Woo Hoo. A big shout out and thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the chance to read Last Night, the second book in The Searchers series by Karen Ellis/Katia Lief.
OH NO! The beginning has me super angry. This is the type of book I have been avoiding. Smacks too much of realism and I don’t need anymore than I happen to catch flipping channels on the TV or clicking on the internet.
Ugly business and I see it ruining Crisp’s life. Will it make him become a monster? We’ll see.
A portrait of a white privileged teen girl, a promising, intelligent mixed race boy and a black homeless boy and what results from their coming together.
Kind of a coming of age story …I thought it would be about race when I first began, but it turned into teens…learning about life.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Last Night by Karen Ellis.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
NYPD detective Lex
Cole tracks a missing Brooklyn teen whose bright future is endangered by
the ghosts of his unknown father’s past, in this highly anticipated
sequel to A Map of the Dark.
One of the few black kids
on his Brighton Beach block, Titus “Crisp” Crespo was raised by his
white mother and his Russian grandparents. He has two legacies from his
absent father, Mo: his weird name and his brown skin. Crisp has always
been the odd kid out, but a fundamentally good kid, with a bright
future.
But one impulsive decision triggers a horrible domino
effect–an arrest, no reason not to accompany his richer, whiter friend
Glynnie on a visit to her weed dealer, and a trip onto his father’s old
home turf where he’ll face certain choices he’s always strived to avoid.
As
Detective Lex Cole tries to unravel the clues from Crisp’s night out,
they both find that what you don’t know about your past can still come
back to haunt you.
ABOUT KAREN ELLIS
Karen Ellis is a pseudonym of longtime crime
novelist Katia Lief. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and
International Thriller Writers. Her novel A MAP OF THE DARK will be
published by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown on January 9, 2018. Learn more at karenellisbooks.com
Stay in touch with Karen Ellis by joining her mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cS6h_r
I was lucky to get four books in the Rachel Knight series by Marcia Clark from NetGalley and Mulholland Books. I downloaded Guilt By Degrees on 6.29.14.
The preview for Guilt By Degrees by Marcia Clark made me sit up and take notice, wanting to read more.
I remember short pants…floods. Do you? Made me smile. Nice touch, Marcia.
I love that Rachel has to finish every book she begins…regardless…
The romance is slow burning and I think she takes as many cold showers as he does. LOL She hold her secrets close to her vest, sharing with no one, not even her BFFs.
Step by step, danger hovering. The writing for the Rachel Knight series keeps getting better and the suspense more intense.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Someone has been
watching D.A. Rachel Knight–someone who’s Rachel’s equal in brains, but
with more malicious intentions. It began when a near-impossible case
fell into Rachel’s lap, the suspectless homicide of a homeless man. In
the face of courthouse backbiting and a gauzy web of clues, Rachel is
determined to deliver justice. She’s got back-up: tough-as-nails
Detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey stir things up, they’re
shocked to uncover a connection with the vicious murder of an LAPD cop a
year earlier. Something tells Rachel someone knows the truth, someone who’d kill to keep it secret.
Harrowing,
smart, and riotously entertaining, GUILT BY DEGREES is a thrilling ride
through the world of LA courts with the unforgettable Rachel Knight.
I love the cover for Unicorn Magic and this magical story that warmed my heart making me want more from Roz Marshall and the Feyland series.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In Feyland, not everything is as it seems… Feyland:
a new computer game that allows Scottish teenager Corinne MacArthur to
escape the sadness haunting her everyday life after losing a loved one.
It’s a game where legends come to life, the lines between reality and
fantasy become blurred, and the impossible becomes – probable?
Unicorn Magic is the 1st story in the Celtic Fey series set in Anthea Sharp’s Feyland universe (with her kind permission). A stand-alone short story with a full plot arc, Unicorn Magic was first published in the anthology Chronicle Worlds: Feyland.
This is a clean urban fantasy which is set in Scotland (and the faerie realm) and uses British English spelling and grammar.
Homeless in Detroit, Blair witnesses a murder. A couple of my favorite things…takes place in a location I am familiar with, seeing I am a Michigander, and dead bodies.
Even though Dr Blair Vaughn’s memories are faulty due to alcoholism, he launches his own investigation into Cynthia’s murder because he feels the police are not doing enough.
