I picked up Blood Lust by Jill Cooper on a free day. That cover caught my eye and the more I checked it out, the more I knew I made the right move one clicking. Same and Dean, step aside for Jessica and Amanda. Jill Cooper is so descriptive of the world, action and characters, I could visualize what was happening. Even though it took me a little to get into it, once Jill Cooper got made me sit up and take notice, I didn’t want to stop.
The drawback…the dreaded cliffhanger…and it is not on Kindle Unlimited. Still glad I read it. I rarely buy books any more, so I may never ‘know’ the end, but I bet I can guess. The thing is…it’s about the journey, not the destination, for me.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
If you love Sam and Dean, then you’re going to adore The Blood Sisters! Hunting demons, kicking ass and saving people is what they do.
When an evil gang spreads demon essence drugs throughout the mid-west, Jessica and Amanda Blood are hot on their trail. Until Amanda is kidnapped by demons eager to collect the bounty placed on the sisters’ heads by queen of the underworld.
Jessica will go to the ends of the Earth to find her healer sister, before Amanda is sacrificed and her pure blood used to open the gates of hell. But to get there, Jessica must ride with bad boy demon hunter Duncan Jasper and his gang. Too bad the only thing tougher than fighting demons is fighting her attraction to Duncan.
Duncan Jasper left Jessica once, on his own dangerous mission. Now he’s back, and determined to keep her safe in his arms, no matter what–if she’ll let him, that is.
But with demons charging from the front, the underworld gunning from behind, and a spy in their midst, Jessica and Duncan’s fight to save Amanda–and humanity–is just beginning.
ABOUT JILL COOPER
Author of the YA Dream Slayer series, Jill loves to blend horror, comedy, the supernatural, and love, through her novels. A fan of genre blending, her work strives to cross boundries, but most of all strives to entertain.
She loves soft cuddly cats, warm blankets, and paranormal romances.
Jill resides in Massachusetts, is constantly renovating her home that she shares with her husband, young daughter, and two skittish cats.
First off, I love the cover. It makes me think fantasy, but I guess psychopaths hide behind a mask of their own making, so it fits the story. I love psychological thrillers and find psychopaths fascinating. Because of the very effective blurb, a sense of menace lingers on every page and I am waiting and eager for the bad to begin.
River of Ashes by Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor is told from the psychopath’s point of view, at least some of the time. Oh yeah. I love seeing the world through his twisted eyes.
Beau is rich, a psychopath and he wants Leslie, though, for the moment, he’s settled for her sister, Dawn, while Leslie find Derek perfect and wants nothing to do with the ‘off’ Beau. Her intuition is spot on.
Beau hides his anger. His motto: Never lose control. One slip…Once the genie is out of the bottle…All his life, his dad had told him, “Don’t let them see who you really are.”
WOW. So much heartache and evil, twists and turns. I love books that get my emotions bubbling, gripping me, making me read until the wee hours of the morning, having to know…I couldn’t stop.
I always try and figure things out, but it didn’t happen here. I was surprised at the very end and that rarely happens. I can hardly wait to see what’s in store for Book II, River Of Wrath, and I plan to be around for it.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of River Of Ashes by Alexandrea Weiss & Lucas Astor.
4 Stars
River of Ashes Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor (St. Benedict, #1) Published by: Vesuvian Books Publication date: August 2nd 2022 Genres: Adult, Psychological Thriller
“A psychological portrait akin to Lord of the Flies.” ~Midwest Book Review
SOME TRUTHS ARE BETTER KEPT SECRET. SOME SECRETS ARE BETTER OFF DEAD.
ALONG THE BANKS OF THE BOGUE FALAYA RIVER, sits the abandoned St. Francis Seminary. Beneath a canopy of oaks, blocked from prying eyes, the teens of St. Benedict High gather here on Fridays. The rest of the week belongs to school and family—but weekends belong to the river.
And the river belongs to Beau Devereaux.
The only child of a powerful family, Beau can do no wrong. Star quarterback. Handsome. Charming. The “prince” of St. Benedict is the ultimate catch.
