Tag Archives: psychological thriller

One by One by Ruth Ware – a Review

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One by One by Ruth Ware – a Review

 

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Description:
Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world, especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a cozy fire, and company to keep you warm. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them?

When an off-site company retreat meant to promote mindfulness and collaboration goes utterly wrong when an avalanche hits, the corporate food chain becomes irrelevant and survival trumps togetherness. Come Monday morning, how many members short will the team be?

 

 

Review:

One by One by Ruth Ware is another of her exciting suspense thrillers.  One by One is told in two POV’s’, Erin and Liz.  We meet both Erin and Danny at the start, when they are preparing the Chalet (a French Ski Chalet) for the arrival of a group of developers and employees of Snoop.  The company is an app that allows anonymous people who listen to music that celebrities, family, social media are listening to at the same time. Erin handles and takes care of the Chalet, while Danny is the chef.  

When the 8 members of Snoop arrive, we learn quickly that Eva, one of the partners, wants to accept a buyout that will make them millions, but Topher, the other partner, wants to keep control of the company and instead sell public shares.  Liz is the only member of the group who no longer works for Snoop, but was asked by Topher to come on the trip, as Liz owns shares of the company. Liz is very quiet, and avoids too much contact with the others, as she knows that both Eva and Topher want her support. There is a division between the 8 people, but they also want to enjoy their stay, and head out to ski.

When everyone returns, they realize that Eva is missing, with a few people thinking they saw her last skiing down a very dangerous mountain.  Within a short time, an avalanche hits, as well as a snow storm, and they are snow bound inside the chalet, suspecting that Eva is dead, especially after the avalanche. From that moment on the story intensifies, as electricity is lost, no Wi-Fi and no telephone to contact the police for help.  

Later that evening, another member of the group is found dead, which looks like he was poisoned.  Now the group is down to 6, and everyone looks at one another suspecting each other of being a murderer. Then the following morning someone else is killed, and group is down to 5.  Who is the killer?  One of the assistants leaves in these terrible conditions to find a way to get to the police, before anyone else dies.  Will he survive?

This a classic whodunit, with the guessing game on as to who could be the killer.  This was a wild but fun story, even in this intense time. I did enjoy the whole chalet/ski location, and the desperate change in elements with the loss of power, phone, food, etc.  The last third of the book became a thrilling ride all the way to the climax.  I really liked Erin, as she did her best to keep everyone calm, even when she broke her ankle limiting herself.  Liz was a different POV, as she hated being in the middle. 

In a desperate attempt to get help, they divide into three groups; one to trek toward the police, the others to head to the another chalet, and Erin and Liz to stay at the chalet, as both were too injured to travel.

One by One was a terrific, exciting, tense and fantastic ride, as I held my breath so many times, unable to put the book down.  I will not tell too much more, as you really need to read this book to find out what happens and who is truly the real killer.  I suggest you read One by One, which was so very well written by Ruth Ware.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

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The Empty Bed by Nina Sadowsky – a Review

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The Empty Bed by Nina Sadowsky – a Review

 

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Description:
Eva Lombard is being followed. Or so she suspects

Eva and her husband, Peter, are in Hong Kong on a romantic getaway from London when Peter wakes up in their hotel room to an empty bed, his wife gone without a trace. His worst fears are confirmed: Eva wasn’t imagining things. Suddenly, he finds himself the number one suspect in his wife’s disappearance, trapped in a foreign country with no one to turn to. He calls his boss, Forrest “Holly” Holcomb, who enlists the help of Catherine, his ex-flame and the enigmatic operator behind the darknet witness-protection program known as the Burial Society.

As a favor to Holly, Catherine sends her team of highly trained Society members on a dangerous chase through Hong Kong to find Eva–while she takes care of pressing business at home. Not only is she tasked with a mission in Mexico City, protecting a family that knows too much from a vengeful pharmaceutical company, but an FBI agent tracking down the missing wife and child of a charismatic businessman is about to come dangerously close to exposing the Society’s secrets.

In these intertwining story lines that converge in unexpected ways, not everyone is who they appear to be–and not everyone who is lost wants to be found.

 

 

Review:

The Empty Bed by Nina Sadowsky is the 2nd book in her Burial Society series. I did not read the first book in this series, but once I got used to the multiple POV’s, it did read well as a standalone.  As noted, in each chapter, it was a different POV, which was a bit confusing early on; but about a ¼ of the way in, I knew the characters., though I was a little stumped as to where this was heading.