I love a flawed hero. He has those who knew him when who try to help him through tough times. Can he find his way back? Will his investigation into the murder be his redemption?
He learns what’s valuable in life through an alcoholic haze and I loved being there for his journey. This is the first book in the Detective Rein Connery series and I see good things coming in future books.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Pigeon Blood by B A Braxton.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Pigeon Blood The Detective Rein Connery Series, Book One
Washed-up,
loser, no-account lush… that is how Dr. Blair Vaughn’s dental
colleagues have described him for years. But when Blair witnesses a
double murder during an alcoholic blackout and subsequently starts to
piece together the reasons why those murders have come to pass, his
colleagues begin to rethink their low opinion of him. Especially when
his finger starts pointing at them.
Groping at the facts like a
blind man, Blair stumbles across three pigeon-blood rubies that are
worth millions of dollars. The reason people are dying is finally clear,
but who is behind it all is still a mystery. Blair risks his life to
discover the truth.
Pigeon Blood is the first installment in a
series of novels revolving around the career of Detective Rein Connery, a
Detroit homicide detective, and his partner Maynard Slye. Book by book,
Rein solves murders sometimes through the eyes of others and sometimes
through his own. Each novel introduces a different and exciting cast of
characters, pumping new blood into an old, beloved genre.
ABOUT B A BRAXTON
The author has taken many
different paths in her life, and each and every one of them has led back
to writing. Her first stories were written when she was in middle
school, and she used her friends as characters. Her first attempt at
novel writing was made at the age of fifteen, and it was called
Huntington Halls.
Since that time, the author has continued to
toil away at the trade, writing throughout high school and later at the
University of Pennsylvania. There she clustered in writing, advanced
writing, and sociology courses while majoring in natural science, a
general study of calculus, physics, biology, and chemistry. In 1983,
while attending Fairleigh Dickinson Dental School in Hackensack, New
Jersey, the author completed an early draft of Thunderhead. This story
sat untouched until 2007, when she decided to expand the book into a
trilogy, flavoring it with cameos by real people, like Wild Bill Hickok,
Calamity Jane, and Wyatt Earp. The next four years were spent rewriting
the story and doing research about that period of American history.
Between
1983 and 2007, the author practiced dentistry, raised two children,
attended many writers’ conferences in Michigan and Indiana, wrote plays
for local high school students to perform, and penned several general
fiction books (including He’s Never Lied to Me Yet and An Everlasting
Tree). In addition, she began to compile a series of Detective Rein
(pronounced “rain”) Connery murder mysteries, entitled Pigeon Blood, The
Tattered Thread, Cerulean Skies, Good as You, and Twilight is the Time
the Dead Look Back. Meanwhile, the author contemporaneously worked with
two different literary agencies.
Immediately hooked by the fangtastic cover and the howling good forward.
Blood Moon Big Top: Marbles was a loner, so a traveling circus was a perfect fit for him. He learned the meaning of no good deed goes unpunished. Didn’t have fear of clowns before, you will after reading this gory, bloody horror novella…and I loved every minute of it. 4 Stars.
Hunters Moon: Short Story: This was a hunt like one I have never been on and it was over too quick. 3 Stars
Dire: The thief has no idea what’s in store for him, but I do and it wasn’t any payment I want. 4 Stars
Human Skin: Curiosity killed the cat and it doesn’t bode well for Alex and Jason in this howling mystery of horror. 3 Stars
The Tome of Legion: Who wins in a war between Lycans and Vampires? The battle is vicious but….wins to fight another day. 3 Stars
Excerpt for Wolvz: The Mother of the Pack was killed by humans and Lycan would make them ay in a blood thirsty war of killing. 4 Stars for this excerpt, making me want to read more.
Because I do not do half stars…four it is.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Fantastic Tales of Werewolf Savagery by Toneye Eyenot
La Lluna Plena – the
Full Moon – that beautiful and mysterious celestial body which stirs
within us all those deep, dark emotions we do our best to subdue and
control. For some of us, her influence runs deeper, much deeper. We all
walk beneath her maddening rays, yet, while most may shrug off the
notion that inside us all resides a beast – a savage wolf – there are
those of us who embrace the monster within and ride that lunatic wave
with abandon each time she casts her gaze upon us.