He is also a psychopath.
A dirty family secret buried for years, Beau’s evil grows unchecked. In the shadows of the haunted abbey, he commits unspeakable acts on his victims and ensures their silence with threats and intimidation. Senior year, Beau sets his sights on his girlfriend’s headstrong twin sister, Leslie, who hates him. Everything he wants but cannot have, she will be his ultimate prize.
As the victim toll mounts, it becomes clear that someone must stop Beau Devereaux.
Alexandrea Weis, RN-CS, PhD, is a multi-award-winning author of over twenty-seven novels, a screenwriter, ICU Nurse, and historian who was born and raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Having grown up in the motion picture industry as the daughter of a director, she learned to tell stories from a different perspective and began writing at the age of eight. Infusing the rich tapestry of her hometown into her novels, she believes that creating vivid characters makes a story moving and memorable. A member of the Horror Writers Association and International Thriller Writers Association, Weis writes mystery, suspense, thrillers, horror, crime fiction, and romance. She lives with her husband and pets in New Orleans where she is a permitted/certified wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and rescues orphaned and injured animals.
Lucas Astor is from New York, has resided in Central America and the Middle East, and traveled through Europe. He lives a very private, virtually reclusive lifestyle, preferring to spend time with a close-knit group of friends than be in the spotlight.
He is an award-winning author and poet with a penchant for telling stories that delve into the dark side of the human psyche. He likes to explore the evil that exists, not just in the world, but right next door behind a smiling face. IG: @lucasastorauthor
I have loved what I have read from Tiana Warner, so when I saw The Helheim Princess, I had to have it. I love myths and legends and reading books that stretch my imagination.
‘Sigrid urged Hestur to a gallop….’ and their mad dash to Vanaheim and back had me cracking up. I’ll leave it to you to find out why, but with a start like that, I feel good about the rest of the story.
Sigrid has no memory of her family and she is bullied by the Valkyries. She wants so much to be one of them, but so many things work against her. Valkyries have magical horses and Hestur is not magical, or white and gorgeous. He is brown, ordinary looking, but as fast as the wind. She trains in secret…and it will come in handy.
Dire wolves. Night elves. Helheim…the land of the dead.
On Sigrid’s quest for her destiny, she will be used and betrayed, but she will also find the most loyal friends and her place in the world.
Tiana Warner’s creative world building had me lost in the fantasy. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey, and I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with Sigrid and her friends. The characters are fleshed out, growing and changing.
I couldn’t put it down long enough to take many notes. I was captivated with the vividly created world, fabulous characters and an adventure filled with surprise and danger. I love when I don’t always know where I am going, but enjoy the time it takes to get there.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Helheim Princess by Tiana Warner.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A thrilling, intricate, and romantic #OwnVoices LGBTQ fantasy that builds on Norse mythology into a beautiful story all its own.
For
as long as Sigrid could remember, she’s wanted to become a mighty,
fearless valkyrie. But without a winged mare, she’s a mere stable hand,
left wondering who her parents were and why she’s so different. So when
the Eye shows her a vision where she’s leading a valkyrie charge on the
legendary eight-legged horse Sleipnir, she grabs the possibility of this
greater destiny with both hands, refusing to let go.
Too bad
that the only one who can help her get there is Mariam, an enemy
valkyrie who begrudgingly agrees to lead her to Helheim but who
certainly can’t be trusted―even if she does make Sigrid more than a
little flustered. As they cross the nine worlds, battling night elves,
riding sea serpents, and hurtling into fire to learn the truth about
Sigrid’s birthright, an unexpected but powerful bond forms.
As
her feelings for Mariam deepen into something fiery and undeniable, Fate
has other plans for Sigrid. What happens when the one thing you think
you were meant to do might end the nine worlds?
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.
Grady is in middle school with his best friend Aarush, who is on the autistic spectrum.
Kids…autistic, asthmatic, overweight, bullies, insecurity…This coming of age fantasy has it all. I was captivated with the world and characters that Carole P Roman has created. I loved watching them learn and grow.
