Category: Suspense

TITLE: What You Deserve
SERIES #: FBI Agent Erin Hastings #1
CHARACTERS: Erin Hastings
AUTHOR: Alicia Lawson
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/15/21
ORDER LINKS: Amazon

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
When lives are on the line, failure is not an option…

FBI Special Agent Erin Hastings is driven by the pain of her past. Fifteen years ago, she could’ve stopped her twin brother from killing his sixth victim. All she wants now is a second chance at catching a killer.

Riding high after a media blitz over her latest arrest, Erin is plunged back to reality with her first serial killer case—in Erin’s hometown. Reminders of her brother’s murders plague her nightmares. Haunted by the similarities between the two cases, Erin vows she won’t make the same rookie mistake again. This time, she’ll stop the murderer before he can claim any more innocent lives.

But the race to catch this ruthless killer grows more desperate as the body count rises. And with every suspect her team clears, Erin’s chances at redemption wither away. All while pressure for an arrest from higher-ups intensifies.

Erin won’t quit until she gets her man. Not when history seeks to repeat itself. With another victim’s life at stake, she’ll risk going rogue before she gives up.

But will she jeopardize her own life, rather than let this killer strike again?

REVIEW:
2.75 Hearts This is a new series by Alicia Lawson which I have not read before. And to be honest, I am not sure I will read again. I never took a liking to Erin. Actually the opposite. I found myself really disliking her at times. And the story wasn’t any different than many others read for decades.

Erin’s brother killed 6 people, Erin blames herself for at least the sixth murder because she didn’t stop him and now she is going to use her brother to understand the MO of a killer. First: He was a teenager who committed murder. Second: They are twins so they were like 15 years old and she thinks their twin sense could have stopped this? And Third: Really? Because as a FBI Special Agent you have to use your brother for profiling?

This was just not my cup of tea in writing or characters.

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

TITLE: Secrets To The Grave
CHARACTERS: Meredith Somerset
AUTHOR: Steve Frech
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/22/21
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The woman recoiled as she rolled the body onto its back. Deep bruises encircled the neck, but the most unsettling feature was the eyes, which stared lifelessly upwards. That was the moment the woman began screaming.

When a teenage girl is found dead on a quiet suburban street, Detective Meredith Somerset is haunted by flashbacks to the day her little sister vanished—the day Meredith should have been watching her. But with a murder to solve, she doesn’t have time for painful memories to cloud her judgement.

The victim is shoeless, the only clue to her identity a small silver medallion hidden in her grass-stained sock. Did she run from her killer across the smooth lawns of Willow Lane? And if so, how did no one in the surrounding houses see or hear a thing?

Meredith needs answers, or she’ll never shake the image of her sister’s face begging her for help. But Willow Lane has more than one mystery behind its doors—and to find the killer, Meredith must venture into a community that’s determined to keep its secrets hidden at any cost…

REVIEW:
I thought this book was really well written. Meredith lost her sister when she was in charge of her so she has a soft spot for children and not only wants but needs to find the killer of the teenage girl from Willow Lane.

I found the suspense of the story intriguing. I wanted to keep reading it. I did figure portions out but not everything and I always enjoy that.

I think this could easily be made into a series and I am hoping that Frech continues with this duo and gives us a bit more on Tyler.

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

TITLE: The Spires
CHARACTERS: Penelope & Willa
AUTHOR: Kate Moretti
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/21/21
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
A troubled woman becomes consumed by a past she’s desperate to forget in this unsettling psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Year.

Strung between two teenagers, an unemployed husband, and a tenuous career, Penelope Cox barely has her life together when the past comes knocking at her door. Willa Blaine, her old roommate, needs her help: refuge from an abusive husband. “Two weeks tops,” she says—but it’s not the imposition that bothers Penelope; it’s the memories Willa brings with her.

Twenty years earlier, Penelope, Willa, and three friends lived together in a converted church. Insular and closed off from the rest of the world, the five roommates formed their own dysfunctional family, celebrating the pinnacle of their lives; they called themselves “the Spires.” But nights of wild parties gave way to a darker undercurrent: jealousy, resentment, unrequited love, and obsession. Tensions boiled over during a night of debauchery that ended in a deadly fire, leaving the Spires scattered and forever changed.

Now Willa is the perfect houseguest: accommodating, helpful, bringing a newfound sense of excitement to the Cox household. Yet Penelope can’t help but feel the cracks in her life widen as she begins to question Willa’s motives. Everyone has secrets, it seems—and the fire may have brought down the Spires, but not everything burned was forgotten.

REVIEW:
It’s weird to say but I enjoyed this book even though I really did not enjoy Penelope who is the main character of this story.

This story is told with chapters set in past and present. I wasn’t all that interested in “The Spires” when the storyline was in the past. But I thought Willa was a really interesting character in the present. I never warmed up to Penelope and didn’t care about everything going on with her.

Books like this have been written many times over so we aren’t reading a book that is unique but the telling is interesting.

The ending surprised me a bit but mostly it seemed off from the rest of the book. Almost like the author had the ending set and tried (being the key word) to fit the rest of the book to it.

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

TITLE: The Burning
SERIES #: Clay Edison #4
CHARACTERS: Clay Edison
AUTHOR: Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/21/21
ORDER LINKS: Amazon  | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Things get personal for Deputy Coroner Clay Edison when a murder hits close to home in this riveting, emotional thriller from the bestselling father-son team who write “brilliant, page-turning fiction” (Stephen King).

A raging wildfire. A massive blackout. A wealthy man shot to death in his palatial hilltop home.

For Clay Edison, it’s all in a day’s work. As a deputy coroner, caring for the dead, he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. He prides himself on an unflinching commitment to the truth. Even when it gets him into trouble.

