Thriller Thursday Reviews: Storm Child & I Will Ruin You
Hi, Sharon here with another Thriller Thursday post. This week I am excited to share my reviews on, Storm Child by Michael Robotham and I Will Ruin you by Linwood Barclay. I hope you enjoy. 😀
Storm Child (Cyrus Haven, #4) Goodreads Author: Michael Robotham
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Publisher: Scribner
Storm Child is the fourth installment of Michael Robotham’s Cyrus Haven series. I love this series and was so excited to reunite with Evie and Cyrus again.
Cyrus and Evie are enjoying some down time at Lincolnshire beach when the bodies of seventeen migrants wash up on shore. The only survivor is a teenage boy, who tells police that their boat was deliberately rammed. While Cyrus is trying to help recover the bodies from the ocean, he and Evie are separated. When Cyrus finally finds Evie, she is in a catatonic state. The images of the bodies in the ocean have started to unlock her memories of what happened on the boat she and her mother and sister were on years before. Cyrus is helping the police determine if the boat was targeted and who is responsible, and he also hopes that he can finally help Evie unlock the memories of her past.
I loved how broken and flawed both Evie and Cyrus are. They are both equally vulnerable and strong at the same time. Cyrus wants to help Evie bring down the wall she has put up on her past, but at the same time knows he needs to tread carefully. Evie desperately wants to be normal and at the same time she is afraid of growing too much and possibly losing Cyrus.
Cyrus’ investigation as to what happened on the migrant boat and who was responsible, takes him closer to learning what happened to the boat Evie was on when she was ten years old and the events that ultimately lead to her being found in the secret room three years ago. But the information from both these events, put both Cyrus’ and Evie’s lives in danger.
As Evie starts remembering, we get a look into her life when she was a child, both before she and her mother and sister fled Albania, as well as what happened on the boat that was taking them to England. I loved getting these memories. Some of them made me smile, especially her memories of her father, and a lot of them made me so sad, like when her father died.
As with the three previous books, Robotham has created a story full of tension that kept on building. I love how he intertwines both the mystery and suspense of the story, with the heartfelt characters. I was glued to this story from the very first page and was on the edge of my seat as the end neared. And the end of the book had me in tears.
Storm Child was everything I was hoping it would be. I cannot recommend Michael Robotham’s Cyrus Haven series enough. I am very impatiently waiting for the next installment. I need more Evie and Cyrus in my life. 4 ½ stars
I Will Ruin You Goodreads Author: Linwood Barclay
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: William Morrow
Linwood Barclay’s latest book, I Will Ruin You, follows English teacher Richard Boyle, who is hailed a hero after taking down former student, Mark LeDrew, who was going to blow up the school. But after his moment in the spotlight, Richard finds himself up against a blackmailer with a score to settle. As Richard tries to figure out why he was targeted, he finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.
After the incident at the school Richard is understandably on edge. When he returns to school, he finds out that the parents of Mark LeDrew have filed a lawsuit against the school as well as Richard. Just Mark himself ended up being blown up and his parents believe that Richard should have done more to be able to stop that from happening. And if all this is not enough, Richard is contacted by another former student of the school that saw him on the news, and this student has made allegations to Richard that he molested him when he was at the school, allegations that Richard vehemently denies. This student is now blackmailing Richard. This student is also involved with big time drug smugglers, and when he turns up dead, Richard finds that he is now in the middle of a murder investigation and no matter what he does to try and get himself out of this mess, he just keeps getting himself in deeper. The deeper he gets, the more his life is in danger.
I liked Richard. Yes, he made some really stupid decisions, but he was dealing with a lot with the aftermath of the potential school bombing. So, when he finds himself being blackmailed and then in the middle of a murder investigation, I kept finding myself yelling “No Richard! Why are you doing that?” As Richard digs deeper to find a way to clear his name with the blackmailer, he finds a connection between, the school bomber, the blackmailer and another teacher at the school. And as things started to be revealed, I thought for sure that I knew what was going on and who was responsible. But boy was I wrong.
I Will Ruin You was a fast paced read that had a lot of things going on. There were so many twists and turns, especially at the end. Linwood Barclay does a great job of creating a story that kept me engaged as well as kept me in the dark. 4 stars
Reviews – BETTER LEFT UNSENT, UNDER YOUR SPELL, WHAT’S IN A KISS?
Hey everyone! I hope you’re all doing well and that you’ve been reading some amazing books. It has been a while but I’m back today to share some of my recent reads that I think may be of interest and that I haven’t already reviewed over on my bookstagram account.
