Author: J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages. She is also the EMMY-award winning cohost of A WORD ON WORDS, a literary interview TV show. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two small gray minions, known as cats in some cultures. She thinks they’re furry aliens.

Photograph courtesy of Author’s Goodreads Page.

#BookReview A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison @AmazonPub @FireflyDist #AVeryBadThing #JTEllison #Thomas&Mercer #FireflyDist

#BookReview A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison @AmazonPub @FireflyDist #AVeryBadThing #JTEllison #Thomas&Mercer #FireflyDist Title: A Very Bad Thing

Author: J.T. Ellison

Published by: Thomas & Mercer on Nov. 1, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 495

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has—and everyone she knows.

A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.

With twenty hit titles, and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood.

Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?


Review:

Crafty, intricate, and suspenseful!

A Very Bad Thing is an engrossing, ominous tale that transports you into the lives of a handful of characters whose lives are turned upside down when the sudden suspicious death of a highly successful writer causes long-buried secrets to finally come to light.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are secretive, ruthless, and driven. And the plot unravels quickly into a gripping tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, power, corruption, revelations, ambition, and violence.

Overall, A Very Bad Thing is a cunning, entertaining, tortuous tale by Ellison that is a highly satisfying read and an eerie reminder of just how far some people are willing to go for revenge and retribution.

 

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages. She is also the EMMY-award winning cohost of A WORD ON WORDS, a literary interview TV show. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two small gray minions, known as cats in some cultures. She thinks they’re furry aliens.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison @thrillerchick @HarperCollinsCa

#BookReview Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison @thrillerchick @HarperCollinsCa Title: Good Girls Lie

Author: J.T. Ellison

Published by: Mira Books on Dec. 31, 2019

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: HarperCollins Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Goode girls don’t lie…

Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.

In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.

But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.


Review:

Creepy, atmospheric, and disturbing!

In this latest novel by Ellison, Good Girls Lie, she transports us to Marchburg, Virginia, a small town home to an elite private girl’s school that has all the usual fare, secret societies, hazing rituals, ghost stories, mean girls, and a history full of scandals, violence, and murder that may be about to repeat itself.

The writing is tight and intense. The characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are damaged, secretive, and selfish and a setting, The Goode School, that is a character itself with its eerie passageways and isolation. And the plot told from alternating points of view is a suspenseful, twisty tale filled with familial drama, neglect, jealousy, hatred, abuse, callousness, desperation, cruelty, and bloodshed. 

Overall, Good Girls Lie is a clever, tortuous, chilling page-turner that keeps you guessing from the very first page and ultimately leaves you surprised and thoroughly entertained.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                                           

 

 

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

 

About J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison began her career as a presidential appointee in the White House, where a nuclear physicist taught her how to obsess over travel itineraries and make a seriously good pot of Earl Grey, spawning both her love of loose leaf and a desire for control of her own destiny. Jaded by the political climate in D.C., she made her way back to her first love, creative writing. More than 20 novels later, she is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with thrillers published in 27 countries and 15 languages. She is also the EMMY-award winning cohost of A WORD ON WORDS, a literary interview TV show. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two small gray minions, known as cats in some cultures. She thinks they’re furry aliens.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.