Stolen By The Berserker by Asa Maria Bradley is a novella, packed with action. An immortal Viking, Sten, enters Cassie’s life and nothing will ever be the same. The action is non stop, as is the danger they face. We may have insta love, but that fits the story and I’m good with it. Stolen By the Berserker by Asa Maria Bradley may be short, but it was very engaging.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The captor became the captive. He’s an immortal Viking who’s in town to complete a semi-legal weapons deal. She’s the tempting server dishing out delicious pie at the local diner. After one sizzling night, they both think they can just walk away from each other.
But even if Loki’s monsters and the Goddess Freya had not exacerbated the situation, they would both still be very wrong. That one night changed everything.
Note: This standalone novella takes place in the Norse Warrior Protectors world.
You’ll love Stolen by the Berserker if you’re a fan of: -Creature/Monster Romance -Forced Proximity -Dominant Immortal Vikings -Shotgun-Wielding Mountain Girls -One-Night Stands that Turn into So Much More -Soulmarked Fated Mates -He Falls First -Norse Mythology -Spicy Sizzling Chemistry
USA Today Bestselling Author Asa Maria Bradley grew up in Sweden surrounded by archaeology and history steeped in Norse mythology, which inspired her sexy paranormal romance and urban fantasy series.
Booklist attributes Asa’s writing with “nonstop action, satisfying romantic encounters, and intriguing world building” and Entertainment Weekly says “when it comes to paranormal romance with explosive action scenes, Bradley has that nailed.” Her work has received the honors of a double nomination for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA contest, a Reviewers’ Choice Award nomination, a Holt Medallion win, and a Booksellers’ Best Award win.
Asa came to the United States as a high school exchange student and quickly fell in love with ranch dressing and crime TV dramas of all flavors, two addictions she unfortunately still struggles with. Currently, she lives on a lake deep in the forest of the Pacific Northwest with a British husband and a rescue dog of indeterminate breed. Sadly, neither of them obeys any of her commands.
Excitement is in the air as everyone in Mermaid Bay is preparing for the Christmas season. This year promises to be more dazzling than ever when the business council sponsors a competition for the town’s lucrative summer fireworks contract. The quaint little beach town is ready to be wowed with choreographed shows and drone action that light up the night sky.
Instead of goodwill and sparkles, two of the teams take the competition to new lows with corporate espionage, feuds, and sabotage, and Jade and her team at ‘Tis the Season are ground zero for all the explosive action. When one of the competitors turns up murdered near Jade’s shop, she has to solve the mystery before the holidays are ruined.
About Heather Weidner
Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, and the Pearly Girls Mysteries.
Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime: National, Central Virginia, Chessie, Guppies, and Grand Canyon Writers, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers, and she blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.
For years, I have known Tess Gerritsen as the author of the Rizzoli and Iles novels. I have watched the TV series for years, and continue to watch the reruns to this day. After reading The Spy Coast, I am thinking that I love The Martini Club, a group of ex spies that have settled in the small town of Purity, Maine.
They will come out of retirement, when Maggie Bird’s past comes calling. She tries to keep them out of it, but they could use a little excitement in their lives. They will travel from Maine to Thailand to Turkey to London to Malta, as Maggie tries to put her past to bed once and for all.
Jo Thibodeau, Purity’s police chief is on the case and she’s like a dog with a bone. She knows that Maggie is hiding something and keeps her eyes on the gang.
Maggie loves her life as a chicken farmer. Will she ever be able to return to Maine? Will they all manage to traverse the dangers and come out the other side in one piece? Well, it’s The Martini Club series, so what do you think?
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past in this fresh take on the spy thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.
But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.
Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.
As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends—and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau—Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2023by Thomas & Mercer
Setting: Maine (United States), Bangkok (Thailand), Istanbul (Turkey)
Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.
While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. In 1987, her first novel was published. Call After Midnight, a romantic thriller, was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift”, which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.
