Tag Archive for: reviews

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Those Empty Eyes & Lovely Girls

May 11, 2023/12 Comments/by Sharon

It’s Sharon and it’s Thursday, so you know what that means! Thriller Thursday reviews. This week I am very excited to share my thoughts on Charlie Donlea’s, Empty Eyes and Margot Hunt’s, Lovely Girls. I loved both of these books and was glued to them from the very first page.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Those Empty Eyes & Lovely Girls

Those Empty Eyes Goodreads

Author: Charlie Donlea

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Publisher: Kensington

My first book by Charlie Donlea was Twenty Years Later and I loved it, so I was very excited to read his latest book, Those Empty Eyes and I am happy to report I loved this book as well. Donlea is now a must-read author for me. Those Empty Eyes follows Alex Armstrong as she tries to find the person responsible for killing her parents and younger brother ten years ago and bring herself some closure.

When Alex was seventeen, she was woken in the middle of the night to the sounds of gunshots. When she peeked out her bedroom door, she saw her brother lying in the hall shot in the chest. Alex was able to hide from the killer, but when the police arrived they found Alex sitting in her parents’ bedroom holding a shotgun. Alex was accused of killing her family and the media named her “Empty Eyes” from the dazed look on her face when she was escorted from the house. With the help of attorney Garrett Lancaster, Alex was exonerated and also won a defamation lawsuit against the police. Ten years later Alex is working as an investigator for Garrett, and she has not given up on searching for the answers about who killed her family. Alex’s current case is the disappearance of college journalist, Laura McAllister. As Alex digs in Laura’s disappearance, she uncovers connections to the murder of her family. The closer Alex gets to the truth, the more her life is in danger. The killer left her as a loose end once; they won’t make that mistake again.

Right from the start my heart broke for Alex. She was a flawed character and did make some bad decisions, but hey who wouldn’t given what she had been through? But I loved how she was determined to find justice for her family. She was not giving up no matter what. She was also a smart character. Every piece of evidence she uncovers about her family’s murder she adds to the evidence board she keeps in her apartment. There comes a time in the story when her path crosses with the FBI, they need information from her on a case they are working, but Alex does not give it for free. She makes a deal that they can have the information, but in exchange she wants help with clues she has uncovered in her family’s murder. You go Alex!

This book is also filled with a great cast of secondary characters. I loved the found family relationship that Alex had with Garrett and his wife, as well as a few other characters. This book also has a few plots that seem unconnected to the main story, but Donlea does a great job of connecting the dots without giving away the mystery.

All I can say about this book is WOW! Those Empty Eyes had me hooked from the very first page. As well as putting a few tears in my eyes, Donlea kept me in the dark as to who killed Alex’s family until the very end. And what an end it was! 4 ½ stars

Lovely Girls Goodreads

Author: Margot Hunt

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Margot Hunt’s newest book, Lovely Girls, is Mean Girls on steroids LOL! The story follows Kate Turner and her teenage daughter, Alex, who have recently moved from New York to Shoreham Florida. After the sudden death of her husband, Kate wanted a fresh start for both her and Alex, but unfortunately, they get anything but.

The story is told mainly from the POV of Kate, but we also get chapters from a video diary that Alex kept. The book is also broken up into two parts, “Before She Died” and “After She Died.” I loved having it broken up this way. While I was reading the “Before She Died” part, my mind kept trying to figure out who died. Was it Alex or one of the girls that was bullying her? There is not much I can say about the “After She Died” part, because that would just give away who died. Duh. LOL!

Right off the bat Alex makes enemies of three girls on the tennis team and she soon realizes that these were the wrong girls to be on the wrong side of. These girls make it their mission to make Alex’s life miserable. After they learn that Alex’s father died in a car crash, they stuff her locker full of newspaper clippings from the accident and they even leave a doll hanging in her locker that is dressed up to look like her father. See told you, Mean Girls on steroids. But Alex is not one to back down. Along with making video diaries on her Ipad, she also likes to take random videos and she has taken a video of one of the girls that will bring all of their worlds crashing down and get one of them killed. I liked how Hunt created such a realistic teenager in Alex. I remember being a teenager (well kind of lol) and I could sympathize with the feelings Alex was having.

While Alex was having a hard time, Kate had it much easier to start with. She quickly made friends with the mothers of the three girls that were tormenting Alex, though she did not know at the time what the girls were doing to Alex. Though other moms tried to tell Kate to watch out for these women, she didn’t listen. She was just happy to have made friends in her new town. But as soon as the murder happened, these women turned on Kate so fast. They were just as conniving and evil as their daughters. But when their claws came out, so did Kate’s. She will do anything to protect her daughter.

Once we find out who died, it was pretty easy to figure out who killed them. But in no way did that make the second half of the book worse. This book was so addictive that I finished it in a couple days.

If you like books full of small-town gossip, jealousy, and betrayal then look no further than Margot Hunt’s Lovely Girls. But be forewarned, this book does deal with bullying. 4 stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Maid’s Diary & The Suspect

April 27, 2023/10 Comments/by Sharon

Hi Everyone! It’s me Sharon, I hope everyone is doing well. I know it has been a while since I posted Thriller Thursday reviews, I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and then it took another week for my brain to come back from vacation mode. 😀 But I am back and happy to share my thoughts on a couple of psychological thrillers I have read; Loreth Anne White’s, The Maid’s Diary and Kathryn Croft’s, The Suspect.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Maid’s Diary & The Suspect

The Maid's Diary Goodreads

Author: Loreth Anne White

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher: Montlake

I have loved all the books I have read by Loreth Anne White and I am happy to report that her newest book, The Maid’s Diary, was right up there with all her others.

Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping addiction. She cleans the homes of the wealthy and the wealthy always have something to hide and Kit loves finding their secrets. It’s a harmless addiction really, that is, until Kit starts cleaning the house of new clients Daisy and Jon Rittenberg. Kit uncovers a very dark secret they are keeping, and this makes Kit dangerous to them. It also makes Daisy and Jon dangerous to Kit as well. Someone is willing to kill to keep this secret.