Some see it as
a blessing, others…a curse. To be bitten, and fall prey to murderous
urges beyond our control, or to have the good fortune to be born into
the pack, or perhaps even to whisper words of spell in order to evoke
the lycanthropic gift, there are more than a few ways to cast aside the
human skin and let loose the wolf within. Those ways are explored
throughout this collection of werewolf terrors.
Suspend
disbelief, dear reader, because whether you care to admit it, or
continue to live in ignorant bliss, we walk among you. We smell the
blood as it courses through your veins and taste your fear on the
breeze. We long to see the life drain from your quivering flesh as we
gorge. Beware the Full Moon, as you are about to enter the world of the
Werewolf.
ABOUT TONEYE EYENOT
“Lurk within my mind(s) and see the terrors which await thee. Just keep in mind, once in my mind, you cannot flee.” – Eyenot
Toneye
Eyenot hails from The Blue Mountains in Australia. Although writing
horrible tales for the better part of 30 years, 2014 saw his first
published work in REJECTED For Content – Splattergore through JEA Press.
His debut Dark Fantasy/Horror novella, THE SCARLETT CURSE is book one
in the SACRED BLADE OF PROFANITY series, released in 2014 through JEA,
now unpublished to be re-released through Luniakk Publications. Book II
in the series, JOSHUA’S FOLLY was released in 2016. Book III in the
Sacred Blade Of Profanity series is currently being conjured. BLOOD MOON
BIG TOP released Oct. 7, 2016 – a werewolf/clown Horror novella; all of
which also await republishing through Luniakk. His stories appear in
all 6 REJECTED FOR CONTENT editions, as well as dozens more anthologies.
Eyenot is also the editor for a werewolf-themed anthology series – FULL
MOON SLAUGHTER 1&2, and several other anthologies. This year has
seen the author emerge from the shadows with terrifying results as
Eyenot branches out with Luniakk Publications. So far, with the release
of FLASH OF DARKNESS, PSYCHOTIC INTERLUDE, OF NIGHTMARE REALITIES,
ABYSMAL FEAST: AN AGGLOMERATION OF ANTHROPOPHAGIC ATROCITIES, and WOLVZ:
WHISPERS OF WAR, challenge your sensibilities and take a walk thru the
mind(s) of a luniakk… You can find Toneye lurking around these haunts… Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toneyeeyenot… & https://www.facebook.com/luniakkpubli… Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToneyeEyenot & https://twitter.com/luniakkpub Website: https://luniakkpublications.com Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Toneye-Eyenot/… Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/toney… G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+toneyeey…
I have been reading Perry Prete’s Ethan Tennant series and loving it. His covers are simple, but the stories inside are not. Are you ready for some thrills? Put your thinking cap on and let’s dive into the mystery in The Things That Matter Most.
It takes special people to do the things that Ethan does. He is an EMT and very good at his job. Perry Prete brings his life experience to the pages of The Things That Matter Most.
Suicide. I knew someone who did it the same way. It is so sad.
Their day starts with suicide, heart attack and a dead child, seguing into a mystery of dead children, young girls.
His friend cop, Galen, and him team up to solve the mystery. Perry Prete shares insight into how they deal with things they face.
I love where Perry Prete went with the storyline and it took me a while to figure out who was killing the girls, but there is so much more to the story than that. And Ethan really rises to the occasion, while falling in love. She plays a pivotal role and is a fabulous character.
The best one yet. LOVE IT!
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Things That Matter Most by Perry Prete.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A NEW CENTURY, A NEW WAY TO DIE In
the summer of August 2000, Ethan Tennant, Tom Lister and Galen Hoese
work together to catch the killer of young girls during the first summer
of the new millennia. Young, innocent girls play in the summer
heat, oblivious to the dangers around them, only to fall prey to the
worst type of death possible. Parents, neighbours and the police are
frustrated by the lack of progress on the case. The killer is always
one step ahead of the police. The killer seems to know more than the
police investigating the crimes. It’s not until Ethan and his new
girlfriend become involved that the pieces of the puzzle begin to form a
complete picture. But does anyone really want to see what has remained
hidden for so long?
ABOUT PERRY PRETE
Perry
Prete is a Canadian crime writer and paramedic. His first novel, All
Good Things, introduced us to Ethan Tennant, a City of Ottawa paramedic
who looks at crimes from the medical perspective.
Perry continues to work full-time as a
paramedic and uses his thirty plus years of life changing and sometimes
dramatic experiences to bring realism to his gripping medical novels.