Catherine is the lead in this series, as she runs The Burial Society, who help rescue people in dangerous situations, and helps them escape to sort of a witness protection system.  She has a group of trained members, whom she sends to various missions; in The Empty Bed, some of these missions will tie in.

The story starts with Eva and Peter Lombard going on a vacation to Hong Kong to fix their failing marriage, which Peter surprised his wife with.  Eva notices a strange man seemed to be following her, and when she tells Peter, he just brushes it off as her imagination.  The following morning, when Peter wakes up, with his wife not in the hotel room; after trying to call her, he decides she is playing hardship with him, and goes out on his own.  Along the way he gets mugged, and when he gets help, he realizes that Eva was right, someone must have been following her and now she is missing.

When Peter calls his boss for help, Catherine, who is a friend of the boss, is notified and sends a team to Hong Kong.  Stevie and Jake (not their real names) try to work with Peter to find Eva, as well as protect him from those chasing him.  We learn that Eva has old powerful friends in Hong Kong who are helping her, as she has no idea who is after her and why.  As they get close to finding each other, the danger escalates for all of them, as the villain has ties to someone closer to Peter, and Eva might have a picture on her camera that they want.  While Stevie and Jake protect them, it is Catherine who realizes her old friend may have something to do with whatever is going on.  Can she trust him?

Catherine is also working with a couple of other members to help a woman and her child escape an abused relationship from and powerful enemy.  There is also another POV of an FBI agent who is trying to find the woman and child that are missing.

The Empty Bed is an intriguing, exciting, action filled and intense mystery that had three storylines going at the same time, with two tying in.  There were some twists and surprises along the way, though I will say it at times it was difficult to keep up with.  With that being said, The Empty Bed had an excellent premise written very well by Sadowsky, and interesting society protecting those in danger and lots of action.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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The Rabbit Hunter by Lars Kepler – a Review

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The Rabbit Hunter by Lars Kepler – a Review

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Description:
Joona Linna has spent two years in a high security prison when he is taken off to attend a secret meeting. The police need his help to stop a mysterious killer who goes by the name of the Rabbit Hunter. The only connection between the victims is that they all hear a child chanting a rhyme about rabbits before the killer strikes. A quirk of fate unexpectedly places celebrity chef Rex Müller at the centre of events. He is about to spend time with his son Sammy for the first time, but instead of three relaxing weeks, he finds himself in a terrifying fight for survival. Joona Linna and Saga Bauer are forced to work together in secret to put a stop to the Rabbit Hunter before it’s too late. You never know what fate has in store for you, or what might catch up with you if you don’t start running right now.

 

 

Review:

The Rabbit Hunter by Lars Kepler is the 6th book in the Joona Linna series.  This is the first time I have read this author, and The Rabbit Hunter was a psychological thriller that was extremely violent and dark.  It is not for everyone, especially with so much violence. However, that being said it was very well written by Lars Keplar, and though it was difficult at times, I pushed to finish the book and find out how it ended.

The Rabbit Hunter immediately starts with a creepy violent murder of Sweden’s Foreign Minister, who mysteriously left a witness at the scene; though that witness could not identify the murderer, who wore a mask.  Thinking this may be a terrorist attack, the Security Police ask Joona Linna for his help to see if the Prime Minister’s life was in danger, since the only name they get from the witness is in jail, where Joona happens to be.  For another case, Joona was imprisoned for two years, and now the government is willing to free Joona, if he can help.  He will work closely with his friend and former coworker on the Security Police, Saga Bauer.  But things will go wrong, as another murder happens that has nothing to do with the politics and the government, Joona, much to Saga anger, is sent back to prison. 

What follows is with Saga’s help, Joona is released and promised full pardon, to help find a serial killer, on a case that goes back 30 years.  The main evidence is a child’s nursery rhyme about rabbits that prelude each murder.  Joona discovers that those being murdered were involved in a brutal rape during their college years, and the murderer has some kind of connection.

I do not want to give spoilers, so not to ruin the story for you.  The Rabbit Hunter was an intense, dark gripping story with brutal shocking murder scenes.  The story was well written and flowed well, and was non-stop action from start to finish; though I did think at times I found myself a bit confused.   The Rabbit Hunter is a thriller all the way, but be warned it is a dark gruesome story that may not be for everyone. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

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The Birthday Girl by Melissa De La Cruz – a Review

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The Birthday Girl by Melissa De La Cruz – a Review

 

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Description:
Ellie de Florent-Stinson is celebrating her fortieth birthday with a grand celebration in her fabulous house in Palm Springs.