Tess’s first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her suspense novels since then have been: Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), Gravity (1999), The Surgeon (2001), The Apprentice (2002), The Sinner (2003), Body Double (2004), Vanish (2005), The Mephisto Club (2006), and The Bone Garden (2007). Her books have been translated into 31 languages, and more than 15 million copies have been sold around the world.
As well as being a New York Times bestselling author, she has also been a #1 bestseller in both Germany and the UK. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon.) Critics around the world have praised her novels as “Pulse-pounding fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “Scary and brilliant” (Toronto Globe and Mail), and “Polished, riveting prose” (Chicago Tribune). Publisher Weekly has dubbed her the “medical suspense queen”.
Now retired from medicine, she writes full time. She lives in Maine.
Soft Serve Sleighing (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) by Lena Gregory
About Soft Serve Sleighing
Soft Serve Sleighing (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) Cozy Mystery 5th in Series Setting – Long Island, NY Publisher : Gemma Halliday Publishing (January 28, 2025) Number of Pages – 226 Kindle ASIN : B0DLHPWDNT
From author Lena Gregory comes a delightfully delicious cozy mystery…
With most of Eastern Long Island closed down for a blizzard, Danika Delaney and her friends are holed up in her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, with ice cream and hot chocolate. However, their plans to wait out the storm in cozy company are interrupted when a popular YouTuber and her two companions show up at the door—they’ve been trapped by the storm, and Dani generously offers to serve them breakfast. But her generosity isn’t rewarded in kind, as the reviewer then tries to extort money from Dani in exchange for a good review! When the storm finally clears, Dani is happy to have seen the last of them.
Or so she thought.
Dani and her friends decide to go sleigh riding the morning after the storm clears, but instead of a winter wonderland, they find the extorting YouTuber…dead! To make matters worse, Dani suddenly finds herself accused of the woman’s murder. Intent on restoring her reputation, Dani sets out to prove she didn’t do it. This is one storm she’s not sure she can weather…
About Lena Gregory
Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest, the Mini-Meadows Mysteries, set in a community of tiny homes in Central Florida, and the Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries, which take place in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, New York.
Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full-time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.
The Valkyries Legacy by Tiana Warner is the third book in the Sigrid and The Valkyries series. This series has been blowing my mind, so I am happy to be back in the saddle again with Sigrid.
We open with immediate action and I love it. Will I get a chance to catch my breath along the way? No, I won’t. The action and danger are intense and non stop. The vivid descriptions of Sigrid’s fantastical world draw me in, deeper and deeper.
Loki is creating havoc across the nine worlds.
I love that Sigrid is more warrior than princess. A badass female main character is always at the top of my list of desirable characters, especially when there will be many battles fought. Sigrid would rather everyone learn to work together, but sometimes others refuse. I also love that we have a lesbian heroine and I love an author that is not afraid to share diverse characters.
I love all the creatures.
The nine worlds are in danger and Sigrid has tasked herself with the dangerous journey to the Norns in the hopes of creating a new Eye of Hnitbjorg, thus restoring Vanaheim’s gods given magic.
In Chapter 27, Tiana may have thought she could sneak one by me, but I am on my toes. I love what she did and I read even faster to find out the end result.
Sigrid and the Valkyrie’s series is amazing. Each and every book kept me enthralled, waiting for the next book to be available, having to know the story. I raced through the pages, heart in my throat, a white knuckled grasp on my ereader. I am sad to see the series end, but Tiana Warner wrapped it up in a spectacular fashion.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Valkyrie’s Legacy by Tiana Warner.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The blood of a princess …and the heart of valkyrie
Sigrid may be the last surviving royal of Vanaheim, but she’s more warrior than princess. Her world is collapsing under the onslaught of their enemies, who are ripping apart Sigrid’s home and everyone in it. Even astride Sleipnir, her legendary eight-legged horse, Sigrid can’t fight the darkness unleashed by the Night Elves. And at any moment, the god Loki could unleash chaos upon them all…
With the fate of nine worlds perilously close to breaking, there’s only one way to restore the by restoring Vanaheim’s gods-given magic. But doing so means undertaking a journey that’s not only treacherous but nearly impossible.