Homicide detective Mallory “Mal” Van Alst is called to a luxury home known as the Glass House, where she finds evidence of a violent attack. There is so much blood at the scene there is no way the victim can still be alive. The only problem is there is no body, the owners of the house are gone, and their maid is missing. The only witness is an elderly woman who lives across the street. She was woken up by the screams coming from the Glass House and she saw two people carrying a rug rolled up with what looked like a body in it. As Mal starts her investigation, she uncovers the secrets of everyone involved and she soon realizes that nothing is quite as it seems.

The story is told from the POVs of Daisy, Jon, Mal, and Kit via pages from “The Maid’s Diary.” There is not a lot I can say about this book without giving anything away and I think it is best to go into this story blind.

The book starts from the POV of an unknown female who has been drugged and is in the backseat of a car. We then get alternating timeline chapters. Mal’s chapters take place in the present as she works on the investigation and tries to solve the mystery of what happened at the Glass House. Daisy and Jon’s chapters start two weeks prior and are titled “XX days before the murder” and progress up to the night at the Glass House. In between we get pages of Kit’s maid’s diary. I love how White presented the story this way. Each chapter gradually connected the main characters, as well as throwing in twists and turns as secrets were revealed.

Mal was my favorite character and I loved following the evidence as she uncovered it. I thought I knew where things were going to go and then something new was uncovered that took things in a new direction. I also loved finding out the secrets of Daisy, Jon, and Kit, and oh, what secrets they were!

If you are looking for a psychological thriller full of twists and turns and that will keep you guessing until the end, then I recommend The Maid’s Diary. 4 stars

The Suspect Goodreads

Author: Kathryn Croft

Publication Date: February 6, 2023

Publisher: Bookouture

Kathryn Croft’s newest psychological thriller, The Suspect, follows one woman’s determination to uncover the truth of her mother’s murder.

When Jess was two years old, her mother Lori was murdered while they were in the park. Jess has no memory of who killed her mother. The police had a suspect, Nathan French, but there was not enough evidence to convict him. Now twenty-eight years later, Nathan approaches Jess in the street and tells her that he did not kill her mother and has proof of who did. Nathan wants to meet up again with Jess and give her the proof, but before they can meet again, Nathan is murdered. Jess does not know what to believe now. Could the man that she thought killed her mother really be innocent? When Jess searches for answers, she starts to uncover information that changes everything she thought she knew, and she realizes that the person that murdered her mother is closer to home than she imagined.

This book is told from the POV of Jess and Lori in alternating timelines. Lori’s POV starts the year before she was murdered and Jess’ POV is in the present as she searches for answers to who killed her mother. I really liked having the story presented this way, as each timeline brings us closer to solving the mystery of who killed Lori. I also enjoyed both of the timelines equally.

The story opens with the day Lori died. Right from the beginning I liked Lori and as the book progressed and I learned more about her, my love for her grew. Lori’s mother and sister were not all that loving with her. Lori had been her father’s favorite and her sister resented her for that, so their relationship was very strained. Lori loved Jess’ father, Danny, and they had a great relationship, until Lori found out a secret he was keeping. When Lori found out his secret she broke things off with him and was planning on moving away. I loved how even though everyone seemed to be against her, Lori still pushed forward and was determined to make a great life for Jess. She was a great mother to Jess and it broke my heart knowing that as I was reading she was getting closer to being killed.

Jess had the same determination as her mother did. When she met Nathan in the street, it opened up all the emotions about her mother’s murder that she tried to keep at bay. I loved how she was determined to find out what really happened to her mother no matter where it took her.

As the story progresses, the suspect pool grew. I was all over the place on who I thought killed Lori. I loved all of the twists and turns The Suspect had. I think Kathryn Croft did an excellent job of weaving a great mystery, with an ending that I did not see coming. 4 stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Lying Beside You & The Angel Maker

March 23, 2023/9 Comments/by Sharon

It’s Thursday so you know what that means. Another Sharon edition of Thriller Thursday! This week I am reviewing the latest books by two must read authors for me. Michael Robotham’s, Lying Beside You and Alex North’s, The Angel Maker. Both of these books were in my top anticipated reads for 2023, so I was very excited to read them and happy that they lived up to the hype I had set for them.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Lying Beside You & The Angel Maker

Lying Beside You Goodreads

Author: Michael Robotham

Publication Date: February 14, 2023

Publisher: Scribner

Lying Beside You is the third book in Michael Robotham’s Cyrus Haven series. I fell in love with Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac in the first book Good Girl, Bad Girl and my love for them grew in the second book When She was Good, so I could not wait to reunite with them. In this third installment, a man is murdered, and his daughter, Maya Kirk, is missing. Cyrus is called in to help profile the killer and piece together Maya’s last hours. Not long after Maya’s body is found, another woman goes missing and Evie is the only person to get a glimpse of the man that has taken her. Can Cyrus find this man before it is too late for this other woman, as well as Evie?

There is so much I loved about this book. I will start with the mystery of who killed Maya. Robotham did an excellent job of creating suspense as we follow the police and Cyrus as they try and solve this mystery. He gives us just enough breadcrumbs to follow without giving anything away until the very end. I loved watching as the police and Cyrus tried to piece together the evidence they had. There were a lot of layers to unravel to find the killer and what his motive was. It was not until the end that I started to piece things together, and I never figured out who the killer. I was on the edge of my seat when everything came to a head.

While I love the mystery Michael Robotham created, my favorite part of the book was seeing Cyrus and Evie again. I love these characters so much. They are both still flawed and broken characters, and I loved watching them try to navigate their lives. Evie is still trying to find her way in the world and interact with people. At Cyrus’ insistence she gets a job and she had me smiling as she stumbles along. I love the relationship between Cyrus and Evie, they have a father-daughter/brother-sister relationship, and I loved watching them try and navigate this.

