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.
As soon as I saw the tagline, ‘The true story of America’s first recorded mass shooting,’ I had to read it.
September 6, 1949.
Non fiction. Historical fiction. Camden, New Jersey. Twelve minutes. Thirteen dead. A missing gate.
Howard Unruh. He had been bullied his entire life. He was a war veteran.
Ellen J Green used all the available tools of research that were available, putting them into an easy to read and follow story. I like the way it was written.
Murder in the Neighborhood shows has far reaching a tragedy like this is and the fallout for those left standing.
Mass shootings seems to me to be a uniquely American phenomenon. There is no blanket solution to the problem, no easy way to predict who will do what when, but judging by current events…
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Murder In The Neighborhood by Ellen J Green.
4 Stars
Murder in the Neighborhood—the story of the first mass shooting in the US
Ellen J. Green
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Thread Books, Hachette UK
Date of Publication: 4/28/2022
ISBN13: 9781909770706
Number of pages: 324
Word Count: 85k
Cover Artist: Thread books
Book Description:
On 6 September 1949, twenty-eight-year-old Howard Barton Unruh shot thirteen people in less than twelve minutes on his block in East Camden, New Jersey. The shocking true story of the first recorded mass shooting in America has never been told, until now.
The sky was cloudless that morning when twelve-year-old Raymond Havens left his home on River Road. His grandmother had sent him to get a haircut at the barbershop across the street—where he was about to witness his neighbor and friend Howard open fire on the customers inside.
Told through the eyes of young Raymond, who had visited Howard regularly to listen to his war stories, and the mother trying to piece together the disturbing inner workings of her son’s mind, Murder in the Neighborhood uncovers the chilling true story of Howard Unruh, the quiet loner who meticulously plotted his revenge on the neighbors who shunned him and became one of America’s first mass killers.
That September
morning started much like any other. Camden, New Jersey, the sparkling little
sister of Philadelphia, connected by the high arches of the Delaware River
Bridge, was waking up to heat nearing the mid-seventies—by nine o’clock the
humidity was sitting high above the city, waiting to descend.
Cramer Hill, a
small section of Camden, bound by the Delaware River to the west, the Pavonia
Train Yard to the east, State Street to the south and 36th Street to the
north—a grid of streets twenty-four blocks long, and about five or six blocks
wide contained within—was about to draw the focus of the world but nobody knew
it, not that morning at nine o’clock.
River Road cut a
swath through Cramer Hill where open-bay trucks rumbled through all day long,
overloaded with tomatoes headed for the Campbell’s soup factory a few miles
away. The clearly visible cargo was only held in place by wire mesh caging
along the sides. The loud engine sounds called to children to get out of the
street, to stand and watch, waiting for a tomato to break loose and fall into
their small hands. They were often rewarded when a bump in the road threw a few
of the greenish-red fruits into the street.
The smells of
the river wafting in, the sounds of the boats, the hint of tomatoes cooking at
Campbell’s, the smoke from the stacks of Eavenson and Sons soap factory a mile
away—it was all there. But mostly it was the shoemaker’s pungent aroma of
tannery oils, the lingering, savory fragrance from Latela’s Italian
luncheonette on the corner, the endless din of Engel’s bar across the street,
and the music that poured out of its doors after the sun went down that filled
every home.
Five businesses
shared one side of the small block—a cacophonic mix of a pharmacy, a
barbershop, a cobbler, a tailor and a café. The other side only had two: a
grocery and a bar. Most of the owners lived there, nestled in their small
apartments above their establishments. They all knew each other well enough on
that small stretch of River Road. Enough to pull a chair out onto the sidewalk
on summer nights for a chat. Enough to get a drink at Engel’s now and again.
Enough to keep an eye on things and on each other. But not one of them saw it
coming. Not the Pilarchiks, the Hoovers, the Hamiltons, the Zegrinos or the
Cohens. They’d safely shared that space together for years, but not one of them
was spared.
About
the Author:
Ellen J. Green is the Amazon
Charts bestselling author of the Ava Saunders novels (Absolution and Twist of
Faith) and The Book of James. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia,
where she earned her degrees in psychology, and has worked in the psychiatric
ward of a maximum-security correctional facility for fifteen years. She also
holds an MFA degree in creative writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Born and raised in Upstate New York, Ms. Green now lives in southern New Jersey
with her two children.
