Category: 3 Star

TITLE: Cry For Mercy
SERIES #: DI Eleanor Raven #1
CHARACTERS: Eleanor Raven
AUTHOR: Karen Long
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/16/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Eleanor closed her eyes tightly against the image in front of her. Another innocent life taken, another family left grieving.

Detective Inspector Eleanor Raven arrives at the derelict power station briefed on the murder scene inside. A beautiful young woman has been found, her body posed and a cherry-red lipstick painted across her mouth. But when she catches sight of the engagement ring crusted with blood on her delicate finger, Eleanor pushes back on the grief it provokes. Lydia Greystein had so much to live for. The only way Eleanor can help now is to find the killer responsible, and she and her team immediately set to work.

And when another woman is found, bound in the same ritualistic stance and wearing the same bright red lipstick, Eleanor’s case becomes more twisted and urgent than ever. But struggling to unpick the killer’s motivations, the team is at a loss until Eleanor finds a link between the victims and a cold case, an unsolved death with a connection to her own personal life. To follow the clues now risks bringing her secrets into the open.

But as Eleanor begins to understand the killer, he starts to understand her too.

Eleanor must solve this case before more women are taken. Could the secrets she keeps from those closest to her be the final clue in this case… or will they ultimately cost Eleanor her life?

A fast-paced, tense and completely gripping mystery thriller that will keep you hooked until the final page. Karen Long will be the newest favourite crime author for fans of Lisa Regan, Angela Marsons and Robert Dugoni.

Cry for Mercy was previously published as The Safe Word.

REVIEW:
I am on the fence with this one. I enjoyed the story but wasn’t thrilled with the writing. I found the suspense part a worthy read. I wanted to know what was going on and wanted the conclusion.

However, the writing was lacking. I never liked any of the characters. I mean some of them I down right disliked. The chapters were a bit confusing with all the jumping around. And I would suggest a different proofreader.

But again I liked the suspense part of it. A few times I changed my mind about the “who-dun-it” and was surprised when I found out who the killer was. Which is always good that the author can catch me off guard.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: Whispering Hearts
SERIES #: House Of Secrets #3
CHARACTERS: Emma Corey
AUTHOR: V.C. Andrews
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/10/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
A desperate young woman’s bargain with a wealthy couple is not what it seems. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews—whose books are now major Lifetime TV movies (Flowers in the Attic, Heaven, Ruby)—comes a gothic tale of big city dreams gone wrong.

The English countryside is beautiful, but for Emma Corey it cannot compare with the bright lights of New York City. Tired of performing only in pubs and at church, she announces she’s moving to America—and her conservative father disowns her on the spot.

Distraught but undeterred, Emma will become a Broadway star—or die trying. Leaving the comforts of her youth is a thrilling adventure. The largeness of the city, her new friends, the boundless opportunities make everything shine with promise. However, New York has a way of chipping away at a newcomer’s resolve. First a robbery. Then a low-wage job. Then the realization that such a city attracts the young and the talented—competitors all.

Just when it seems like Emma might have to admit defeat and return to the UK, she is introduced to a peculiar couple: a wife that cannot bear children of her own, and a husband who would pay Emma to solve that problem.

Emma’s father once told her, “Money is life.” But when Emma trades one for the other and moves into the couple’s remote estate to participate in an elaborate ruse, there’s no telling what kind of life she’ll have once she’s taken the money.

REVIEW:
2.75 Heart I really need to stop reading “V.C. Andrews” books. When she passed away we lost the real author and no one can duplicate her so why I continue to try I have no idea.

This is the third in the series and to be honest I did not read the first two and felt like I stepped into the middle of a story even though I think they are supposed to be a stand alone they are not (in my opinion). The story was well sorry to say it was boring for more than a third to half of the book. I never connected with the characters at all.

I guess I could say this is my error for even requesting it knowing that the great V.C. Andrews is not who is writing these stories.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: The Christmas Killer
SERIES #: DI James Walker #1
CHARACTERS: DI James Walker
AUTHOR: Alex Pine
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/29/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
As the snow begins to fall, the body count begins to climb…

DI James Walker is ready for a quiet family Christmas in the sleepy village of Kirkby Abbey.

But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half frozen in the snow.

As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village – there’s a killer amongst them, and with eleven more victims to go, anyone could be next….

Can James stop the killer before they strike again?

The first in a new series, Alex Pine has written a dark, atmospheric crime novel, set in a snowed-in Cumbrian village, for fans of Val McDermid, Ross Greenwood and LJ Ross.

REVIEW:
2.75 Hearts This book just dragged and dragged for me. There was so much alliteration that the paragraphs seemed to last forever. And it took a quarter of the book for the murder to even happen.