His other works include, The Things That Matter Most and All Good
Things.
He is also a business owner,
specializing in the pre-hospital care field. His company sells medical
equipment across North America, primarily to EMS agencies.
A native of Sudbury, Ontario, Perry, graduated from Fanshawe College in London but now lives and works in Brockville, Ontario.
I am a huge fan of Britney King’s so I an very excited to share her newest release, Room 553, a psychological thriller, another nail biter that kept me guessing til the end…and what an ending it was.
I read the Foreword to Room 553 by Britney King and laughed out loud thinking, right Britney. Now you know I have to continue reading! OMG!
I didn’t see the direction this was going when I began. In fact, I was a bit disappointed because Britney King writes some fabulous stories and I am usually biting my nails and racing through the pages as soon as I begin. Not so with this psychological thriller. It is more subtle, slowly sucking me in, revealing the characters in starts and stops.
The story bounces between Max’s perspective and Laurel’s journal writings.
The characters, at first I didn’t think much of any of them, but as more of their personalities, sick, perverted personalities, were revealed, I began to think, there isn’t one of them worth redemption. Maybe they will all get what’s coming to them.
Room 553 gets deeper into their twisted world becoming darker, uglier more depraved as the threads are woven together to create surprises and turns that gave me a steady supply of WTFs. That ending…worth a star in itself! Love that Britney King can blow my mind making me think of the book long after I have finished reading it.
Even though I thought Room 553 was too tame for me in the beginning, the little nuggets of goodies started popping up…then, full on, psychological and psychopathic profiles were exposed and I was in my element. But, don’t judge me on my love of reading materials. 🙂
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Room 553 by Britney King.
For Max and Laurel, nothing is off limits when they meet in room
553. Their illicit affair is exhilarating, passionate—and dangerous.
Driven as much by compulsion as pleasure, Max can’t stop. His
mistress is Jesus on the streets, and Satan in the sack. But when things take a
sharp and sudden turn for the worse, he finds himself ensnared in a trap of his
own making.
Under heavy scrutiny by the police and the media, Max is hailed
as a cold and evasive womanizer. He made mistakes, to be sure. But does that
make him a killer?
Unnerving and addictive, Room 553 is a vivid and sensual psychological
thriller that weaves a story of cruelty, reckless desire, and blind, bloody
justice.
Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.
When she’s not wrangling the things mentioned above, she writes
psychological, domestic and romantic thrillers set in suburbia.
Currently, she’s writing three series and several standalone
novels.
The Bedrock Series features an unlikely heroine who should have
known better. Turns out, she didn’t. Thus she finds herself tangled in a messy,
dangerous, forbidden love story and face-to-face with a madman hell-bent on
revenge. The series has been compared to Fatal Attraction, Single White Female,
and Basic Instinct.
The Water Series follows the shady love story of an
unconventional married couple—he’s an assassin—she kills for fun. It has been
compared to a crazier book version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Also, Dexter.
Around The Bend is a heart-pounding standalone, which traces the
journey of a well-to-do suburban housewife, and her life as it unravels, thanks
to the secrets she keeps. If she were the only one with things she wanted to
keep hidden, then maybe it wouldn’t have turned out so bad. But she wasn’t.
The With You Series at its core is a deep love story about
unlikely friends who travel the world; trying to find themselves, together and
apart. Packed with drama and adventure along with a heavy dose of suspense, it
has been compared to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Love, Rosie.
The Social Affair is an intense standalone about a timeless
couple who find themselves with a secret admirer they hadn’t bargained for. For
fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, the novel
explores what can happen when privacy is traded for convenience. It is
reminiscent of films such as One Hour Photo and Play Misty For Me.
Without a doubt, connecting with readers is the best part of this
gig. You can find Britney online here:
To get more– grab two books for free, by subscribing to her
mailing list at britneyking.com or just copy and paste bit.ly/britneykingweb
into your browser.
I love the cover for The Other by Marilyn Peake, a time traveling science fiction novel that took me by surprise and kept me riveted from beginning to end.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The world was melting
down. North Korea had tested another nuclear missile. Terrorist attacks
were happening with frightening regularity in European cities. In the
United States, the FBI and CIA were investigating multiple computer
hacks in which the Russians were the prime suspects. Then the news took
an even more ominous tone. People began seeing UFOs and strange,
alien-looking creatures with humanoid shapes, green skin and large black
eyes. In places where this occurred, doctors reported the spread of a
mysterious virus that scrambled people’s thoughts and caused
hallucinations. Many experts believed the virus came from the aliens.
