkles with heart, grit, and extraordinary characters who will stay with you long after the last page.

Review:

Intense, heart-wrenching, and tragic!

After We Were Stolen is a gripping, emotional mystery that sweeps you away to Kansas and into the life of Avery, a nineteen-year-old young woman who, after waking to a fire engulfing her family’s strict, abusive, survivalist compound, endeavours to find safety and start a new life with her younger brother, Cole as far away as possible until a shoplifting arrest turns her whole life upside down and changes everything she thought she knew about her past, her family, and who she really is.

The writing is raw and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, confused, and scarred. And the plot is a haunting tale of life, loss, secrets, resilience, sexual assault, abuse, childhood trauma, shocking revelations, self-identification, and redemption.

Overall, After We Were Stolen is a powerful, moving, beautiful debut by Beyfuss that takes you on a roller coaster ride of the emotional and psychological effects of long-term manipulation, control, indoctrination, and deviant ideologies and reminds us that even after suffering the most unimaginable cruelty and wickedness humanity still has an innate ability to hope and want to love again.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Brooke Beyfuss

BROOKE BEYFUSS works full-time as a copywriter. A graduate of Rutgers University, Brooke is the founder of the Woodbridge Cultural Arts' Commission Writing Group. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter. AFTER WE WERE STOLEN is her debut novel.

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Lover by Helene Flood @Mobius_Books #TheLover #HeleneFlood #MobiusBooksUS

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Lover by Helene Flood @Mobius_Books #TheLover #HeleneFlood #MobiusBooksUS Title: The Lover

Author: Helene Flood

Published by: Mobius on Jul. 12, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 8/10

Is it worse to lie to your husband or the police?

Rikke is deceiving them both. When their upstairs neighbor Jørgen is found dead, she’s questioned alongside her husband Åsmund.

How can Rikke admit in front of Åsmund that Jørgen and she were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings for Jørgen? The hint of relief that he’s dead. And, as the investigation closes in on the neighborhood, how long can she conceal the affair from her neighbors, her husband, and her teenage daughter?

Rikke knows she can’t hide the phone calls, emails and messages from the police. So she cuts herself a deal. In return for a few days’ grace to tell Åsmund before anyone else does, she’ll share everything about the affair.

But before she can summon the courage to confess, Rikke is struck by a chilling revelation. Jørgen can only have been killed by someone living in their small apartment building.

Review:

Slow burning, sinister, and sophisticated!

The Lover is a thought-provoking, character-driven thriller that takes you to the Tåsen neighbourhood of Oslo and immerses you into the lives of four families living in a house of flats whose worlds suddenly intersect, unravel, and collide when an affair between neighbours turns deadly.

The writing is taut and intense. The characters are multilayered, secretive, and suspicious. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine into a suspenseful tale about life, loss, family, drama, deception, mayhem, infidelity, disillusionment, morality, murder, and the weight of a guilty conscience.

Overall, The Lover is a tight, intricate, cunning tale by Flood that does a wonderful job of reminding us that secrets and lies often eat away at the soul and leave more than a little wave of destruction behind them.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Helene Flood

Pseudonym used by Helene Flood Aakvaag

Helene Flood is a psychologist who obtained her doctoral degree on violence, revictimization and trauma-related shame and guilt in 2016. She now works as a psychologist and researcher at the National Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress. She lives in Oslo with her husband and two children. The Therapist is her first adult novel. It has been sold in 27 counties and film rights have been bought by Anonymous Content. Her second novel, The Lover, will be published in English in 2022.

Photo courtesy of Goodreads.

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