Cyrus is also dealing with the fact that his brother, who killed their parents and twin sisters nineteen years ago, is about to be released from the psychiatric hospital and will be coming to stay with him and Evie. Cyrus loves his brother and has forgiven him, but he is still dealing with all the pain his brother caused him. He wants to help his brother reenter society. Evie on the other hand cannot understand how Cyrus could be so forgiving and does not trust his brother at all and lets him know it. This just created another layer to a well written story.

Robotham does a great job of giving the backstory on both Cyrus and Evie, so this book could be read as a standalone, but I would really recommend reading the first two books in the series first as I think that would give more depth and feelings to this book.

Lying Beside You was everything I hoped it would be and more. I really hope we get more books in this series as I am not ready to let Cyrus and Evie go. 4 ½ stars

The Angel Maker Goodreads

Author: Alex North

Publication Date: February 28, 2023

Publisher: Celadon Books

Alex North’s latest novel The Angel Maker is a dark thriller that follows Katie Shaw as she searches for her estranged brother, Chris, who has gone missing and Detective Laurence Page as he searches for the killer of a distinguished professor who was brutally murdered. As evidence is uncovered, it leads to two old cases, an attack that happened to Chris when he was fifteen and a serial killer that could see the future.

Katie Shaw was always expected to watch out for her brother Chris, and she always did, except for one day when she was seventeen years old, and that will be a day she regrets for the rest of her life. Instead of walking her brother home from school, Katie went off with her boyfriend, and Chris was brutally attacked. Years later Katie is happily married with a child of her own. Chris had a hard life after the attack and turned to drugs and living on the street. Katie has not seen Chris in two years, but when she gets a call from their mother saying that Chris had turned his life around but is now missing, Katie knows that she has to be his big sister once again and this time she is determined to keep Chris safe.

I really liked the parts with Katie as she searches for Chris. She is carrying a heavy burden when it comes to Chris. The last time she saw him he stole money from her, and she called the police on him. But even still, when her mother calls and tells her that Chris is missing, that sister/brother love is there, and she will do anything to protect him this time. I loved her determination and mother bear persona that came out.

Alan Hobbes is a wealthy and distinguished philosophy professor who has been brutally murdered, but before he was murdered he let his staff go and got all of his affairs in order. Almost like he knew he was going to die. As detective Laurence Page investigates the death of Alan, he discovers that this case is somehow connected to the attack on Chris as well as a serial killer named Jack Lock, who is long since dead but was known as “The Angel Maker”. These chapters were very dark, especially as we learn more about who Jack Lock was and what he did.

This book had a lot going on in it, with multiple characters and timelines and it did get a bit confusing at times, but I loved the mystery of how everything was connected. This was definitely a book that needs to be read slow to take in all the information and keep things straight. While I did like North’s other two books, The Whisper Man and The Shadows better, I still enjoyed The Angel Maker. 3 ½ stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Mothered & What Lies in the Woods

March 9, 2023/16 Comments/by Sharon

Hi everyone! Sharon here, back with another edition of Thriller Thursday. This week I am reviewing 2 awesome books. Zoje Stages’s, Mothered and Kate Alice Marshall’s, What Lies in the Woods. Zoje Stage is a must read author for me and Kate Alice Marshall is a new author to me. I was looking forward to reading both of these books and I am so happy that they both lived up to the expectations I had set.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Mothered & What Lies in the Woods

Mothered Goodreads

Author: Zoje Stage

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

I fell in love with Zoje Stage when I read her first book Baby Teeth and I have loved everything she has written, so I was very excited to read her newest book Mothered and I have to say this one is my favorite so far.

Mothered takes place during Covid-19 and follows Grace, a hairdresser who bought her first house before Covid struck. Now that she is not working, due to businesses being shut down, Grace is finding it hard to pay her mortgage and other bills. When her recently widowed mother, Jackie, calls and asks if she can move in with Grace, Grace is apprehensive as she and her mother have a strained relationship, but Grace agrees since having her mother there will help Grace out financially. Not too long after her mother moves in, Grace starts having nightmares about her childhood and her twin sister who died when she was a teenager. These nightmares have Grace questioning what is real and what is not, and she starts to spiral into madness. When Jackie accuses Grace of an unthinkable act, Grace starts to question everything she thought she knew. The ghosts from her past and her mother cause Grace to spiral further into madness and the outcome will be deadly.

All I can say about this book is, WOW! Stage did an amazing job of creating a story that made me question what I was reading. When Grace started having her nightmares, she became such an unreliable character and I loved that. I was not sure what was true or made up in Grace’s mind. I also had a lot of sympathy for Grace as we learned about her childhood. Her twin sister had Cerebral Palsy and it was mostly Grace that took care of her. She loved her sister so much, even though her sister was not very nice at times. There were so many times I just wanted to give her a big hug.

What to say about Grace’s mother, Jackie? There were a few times I thought Grace was being a bit hard on her, but then she would go and do something, and I was like nope. LOL! Jackie clearly liked to cross boundaries, like rearranging things in the house, and when Grace’s best friend, Miguel, was able to come over, Jackie would tell embarrassing stories from when Grace was a child. So yeah, I had a love/hate relationship with her.

Mothered had my adrenaline on full speed with all of the twists and turns, as well as the claustrophobic atmosphere with being in lockdown during Covid-19. I had forgotten what it was like to not be able to leave the house and Zoje Stage did a great job of bringing all those memories back. Mothered was one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and I am happy to say it did not disappoint! 4 ½ stars

What Lies in the Woods Goodreads

Author: Kate Alice Marshall

Publication Date: January 17, 2023

Publisher: Flatiron Books

I have never read anything by Kate Alice Marshall, but when Goodreads suggested What Lies in the Woods as a book I would like, I decided to give it a read since it sounded right up my alley. And I am very happy to report that Goodreads was right, I loved this book.