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.
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.
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.
Anyone that knows me, knows that Jane Blythe is one of my favorite authors. She has never let me down when it comes to getting lost in a make believe world.
Oh yeah, it is fabulous to be back in rivers end with familiar characters but a new romance.
“Her fate had been sealed the moment she made the decision to defy her parents.”
It had been eight years since her friends had been taken and forced to play the game, Rape, Torture, Kill. She will have to live with the guilt and horror for the rest of her life. She had thought the danger was over, the perpetrators had all been killed, but that was not to be.
She had to return home, or other girls would be taken. What do they want with her. Was it just that she was the one that got away?
Fletcher…she had always had a crush on him, but had never acted on it. She didn’t know that he returned the feeling because he never acted on it either. Fletcher is a deputy sheriff in Rivers End. He was determined to break down the walls Dahlia had created. He wouldn’t let her get away this time.
Jane Blythe knows how to immediately grab me by the throat, holding on, unable to stop reading, with white knuckles and my body filled with tension. Her books fit me to a T. They are fast paced with awesome characters. Unputdownable.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Some Mistakes Are Unforgivable by Jane Blythe.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
One moment in time you wish you could take back.
When Dahlia Black was fifteen she made a mistake that got her best friend killed and she hasn’t been able to forgive herself for it. Banishing herself from River’s End she’s lured back when someone decides that the past hasn’t been laid to rest. Returning to town doesn’t just mean facing the family she let down but the one man she’s always loved but who nearly died saving her.
Fletcher Harris grew up as an honorary member of the Black family, Dahlia like a little sister to him, but when he lays eyes on her for the first time in eight years he finds a beautiful, strong but hurting woman in place of the kid he remembers. Unable to get her out of his mind he’s determined to help Dahlia learn to forgive herself so she can finally move on.
But guilt could lead her to take extreme measures, ones that might ruin any chance the two of them might have had, and destroy the Black family forever.
ABOUT JANE BLYTHE
USA Today bestselling author Jane Blythe writes action-packed
romantic suspense and military romance featuring protective heroes and
heroines who are survivors. One of Jane’s most popular series includes
Saving SEALs, part of Susan Stoker’s OPERATION ALPHA world! Writing in
that world alongside authors such as Janie Crouch and Riley Edwards has
been a blast, and she looks forward to bringing more books to this
genre, both within and outside of Stoker’s world. When Jane isn’t
binge-reading she’s counting down to Christmas and adding to her 200+
teddy bear collection!
Mimi Jean Pamfiloff immediately put a smile on my face with the lively dialogue.
Lake is smack dab in the middle of a fight for her world. She would need to marry Alwar, a warlord giant, to defeat the Blood King. She takes nothing from anyone, even a fifty foot giant who could squash her like a bug.
I laughed my way through the danger.
In Book I, Lake learned about Monsterland. Now, she’s crossed the bridge, entering Monsterland, and learning first hand the rules.
Mimi Jean Pamfiloff has created an amazing, original, magical and dangerous world, which she describes in vivid detail. The characters kept me engrossed and entertained for hours. I am eagerly anticipating what comes next.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Wall Men II by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff comes a suspenseful Dark Fantasy, Wall Men: Book Two, a Vow Broken.
MARRYING A GIANT IS ONLY THE FIRST OF HER MISTAKES…
Here’s
a terrifying fact: monsters live in a world only a step away from ours.
And they love eating people. I’d know because I was taken prisoner by
one, the Blood King. Vampires. Blech! Steer clear of those.
Luckily
for us, getting here isn’t so easy. They’d have to cross a bridge
that’s protected by a wall built by my ancestors and guarded by the Wall
Men.
Unlucky is that the wall is under attack, and the king of the Wall Men wants my help. By marrying him.
Did I mention he’s a fifty-foot-tall warlord? And that the marriage must be—gulp—consummated?
To
save both our worlds, I must say “I do” in a forever vow with a major
string attached. Except my giant husband kept the biggest string hidden
from me, and now it’s too late to escape.