Then, while working the murder scene, Clay is horrified to discover a link to his brother, Luke. Horrified. But not surprised. Luke is fresh out of prison and struggling to stay on the straight and narrow.

And now he’s gone AWOL.

The race is on for Clay to find him before anyone else can. Confronted with Luke’s legacy of violence, Clay is forced to reckon with his own suspicions, resentments, and loyalties. Is his brother a killer? Or could he be the victim in all of this, too?

This is Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman at their most affecting and page-turning–a harrowing collision of family, revenge, and murder.

REVIEW:
Having lived in California for a while I am fully aware of the burning that CA and the surrounding states can go through and having read the other three books from the father/son Kellerman team. So I was interested when this book was offered.

The problem is the story moves very slowly. Most certainly the slowest in the series so far. And some of the personalities from Clay didn’t mesh from the last three books.

While the book was slow, the writing was very palatable. You can practically feel the burning going on around Clay and his worry about his recently released from prison brother.

This was not my favorite in the series and I certainly do not think this can be a stand alone.

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

TITLE: What Hurts The Most
SERIES #: Mary Mills Mystery #1
CHARACTERS: Mary Mills
AUTHOR: Willow Rose
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/20/15
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
You will never guess the ending!
Am I pretty?
Imagine being asked that question standing face to face with a killer. What would you answer?
While her life is going from bad to worse, journalist Mary Mills receives a phone call from her father telling her that her brother has been arrested for murder. Mary decides to go back to her hometown of Cocoa Beach, Florida, which she left twenty years back and has never visited since.
Working with her old friends from the 7th Street Crew, she tracks down the most disturbing and surprising killer this town has ever faced before a shocking conclusion turns everything upside down for them.
Determined to solve the murder and to have her brother acquitted, Mary is forced to face demons from her past she never thought she would have to again.

REVIEW:
This came back up on NetGalley and I thought it might be a good chance to be introduced to a new author but I am just not sure. The story was interesting but there were soooooo many inaccuracies that it drove me a bit crazy. The whole Army/Air Force thing was so inaccurate that I found myself getting mad at the author.

I also had a hard time with the description of the murders. There was so much gore that honestly was not necessary. I was pleasantly surprised that I was not sure of the ending which is why I gave it three stars.

I requested another couple of books from NetGalley by this author so I will give them a try but I am not thinking I found my next fav author.

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

TITLE: Bloodless
SERIES #: Pendergast #20
CHARACTERS: Pendergast
AUTHOR: Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/17/21
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Agent Pendergast faces his most unexpected challenge yet when bloodless bodies begin to appear in Savannah, GA, in this installment of a #1 New York Times bestselling series.

A fabulous heist:
On the evening of November 24, 1971, D. B. Cooper hijacked Flight 305—Portland to Seattle—with a fake bomb, collected a ransom of $200,000, and then parachuted from the rear of the plane, disappearing into the night…and into history.

A brutal crime steeped in legend and malevolence:
Fifty years later, Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case: in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, Georgia, bodies are found with no blood left in their veins—sowing panic and reviving whispered tales of the infamous Savannah Vampire.

A case like no other:
As the mystery rises along with the body count, Pendergast and his partner, Agent Coldmoon, race to understand how—or if—these murders are connected to the only unsolved skyjacking in American history. Together, they uncover not just the answer…but an unearthly evil beyond all imagining.

REVIEW:
4.25 Hearts Pendergast, D.B. Cooper and Vampires…. What more could a girl want? Whenever I am able to get a Pendergast book I rush through whatever I am reading so I can get to these books by Preston & Child. And I really couldn’t wait to get to this one.

I have read all of the Pendergast books. I have always loved vampires. I have always been interested in D.B. Cooper. I really couldn’t wait to get to this one. If you do not know who D.B. Cooper is….he is an interesting real life hijacker who parachuted out of an airplane on a stormy night with what today would be a bit over $1M dollars. And it is to this day the only unsolved aviation hijacking in American history.

Anyway…. This story was back to the way I fell in love with Pendergast. I felt like I was reading one of the original stories. This is the best one in the series in a number of years. And that is saying something because all of the books in the series are good.

It can be read as a stand alone but I don’t know why anyone would not want to read the entire Pendergast series.

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

TITLE: The Island House
CHARACTERS: Alice
AUTHOR: Amanda Brittany
PUBLICATION DATE: 08/11/21
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Once you’re on the island you’ll never want to leave… until you can’t

A DARK FAMILY SECRET

When Alice’s father dies after a tragic hit and run, his death stirs up unanswered questions about her childhood. Who was her mother, why did her father never speak of the past, and why can’t she remember anything before the age of seven?

AN ISLAND CUT OFF

But when she receives an anonymous letter containing a photograph of a refurbished gothic guesthouse surrounded by water, and an invitation to stay, old memories fight to resurface.

Alice has visited before. She is certain of it.

WHO WILL SURVIVE?

Convinced the clues to her past lie at the hotel, she checks in. But once on the island, a wild storm rages, waves crash violently into the rocks, and the house is cut off by the roaring sea.

Then two guests are found dead. And the hotel owner is missing. Will Alice ever uncover her secret past?

And will anyone leave the island alive?

An utterly gripping thriller that will leave you reading long into the night! Fans of The Guest List and The Sanatorium will love this nail-biting read.

REVIEW:
2.75 Hearts Honestly this was not for me. I gave it 3 stars because the writing was well done but I am realizing that I do not like the locked down mysteries that seem to be a big thing right now.

I liked some of the characters and like I said the writing was good. I ended up skimming a number of pages reading the conversations to get the gist of the story.

This trend is not for me but the writing was well done if I had been interested in the storyline more.

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