At forty, it appears Ellie has everything she ever wanted: a handsome husband; an accomplished, college-age stepdaughter; a beautiful ten-year-old girl; two adorable and rambunctious six-year-old twin boys; lush, well-appointed homes in Los Angeles, Park City, and Palm Springs; a thriving career as a well-known fashion designer of casual women’s wear; and a glamorous circle of friends.

Except everything is not quite as perfect as it looks on the outside—Ellie is keeping many secrets. This isn’t the first of her birthday parties that hasn’t gone as planned. Something happened on the night of her sweet sixteenth. Something she’s tried hard to forget.

But hiding the skeletons of her past comes at a cost, and all of Ellie’s secrets come to light on the night of her fabulous birthday party in the desert—where everyone who matters in her life shows up, invited or not. Old and new, friends and frenemies, stepdaughters and business partners, ex-wives and ex-husbands congregate, and the glittering facade of her life crumbles in one eventful night.

 

 

Review:

The Birthday Girl by Melissa de la Cruz is a standalone suspense novel revolving around a woman celebrating her 40’th birthday, and another birthday celebration when she was 16 years old.  This is a story of secrets that come back to haunt her, as her life in the present slowly begins to crumble.

Ellie de Florent-Stinson, our heroine, is celebrating her fortieth birthday with an exclusive birthday party in her new house in Palm Springs.  Ellie invites everyone who is anyone to her party and is determined to make it perfect.  She seems to have it all, money, successful business, happy marriage, famous friends, glitzy life, but not is all as it seems. Things continually go wrong, such as the flowers wilting, her suspicion that her husband is having an affair, her step daughter has a secret and a major business deal could cause bankruptcy, etc.  Ellie also receives a text from someone in her past, which worries her, as this person says they will come to her party, and she does not recognize the number. Who is it?

We follow the two POV’s that continuously go back and forth between the present day birthday party and the same day (24 years ago) birthday celebration when she was a teenager.  In the past, the story revolves around two best friends, Leo and Mish, who not only are close, but have the same negative issues with their parent, especially the fathers.  Mish takes Leo out to meet friends to celebrate her birthday, and along the way they get drunk, try drugs, and crash another party.  All does not end well on this birthday party fun.  I will not give spoilers, so you will need to read this book to understand what happens on that day years before.  This is part of the surprise twist at the end, both in the past and present.

The Birthday Girl was well written by Melissa de la Cruz, but I did have some mixed feelings.  It was interesting, and kept my attention; but I frankly did not care for Ellie.  I found her to be not really likeable, self-centered and superficial. As for Leo and Mish, I did like their friendship, until jealousy changed everything.  The ending came out of nowhere, as well as a total surprise. Overall, The Birthday Girl was a good story.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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THE DARK BONES (A Dark Lure #2) by Loreth Anne White-Review Tour

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THE DARK BONES (Dark Lure #2) by Loreth Anne White-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 21, 2019

he’s come back to solve the mystery of her father’s death and confront her own dark past.
When Detective Rebecca North left her rural hometown, she vowed never to return. Her father’s apparent suicide has changed that. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself.

To prove it, she needs the help of Ash Haugen, the man she left behind. But Rebecca and Ash share more than broken hearts. Something darker lies between them, and the investigation is stirring it back to life. Clues lead them to the home of Olivia West and her deeply troubled twelve-year-old daughter, Tori. The child knows more about the murder than anyone can imagine, but she’s too terrified to say a word.

And as a cold-blooded killer resurfaces from the past, Rebecca and Ash begin to fear that their own secrets may be even harder to survive.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: –THE DARK BONES is the second instalment in Loreth Anne White’s contemporary, adult, A DARK LURE psychological thriller series. This is RCMP commercial crimes Detective Sergeant Rebecca North, and Ash Haugen’s story line. THE DARK BONES can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalment is revealed where necessary.