I just couldn’t get into this book. I ended up skipping a lot of the time, skipping over paragraphs going to dialogue to understand what was going on but could miss so many extra words.

I think a fan of suspense would be disappointed in a story like this but that is just my opinion.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: Girls Of Brackenhill
CHARACTERS: Hannah
AUTHOR: Kate Moretti
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/01/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Author of The Vanishing Year, The Blackbird Season and In Her Bones Kate Moretti’s THE GIRLS OF BRACKENHILL. A newly engaged woman is summoned to her aunt’s storybook mansion in the Catskill mountains – her beloved aunt has been killed in a tragic car accident and her uncle is gravely ill and at the end of his life, to the scene of her sister’s mysterious and traumatic disappearance sixteen years earlier. She discovers that some family secrets will not stay buried and sometimes old ghosts haunt forever.

REVIEW:
Another typical story. One sister dies at a young age, years later as an adult another sister wants answers and in the process digs up family secrets.

The story was fine even though a bit worn out. I really didn’t like Hannah, I found her really whiny even in the now sections of the book. Yeah at 15 maybe but not at 30ish. No matter how much I tried I couldn’t find a way to like Hannah.

I liked the suspense part well enough but the rest just didn’t sit well with me.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: You Betrayed Me
SERIES #: The Cahills #3
CHARACTERS: James & Megan
AUTHOR: Lisa Jackson
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/27/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
In a twisting, unpredictable new novel of suspense by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson, an heir to the Cahill fortune discovers just how dangerous, and duplicitous, family can be . . .

The Cahills of San Francisco are famous for two things: their vast wealth, and the scandals that surround them. Murder, greed, deadly ambition . . . some people will do anything to get, and keep, the Cahills’ kind of money. Not that James Cahill wants any of it. He’s tried to make his own way, less interested in a future inheritance than in his construction company–and in enjoying the many women taken in by the easy charms of a handsome, soon-to-be-rich bad boy.

Perhaps there’ve been too many women. Waking up in a small hospital in Washington State, bandaged and bruised, James barely recognizes the gorgeous blonde who comes to visit. Through the haze of pain and medication, he recalls that she is Sophia, the woman he’s been cheating with. Gradually memories return–his girlfriend, Megan, had found out about Sophia. Now Megan is missing, her sister, Rebecca, is hounding him–and police and reporters are asking questions too. James insists he has no idea what happened. Yet he can’t escape a feeling of dread . . .

Meanwhile, in a locked room, a woman waits, trapped, petrified, and desperate. She thought she knew who to trust. But the betrayal you can’t imagine–or can’t remember–may be the most terrifying weapon of all . . .

REVIEW:
This felt like it should have been turned into a soap opera like Dallas or Dynasty… Maybe more like another 80’s soap opera like Knots Landing. Ok enough about my tv history.

I thought the writing was good but I never seemed to care about these rich spoiled characters and even after James suffers the trauma and has amnesia I still didn’t care about how much he was dealing with.

The suspense was well written but for some reason even after having read some of Jackson’s books I just couldn’t get into.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: The Runaway
SERIES #: Bane Island #1
CHARACTERS: Rosemary & Genevieve
AUTHOR: Lisa Childs
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/27/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
I’m in trouble. Come get me.

On a remote island off the coast of Maine lies a secluded estate. There, behind wrought iron gates and rock walls, sits Halcyon Hall. Today, it is an exclusive spa catering to wealthy elites and pampered celebrities. But once, it had another name–and a terrifying reputation . . .

Rosemary Tulle has come to Halcyon Hall desperate to find her younger sister. Seventeen-year-old Genevieve left a brief, troubling message on Rosemary’s phone, begging to be picked up. But Rosemary is not on the visitor list, and no one will let her in . . .

Halcyon Hall was once Bainesworth Manor, an asylum for the insane. Such places often draw whispers about gruesome treatments and tortured inmates. In the case of Bainesworth, the reality may have been far worse. Now, staff insist that Genevieve ran away, but Rosemary’s instincts say otherwise. Rosemary and Genevieve share an unsual bond, and she knows Genevieve wouldn’t have just left. Compelled to turn for help to a man she hoped never to see again, judge Whit Lawrence, she tries to learn the truth about Genevieve. But it will mean uncovering secrets about Bainsworth Manor, and about Rosemary’s own dark past–secrets with the power to kill . . .

REVIEW:
2.75 Hearts I had a hard time with this book. The dark storyline was more than I wanted to read. I mean the synopsis had me thinking this would be a suspense thriller but it was very dark with violence and rape.

I think the writing itself was fine but the characters were hard to connect to and again the dark storyline made me have to force myself to read it.