With her beloved Mariam by her side, Sigrid must find a way to unite all the worlds…including Helheim.
It will take courage.
It will take strength.
Most of all, it will tempt Sigrid to draw upon the thing she fears most: the darkness inside her own heart. Because the only way to take on a god—and win—will be to raise an army from the most fearsome corners of the nine worlds.
The Sigrid and The Valkyries series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Book #1 The Valkyrie’s Daughter Book #2 The Valkyrie’s Shadow Book #3 The Valkyrie’s Legacy
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance
366 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 27, 2025 by Entangled: Teen
ABOUT TIANA WARNER
Tiana Warner is an LGBTQ+ author from British Columbia, Canada, best known for her critically acclaimed “Mermaids of Eriana Kwai” trilogy and its comic adaptation. Tiana is a lifelong horseback rider, a former programmer with a Computer Science degree, and an outdoor enthusiast who loves to explore nature with her musician boyfriend and their hyperactive rescue mutt, Joey. Find her online at tianawarner.com.
**images are linked to Amazon (I am an affiliate)**
Hi Everyone. I don’t know about you, but this has been one wild week. We got nine inches of snow and it stuck around for five days. Everything shut down, even I 10. Here in the Florida Panhandle, we are not equipped to handle inclement weather like ice and snow. Today, the sun is out and we are in the low 60s. Now, I’ll be watching some football. How about you? Do you follow any football teams? Do you have a favorite sport?
When I first read the title, Final Encounter, I thought, oh no, this can’t be the end of Leine Basso…and it is not. I am excited to spend some time with Leine in the US, even though I do enjoy traveling to all parts of the world. Instead of human traffickers, we have artificial intelligence.
Final Encounter by D V Berkom is Leine Basso’s fourteenth novel in the series. Leine is a kickass character that doesn’t hesitate to help out a friend. She has her own set of rules, and I don’t have a problem with that. Sometimes getting the job done blurs the lines.
I am seeing more books coming out that are dealing with artificial intelligence. I already thought we had enough problems with technology, but there is no holding it back. It’s not like you can put the genie back in the bottle. I think artificial intelligence can be a good thing, but, just like anything, there are always those who will use it for bad.
When Leine Basso is involved, bodies fall and suspense rises. At times she tiptoes through the pages, trying not to be seen. Other times, she is up front and personal. Leine likes action, and so do I. But, I like the written kind. I am an armchair spectator, so D V Berkom’s writing speaks to me. She knows how to keep me involved and I feel like I have a lot of other readers keeping me company.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A former assassin, a disgraced-cop, and a cyber-security expert race to stop a relentless cyber-terrorist determined to sell death and destruction to the highest bidder.
When three performers from a prestigious Seattle nightclub are murdered, former assassin Leine Basso is called in by a close friend to help investigate.
The clues lead her to a wealthy tech mogul with a state-of-the-art AI program. Despite compelling evidence implicating the billionaire, Leine senses a deeper conspiracy.
Assisted by a cyber-security expert and a disgraced-cop-turned-PI, Leine must navigate a maze of deception and cyber warfare, uncovering a cunning rival with a deadly agenda who is manipulating events from behind the scenes.
DV Berkom is a slave to the voices in her head. As the author of two popular thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones), her love of creating resilient, kick-*ss female characters stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, mysteries, and thrillers, and longing to find the female equivalent within those pages.
Raised in the Midwest, she received her BA in political science from the University of Minnesota and promptly moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. Many, many cross-country moves (and several years) later, she now lives just outside of Seattle, Washington with the love of her life, Mark, an ex-chef-turned contractor, and writes every chance she gets.
For more information, please visit her website at www.dvberkom.com.
Unexpected solutions to unanticipated problems with the Golden Harvest.