Told from several third person perspectives including Ash and Rebecca, following several intersecting paths, using present day and memories from the past, THE DARK BONES follows in the wake of the death of Rebecca’s father, retired Cariboo Country cop Noah North. Having never expected to return to Cariboo Country, Rebecca North struggles with the evidence of her father’s demise. A man determined to solve a twenty-year old missing persons case, Noah North had apparently disturbed the dead, having opened up too many wounds, that were long thought buried and forgotten. Rebecca, desperate to prove her father’s death was a homicide, our heroine battles demons from the past, the memories of what was and what will never be, and a close-knit town of reluctant witnesses, dark secrets, and painful regrets. Reconnecting with Ash Haugen, the man she once loved, meant reconnecting with the heart break of betrayal and loss. What ensues is the rekindling relationship between Ash and Rebecca as our couple separately begin n investigation of their own into Noah North’s death, and the possible connection to Ash Haugen’s past.

THE DARK BONES is an intense, psychological thriller that looks at the angry, small-town mentality of protecting their own. From the secrets long buried with the dead, to the habitual town gossips, THE DARK BONES slowly reveals a complicated past, dangerous present and potential future when Noah North reopened a twenty-year old missing persons case that sets into motion a series of events that resulted in his death. Loreth Anne White pulls the reader into a suspense filled, strong and dramatic story of secrets and lies; of betrayal and vengeance; of lost love and forgotten time.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

Rebecca felt warmth. She was enveloped by it. She heard the crackle and pop of dry logs burning and, in the distance, dogs barking. The smell of … fire—Her eyes shot open, her heart thumping.

He sat there. Ash. In a chair by the fire, watching her with his ice-blue eyes. She was in his living room, and the lighting had been dimmed. The flickering glow of the flames in the hearth behind him cast his rugged features into sharp relief. The scar down the side of his face looked harsh. An old brown dog with a white muzzle slept on a rug in front of the hearth.

Rebecca’s brain slotted puzzle pieces into place as she struggled through a mental haze to backtrack and figure out how she’d gotten here: The lights following her. The razed cabin and the clues that someone had been inside the shed and maybe fled the scene. Ash shooting at her. No gas in her truck. Fear of dying. Coming here to Haugen Ranch. Shucking her dad’s gear in Ash’s mudroom. Him helping her into the living room of his old family home—a great big log house built by his grandfather. Seating her on the sofa.

She sat up slowly, trying to pull her brain into sharper focus. A down duvet was wrapped around her, a heated blanket beneath that. The duvet smelled of fresh laundry. Yes, she recalled, the fire had already been going in the hearth when he’d brought her in—she’d noticed that. Next had come hot tea with honey, warm clothes handed to her—fleece, oversize. More tea.

He’d told her not to talk. Discussion could wait.

She met his eyes now and felt a visceral connection across the darkened room. This was her first proper look at him after all these years.

Her teen lover had aged. As she had. But he’d matured in a way she found attractive. He was neither sweet nor handsome. Rugged rather. A brooding look. Sun bronzed and weathered. Her attention returned to his scar. So prominent, cutting down the left side of his face from eye to jaw. He could have had plastic surgery over the past decades, but clearly hadn’t. Her memory slipped back to the day she’d tried to patch him up with the help of a small medical kit and knowledge she’d gleaned during her part-time job as a veterinary assistant.

He lied…

Her attention shifted to his hands. His knuckles were scarred.

What were you protecting him from that day?

She recalled the blood she’d seen on those ragged and bruised knuckles that day. Why had she not told her father she didn’t know for certain he’d fallen off his horse and been dragged across sharp terrain?

Why had she not questioned more firmly, at age sixteen, Ash’s refusal to go to the ER facility on that particular day? What deep psychology had driven her to possibly blind herself to search for a darker truth?

In that tempestuous, hormone-filled year she was sixteen, had she conveniently compartmentalized something that had created cognitive dissonance, because she’d just recently started sleeping with Ash, and needed to believe him? Needed to trust him again?

How had her actions that day shaped this present? Could it—she—have possibly played a role in her father’s death?

And why, oh dear God why, did Ash still make her feel things? This—this—was why she’d stayed away. He held an animal kind of magnetism over her. She felt it now, her gaze locked with his arctic eyes. Her attraction had blinded her to the fact he was not good for her. He was a liar.

She cleared her throat. “What time is it?”

“Almost midnight. You going to be okay? Do I need to drive you to Clinton?”

From his ranch it would take almost an hour, in the dark, on bad roads. And the ER would be closed. They’d have to call 911 for emergency to open up with an on-call physician. It reminded Rebecca that out here, one looked after one’s own.

“I … I must have passed out.”

A half smile. “Slept like a baby. You must have been tired.”