Eleven-year-old Naomi and her 2 best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, loved to spend their summer roaming in the woods playing a game they made up called the Goddess Game. But one day Naomi was attacked and stabbed seventeen times. She miraculously survived and the testimony of all three girls put away a serial killer. They were considered heroes, but they were really liars. Twenty-two years later, the man they helped convict dies in prison. It should be a happy time for them, but the lies they told all those years ago start to unravel. Olivia wants to tell the truth and Naomi wants to find out the truth about what really happened in those woods. But telling and finding out the truth will have a very dangerous outcome.

I loved how broken and flawed Naomi, Olivia and Cassidy were. Their lives were never the same after that summer. Not only did Naomi have physical scars from the attack, but she also had emotional ones as well and rightly so. She was such a strong character. Naomi does not really remember the attack, and even though she identified her attacker, she is now starting to have doubts. As she starts to dig into what happened, she uncovers things that make her doubt everything she thought was the truth. I loved how determined she was in finding out the truth, even if doing so could potentially land her in jail.

During that summer the girls found some bones in a ditch hidden under a boulder. They never told anyone what they found and named these bones, Persephone, the Greek Goddess. Olivia has always had emotional problems, and the events of that summer just escalated them. Olivia figures out who the bones really belong to, and she wants to tell the authorities, but Naomi and Cassidy are against that. Olivia keeps pushing this issue, she has lived with this and the truth about that summer for too long and she just cannot take it anymore. But revealing the truth will put Olivia’s life in danger. I had such sympathy for Olivia. She was just so broken and I just wanted to give her a big hug.

Cassidy was probably the more stable of the girls, but boy did she have secrets. I never warmed up to Cassidy and I didn’t trust her.

I loved the dark creepy atmosphere of this book, as well as all the twist and turns. I thought I had things figured out and then a plot twist would happen to take me in another direction. The ending had me on the edge of my seat and my head spinning as things were revealed. I loved What Lies in the Woods and I definitely want to check out more books by Kate Alice Marshall. 4 stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Drift & Find Her

February 23, 2023/14 Comments/by Sharon

Sharon here with another edition of Thriller Thursday. Both of the books I am reviewing this week take place during a snowstorm and since it is winter and cold here, they were the perfect settings to read while curled up on my couch under a blanket. 🙂 Here are my thoughts on C.J. Tudor’s, The Drift and Sarah A. Denzil’s, Find Her.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Drift & Find Her

The Drift Goodreads

Author: C.J. Tudor

Publication Date: January 31, 2023

Publisher: Ballantine Books

C.J. Tudor is a must-read author for me. I have loved every one of her books and her newest book The Drift is no exception. Set in the dystopian future, there is a highly contagious and deadly virus ravaging the world and it is winning, but atop a ski resort is “The Retreat”, a chalet that has been converted into a scientific center that is working on vaccines to combat the virus. The Drift is a story of survival that follows Hannah, Meg, and Carter as they try and survive long enough to reach The Retreat.

This story is told from the POVs of Hannah, Meg, and Carter. Each has their own survival story, all set during a snowstorm. I could not wait to find out how and when their stories would merge. When I found out how they merged, I was blown away! Tudor did an amazing job in laying out these three different settings, all the while keeping me in the dark on the outcome.

Hannah and some of her exclusive boarding school classmates were on their way to The Retreat, to keep them safe as the virus started infecting people at their school, when the bus they were on crashed. Hannah and a handful of others survive the crash, but they are trapped inside with no way to call for help. Even if they do manage to escape the bus, there is a storm raging outside and evil lurks in the woods. To survive they need to work together. I loved Hannah. She was a strong and very smart young woman. Her father is a scientist who is working at The Retreat, but we soon learn that her father is not a loving family man.

Carter works at The Retreat, but the generators have started to act up and with each waver the safe confines of The Retreat are threatened. When we first meet Carter there are only a few people left at The Retreat and the number dwindles quickly as the virus and the evils from the outside world penetrate the walls. I loved Carter as well. He was another strong character. He is not without his faults though and he did some not-so-great things, but the reasons he did what he did make up for it.

When we first meet Meg, she and five others awaken in a cable car suspended high above the ground. At first, they do not know where they are but then they remember they were on their way to The Retreat. As the temperature in the car drops, this group needs to figure a way out before they all die. And yes, I loved Meg too. Meg is a former police officer who lost her daughter to the virus ten years ago. She has had a tough time since her daughter died and I had so much sympathy for her.

Tudor did a great job of creating three separate settings and bringing them and the characters to life. This book had twists and turns that kept making my jaw drop. There were some gruesome and bloody scenes, so if you are squeamish be advised. The Drift is a wild ride of survival, that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing to an amazing ending. 4 ½ stars

Find Her Goodreads

Author: Sarah A. Denzil

Publication Date: November 1, 2022

Publisher: Sarah Dalton

I liked the premise of Sarah A. Denzil’s newest book Find Her, an isolated hotel hosting three weddings during a snowstorm on Christmas day, three missing brides and three dead bodies. Yup my type of read and I am happy to say Find Her lived up to the hype I created in my mind.

Lucy is engaged to Henry, whose first wife died after falling down a flight of stairs. His teenage son Jacob does not like Lucy and is looking for any opportunity to get rid of her.

Mila is engaged to Rafael and their life together has been perfect, until his parents started insisting that Mila sign a prenuptial agreement which she is dead set against. Mila has an end game, but her past is starting to catch up to her and her plans need to be altered and fast before anyone finds out who she really is.

Claire is engaged to Adrianna and they cannot wait to get married, but someone is stalking Claire and making both of their lives miserable. Claire served on a jury for a gruesome murder and now someone is sending her photos from the crime scene, and she is sure it is the brother of the man she helped convict.