Title: The Golden Deficit: Book 3 of the Golden Harvest Series
Author: Joni Parker
Pages: 401
Genre: Fantasy
Lady Alex, the Elfin Keeper of the Keys for the Council of Elders, begins an epic adventure when she returns to the magical land of Eledon. The final talley of the Golden Harvest is in, and it’s far from the hundred million gold knots required. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the deficit is even larger, caused by the deceitful Rock Elves. These cunning creatures have been paying other Elves with fake gold knots for years, and no one had a clue until now. The Mentors demand the Elves pay the five million knot deficit in ninety days, but no one has any gold left. The pressure is on, and everyone is at a loss for how to come up with the gold, until Lady Alex devises a brilliant plan. But it will require equipment and expertise the Elves don’t have, and time is running out. Can she gather what she needs and save Eledon from financial ruin before it’s too late?
This sucked! I came home expecting a warm welcome, but instead, I’ve been chewed out twice. Or was it three times? I should have kept score, but I had no idea what I was walking into. I had returned to Eledon because my mortal boss in Paris, Étienne, a world renown fashion designer, went into the hospital for a ruptured appendix. He had delayed treatment because he had top billing during fashion week in Paris, and it consumed him. We worked extra-long hours to get the clothes done in time, and the results were brilliant. Although he could have died, he didn’t, but when he was taken to the hospital, all work in the design studio came to a screeching-ass halt although I had to finish up some photoshoots for a magazine spread. Work won’t start up again until Étienne gets back at the end of March. So, I came home to Eledon.
Eledon was the home of the Elves, and was given to us by our Mentors when we were forced to leave Earth. I was part Elf and mortal, well, mostly mortal. My father was a mortal man from a place in outer space called Oltria, and my mother was the daughter of a Water Elf and a Titan. I hardly remembered them since they died when I was four. When I grew up, I lived with my mortal foster parents until I turned sixteen. Then I moved in with my Elfin grandmother, Lady Lestin of the Water Elves. Talk about a culture shock. I’m still learning about Elves.
– Excerpted from The Golden Deficit by Joni Parker, Joni Parker, 2024. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author
Joni Parker was born in Chicago, Illinois, but moved to Japan with her family when she was 8, so her father could achieve his dream of becoming a pro golfer. Upon return, her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where Joni graduated from Camelback High School. After a short stint at Arizona State University, she joined the U.S. Navy. After 22 years of military service, she retired and traveled the country with her husband in their RV until he passed away. Joni went back to work for the federal government for another 7 years until she could retire and devote her time to writing. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with her sister.
I was introduced to M C Frank’s writing when I grabbed a copy of Seduced and it blew me away. I couldn’t stop reading once I started. She also creates some gorgeous covers and I am a sucker for a book with a fabulous cover. I don’t read a lot of pop and rock star novels, but, because I find M C Frank’s writing off the charts, I will read anything she writes.
Haunt Me is one of the most angsty books I have ever read. M C Frank knows how to wring out every emotion, and tissues may be required.
Two lost souls. Eden had been kidnapped when just a few months old, so she was really lost. She has been kept isolated and doesn’t know that the life she is living is not normal. Now, the whole world knows her story. Isaiah is the pop star who became famous because he lost the love of his life, Eden.
I will warn you, the romance is dark, yet clean, but there are a lot of triggers…dealing with mental issues, kidnapping, rape, substance abuse and more.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Haunt Me by M C Frank and I will be checking my ereader to see is I have any other books hanging around.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The crowd is roaring my name.
Their cries drown out the gorgeous music as I slowly sink back to my knees, where I belong.
Utterly, desperately, completely alone.
“I hope I haunt you!” I shout at her retreating back from the stage.
“I hope you do,” she shouts back.
But I am the one who will be haunted.
If anyone is the heartbreaker here, it’s me, not her. I broke my own heart, and hers. And I have no idea how to put what I broke back together.
I can’t seem to get back up on my feet. All these people are waiting for me, and I can’t open my mouth. I can have pretty much anything I want in the whole world, except for her. She is the one thing I want and the one thing I can’t have.
Is it too late to start believing in hope?