A desire to tell him all rose in Rebecca: How rough her journey home had been with the storms. How seeing her father’s body had gutted her. How exhausted she felt, emotionally. But she held back as her mind sharpened and the immediacy of why she was here, with him, in this house, was pulled into clear focus.

“What made you return to my father’s place when you did, Ash? How did you come to find me?”

“I go up to the Broken Bar mesa sometimes. The view of the valley on a clear, cold night is surreal.” A pause. “I needed to think.” After seeing you. The unspoken words seemed to simmer between them. “Someplace above it all. Then as the moon rose, I caught light glinting off metal where your father’s place was. I thought it might be a vehicle, so I went to check before heading home.” He paused. “You could have died out there.”

Rebecca swallowed as this fact sank like a stone through her gut.

“Have you been sitting there watching me like that all night?”

“You worried me,” he said. Then, very quietly, he added, “And I like to look at you.” He paused. “It’s been so long.”


 

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TWISTED (Tangled Web #1) by Aleatha Romig-Review Tour

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TWISTED (Tangled Web #1) by Aleatha Romig-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 21, 2019

The underworld of Chicago is far from forgiving. It’s a world where knowledge means power, power money, and money everything.

While I paid the ultimate price to have it all, it wasn’t my decision to give my life..

That doesn’t mean I ceased to exist, only to live.

Going where the job takes me and living in the shadows, with deadly accuracy I utilize the skills inherent to me, not knowing from where they came, not recalling what I’d lost.

And then I saw her.

Laurel Carlson.

I shouldn’t want her, desire her, or need her, yet with each sighting I know she is exactly what I have to have. Laurel has the ability to do what I thought was impossible. She sees what others don’t.

My gut tells me that it’s a deadly mistake to change my plans and open my world to her. My mind says she’ll be repulsed by my twisted existence.

None of that matters, because my body won’t take no for an answer.

I’ve made dangerous mistakes before.

This time, will the price be too high?

From New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes a brand-new dark romance bringing us back to the same dangerous underworld as SECRETS. You do not need to read the Web of Sin trilogy to get caught in this new and intriguing saga, Tangled Web.

•••••••••••••

REVIEW: TWISTED is the first instalment in Aleatha Romig’s contemporary, adult TANGLED WEB dark, romantic, psychological, suspense trilogy. This is scientist Dr. Laurel Carlson, and assassin for hire Kader’s story line. The Tangled Web series is set in the same world as the author’s WEB OF SIN trilogy but you do not have to have read the original series to understand or follow Tangled Web.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Laurel and Kader) TWISTED focuses on a scientific discovery that more than one player is desperate to obtain. Dr. Laurel Carlson, and her associates find themselves the center of attention a university fund-raiser, a fund –raiser that is more than Laurel could have imagined. From promises of millions to the missing and murdered TWISTED follows Laurel Carlson as her world begins to implode. Imprisoned by a man who has threatened her life, Laurel will start to imagine a scenario where her kidnapper is her only chance for survival. What ensues is the abduction and confinement of our story line heroine, a confinement that may be her only safety net in a world that is spiralling out of control. Unable to trust the man with whom she is currently in hiding, Laurel will begin to discover that not all is right in her corner of the world. As we learn more about Laurel’s current housemate, his secrets are slowly unravelling one memory at a time.

TWISTED is a dark romance; a psychological thriller that focuses on the world of medical research and the suspicious acts of problematic organizations. Aleatha Romig pulls the reader into a story of suspense and mystery; of betrayal and vengeance; of questionable circumstances, and the inability to trust. The premise is intriguing and raw; the characters are powerful and edgy; the $ex scenes are dramatic and intense.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy 

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Aleatha Romig is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author who lives in Indiana. She grew up in Mishawaka, graduated from Indiana University, and is currently living south of Indianapolis. Together with her high-school sweetheart and husband of over thirty years, they’ve raised three children. Before she became a full-time author, she worked days as a dental hygienist and spent her nights writing. Now, when she’s not imagining mind-blowing twists and turns or her new lighter side, she likes to spend her time with her family and friends. Her pastimes include reading and creating heroes/anti-heroes who haunt your dreams!

Sign up today to receive her monthly newsletter  and /or text message alerts stay informed.

And if you’re new to ALEATHA, check out her FREE books.

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The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – a Review

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The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – a Review

 

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Description:
Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it’s immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present.