I really think the writer could have done so much more to this story and made it a winner, the potential was there it just didn’t come through in this story.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: The Wife
CHARACTERS: Zoe & Toby
AUTHOR: Shalini Boland
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/09/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Zoe fainted on her wedding day, and she never knew why. She’s always felt sure something bad happened. Ten years later, she’s going to find out what…

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Zoe was sitting in her hotel room, in her perfect white dress, looking forward to the moment when she would make kind, handsome Toby her husband.

Then, there was a blank.

They said she must have fainted, overcome with emotion. But nothing felt quite right afterward. Did something happen in that missing time?

Now, Toby and Zoe have two beautiful children and a perfect life. They’re planning their ten-year anniversary party for their family and friends. The invitations have been sent, the food ordered. They’re going back to the grand hotel where they got married.

But as the anniversary gets closer, it becomes clear not everyone is looking forward to celebrating. She catches Toby lying about where he’s been. One of her best friends seems to be ignoring her. And someone is spreading stories that might stop the party from happening at all.

Zoe is increasingly sure that she doesn’t have the full story. But does she want to know the truth, if it will destroy everything?

From the million-copy bestselling author, this totally gripping psychological thriller will have you hooked from the first page to the last jaw-dropping twist. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife Between Us.

REVIEW:
3.5 Hearts This is a new to me author that I was unsure about and while I enjoyed the story for the most part the main character, Zoe, drove me nuts. She was just so simple. Nice enough and all but so naive that I could picture her as a doormat.

There is a lot of suspense like why she fainted on her wedding day 10 years ago and why has her husband’s family started ignoring her and what he is up to.

This is a very fast read. There are a number of great parts about it and some not so great parts about it. I just never connected to Zoe and her naivete.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: Broken
CHARACTERS: Maggie, Lilly & Mike
AUTHOR: John Rector
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/15/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Trust becomes a fatal mistake in this shocking thriller by the international bestselling author of The Ridge.
Welcome to Beaumont Cove, a slowly decaying tourist town at the edge of the world, and the place where Maggie James’s worst fears for her estranged twin sister, Lilly, have come true.
Lilly is dead, and Maggie has arrived to identify her body.
Lilly’s husband, Mike, is in custody for her murder. With his long history of abuse, no one in town is surprised at the inevitable end to their stormy marriage, least of all Maggie. All she wants is to clean up her sister’s affairs, see Mike punished, and get out of Beaumont Cove.
With the help of the local sheriff, a retired private investigator, and a strange but friendly carnival psychic, Maggie begins to uncover the truth about what really happened to her sister. But the truth comes at a price, and soon Maggie finds herself walking a dark path toward the same deadly trap that killed Lilly.
The more Maggie discovers about her sister’s final days, the more she realizes that nothing is as it appears in this strange boardwalk town.

REVIEW:
This is a really dark story regarding domestic abuse and murder. Lilly and Mike move to Beaumont Cove and Lilly spends a lot of time reflecting on her life and her abusive spouse. The town of Beaumont Cove seems ideal to Lilly but when her sister, Maggie, comes to identify her twin’s body she doesn’t see the ideal town Lilly did and wonders what her sister saw in the crumbling town.

Maggie assumes Mike killed her sister but even she starts questioning everything and wonders if her brother in law is actually innocent. But one she starts investigating she starts finding out info.

I found the suspense part of the book good. I wondered what had happened to Lilly and liked the way that part was written. However, the abuse part was dark, actually a bit too dark for me.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: Evil Never Dies
SERIES #: Dark Devon Mysteries #2
CHARACTERS: Jed & Emma
AUTHOR: S M Hardy
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/17/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The village of Slyford St James is no stranger to supernatural happenings, as long-time residents Jed and Emma know all too well. Although Jed’s spiritual connection with the dead was once a source of pride, it now fills him with dread. When he receives an invitation to the family estate of his old army friend Simon, who wants Jed to use his gift to solve the brutal murder of his elder brother, Jed is initially reluctant, but Emma encourages him to agree, hoping that this new sense of purpose might lift him out of his melancholy, despite the circumstances.
When they arrive at the estate, Jed is shocked by how fragile and fearful his friend has become. As Jed calls upon the spirit world for the first time in eighteen months, the results are dramatic, and a gruesome warning reveals dark and dangerous family secrets that threaten the safety of them all.

REVIEW:
This story had so much promise. I loved how Emma could communicate with ghosts and Jed has a special connection with the dead but tries to close himself off from it. But now his friend wants his help to solve his brothers murder.

I liked the beginning. But to be honest there was so much thrown into this book that I really didn’t enjoy the second half of the story. It became all too much and lost the uniqueness of the story.

If the author had taken a bit more time he/she would have been a bit more consistent in the telling of the story and keeping the whole story as good as the first half.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.