I hope it’s not. Because right now, at this moment when I have zero reasons to start believing and even less reasons to start hoping—this is when I freaking start.
And this time, I’m all in.
There was once a girl who was lost.
And she met a boy who was lost, and they tried to save each other. And they did save each other, for a little while.
But then they got lost again, and even they lost each other.
I was the lost boy and Eden was the lost girl—but she wasn’t lost in the same sense I was. She wasn’t just sad and bruised by life. She wasn’t just alone like me. No.
She was literally lost.
Her family had been searching for her since she was a few months old.
Eden – the poet
The whole country knows my story. It’s tragic, it’s sad, it’s bad. It’s famous. But that was years ago. Now, I am just a girl trying to survive the trauma. Trying to relearn how to live.
And forget that somehow, in the middle of it all, I fell in love with the biggest pop idol on the planet.
Who now hates me for ruining his life.
But my love for him still haunts me, it won’t let me move on. I am stuck in a ghost of a life. I am a ghost of a girl.
I have broken into a million pieces and I don’t know how to be whole again. Love can do miracles, they say. But what love would ever be strong enough to heal me?
Isaiah – the pop idol
I have been writing all my songs about her since the very beginning. These songs have made me a superstar, but my heart is still haunted by her. Still empty. Still bleeding.
The day I lost her, I lost everything. I lost myself.
The years passed, but my heart kept breaking. She pierced my heart, and a man does not recover from a love like that. From a girl like her–even if he is a pop idol.
The minute I meet her again, I know I am hers. There is no denying I never stopped loving her. Pretending to hate her was a waste of time and now, I have ruined everything. She doesn’t want me.
Is it too late to hope?
Is it too late to win her back?
Is it too late for us?
Haunt Me is a second-chance angsty romance about a pop idol and the girl who destroyed him. Prepare the tissues. The darkness will be off the charts with this one -but so will the hope. So will the heat. So will the love.
Genre: Dark Romance, Fiction, Second Chance
487 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 10, 2025
ABOUT M C FRANK
Welcome to the world of M.C. FRANK’s books, where characters aren’t going to have an easy time of it: They will find themselves in icy-cold dystopian worlds where kissing is forbidden (among other things), or in green forests ruled by evil Sheriffs. If they’re in Jane Austen’s England, they have to be running away from a traumatic childhood, or if they are in our contemporary world, they’re scared they’ll die before they have finished high school. That sort of thing. Don’t worry, though, she knows we all need a little hope and joy in our lives, so there’s a good dose of those as well in everything she writes. M.C. Frank (writer, reader, designer, physicist and teacher, to name a few) has been living in a world of stories ever since she can remember (that’s before she knew how to write). She started writing them down when she could no longer stand the characters in her head screaming at her to give them life, and while those first scribblings weren’t exactly good (nor were they books, although she insisted on calling them that), they were enough for her to discover her passion in life. She got her university degree in physics a few years ago (yes, she’s like Sheldon, only a bit crazier!) and is now free to pursue her love of reading and writing, as well her free-lance job as editor-in-chief. She lives with her ‘dude’ in a home filled with candles, laptops and notebooks, where she rearranges her overflowing bookshelves every time she feels stressed. Which is often, since (as you might have noticed) she doesn’t pick the easiest subjects for her novels. Learn more about her and her New Adult, Young Adult, scifi, Greek mythology and historical novels at mcfrankauthor.com
I love the fabulous cover for Deadly When Disturbed by D M Barr. It definitely fits the story for this psychological thriller. D M Barr hooked me from the opening pages and never let me go.
Dara Banks needs an assistant and Merry just happens to be there. Merry quickly makes herself indispensable, even insinuating herself into Dara’s personal life. You know that saying, when things appear to good to be true, they usually are. Well…Dara would do well to heed the warning.
Menace and suspense underlay every page. I know something is coming, but I don’t know what and and I don’t know when. I feel a sense of suspense, that, at times, had me racing through the pages. Other times, I took a step back, because I wanted to savor the anticipation.