Grady, Aarush and many of their classmates want to go to Templeton Academy, a place to discover your ‘hidden talents and develop them into formidable powers.’ Sounds a bit Hatty Potterish, doesn’t it?
The kids who gravitated to Grady learned to work together for a common goal. I can see a moral to the story and I feel all who read Grady Whill will leave with a smile on their face.
It is hard to describe the story without spoiling it, but I will say it was…unputdownable.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex by Carole P Roman.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Templeton Academy- the superhero high school is finally open! The prestigious academy is recruiting the best of the best to enroll in its student body. The school is as mysterious as it is exclusive. Grady Whill thinks there is nothing special about him to make the grade. However, his best friend, Aarush Patel has been selected and thinks Grady has the right stuff. Even school bully, Elwood Bledsoe is attending. If Grady is fortunate enough to be picked, his guardian has forbidden him to attend. Will a family secret prevent Grady from becoming the superhero he was destined to be?
ABOUT CAROLE P ROMAN
Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of over fifty children’s books. Whether it’s pirates, princesses, or discovering the world around us, her books have enchanted educators, parents, and her diverse audience of children. She hosts a blog radio program called Indie Authors Roundtable and is one of the founders of the magazine, Indie Author’s Monthly. She’s been interviewed twice by Forbes Magazine. Carole has co-authored two self-help books. Navigating Indieworld: A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing with Julie A. Gerber, and Marketing Indieworld with both Julie A. Gerber and Angela Hausman. She published Mindfulness for Kids with J. Robin Albertson-Wren and a new joke book called The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids: 800+ Jokes! She writes adult fiction under the name Brit Lunden and is currently helping to create an anthology with her mythical town of Bulwark, Georgia with a group of indie authors. She lives on Long Island near her children and grandchildren.
Her series includes: Captain No Beard If You Were Me and Lived in- Cultural If You Were Me and Lived in- Historical Nursery series Oh Susannah- Early Reader and coloring book Mindfulness for Kids with co-author J. Robin Albertson-Wren The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids; 800 plus Jokes! Navigating Indieworld- with co-author Julie A. Gerber Marketing Indieworld- with co-authors Angela Hausman and Julie A. Gerber Adult Fiction under the pen name Brit Lunden Bulwark The Knowing- A Bulwark Anthology
I love stories about vigilante justice and psychological thrillers. This is my first Chris Lewando book and I am looking forward to reading it.
Deidre is a solitary creature. She cracks me up and I can totally relate to her. She studied psychology, but switched to law. She had stepped into her job not even knowing she would be good at it.
She’d had all she could want as a child, a privileged life, until her dad, a pediatrician, was pushed out because of a baby snatching scandal. There had been children, boys and girls, disappearing. Now, someone is asking questions. Why now?
Her sister has a busy life, a husband and children, so an impromptu visit is not a simple thing. But there is more to the visit than just catching up. These questions and Deidre’s need for answers has her worried.
This is one of those books I find hard to share, because I don’t want to spoil anything for you I will say, we have our share of bad ‘guys’ and good ‘guys’. How it will al unravel I cannot say, but I am definitely eager to find out. We have subterfuge, danger, some trying to do the right thing and some trying to stop them.
Children’s lives are on the line. Kidnapping, sex trafficking, unfit parents that hate their children they brought into the world…and who is going to stand up for them, save them from evil?