This book is told from multiple POV’s that lead up to the wedding and also the POV of one of the brides that is missing during the day of the wedding. I think Denzil did a great job of presenting so many views without having things get too complicated. I loved how she was able to bring each character to life and smoothly jump to each POV. Each of the characters had some sort of secret and I loved getting the bits of information on them and then trying to figure out what was going on. I especially liked the chapters from the unknown bride and trying to figure out who she was.

Out of all the characters Mila was my favorite. She was the more complex of them all. I also felt she was the strongest of the brides. I liked Claire and Lucy, but I did think they were a bit whinny at times. Yes, Claire had a psycho stalker after her and Lucy had a weird stepson following her, but I wish they could have been a bit more assertive. I think Mila jumped out at me more because she had more of a mystery to her and I couldn’t wait to find out what her end game was.

I know I didn’t say much of what went on in this book, but I don’t want to give anything away. Find Her starts off as a nice even paced read and by the end of the book the tension and pace picks up to full steam full of twists and turns. 4 stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Last Invitation & No Place To Run

February 9, 2023/18 Comments/by Sharon

Happy Thriller Thursday! Yup, it’s me Sharon. This week I am happy to share my thoughts on Darby Kane’s, The Last Invitation and Mark Edwards’, No Place To Run. Both of these books were fast paced thrillers that kept me on my toes.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Last Invitation & No Place To Run

The Last Invitation Goodreads

Author: Darby Kane

Publication Date: December 6, 2022

Publisher: HarperCollins

“They meet the second Tuesday of every month and vote…and then someone dies.” That line in the synopsis of Darby Kane’s latest book, The Last Invitation, really grabbed my attention. I love a good thriller with a bunch of power-hungry women who think it is up to them to provide justice when the courts don’t.

The Sophie Foundation is made up of seven powerful women, who meet over cheese and wine and review the files of men who have behaved very badly, but never got the justice they deserved. Over the past few years some very prominent men have died via a series of fluke accidents and suicides.

Jessa Hall is a lawyer who is at the lowest point of her career, so when she receives an invitation to join The Sophie Foundation she jumps at the chance. Jessa is more than ready to make the bad guys lose. But Jessa soon realizes she may not be ready to go as far as the foundation expects her to go and that trying to leave the group is dangerous and could cost her her life.

Gabby Fielding’s ex-husband has just died from an apparent suicide. Gabby does not believe he would commit suicide and when she starts to push for an investigation into his death, she finds out that there is more to the story. As she pushes forward to find the truth she puts herself, her daughter and brother in-law in danger. Gabby and Jessa are frenemies but realize that to take the Foundation down, they need to work together.

There is so much I want to say about what happens in this book but cannot without spoiling things. I had a love/hate relationship with both Gabby and Jessa. They were both badass, strong women. I liked Gabby more; she was determined to get to the bottom of her ex-husband’s death, even though their divorce was anything but amicable. I didn’t warm up to Jessa until the end. She was a bitch. LOL! She didn’t play by the rules and crossed the lawyer ethical line a lot of times and always found a way to justify it. I really enjoyed watching both Gabby and Jessa work together when they teamed up. Neither trusted the other one, which made for some very tense moments. I really hoped that they would be able to overcome their differences and reveal the truth about the foundation, as well as survive the process. They also had a lot of great back and forth banter that made me chuckle at times.

The Last Invitation was a fast paced read that had a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing. There were a couple of twists at the end that made my jaw drop and also put a tear in my eye. 4 stars

No Place to Run Goodreads

Author: Mark Edwards

Publication Date: June 21, 2022

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Mark Edwards’ latest novel, No Place To Run, follows Aidan Faith in his search for his missing teenage sister, Scarlett. Scarlett went missing two years ago when she was visiting Aidan in Seattle. There was no trace of her, and the case went cold, but Aidan never gave up. When an older woman sees a girl running in a forest clearing in Northern California, she is certain it is Scarlett. After this woman contacts Aidan, he heads to the small town in California, where he meets Lana, who is searching for answers to her brother’s death. As Aidan and Lana start to uncover clues as to what happened to these two teens, they are met with locals who will do anything to keep them silent and protect the truth about what is going on.

I really loved both Aidan and Lana. They were both determined to find out what happened to their siblings no matter what. Aidan is wracked with guilt over his sister’s disappearance; he was supposed to be protecting her and he feels like he failed. I loved the brotherly bond he had with Scarlett and the fact that he never stopped searching for her. Lana’s brother died in the forest fires that were sweeping through California a year ago. Lana does not believe for one minute that her brother would have been in the forest while they were burning, and she is determined to find out what really happened to him. Lana was one tough cookie; she did not take any crap from anyone, and she was not afraid to push buttons if it would get her to the truth. She also had me chuckling a few times with her witty banter. I also really liked the chemistry between Aidan and Lana. You could tell they were attracted to each other, but they did not give into any temptations because they had a higher purpose in finding their siblings. The whole time I was reading I was hoping they would both make it out okay so they could pursue a relationship.

I don’t want to say too much about what happened to Aidan and Lana’s siblings, but I will say that if you add lots of gun fire, car and foot chases, drugs, and cult like activities, you get one fast paced read with lots of twists and turns.

While I did think the conclusion was a tad over the top, I still really liked No Place To Run and think that Mark Edwards did a great job on creating a story that kept my adrenaline running throughout the book. 3 ½ stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Five Survive & The Personal Assistant

January 26, 2023/18 Comments/by Sharon

Sharon here, back with another edition of Thriller Thursday! This week I am reviewing Holly Jackson’s new book Five Survive and Kimberly Belle’s new book The Person Assistant.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Five Survive & The Personal Assistant

Five Survive Goodreads

Author: Holly Jackson

Publication Date: November 29, 2022

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Holly Jackson’s YA thriller Five Survive follows Red Kenny and five of her friends as they travel in an RV from Philadelphia to the Gulf Shores for spring break. And as the title suggests, six friends start out on this trip but only five of them will survive. This story is told over an eight hour time frame and Jackson weaves an incredible story that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading.