Sex, brains, and cash – that’s all you needed to get by.
Too bad Merry will find out how wrong she could be.
Like I said earlier, I was hooked from the opening pages. The characters were compelling and I was so easily misled by them, that I never saw the ending coming. I love when an author can get me so involved, convinced I know what’s happening, then springs the unknown on me, making me see how wrong I was.
4 Stars
Synopsis:
Deadly When Disturbed follows the journey of leading Realtor and philanthropist Dara Banks. When Dara searches for an assistant, finding someone as resourceful as Meryl “Merry” Rafter seems too good to be true. So good in fact, she neglects to run a reference check. Bad move. Before she knows it, Merry, a former “actress” trying to be “helpful,” has insinuated herself into Dara’s business, family, and charity, and may be the only person saving her from prison. Dara becomes suspicious and begins snooping into Merry’s past. Feeling cornered, Merry reciprocates by launching an investigation of her own and realizes—too late—that she may have picked the wrong mark to con. These women’s unsettling discoveries, and their desperate efforts to safeguard their skeleton-filled closets and fragile self-images, lead to an explosive confrontation certain to destroy the lives of everyone in their midst.
Praise for Deadly When Disturbed:
“Two women. Friends? Hardly. They’re both after the same thing. And as the stakes get higher, the mind games get uglier, until—well, I’m not going to give away the killer ending. D. M. Barr’s latest domestic thriller is a total rush. It’s like being back with Betty and Veronica all over again—only this ain’t high school, and these women (like the title says) are DEADLY WHEN DISTURBED.” ~ Marshall Karp, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of the NYPD RED series
“Who’s the hunter and who’s the hunted in this taut domestic thriller? Don’t even try to guess. Just relax, enjoy, and hang on as DEADLY WHEN DISTURBED takes you on a wild ride.” ~ Brad Parks, international bestselling author of THE BOUNDARIES WE CROSS.
“Tense, well-written, and surprising—Liane Moriarty meets Gillian Flynn by way of John Lutz in D.M. Barr’s latest domestic thriller, DEADLY WHEN DISTURBED. Gaslighting and suburban intrigue abound in this carefully crafted tale, guaranteed to keep you in suspense all the way to the final chapter. Put this one at the top of your to-be-read pile!” ~ Richard Helms, Thriller, Macavity, and Shamus Awards winning author of 22 RUE MONTPARNASSE.
“DEADLY WHEN DISTURBED is a superb dark thriller that offers a brilliantly written bizarro take on the classic All About Eve. Shifts in reality and twists of the plot keep the reader on edge until the stunning and unexpected climax. Fasten your seatbelt and hang on. It’s a great ride.” ~ S. Lee Manning, award-winning author of TROJAN HORSE, NERVE ATTACK, BLOODY SOIL, and DEADLY CHOICE.
“DEADLY WHEN DISTURBED by D.M. Barr is a clever psychological thriller reminiscent of The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, updated for today’s culture and with a superior narrative.… With a steady and increasingly intense pace, [it] is a hypnotic read of insanity and wretchedness that will stay with you long after the last page.” ~ Gaius Konstantine for Readers’ Favorite
Deadly When Disturbed Trailer:
Book Details:
Genre: Domestic Suspense, Domestic Thriller Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: January 2025 Number of Pages: 310 Book Links:Amazon | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
Prologue
She stood at her dining room table and calmly fingered through the cardboard box, double-checking that the paperwork was in chronological order. Even now, no one could accuse Samantha Ellingsworth of being anything but organized and precise. For nearly forty years, it had been both a gift and a curse.
First the letters from Harry, professing his incendiary ardor during their abbreviated law school courtship. The GIA certificate for the diamond, his glittering promise of passion extending through eternity. The deed to their Upper West side condo. A copy of her resignation from Davis & Milliken, where she’d been on the fast track to partner. The birth certificates for her daughter, dated a year later, and the surprise twins, ten years after that.