It’s not easy to tell who to trust. I have a good feeling about one man, because she needs someone to love, someone to show her the good things in life. Someone to show her there is more to life than work and a glass of wine while reading vampire romances. Love that touch. Now, maybe you can see why Deidre speaks to me. 🙂
Chris Lewando has kept the pacing moving right along with mystery, suspense and, yes, some disgusting villains who I wished the worst. The one surprise I figured out pretty early, but I still loved the twist. I will definitely keep my eye on Chris Lewando.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Silence of Children by Chris Lewando.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Twenty year ago, Deirdre’s father, a paediatrician was implicated in a child-abduction scandal that cost him his job, forcing him to change his identity. As an adult, in discovering her father is involved in something decidedly shady, she confronts the horrific possibility that he is linked to a paedophile ring. When two men enter Deirdre’s life, she’s sure they’re seeking her father. But are they paedophiles or FEDs? Loyalties torn, she feels compelled to learn the truth and stumbles into a conspiracy that threatens her own life. Is she prepared to save a child’s life at the risk of her own? Even Deirdre doesn’t know the answer to that, until confronted with its reality. (
ABOUT CHRIS LEWANDO
I trained as an English teacher, but the planned storyline drifted off-track. I landed in an office, producing management statistics – a different kind of fiction. I have been writing for many years, with quite a few mainstream genre novels and short stories published while I was still working full time. I gained a Creative Writing Masters (hons), and have been a novel-writing tutor since lessons were sent by snail mail and the nearest thing to a mobile phone beamed Captain Kirk onto the Enterprise. I live in rural South West Ireland, play Irish music in pubs for tourists, drive a camper the same age as me, and self-publish standalone novels with multiple viewpoints and complex characters.
I love the awesome cover. Both shorts mention dementia.
MYSTERY ROAD: WOW. Mystery Road may be a short story, but it sure is powerful. Memories. Dreams. He prepares himself for his father’s death. A chance encounter leaves more questions than answers. Brought tears to my eyes. 4 Stars
A NIGHT AT OLD WEBB: Who’s to say ghosts don’t walk among us? Sometimes a nudge can take us to places we never would have reached on our own. Places where we were meant to be. We just needed that passing moment in time that lingers in our dreams, hopes, and desires. Well written, flowing smoothly to a thoughtprovoking conclusion. 3 Stars
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Mystery Road by Kevin Lucia.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Two Kevin Ellison Stories in One!
Mystery Road
Choices are like roads, taking us to destinations both planned and unexpected, but lofty thoughts like that are of no concern to young Kevin Ellison, who only cares about his dreams of basketball glory.
One day, however, while riding his bicycle to shoot baskets with his best friend, he comes across a side-road he doesn’t recognize, curving away into the woods. Intrigued, he rides down this unmarked road and encounters something both wonderful and quietly terrible, something that forever changes his understanding of the world…
A Night at Old Webb
Old Webb, an abandoned grammar school just outside Clifton Heights, is the place to be late summer nights in Webb County. A gathering place for friends to be themselves, away from grownups who have forgotten what it means to be young and free.
The summer of 1992, Kevin Ellison spent his Saturday nights there like everyone else. Everything was running according to plan: a college basketball scholarship, school, all the things everyone expected of him.
Then he met a girl named Michelle Titchner, and everything changed…
ABOUT KEVIN LUCIA
Kevin Lucia’s short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, most recently with Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Bentley Little, Peter Straub and Robert McCammon.
His first short story collection, Things Slip Through was published November 2013, followed by Devourer of Souls in June 2014, Through A Mirror, Darkly, June 2015, and and his second short story collection, Things You Need, September 2018. His novella Mystery Road is forthcoming from Cemetery Dance Publications.
Well, this wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. I love reading about serial killers, suspense and thriller fiction and nonfiction. Helltown seems to be a cross between them. It reminds me of the way recreations are done on TV, and I did do some web searching to check on some of the facts. It covers more than the murders. It’s about the 1960s, Cape Cod, Provincetown, the drug culture, hippies…
I have been traveling to the Cape for more than twenty years and I love it. You know exactly where you are by your surroundings, a unique and beautiful place. So many familiar places, I couldn’t help but smile as we drove the roads, ate in the restaurants and…
Can definitely see how far we have advanced when it comes to investigating a murder and how many more tools we have at our disposal.
The police, Kudos to them. Once they established a murder had taken place, they worked together tying the knot around Costa’s neck.
Even though there were fictional elements thrown in, I loved the way it was written. Easy to read, flowing smoothly.