Better Left Unsent Goodreads
Author: Lia Louis
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Better Left Unsent follows Millie Chandler, a 30 year old receptionist, who after experiencing a very public and embarrassing breakup, has since kept all of her thoughts and feelings to herself. It’s a way to protect herself from being embarrassed again but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have strong feelings about certain people and situations. Whether it’s a hard truth that needs to be said, a sarcastic reply to a rude boss, or a love letter to her ex who is now with someone else, Millie has been drafting emails to her coworkers whenever she has feelings she needs to get off her chest. She just doesn’t actually send them. That is, until a major server outage somehow sends all of Millie’s draft emails when the system comes back up.
I felt so bad for Millie because I know that whole scenario would be the stuff of nightmares for me. Not only does she now have to worry about possibly losing her job, but some of those emails were super harsh so she has to worry about whose feelings she may have unintentionally hurt. I thought it was interesting watching how each coworker reacted, especially the ones who actually took Millie’s criticisms to heart and decided to make positive changes because of what she said. I was fully invested in seeing how Millie would deal with the fallout from each email and how she might grow as a result of this uncomfortable journey.
Where the story fell a little flat for me that while Millie was focused on making things right with her coworkers, she also seemed hyper-fixated on figuring out who did this to her. I don’t know if I just skimmed over and missed some detail that made it seem like someone tried to hurt her on purpose, but I was confused as to why she was investing so much time and energy investigating who might have purposely sent out all of her emails.
There was also a little romance, but it definitely felt secondary to the plot. I enjoyed the chemistry between Millie and her coworker Jack but wish we had gotten a bit more of them. I actually preferred Millie’s interactions with her roommate, who was both supportive and hilarious.
I went into Better Left Unsent with very high expectations because I’ve read and loved three other of Lia Louis’ books. While I still thought Better Left Unsent was a solid and enjoyable read, it unfortunately didn’t have quite the same magic that I’ve come to expect from a Lia Louis book. 3.5 stars
Under Your Spell Goodreads
Author: Laura Wood
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Publisher: Atria Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Under Your Spell follows Clemmie Moore, who when we meet her, has just been fired from her dream job, cheated on by her now-ex boyfriend, and is in danger of losing her apartment. Needless to say, she is having a rough time. In an effort to cheer her up, Clemmie’s sisters, Lil and Serena, get her drunk and then decide it might change her luck for the better if they revive one of their favorite childhood rituals, the Breakup Spell.
Soon after, Serena approaches Clemmie with the perfect job offer to help get her back on her feet. It’s a six week gig to basically babysit her label’s reclusive rock star, Theo Elliott, at an isolated beach house, and make sure he finishes writing his overdue album. Clemmie is hesitant to take the job because she has issues thanks to her dad, who is an aging rock star, but reluctantly agrees since she really has no other prospects at the moment.
Clemmie doesn’t want to be interested in Theo because of what her dad put their family through, but she can’t deny that Theo is irresistible. I adored both Clemmie and Theo and I loved how not only did they have incredible chemistry, but they also just perfectly balanced each other out. They both had issues from their pasts that they needed to work through, but I loved that they not only had a lot of fun together hanging at the beach house as they grew closer, but they also just made a great team in every way. I especially loved this for Clemmie since the rest of the men in her life have been such losers. She deserves someone wonderful like Theo who is so supportive.
The romance is swoony, but what really made this book such a special read for me was the bond between Clemmie and her sisters. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I’m a sucker for a good story about sisterhood and I love how close these sisters were, especially since they only shared the same dad because apparently daddy rock star really got around.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Under Your Spell since I hadn’t heard much buzz about it at all, but it has ended up being one of my favorite romances of the summer so far! 4.5 STARS
What's in a Kiss? Goodreads
Author: Lauren Kate
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
When they were in high school, Olivia and Jake were major rivals and both were voted Most Likely to Succeed. Olivia had planned to attend Julliard but ended up not going after her dad died and her mom needed her, and her entire life path changed because of this. Now Olivia is a laid-off drama teacher who drives a Lyft, while Jake is a successful TV personality. Although they were huge rivals, Olivia and Jake did share an “almost kiss” moment at their senior prom. When she learns that she will be reunited with Jake at a friend’s wedding, Olivia can’t help but wonder what life might have been if she and Jake had really kissed all those years ago. She has no idea that this reunion with Jake will take her on the adventure of a lifetime as she gets to experience firsthand a parallel universe of what life might have been like if she and Jake had, in fact, kissed that night.
“What if?” stories like Lauren Kate’s What’s in a Kiss? always intrigue me because I think it’s so interesting to imagine what direction someone’s life might have taken if they had made a different decision at some moment in their past. In this version, the “what if” takes Olivia down a path where not only does Jake turn out to be the love of her life, but Olivia also has the career she has always dreamed of.
What I most enjoyed about this book was that not only does Lauren Kate bring all of the fun vibes and banter that I love and expect to see in romcoms, but she also touches on the more serious theme of “Be careful what you wish for” because you just might get it and what you thought you wanted may come at a heavy price tag. In the case of the alternate world, the trade off for getting the guy and the career is losing her relationships with her mother and her best friend. Olivia has to really reflect on what is most important to her and decide which life is the one she really wants.