Next, the children’s coveted acceptance letters from Harrison—Manhattan’s most elite private pre-school and elementary—followed by every one of the glowing report cards she’d worked with them so diligently to earn. Campaign flyers she’d created for Harry’s run for state senate. Her passport opened to the page containing the stamp from that fateful trip to Aruba. The letters she’d written, refuting everything he’d accused her of as lies—all unopened and marked “Return to Sender.” The prescription for Prozac, unfilled, as if any pharmaceutical could rescue her from this pit of depression. Finally, the divorce papers she’d received a few weeks ago, still unsigned.
A lifetime of aspirations, misunderstandings, and betrayals, all encapsulated in a pile of paper less than an inch thick. She affixed the cover to the box and took a long, wistful look at the “perfect” apartment they’d been so ecstatic about buying, beating out several competing bids thanks to the lingering cachet of the Ellingsworth name and its clout in political circles. Confident that the condo was spotless, with everything in its place, Samantha slowly donned her hooded sheepskin coat, grabbed the box, and headed out.
The elevator operator nodded as she entered, but Gloria from the floor above murmured a curt hello and diverted her gaze as they descended from the seventh floor. Samantha had grown used to the frostiness over the past few weeks. Did the other tenants fear it was catching, that they too might be abandoned by their spouse and children, their lives reduced to rubble, if they inched too close? Whatever.
She trudged southbound through the early morning wintery mix; package still cradled to her chest like a newborn. Frigid raindrops grazed her eyelashes before cascading downward and stinging her cheeks as she passed the signs in Zabars’ windows, reminding patrons to purchase their Thanksgiving turkeys. The holiday was only days away. The irony did not escape her.
Shivering as much from the weather as from what lay ahead, she descended the subway staircase at 72nd Street, pushing against the throngs headed toward the sidewalk. She had someplace to go too and nothing—not crowds nor apprehension—was going to delay her.
Today was the day, a chance to have her say. Finally, she’d make him understand.
Samantha ran her MetroCard through the turnstile and headed toward the stairway leading to the uptown train. She positioned herself as close as possible to the opening of the tunnel and stood by the edge of the platform, resummoning her fleeting courage as the crowds swelled behind her. Commuters too involved with their phones to notice the determined woman beside them whose breathing had quickened and whose face had grown hot. She hugged the box even tighter to her fidgeting body and waited. And waited.
A collective sigh arose from the crowd as the loudspeaker announced that the next train was going out of service and wouldn’t be stopping. She saw the light in the distance and heard the clunk-de-clunk and whirl—a deafening gale descending onto the tracks, drowning out the murmur of the passengers. Her ride to the most important meeting of her life. And it was the number 2 train. How appropriate. Just like her, relegated from number one.
Timing was everything, the oncoming gleam only yards away. She tightened her grasp on what was left of her world, recalling the face of the bitch who’d laughed as she’d stolen it all away. Then she took one last breath and jumped onto the tracks.
***
Excerpt from Deadly When Disturbed by DM Barr. Copyright 2025 by DM Barr. Reproduced with permission from DM Barr. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Dawn M. Barclay is an award-winning author who writes psychological and romantic suspense as D.M. Barr and non-fiction under her own name.
Her eight other published books include Expired Listings, Murder Worth the Weight, and Saving Grace: A Psychological Thriller. Along with Deadly When Disturbed, in February LBB will also publish the first of her multi-volume series, Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover’s Travel Guide.
Dawn recently completed her second stint co-editing a Sisters in Crime NY/Tri-state anthology. New York State of Crime, published by Down & Out Books in the fall of 2024, which includes her third published short story, “Orchestral Removals in the Dark.” She is currently editing an anthology of crime fiction for Down & Out Books inspired by the music of Elton John and Bernie Taupin.
Dawn offers developmental and copy editing through SuggestedDevelopment.com, and ghostwrites personal histories and corporate profiles through LegacyQuest.net. A member of ITW, she has served as president of Hudson Valley Scribes, vice president of Sisters in Crime-NY (still a board member), and the newsletter author/board member of the NY chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