I think a lot of people may have trouble with the recreations and suppositions, and that is why I didn’t rate this higher. It is supposed to be true crime, but it was written like a fictional novel. It was more about the times and the Cape than only a serial killer.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Helltown by Casey Sherman.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
1969: The hippie scene is vibrant in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Long-haired teenagers roam the streets, strumming guitars and preaching about peace and love… and Tony Costa is at the center of it all. To a certain group of smitten young women, he is known as Sire―the leader of their counter-culture movement, the charming man who speaks eloquently and hands out hallucinogenic drugs like candy. But beneath his benign persona lies a twisted and uncontrollable rage that threatens to break loose at any moment. Tony Costa is the most dangerous man on Cape Cod, and no one who crosses his path is safe.
When young women begin to disappear, Costa’s natural charisma and good looks initially protect him from suspicion. But as the bodies are discovered, the police close in on him as the key suspect. Meanwhile, local writers Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer are locked in a desperate race to secure their legacies as great literary icons―and they both set their sights on Tony Costa and the drug-soaked hippie culture that he embodies as their next promising subject, launching independent investigations that stoke the competitive fires between two of the greatest American writers.
Immersive, unflinching, and shocking, Helltown is a landmark true crime narrative that transports us back to the turbulent late 1960s, reveals the secrets of a notorious serial killer, and unspools the threads connecting Costa, Vonnegut, and Mailer in the seaside city that played host to horrors unlike any ever seen before. New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman has crafted a stunner.
ABOUT CASEY SHERMAN
Casey Sherman is a New York Times Bestselling Author of 13 books including The Finest Hours (now a major motion picture starring Casey Affleck & Chris Pine), Boston Strong (the basis for the film Patriots Day starring Mark Wahlberg), Animal & Hunting Whitey. Sherman is also the author of 12, Search for the Strangler, Animal, Bad Blood, Black Irish, Black Dragon, Above & Beyond and The Ice Bucket Challenge. Sherman is a contributing writer for TIME, Esquire, Washington Post, Boston Herald and Boston Magazine and has appeared as a guest an analyst on more than 100 television news programs. Sherman is a graduate of Barnstable High School (Cape Cod), Fryeburg Academy (Fryeburg, Me.) and Boston University.
I have loved all the books I have read by Anita Dickason, but Deadly Keepsakes is my FAVORITE. It all starts with the lovely cover, add in an historic house with hidden secrets, some wonderful characters that stole my heart, and I am hooked.
Alone. A hospice nurse. A mysterious death. A vicious dog. Sure did get me going, from the opening pages and I love when an author hooks me so quickly I am unable to look away.
It was the beginning of her descent into a living hell of fear
She knew the police couldn’t protect her. It was up to her to protect herself. Like her, I had thought danger would be over after the trial, but the story would have been over too soon and Anita Dickason wouldn’t have it. Now I know why. Thrills and chills coming up.
Anita Dickason didn’t take the story where I thought it would go. Well done, Anita. I do love when an author can throw a surprise my way and I should have known better than to leap to conclusions with an author like Anita.
The best thing that ever happened to Tori Winters was meeting MIa…and Cammie, Heidi and Tina. I loved watching Tori grow, along with her friendship with these amazing characters, so well fleshed out I wanted them for my friends too. I laughed and cried with them.
I was swept up in the intrigue that became Tori’s life. Who to trust? What the heck is going on? How much danger is she in? Where is it coming from?
I have to come back to the characters, so richly developed. I love the ladies. The more I read of them, the more I came to love them, their generosity, their desire to help a newcomer to their town, their selflessness, doing something good for someone and expecting nothing in return…but Tori will show them how much she appreciates and loves them.
The suspense is not in your face, fast paced danger and thrills, but an underlying current of menace and intrigue flows through the entire novel. I didn’t want to put the book down, but sleep was calling to me.
I love the historical elements, Benny Binion, Top O’Hill Terrace, Granbury, Texas. I love when an author adds elements that make the book special to me, touching on familiar things and introducing me to new things that make me want more.
WOW! I am blown away and super excited about more to come. I can’t say much more or I may include spoilers that are worth discovering for yourself, but I will repeat myself, WOW. I want more of these characters and I can hardly wait to see what is in store for them next.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Deadly Keepsakes by Anita Dickason.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The past becomes a deadly future.