Things start out great for Red and her friends (Simon, Arthur, Maddy, Maddy’s older brother Oliver, and his girlfriend Reyna), but then they lose cell service and end up getting lost and the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. The friends soon realize that this was no accident and that there is a sniper out in the dark who wants one of them dead. But first, the sniper wants to know the secret they are carrying. As the hours go by, the friends start to turn on each other as it becomes clear that one of them has been lying and they need to figure out which of their secrets this killer wants.

I thought Holly Jackson did a great job creating this story, the characters, and the setting. The book is not only told over a short period of time, but it also takes place in the RV and I think Jackson did an amazing job with this setting. I could visualize myself there and I could also relate to everything the friends were feeling and the tension they were experiencing within this tight space.

Red was my favorite character. She has been through a lot in her life. Her mother was a police sergeant and was killed four years ago. Red was on the phone with her mother not long before she was killed and they had an argument and Red cannot forgive herself for the things she said before she hung up on her. Red was also a little quirky. I am not sure if it was just with what she went through with her mother or if she was possibly on the autism spectrum. She would write to do lists to herself on her hands and arms, and her mind would wander a lot. But she was strong and as the story progressed, we got to see how strong she was.

Oliver was my least favorite character. He thought because he was the oldest, he was the one that made the decisions. And let me tell you, his decisions were always wrong! He would never take the blame when things went wrong though; it was always someone else’s fault. He was just so arrogant.

I cannot say whose secret the killer wanted and I definitely cannot say who did not survive, because duh, major spoiler LOL! But I will say that I was pretty much completely in the dark on the outcome of this book. Five Survive had me hooked from the first page. I was on the edge of my seat at the end and I think Holly Jackson did a great job of tying all the ends together. She even left me with a few tears in my eyes. 4 ½ stars

The Personal Assistant Goodreads

Author: Kimberly Belle

Publication Date: November 29, 2022

Publisher: Park Row

Kimberly Belle’s latest book, The Personal Assistant, is a cat and mouse thriller with lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end.

Alex Hutchinson is a social media influencer who has reached one million followers and is on top of the world. Within the span of a few hours, however, her world comes crumbling down. Alex didn’t intend to become an influencer, but what was originally a hobby, soon became a full-time job. Alex, her husband Patrick, and her personal assistant AC, celebrate her million followers milestone with a few too many drinks and the next morning Alex wakes up to a firestorm due to a controversial post she drunkenly made the night before, though she has no memory of making the post. When Alex tries to contact AC to help with damage control, AC is nowhere to be found. As the police start their search for AC, it becomes clear that she is not who she said she was. Things start to escalate as a certain troll is leaking information about Alex and her family is now being threatened, and then a dead body (who is not AC) is found in Alex and Patrick’s carriage house. Is AC behind all this? Who is she really and where is she?

The book is told from the POV of Alex, Patrick and from a woman named Anna Clare in 1994. I wasn’t that crazy about Alex or Patrick. Patrick was keeping secrets and the more we learned about them, the more I did not trust him. Alex in my opinion was just very self-centered. With all that was going on, she was more concerned about keeping her social media page open than she was about the welfare of her twin teenage daughters. Yes when things really started ramping up she took it more seriously and did what she could to protect them, but I never really warmed up to her.

I really liked having the Anna Clare chapters thrown in as that added more mystery to the story. I kept thinking I knew how those chapters tied into what was happening now, but alas I was wrong.

I think Belle did a good job on giving us a look into the inside of what goes on with influencers and how their pages are run. It really is a business, and one wrong thing can bring it all down. Influencers are a big part of our world now and seeing how the trolls reacted to the post Alex made had me thinking no way would I want to put myself out there like that. Those trolls are vicious.

I don’t want to say too much about what happens, but there were lots of twists and turns and I didn’t figure anything out until the very end. While The Personal Assistant was not my favorite book by Kimberly Belle, I still thought it was a solid read. 3 ½ stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Family Game & The Girlfriend

January 12, 2023/13 Comments/by Sharon

Happy New Year! Welcome to Sharon’s first 2023 Thriller Thursday post. I hope 2023 brings you all some fabulous reads. I read some great books in 2022 (thriller and non-thriller) and from the looks of new releases, 2023 is going to be another banner year. Today I am sharing my thoughts a couple of books that I finished off last year with. Catherine Steadman’s The Family Game and K.L. Slater’s The Girlfriend.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Family Game & The Girlfriend

The Family Game Goodreads

Author: Catherine Steadman

Publication Date: October 18, 2022

Publisher: Ballantine Books

The Family Game is my first read by Catherine Steadman, but it certainly won’t be my last. I originally borrowed this from the library, but this book was so good that I bought a copy to have in my collection.

The story follows Harriet (Harry) Reed, a best-selling mystery writer, who is in a deadly cat and mouse game with her fiancé, Edward Holbeck’s family. The Holbecks are a very wealthy and powerful family, but Edward has distanced himself from them and forged his own path in life. Even though Edward has cut off most ties to his family, they still want him back because as the eldest son, he is set to inherit the family fortune. Harry meets Edward’s family on the night of Thanksgiving, and she is very nervous about meeting Edward’s father Robert and making a good impression. Robert pulls Harry aside to have a chat with her and all seemed to go well, but before they parted, Robert gave Harry a cassette tape with a shocking confession on it. Why would Robert give Harry a tape that could ruin their family? As Harry works to uncover the truth behind the confession, she learns things of the family she is about to be married into and what she learns could cost her her life.

