Category: suspense

Hid from Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Hid from Our Eyes

A Clare Fergusson / Russ Van Alstyne Mystery

It’s been quite a few years since we were left hanging by the last book. And I am not one bit upset. It was worth the wait. And we are all grateful.

Clare is one of my favorite characters. She’s a former helicopter pilot and is now an Episcopal  Priest with a newborn baby and a Police Chief husband. These characters are deeply flawed and that is why I love them.

The setting is Miller’s Kill in upstate New York. The story is told in the year 1952, 1972, and now.

In 1952 the police chief was Harry McNeil. Called to an odd crime scene where he finds a dead young woman in a party dress. No shoes, no purse, no stockings, no obvious cause of death. With little to go on, it seemed like there was little done.

In 1972, Jack Liddle is Chief and is called to a crime scene with the exact same set of circumstances, in the same place. He remembers the first girl and the only thing different is this time they may have a suspect. Russ Van Alstyne found the body. Recently home from the war in Vietnam and still angry and confused, he is quickly the first suspect. But there is no evidence to support anyone being a person of interest.

Present Day. Russ is now the police chief and gets the call. Another young lady has been found in the same place. Dead, in a party dress and nothing else. The pressure is on for the crime to be solved. Especially since the town residents are getting ready to vote on keeping the police force or not.

While Clare is trying to juggle motherhood, the priesthood, her church, and breastfeeding, she still has time to do some digging into the case. And she does just that.

This one was very twisty and just when I thought I knew who the bad person was, I did not! And of course, we have a cliffhanger. And I love it!

Thank you, Julia!

NetGalley/  April 7th, 2020 by Minotaur Books

 

 

 

She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be by J.D. Barker

She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be

Jack Thatch lost his parents when he was just a toddler in a horrific car accident that he still has nightmares about. Or are they memories? Stella has also lost her parents. David’s parents died as well. But why? And how are they all connected? It will scare the daylights out of you!

Since then he has lived with his Aunt Jo. Every year on the anniversary of their deaths Jo and Jack go to the cemetery and spend time with his parents. Jo is adamant about this. August 8th of every year. They read out loud what the tombstones say and then Jack wanders around.

It’s on one of these walkarounds that eight-year-old Jack meets eight-year-old Stella. Sitting on a bench wearing full-length gloves like an old woman going to the opera. Her chaperone ( and let’s use that term very loosely for now) doesn’t like Jack and makes it known. But something about Stella draws Jack in. And for years they meet up on August 8th in the cemetery to chat.

Jack is obsessed with Stella. Why only once a year and on that date? Who are all of the people surrounding her in the white coats and cars?

When his Aunt Jo dies early of cancer, Jack is left a very wealthy man with his elderly neighbor lady keeping track of him for the few months he has left until he turns 18.  But Jack is still trying to figure out what really happened to his parents and he knows Jo knew.

There were so many different things going on in this long book! Conspiracy Theories, kids with scary powers that gave me chills!

This is Barker at his best! Scaring the life out of me. I could not put it down once I started reading it. There’s Suspense, Mysteries, Mob Crime, FBI, and even Pharmaceutical Crimes!

My favorite thing was at the end when Barker said he needed a break from the darkness of the Monkey books so he wrote this one. I would love to spend one day in this man’s head! Bravo!

Full Five Star Review!

NetGalley/ March 31st, 2020 by Hampton Creek Press

 

 

 

THE FINAL DECEPTION by HEATHER GRAHAM

The Final Deception

New York Confidential #5

How do you confront a threat that is hiding in plain sight? FBI agent Craig Frasier and psychologist Kieran Finnegan hunt an escaped serial killer in the latest explosive thriller in the New York Confidential series.

The gruesome murders confessed to by the killer called the Fireman have left their mark on Kieran and Craig.

Even locked away his name and his story are chilling. When Kieran is asked to consult with the man to see if he is insane or just plain evil, she is not prepared for the man she meets. 

But just days later there is another body. With the same MO and in a bizarre turn of events our serial killer escapes from prison and is now on the loose. While the body count rises, Craig and Kieran may be in the most danger as they chase an escaped killer and try to unravel a web of lies, greed and straight-up crazy!

Graham never fails to give us a good, twisty, thriller of a tale! This was like trying to untangle a Rubick’s Cube! So many threads to pull at and everyone had me thinking, “Oh, yeah, he did it. ” And every time I was wrong.

Well Done!