Stalked and nearly killed for her role in a murder trial,
Tori Winters isn’t giving the killer a second chance. On the run, she’s
desperate to find a place where she can’t be found. A puzzling phone
call about a vague inheritance seems to be the answer. After all, who
would look for her in a Granbury, a small, quaint Texas town?
Instead,
Tori’s life is about to spin into an existence where nothing is as it
seems. The historic house she inherits is steeped in secrets from the
past. Secrets that could prove deadly. There is the disinherited
step-grandson, and the lawyer and his son. What are they hiding?
When a killer strikes again, who can she trust? Tori’s newfound wealth may not be a blessing. It could be her death warrant.
ABOUT ANITA DICKASON
Code Name: Trackers: The elite of the elite. FBI agents, each with a secret, an extra edge, that defies reason and logic.
Characters
with unexpected skills—that extra edge for overcoming danger and
adversity—have always intrigued Anita. Adding an infatuation with
ancient myths and legends of Native American Indians, and Scottish and
Irish folklore creates the backdrop for her characters.
Anita is a
retired Dallas Police Officer. During—what she refers to as an
extraordinary career—Anita served as a patrol officer, undercover
narcotics officer, advanced accident investigator, and SWAT
entry/sniper.
Upon retirement, she became involved in a research
project that dealt with the death of a witness to the Kennedy
assassination. The research led to her first book, JFK Assassination
Eyewitness: Rush to Conspiracy, that details the results of her
reconstruction of a 1966 motor vehicle accident that killed Lee Bowers,
Jr., a key witness to the assassination.
Once the Bowers book
was written, Anita reached the same point many authors ultimately face:
I’ve written it, now what do I do? Answering that question has become
another career, one she has wholeheartedly embraced. The publishing
field is in a constant state of flux, offering unlimited possibilities
for an author, but also endless landmines.
Anita started a new
company, Mystic Circle Books & Designs LLC, offering cover design
and manuscript services. In addition to her works as an author, she
enjoys helping other authors see their dream become a reality.
Every once in a while, I hop over to NetGalley and see what’s happening. I have missed some good books, but found some new authors, and Robert Bryndza is one. YEAH!
As soon as I saw the cover for Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza, it screamed READ ME. It’s awesome and sure does relate to the story inside, suspenseful, dangerous.
Then, I read the Prologue and it grabbed me. I do love a good Prologue and it made me ask myself…How did it come to that? Why?
Erika is a police officer and had been married to one. Her husband, Mark, had died on the job and her new house is to be a fresh start for her.
I like my action fast and furious, but I settled down in the police procedural, gathering clues with Erika, though they seem to be few. Suspects are eliminated as they crop up.
Two murders, seemingly unrelated, yet both are from the same rental building.
Even though Fatal Witness is fiction, it reminds me of how small a world we live in.
Well written. Easy to read. Flows nicely.
I sometimes have difficulty with novels from the UK, but not so here. Some words were unfamiliar, but the book was written in a way they were easy to understand.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Detective Erika Foster is back in FATAL WITNESS – with a chilling new serial killer case in Robert Bryndza’s multi-million bestselling crime thriller series!
How do you find a killer who has destroyed all the evidence?
Detective Erika Foster is on a late-night walk near her new house in Blackheath when she stumbles upon the brutal murder of Vicky Clarke, a true-crime podcaster.
Erika is assigned to the case and discovers that Vicky had been working on a new podcast episode about a sexual predator who preys on young female students around South London, staking out his victims in their halls of residence before breaking in at the dead of night. When Erika discovers that Vicky’s notes and sound recordings were stolen from her flat at the time of her murder, it leads her to believe that Vicky was close to unmasking the attacker, and she was killed to guarantee her silence.
The case takes on a disturbing twist when the body of a young Bulgarian student doctor is discovered in the same building, and this makes Erika question everything she thought she knew about Vicky. With very little evidence, the clock is ticking to find the killer before he strikes again.