The Holbecks have one twisted and dark sense of humor and they love to play games. Not your normal everyday run of the mill board games either. Monopoly, Scrabble, and card games, are not for this family, oh no. They celebrate Krampusnacht and they go full out. Harry participated and was paired up with one of Edward’s small nephews, Billy. Harry did not know what Krampusnacht entailed until the game started and Billy explained it to her. So needless to say, she was shocked that the adults would put the children through this. I was not familiar with Krampusnacht myself until I googled it and I am not sure if all families go to the lengths the Holbecks did, but I was right there with Harry in my thinking on what a twisted family this was.

On Christmas the adults take part in a scavenger hunt. Now that may seem all nice and fun, but nope, not with this family. Everyone in this family has secrets they want to keep hidden, Harry included, so the winner of the game gets to keep their secret and they also learn everyone else’s as well. It is as she is playing this game that Harry pieces together all she has learned from the tape Robert gave her and she knows which member of the family is willing to kill to keep their secret hidden.

I know I was vague on what happens in this book, but I didn’t want to spoil anything. The Family Game has so many twists and turns and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. If you like twisty cat and mouse thrillers, then you definitely need to check this one out. I don’t think you will be disappointed. 4 ½ stars

The Girlfriend: An utterly unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist Goodreads

Author: K.L. Slater

Publication Date: October 24, 2022

Publisher: Bookouture

K.L. Slater’s newest book The Girlfriend is a fast-paced psychological thriller that is full of family drama and suspense.

Jennifer Finchman thought when her husband Cole died suddenly in a car accident that her world had hit rock bottom, but she was so wrong. A few days after Cole died, a woman named Sarah shows up on Jennifer’s doorstep claiming to be Cole’s girlfriend and that the baby in her arms is his son. And that should have been when Jennifer hit rock bottom, but nope there is still more to come. Sarah informs Jennifer that Cole borrowed money from her and everything Jennifer thinks is hers (the house, the cars, the money in the bank) is actually Sarah’s. Now Jennifer’s world has hit rock bottom. Sarah suggests that they share the home and since Jennifer does not want to be homeless with her own two children, she agrees. When the police determine that Cole was actually murdered and Jennifer starts to learn more about Sarah, she soon realizes that she and her children are living under the roof with an unstable and dangerous woman.

The book is told mostly from Jennifer’s POV, but we also get some chapters from Sarah’s POV, as well as chapters from when she and Cole started their relationship. Right from the start, I didn’t trust Sarah and wanted to know what her end game was. The more I learned of Sarah, the crazier I thought she was and feared for Jennifer and the kid’s safety. Jennifer came across as naïve at first and some of her decisions made me want to scream, but as the book progressed her momma bear persona came through and she would do whatever she had to do to keep her children safe.

I loved all the twists and turns the book took as Jennifer started digging into Sarah’s past and the police worked their investigation into Cole’s death. I was all over the place on where I thought things were going and I am happy to say that Slater kept me guessing until the very end. Then just when all was revealed there was another major twist that had my jaw drop. I also found myself having sympathy for Sarah at the end. Well done K.L. Slater, well done.

The Girlfriend is full of tension and suspense, with well developed characters that had me engrossed from beginning to end. 4 stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Inmate & Secrets Between Friends

December 15, 2022/11 Comments/by Sharon

Happy Thriller Thursday! Sharon here, and this week I am happy to share my thoughts on Freida McFadden’s new book, The Inmate and Tracy Buchanan’s new book, Secrets Between Friends. I really enjoy both of these authors and I am happy to report their new books did not disappoint.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Inmate & Secrets Between Friends

The Inmate Goodreads

Author: Freida McFadden

Publication Date: June 13, 2022

Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press

I love how Freida McFadden always keeps me guessing with her books and The Inmate was no different.

Brooke Sullivan is a nurse practitioner who is starting a new job at a men’s maximum-security prison. No one knows that Brooke knows one of the inmates, Shane Nelson. Shane was convicted of three grisly murders eleven years ago and it was Brooke’s testimony that helped convict him. Brooke and Shane were high school sweethearts. Right after the trial Brooke left town and is only back now because her parents died in a car crash. Brooke has a ten-year-old son, Josh, and unbeknownst to anyone, Shane is the daddy. Shane is still maintaining his innocence and has warned Brooke to watch out for Tim Reese, Brooke’s childhood friend. Brooke is now starting to doubt her memory of the events of the night of the murders. Could she have gotten it wrong? Is Shane really innocent?

Wow! This book had me all over the place on who I believed and who I didn’t. There is not a lot I can say without giving anything away. This story was told in a dual timeline, alternating between the night of the murders eleven years ago and the present. I loved having the story presented this way because it just kept me guessing. Things would happen in the present day chapters and then we would get a chapter in the past and that would make me think I was sure I knew what really happened, but then something else would happen that would make me rethink everything. I love how McFadden had me all over the place.

I really liked all the characters in this book as well. Brooke did annoy me at times with her naïve thinking, but I loved how she wanted to make sure she righted any wrongs she may have done. She was also a great mother to Josh and would do anything to protect him. I even liked Shane even though I couldn’t truly trust that he was innocent. Brooke’s childhood best friend, Tim was another character that I couldn’t truly trust. I was more suspicious of him than I was of Shane. Lol!

I know I didn’t really say much about what happens in this book, but I don’t want to spoil anything. The Inmate was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. And oh what an end it was! If you are looking for a read that will keep you on your toes, then definitely check this one out. 4 stars

Secrets Between Friends Goodreads

Author: Tracy Buchanan

Publication Date: October 25, 2022

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Tracy Buchanan’s newest book Secrets Between Friends follows Liz Barrowman, a divorced postal worker, who has recently moved back to her small hometown of Easthaven with her two teenage daughters. Twenty years ago, Liz left Easthaven to escape the memory of a tragic event that happened at Lakewell Manor, the home of her best friend, Tamsin Lakewell. Tamsin has also just returned to Lakewell Manor after the death of her mother, but when she sees Liz she acts like she does not remember her or what happened that fateful night. Liz realizes something is not right with Tamsin and as she starts to dig around, she not only brings the memories of twenty years ago that she has been trying to forget to the surface, but she also puts her life, one of her daughter’s life and Tamsin’s life in jeopardy.