NetGalley/ March 31st, 2020 by MIRA

 

 

THE RED LOTUS by CHRIS BOHJALIAN

The Red Lotus

“Set amidst the adrenaline-fueled world of the emergency room, The Red Lotus is a global thriller about those who dedicate their lives to saving people, and those who peddle death to the highest bidder.”

Alexis is an ER Doctor. She’s seen plenty of strange things and people. One Saturday night she meets a man named Austin who has a bullet in his shoulder. Details are sketchy and the man waiting for him is a bit off too. Turns out some crazy guy walked into a bar and just started shooting.

About six months later they are in love, not living together but already traveling to Vietnam on a bicycle tour with his friends. Alexis is not there for cycling. She is there to support her boyfriend on this particular tour where his uncle died and his father was wounded.

Then Austin doesn’t come home. The only sign of him an energy gel pack on the road. When his body turns up, Alexis wants answers. What has Austin done? Besides lie and lie really well? For one he has left her in danger and not only her. The world.

Okay, so that’s the story. Scary premise but plausible. I just could not get into this one. I skimmed more that I read.

NetGalley/Doubleday Books March 17, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

The Boy From The Woods by Harlan Coben

 

The Boy from the Woods

Harlan Coben is a master of suspense. His books are like a game of ‘which shell is the pea under’. You have to pay close attention to multiple storylines within the main bombshell plot. And this one has my favorite character, Hester Crimstein.

Thirty years ago Hester discovered that her son, David had an imaginary friend at the edge of the woods. Only he wasn’t imaginary. He was a real boy, living in the woods with no name, no identification, nothing. Named Wilde, he is still a mystery even to himself.

When a local girl goes missing, the famous and oh so wonderful lawyer, Hester Crimstein, asks Wilde to use his skills to help find her. In doing so he finds that everyone is lying. Everyone is keeping secrets. Secrets that someone will kill to keep quiet. Is the missing girl part of some high school game or something more sinister?

An edge of your seat thriller with an ending I never saw coming. But it was a very satisfying one!

NetGalley/ March 17th, 2020 by Grand Central Publishing

 

 

 

 

YOU ARE NOT ALONE by GREER HENDRICKS & SARAH PEKKANEN

You Are Not Alone

“Some people contend there are two primal fears. The first and most basic is the end of our existence. The second is isolation; we all have a deep need to belong to something greater than ourselves.”

Shay Miller is in her 30’s and has just been downsized. She’s been roommates with her best friend Sean forever and now he suddenly has a serious girlfriend who would rather not have Shay living there.

Jobless, homeless and alone. This isn’t how she planned her life but it’s how it turned out. She is a loner who wants to belong. To someone or something. She’s brilliant in her field of Data but nailing interviews isn’t her strong suit. You can tell there is going to be an interesting backstory here.

Jane and Cassandra Moore are sisters and own a successful business. They have tons of friends and are so what Shay wants to be. Or does she?

When Shay witnesses a woman jump in front of a subway train, the Moore sisters seem to be the answer to all of Shay’s problems. Since they appeared in her life things just work out. She desperately wants them to like her and that desperation may be exactly what gets her killed.

Whenever I see a new book on the NetGalley shelf by these two writers I am unable to resist asking for it! The flow, the characters, the twists, and turns will have you staying up long past your bedtime just to figure out this puzzle! Because if you are like me, you have an idea but oh my that ending!

Never disappoint!

NetGalley/ March 3rd, 2020 by St. Martin’s Press

 

 

 

 

REVOLVER ROAD by CHRISTI DAUGHERTY (A HarperMcClain Mystery)

Revolver Road (Harper McClain, #3)

Crime reporter Harper McClain is back on the beat when a troubled musician vanishes in Christi Daugherty’s Revolver Road.

We’re back in Savannah with crime reporter Harper McClain. After being told to RUN!, she is hiding out on Tybee Island while she figures out who wants her dead.

In between working at the newspaper and trying to solve her mother’s murder, she is now on the case of who killed Xavier Rayne. An up and coming music star who was set to go on tour when he walked out of his rented beach house on Tybee. His girlfriend and two bandmates are acting very suspicious and when a body shows up with bullet holes they all become suspects.

Digging deeper into the case has her not quite sure who to believe and now threats against her own life are being made which have nothing to do with the Rayne case. Someone is watching her. Someone wants to protect her. Someone wants her dead.

Who can she trust?

I love this series. Every one. This book is the reason I did not see the Super Bowl! That is how edge of your seat crazy suspenseful this book is!

Highly recommend!

NetGalley/March 10th 2020 by Minotaur Books