ABOUT ROBERT BRYNDZA
Robert Bryndza is an international bestselling author, best known for his page-turning crime and thriller novels, which have sold over five million copies.
His crime debut, The Girl in the Ice was released in February 2016, introducing Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. Within five months it sold one million copies, reaching number one in the Amazon UK, USA and Australian charts. To date, The Girl in the Ice has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language and has been sold into translation in 29 countries. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2016), the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in France (2018), and it won two reader voted awards, The Thrillzone Awards best debut thriller in The Netherlands (2018) and The Dead Good Papercut Award for best page turner at the Harrogate Crime Festival (2016).
Robert has released a further five novels in the Erika Foster series, The Night Stalker, Dark Water, Last Breath, Cold Blood and Deadly Secrets, all of which have been global bestsellers, and in 2017 Last Breath was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Mystery and Thriller. Fatal Witness, the seventh Erika Foster novel, is now available to pre-order and will be published 7th July 2022.
Most recently, Robert created a new crime thriller series based around the central character Kate Marshall, a police officer turned private detective. The first book, Nine Elms, was an Amazon USA #1 bestseller and an Amazon UK top five bestseller, and the series has been sold into translation in 18 countries. The second book in the series is the global bestselling, Shadow Sands and the third book, Darkness Falls, has just been published.
Robert was born in Lowestoft, on the east coast of England. He studied at Aberystwyth University, and the Guildford School of Acting, and was an actor for several years, but didn’t find success until he took a play he’d written to the Edinburgh Festival. This led to the decision to change career and start writing. He self-published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels, before switching to writing crime. Robert lives with his husband in Slovakia, and is lucky enough to write full-time.
It is wonderful to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Temperance Brennan. I think my biggest problem with Cold Cold Bones is that I kept thinking about the TV show and comparing it to the book.
In case you haven’t met Temperance Brennan before, she is a forensic anthropologist, consulting with medical examiners and coroners on difficult cases, determining the cause of death. Her significant other, Andrew Ryan, is a retired Quebec homicide police officer, now trained as a private investigator. Tempe’s daughter is back from a tour in Afghanistan and moving into a new home.
I am not very excited. Granted, Cold Cold Bones comes across as a police procedural with a bit of danger, but when Tempe went to the steel plant…well, I was disappointed. Enough said. You want to know why I felt that? Read it yourself.
Compared to some of Kathy Reich’s novels, I am a bit disappointed. I will tell you I have missed some of the books in the series, so maybe it affected me while reading Cold Cold Bones. And…after watching so many of the TV shows, well, that presents its own problems, comparing everything.
No matter that Cold Cold Bones was not one of my favorite novels by Kathy Reichs, It won’t stop me from reading more of her work.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of Cold Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
#1 New York Times
bestselling thriller writer Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-first
novel of suspense featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan
who, after receiving a box containing a human eyeball, uncovers a series
of gruesome killings eerily reenacting the most shocking of her prior
cases.
Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop
in crime. Freed from a heavy work schedule, Tempe Brennan is content to
dote on her daughter Katy, finally returned to civilian life from the
army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe’s place one night, they
find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball.
GPS
coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine monastery
where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a
mummified corpse in a state park, and her anxiety deepens.
There
seems to be no pattern to the subsequent killings uncovered, except
that each mimics in some way a homicide that a younger Tempe had been
called in to analyze. Who or what is targeting her, and why?
Helping
Tempe search for answers is detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell, retired
but still volunteering with the CMPD cold case unit—and still
displaying his gallows humor. Also pulled into the mystery: Andrew Ryan,
Tempe’s Montreal-based beau, now working as a private detective.
Could
this elaborately staged skein of mayhem be the prelude to a twist that
is even more shocking? Tempe is at a loss to establish the motive for
what is going on…and then her daughter disappears.
At its core, Cold, Cold Bones is a novel of revenge—one in which revisiting the past may prove the only way to unravel the present.
ABOUT KATHY REICHS
Kathy
Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences
Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is
one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American
Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the
American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs is a native of
Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides
her time between Charlotte and Montreal and is a frequent expert witness
in criminal trials.
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