ABOUT MIMI JEAN PAMFILOFF
MIMI JEAN PAMFILOFF is a New York Times bestselling author who’s sold
over one million books around the world. Although she obtained her
MBA and worked for more than fifteen years in the corporate world, she
believes that it’s never too late to come out of the romance closet
and follow your dreams.
Mimi lives with her Latin lover hubby, two
pirates-in-training (their boys), and their three spunky dragons
(really, just very tiny dogs with big attitudes) Snowy, Mini, and Mack,
in the vampire-unfriendly state of Arizona.
She hopes to make
you laugh when you need it most and continues to pray daily that
leather pants will make a big comeback for men.
Today I have a special treat. I am sharing two of Heather Sunseri’s stories. Protected In Darkness is a novella and Death Is In The Details is a full length novel, the first in the Payne’s Creek thriller series. Both can stand alone.
Colt, being a Navy Seal from somewhere else, knew it would be a one time thing.
Kate, hiding in Witsec with her four year old daughter, knew better than to get involved with anyone in any way, but she let her defenses down when she met Colt. She is the daughter of the leader of Kentucky’s deadliest motorcycle gang, and a twin. Can she escape the life and start over?
Awesome and I am hooked, not only of the series, but Heather Sunseri’s ability to deliver so much deliciousness into a novella.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Four years ago, Charley Packstone was hopelessly stuck in a miserable life as the daughter of the thug running Kentucky’s deadliest outlaw motorcycle gang and the twin sister to the gang’s future leader.
As Kate Ward, she’s built a simple but lonely life for herself and her four-year-old daughter inside the Witness Protection Program.
Kate has rules—rules to keep her and her daughter hidden from the wrath of the motorcycle club that wants her dead. But one fateful night, she lets her guard down after meeting a handsome stranger—Navy Seal Colt Callaway—at a bar along the Virginia Beach boardwalk. And after a sexy one-night-stand, Colt resolves to penetrate the steep walls that protect Kate’s heart.
A dead rat left on Kate’s front porch the next morning sends a clear message: the biker gang she ratted out years ago has finally found her.
No matter how badly Colt believes he can save the troubled and beautiful woman he just met, Kate’s only choice is to grab her daughter and vanish under a fresh identity. But can she do it before someone close to her is killed? And can she truly say goodbye to Colt forever?
Death in the Details by Heather Sunseri is the first book in the Payne’s Creek stand alone series.
Faith Day is a forensic photographer, which appealed to me greatly because I love photography. Adds a little something extra to some of my favorite reading genre. She is no stranger to death by fire. Her mother died in a fire and she recalls every single detail with 100% clarity, due to hyperthymesia.
Faith lives in the small town of Payne’s Creek and after 12 years since her mother’s death, the fires in town, it is brought back in vivid detail. Faith has a forensic science degree and her uncle is the Fire Chief, Sam Reid. Her brother Finch is the town vet.
Fire Chief Sam Reid depends on her. She is the best help has has until he can hire a new detective. She sees things others miss.
Faith lives in an Airstream with her guardian cat, that acts more like a dog than a feline. Someone had been in her house, had lit a fire in her firepit. After ten years in prison for the murder of their parents, her step brother had been released due to a technicality. Could he have found her? And…what if it isn’t him?
I love the way Luke Justice describes her, “…when you walk through a room, people watch you. When you exit a room, people whisper. And when you exit a building, people sigh with relief.”
As bodies fall, fires, burn, she’s at the center of it. The pieces come together as she and Luke struggle to figure out what is really going on. Things are not as they appear on the surface and….
I loved the story…and the ending. WOW. It took me a while to figure it out, because there are more suspects than meet the eye. Is it her step brother? Is it him…or him…or…The bigger mystery, who is setting all the fires, is solved and a romance is blooming, but there is more to tell…and I hope to be there. I love when an author can hook me from the beginning and keep the pace at a high level, making it hard to put down.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A woman haunted by her past. A killer who won’t let her forget.
Faith Day’s condition curses her to recall her mother’s fiery murder like it was yesterday. And when the forensic photographer’s convicted stepbrother is somehow cleared 12 years later and released from prison, Faith wonders if he’ll put an end to her tortured memories. But after a string of eerily familiar fires tear through her small town, Faith starts to question every detail of her traumatic past.