The pathogen had not yet been identified; there was no known cure.
Psychology
professor Dr. Cora Frost had a different theory: the bizarre symptoms
were nothing more than mass hysteria, not unlike the hysteria that
caused people in our not-too-distant past to see witches flying through
the sky, which justified hanging them or burning them at the stake.
Intense stress within societies gives rise to scapegoats. Doing field
research within the compound of a cult in Roswell, New Mexico that
revered the exact same kinds of aliens being reported on the news,
Cora’s entire worldview is shaken and upended. In a shocking series of
events, her past and future collide, forever changing her life.
Because of the injury to my arm, I have tried to back off taking in new review books, but some I cannot resist…like The Cundy by R H Dixon. I do love a spooky story and the cover made me wonder what is hiding in The Cundy.
Memories of playing under the culvert come to mind as I read The Cundy. To me, that is always a sign of good things to come.
A mining village in England, Norse mythology, the occult, bullying…A monster in the dark. Sounds like a chilling read to me. I can see the creepiness. How about you?
A coming of age story, with subtle danger and eerie happenings.
I love how the family works through a horrible time and the loss of a mom and wife, trying to figure out how to go on.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Cundy by R H Dixon.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE DARK…
For
fans of Stand By Me and IT, this standalone coming of age tale, set in
an ex-mining village in the northeast of England in the mid-90s, blends
Norse mythology and the occult.
‘When 13-year-old Sullivan Carter
and his younger brother, Colton, are forced to hide from school bullies
in the cundy (a water conduit in Castle Eden Dene), they are attacked
by a terrifying creature which goes on to haunt their dreams.
Rumour
has it that some older teens have been performing strange rituals at
the cundy. As such, Sullivan is convinced that he and Colton are now
being hunted by an ancient creature that’s been unleashed from its dark
lair. A creature that’s been lurking since the time Scula the Danish
Viking warlord ruled the area in the 900s.
When Colton begins to
hear voices which draw him back to the cundy, he tells Sullivan he
believes one of them belongs to their dead mother.
Sullivan must reach beyond his own profound grief in order to defend Colton and himself against the wily creature.
Does he have what it takes to defeat it? Or will he need to sacrifice himself in order to save his little brother?’
ABOUT R H DIXON
R. H. Dixon is a horror
enthusiast who, when not escaping into the fantastical realms of
fiction, lives in the northeast of England with her husband and two
whippets. She is an active member of the Horror Writers Association.
When
reading and writing she enjoys exploring the darknesses and weaknesses
within the human psyche, and she loves good strong characters that are
flawed and put through their paces. Her favourite authors include:
Shirley Jackson, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Joe Hill, Ramsey Campbell, Paul
Tremblay, Michelle Paver and Stephen King.
As well as reading and
writing, she enjoys travelling (particularly wildlife-spotting jaunts
involving bears, wolves and corvids), visiting spooky places, collecting
animal skulls and drinking full-bodied red wine.
Hiding in Sunshine by John & Caitlin Start is a great title and I do love the simple cover. I would like to thank NetGalley and Authorhouse for the opportunity to read and review Hiding in Sunshine. I downloaded this way back on 1.16.13.
Gavin had become wealthy from his inventions, so the kid was given only the best. He will need that wealth, because his family is in danger, targeted by the Enterprise, a Serbian criminal outfit. Why? Who will protect them?
I can only try to imagine the fear of being hunted, on your own. But, he and his friends are tech savvy, so I think the Serbs may regret messing with the wrong people. Bruce is a very interesting characters.
“The boundary between reality and nightmare had evaporated.”
I think I know what’s coming and I can hardly wait to find out. A terrifying look into a world in crises. Could this happen today? I love when a book gets my mind rolling, filled with what ifs…
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Hiding in Sunshine by John & Caitlin Stuart.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
This taut thriller
follows a family’s eleven-year odyssey on the run under assumed
identities, where survival skills are paramount, but so are friendship,
cooperation, and resilience. HIDING IN SUNSHINE celebrates one family’s
abiding courage in the face of abject treachery — and a young girl’s
faith in the triumph of the truth.