If you’re in the mood for a fun romcom that is also quite thought provoking, What’s in a Kiss? is the book for you! 4 STARS
Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Gathering & Long Time Gone
Welcome to another edition of Thriller Thursday with Sharon. I hope everyone is doing well, enjoying their summer, and getting great reads in. I certainly am. 🙂 This week I happy to share my thoughts on another couple of great books I have read. C.J. Tudor’s, The Gathering, and Charlie Donlea’s, Long Time Gone. I highly recommend both of these books and authors.
The Gathering Goodreads Author: C.J. Tudor
Publication Date: April 9, 2024
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Can C.J. Tudor write a bad book? In my opinion, the answer would be a big NO. Her latest book The Gathering will definitely be in my top five 2024 reads.
In the small town of Deadhart Alaska a fifteen-year-old boy is found dead with his throat ripped out. The citizens of the town are all on edge, they have not seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. They know the vampyr colony living at the old mining settlement deep in the woods is responsible and they want a cull (authorization from the police to kill all vampyrs in the colony). Detective Barbara Atkins is a forensic detective who specializes in vampyr killings, and she has been brought in to determine if the Colony is responsible and authorize a cull. Barbara enlists the help of Deadhart’s former sheriff, Jenson Tucker, to help with her investigation. Tucker was the sheriff twenty-five years ago when the last killing took place, and he knows the Colony better than anyone. As they dive into their investigation and the history of the town, they uncover dark secrets. When more bodies turn up dead, the citizens of Deadhart are growing restless and time is running out for Barbara and Tucker. They need to figure out who is responsible for the murders before there is an all-out war between the citizens of Deadhart and the Vampyr Colony.
While I loved all the characters in this book, Barbara Akins was my favorite. She was one bad ass lady. She did not take her job lightly and even though she was getting pressure from her boss as well as the town to authorize a cull, she was not going to do that until she had all the facts.
I also loved the setting Tudor created. It is Alaska in the winter, so it is cold and dark. That just intensified the creepiness and supernatural feel of the book. I also loved how Tudor redefined the vampyr stereotype. They don’t have a weakness for holy water or garlic and the sun does not burn them up. They can actually have children as well, with another vampyr or even a human. While some vampyrs do go rogue, most just want to live their life in their colony.
I loved everything about this book. C.J. Tudor did an amazing job of creating it all. There were so many twists and turns. There was never a dull moment, and I was hooked from the very first page to the very last. And WOW! what an ending The Gathering had. I so hope there will be a sequel in the works soon. 4 ½ stars
Long Time Gone Goodreads Author: Charlie Donlea
Publication Date: May 21, 2024
Publisher: Kensington
Long Time Gone is the third book I have read by Charlie Donlea, and he is now on my must-read author list.
Dr. Sloan Hastings is a forensic scientist. Sloan has always known she was adopted and has never had any interest in searching for her biological parents, but in order to complete a research assignment she submits her DNA to an online genealogy site and the results turn Sloan’s world upside down and opens a thirty-year-old missing person’s case. Thirty years ago, in the small town of Cedar Creek, Nevada, Charlotte Margolis, aka “Baby Charlotte” disappeared along with her parents. The results of Sloan’s DNA test confirms that she is Baby Charlotte. If Sloan is Baby Charlotte, then what happened to her biological parents? Sloan travels to Cedar Creek to meet the Margolis family and try and get answers on what happened to her parents. But those answers could put Sloan’s life in danger.
The story is told in a dual timeline. In the present timeline we follow Sloan as she tries to find the answers on what happened to her parents and why she was put up for adoption thirty years ago. And we also follow the story in the days leading up to the day Baby Charlotte and her parents went missing in July 1995.
Sloan teams up with the local sheriff, Eric Stamos, whose father was the sheriff back in 1995 and was investigating the disappearance until he died under suspicious circumstances a week after Baby Charlotte and her parents went missing. I loved following Sloan and Eric as they worked to uncover what happened in 1995. Both being in law enforcement gave them information that would probably not be available to just anyone. They need to tread lightly though because the Margolis family controls the town and Sloan and Eric need to make sure that the Margolis’ do not find out they are working together. Eric is sure that the information his father found out about the disappearance is the reason he died. And as information is uncovered, it looks like someone in the Margolis family knows more than they are saying.
I loved following the events in 1995 as well. For the most part we get the POV of Eric’s father as he is investigating the disappearance. But we also get the POV of Baby Charlotte’s mother. And by the end of the book when it was revealed what happened, I wanted to cry.
Long Time Gone was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. And what an end it was! I was on the edge of my seat; the tension was so high. Charlie Donlea has once again delivered an amazing mystery. I definitely recommend reading Long Time Gone, as well as his other books. 4 ½ stars