Luke Justice won’t rest until he catches a notorious serial killer masking his murders in arson. Following a trail of deadly blazes to Faith’s doorstep, the FBI agent senses she holds the key to the case. But if he can’t convince her to open up, Luke fears he’ll miss his best chance to put a psychopath behind bars.
As Faith fights the resurgence of dark emotions, an arsonist begins leaving personal totems in her home. Determined to stay alive, she taps into the only weapon she has against the vicious murderer: the echoes of her childhood nightmare.
Can Faith help Luke unmask the true killer before they both go up in flames?
Death is in the Details is a chilling standalone thriller novel. If you like small-town mysteries, psychological thrillers, and spine-tingling twists, then you’ll love Heather Sunseri’s latest page-turning tale.
ABOUT HEATHER SUNSERI
Heather Sunseri was raised on a tiny farm in the smallest of towns in thoroughbred horse country near Lexington, Kentucky. After high school, she attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and later graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in accounting. Always torn between a passion for fantasy and a mind for the rational, it only made sense to combine her career in accounting with a novel-writing dream.
Heather now lives in a different small town on the other side of Lexington with her two children, and her husband, Mike, the biggest Oregon Duck fan in the universe. When she’s not writing or working as a CPA, she spends her time tormenting her daughter’s cat, Olivia, and loving on her son’s Golden Retriever, Jenny. MINDSPEAK is her first published novel.
I love the cover of They Lurk by Wesley Thomas, but there is so much more going on than a huanted house. It is available for .99 or free on Kindle Unlimited.
“Our race had been cursed with all kinds of demons, wearing human disguises.”
“My passion. You take my horror, you take my soul.”
We shall see as the brothers face more than they could have imagined.
Right from the beginning, the cover fit the story, plus a bonus….a serial killer.
Shadows. Killers. Ghost men. Vitamin D Killings. What’s up with that? He explains to his brother what’s been happening, but….Is it real? Is he crazy?
The serial killer snuck up on me as I was lost in the horror of the shadows. I had moments of hurry, hurry, hide, don’t go there. I was pretty ho hum through the majority of the book with patches of fear for the boys and curiosity that kept me going.
The ending…I love when an author reminds me there is not always a happy ever after. Wesley Thomas lured me into complacency, setting me up for a very suspenseful ending. I think sometimes the writing, a British horror novel, makes me stumble while reading, taking away some of the urgency I would normally feel.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of They Lurk by Wesley Thomas.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
‘Grabs your psyche and squeezes like a fist.’ *****
A small town falls prey to monsters, ghouls, conspiracy, and one very hungry serial killer, with only two young men to protect it. When a horror movie-obsessed teenager discovers that people in his hometown have dropped dead, drained of vitamin D, puzzling and terrifying the authorities, Jack realizes this is no fantasy. With the reluctant help of his older brother, they dive into unimaginable horror that he thought was safely confined to the world of film and literature. If that wasn’t bad enough, an uncaptured native serial killer decides to revisit his old hunting grounds. His days of classrooms and cafeteria food are over.
‘A suspenseful mystery wrapped with fear.’ *****
GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY!
ABOUT WESLEY THOMAS
Bestselling British horror author Wesley Thomas made his mark in the horror fiction world in 2011, when he released his debut novel. Since then he has produced several bestselling collections, novels, and novellas. For over two decades Wesley has been obsessed with all things horror. So breaking into horror fiction was a natural choice for him.
His work has been published in various anthologies, featured on multiple horror websites, national and local newspapers, Scream horror magazine, and won multiple awards.
Wesley is completely addicted to the horror genre, regularly reading horror, watching horror movies and TV shows, and attending horror-themed events around the globe. Albeit, he does enjoy travelling, photography, technology, art, architecture, and spending time with family and friends.
Endorsements:
‘Wesley Thomas is one of the very few authors that has managed to completely scare me when reading his work.’ – Word Forward Blog.
‘Simply speaking, Wesley is a writer who cares for the genre deeply, and contributes to it meaningfully!’ – Dustin Urness, Author of ‘Disturbing Tales of Anguish & Horror.’
‘Wesley is an extremely talented young horror craftsman. Love the retro vibe to his work and the presentation.” – Terry. M. West well-known horror author, director, and actor.