This book is told in an alternating dual timeline. We get to see the events from twenty years ago unfold up to the night of the tragedy that took place. And in the present-day timeline, we follow Liz as she tries to figure out what is going on with Tamsin and all the while trying to keep the secrets of that night from being uncovered. I loved having two mysteries to figure out, one being what really did happen twenty years ago and the other being what is up with Tamsin. I did pretty much figure out what was going on with Tamsin, but it took me until about halfway through the book and, once I did, I became very concerned for Liz’s safety.

This book had a lot of unlikeable characters. It seemed everyone Liz had contact with in the present day went out of their way to be mean to her. Especially her mother. OMG! I hated that woman. When Liz moved back to Easthaven with her daughters, she had to move in with her mother and I do not know how she could stand it. Her mother was just so cruel. It made me love and sympathize with Liz so much more. I liked Liz’s determination to find out what was going on with Tamsin, even when it got to the point that she was going to have to tell what happened at Lakewell Manor twenty years ago.

While I did figure out the Tamsin mystery, the events from twenty years ago kept me guessing. And then just when all was revealed, a plot twist took it in a new direction. I love when that happens.

Secrets Between Friends was an engrossing, fast paced read that had me on the edge of my seat until the end. 3 ½ stars

Thriller Thursday Reviews: A Familiar Stranger & The Prisoner

December 1, 2022/16 Comments/by Sharon

Hey everyone! Welcome to Sharon’s Thriller Thursday. I hope everyone is doing well and having a good week with lots of great reading. I’m doing good and have been reading some great books. Today I am happy to share my thoughts on A Familiar Stranger by A.J. Torre and The Prisoner by B.A. Paris.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: A Familiar Stranger & The Prisoner

A Familiar Stranger Goodreads

Author: A.J. Torre

Publication Date: September 27, 2022

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

A.J. Torre’s A Familiar Stranger follows Lillian Smith, a wife and mother, who is an obituary writer for a local newspaper. Lillian leads a quiet and ordinary life. Then she meets David Laurent in a coffee shop, and feeling restless with her life, Lillian starts an affair with David. Lillian creates a new persona when she is with David, and as their affair intensifies, her lies start to catch up with her and Lillian’s two worlds spiral out of control. But Lillian is not the only one leading a double life and someone is going to die.

The first chapter of this book is titled “2 Months Before Death” and that just piqued my interest right away. As the story progresses it gets closer to “the death”. The whole time I was reading I was trying to figure out who had died and once we find out who was dead, I was trying to figure out who killed them. I loved how Torre presented the book this way because it just made my investigative brain flip into high gear.

The story is told mostly from Lillian’s POV. Lillian is a very complex character who has a very dark sense of humor. She has a Twitter account where she posts murder mysteries, based on past obituaries, to her followers. I also really liked her relationship with her best friend Sam. She could be herself with him. Sam knows all of Lillian’s secrets, and because of that, I was watching him with a very cautious eye.

Lillian’s husband Mike is also leading a double life. I did not like Mike at all. He was so controlling and condescending when it came to Lillian. He was also very arrogant. He thought he had everything in his life just as he thought it should be. So, it was nice when things started to crumble, and he realized he was not in as much control as he thought.

I wish there was more I could say about this book, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I will say, I thought going in that I was going to be reading a domestic thriller, with cheating spouses and lies upon lies, but this book was so much more than that. Yes we have the cheating spouses, but we also have the mystery of who is dead and then who killed said person.

A Familiar Stranger was full of twists and turns that made me stop a few times to get my head around what I had just read. When the person who died was revealed I was totally taken by surprise and the cat and mouse game that played out after had me on the edge of my seat. 4 stars

The Prisoner Goodreads

Author: B.A. Paris

Publication Date: November 1, 2022

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

B.A. Paris is an auto buy author for me. I fell in love with her books when I read her debut novel Behind Closed Doors a few years ago, so I was very excited when I saw she had a new book, The Prisoner, coming out. While this book was not up there with her other ones, I still enjoyed it and continue to look forward to her next book.

Amelie Lamont lost her mother when she was a small child, and she lost her father when she was seventeen. After the death of her dad, Amelie moved to London where she met her husband, billionaire Ned Hawthorne. Life was good at the beginning of their relationship, but then things take a turn for the worst. Ned is not who Amelie thought he was. Amelie is determined to stick it out though because it will be worth her while to do so. But then one night Amelie and Ned are kidnapped, and she wakes up alone in a pitch-black room. Who has taken them and why? And why does Amelie feel safer in that dark room than she did with her husband?

This story is told through an alternating dual timeline. It starts out the night Amelie and Ned were kidnapped, and then jumps back to when Amelie was seventeen. I loved Amelie. She was a very strong and determined protagonist, which comes across in both timelines. When she was being held in the dark room, she never stopped trying to find a way out and when she was suddenly on her own at seventeen, she took control and made a life for herself.

The chapters with Amelie trapped in the pitch-dark room really gave me the creeps. I could not even imagine what that must have been like. From the panic Amelie felt when she woke up in that room to the way she navigated around the room, I think Paris did a great job of bringing those scenes to life. I love how Amelie used her other senses in the room. She got the layout of the room by feel and counted steps to figure out where the bathroom door was, as well as where the door her captors would enter was. She also would be very quiet when they came into the room to bring her meals and listened to where they would come and stand and used that advantage for her escape attempts.

I really loved everything about this book up to the ending. I was not 100% sold on who kidnapped Amelie and Ned and why they did it. I had a couple of different scenarios that I thought would play out. But all in all, I thought The Prisoner was a solid read that kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat for most of the book. 3 ½ stars