And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

 

 

Review:

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is a standalone psychological thriller.  I was not sure what to expect, as I have not read Sager before; and I am happy to say right from the start, I became engrossed in this suspenseful story.  The Last Time I Lied was an amazing story line that switched between two POV’s- the current time and 15 years previously.

15 years ago, we meet our heroine, Emma, who 13 years old and forced by her mother to attend a summer camp.  Emma shares a cabin with three girls, who are a few years older and already friends, but they quickly accept Emma.  Vivian, Alison and Natalie are the three girls, who come from rich families and who have attended Camp Nightingale during the summer months.  Vivian is the leader, and she makes Emma her protégé, showing her the ropes.  But strange things happen in Camp Nightingale. Before the summer is out, Emma will wake during the night to find the three girls missing, never to be found.

The story picks up 15 years later, when a grown up Emma is showcasing her paintings at a gallery.  She paints canvases of a forest, with her three missing friends hidden within the pictures.  Emma has created over 30 pictures, similar and with her secret hidden within.  At the gallery show, she is approached by the person who owns Camp Nightingale, and wants to reopen it.  She asks Emma to come for the summer and teach painting.  At first Emma, who has not gotten over what happened all those years ago, wasn’t sure she wanted to go back, but in order to get closure and go on with her life, she accepts.

The flashbacks go back 15 years where we learn everything about Emma, and the other girls, especially Vivian, who Emma became the closest to.  In current time, Emma ends up sharing the same cabin with three young girls, being their counselor.  Emma has her own secrets, which haunts her, and which are revealed in each flashback; she also begins to search to find clues about what really happened. 

What follows is an intriguing, exciting, at times creepy story that has us on the edge of our seats, especially with so many surprises and twists along the way.  Every time we thought we knew who the culprit was, something else comes along to change things.  Then things become intense when déjà vu strikes again.   I thought Sager created some wonderful characters, even if they were flawed.

The Last Time I Lied was a fantastic mystery thriller that was so well written, keeping us on our toes, with the suspense pulsating.  There were so many secrets, lies, revelations that borderline on the dark creep factor.  I will say this, without giving spoilers, that I was shocked at the ending, which was so superbly done.  Riley Sager has created an ultra-powerful phenomenal story, and has now been added to my list of authors I need to read.  If you enjoy thrillers, suspense, and mystery, look no further than The Last Time I Lied.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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Saving Mercy (Fatal Truth #1) by Abbie Roads-Review,Guest Post & Giveaway

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SAVING MERCY (Fatal Truth #1) by Abbie Roads-Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

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SAVING MERCY
Fatal Truth #1
by Abbie Roads
Genre: adult, contemporary, psychological, thriller, romantic suspense
Release Date: April 4, 2017

Saving Mercy

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 4, 2017

First in a chilling new paranormal romantic suspense series from award-winning author Abbie Roads

He’s found her at last
Cain Killion knows himself to be a damaged man, his only saving grace the extrasensory connection to blood that he uses to catch murderers. His latest case takes a macabre turn when he discovers a familiar and haunting symbol linking the crime to his own horrific past-and only one woman could know what it means.

Only to lose her to a nightmare
Mercy Ledger is brave, resilient, beautiful-and in terrible danger. The moment he sees Mercy, Cain knows he’s the one who can save her. He also knows he’s beyond redemption. But the lines between good and evil blur and the only thing clear to Cain and Mercy is that they belong together. Love is the antidote for blood-but is their bond strong enough to overcome the evil that stalks them?

•••••••••

REVIEW: SAVING MERCY is the first instalment in Abbie Roads’s contemporary, adult FATAL TRUTH paranormal, romantic suspense series. This is FBI profiler Cain Killion, and Mercy Ledger’s story line.

NOTE: SAVING MERCY contains scenes of graphic violence, blood shed and murder, and may not be appropriate for all readers.

Told from several third person points of view including Cain and Mercy SAVING MERCY focuses on Cain Killion, the son of a serial killer, and Mercy Ledger-one of Cain’s father’s victims -a woman who survived but finds herself victimized over and over again. Twenty years earlier Mercy’s entire family was brutally slaughtered by Adam Killion and in the ensuing years, Mercy has struggled to find her place in society until the day she found herself locked in a mental institution against her will. Enter Cain Killion, Adam Killion’s son, and the man who will fall in love with one of his father’s victims. What ensues are Cain’s attempts to save Mercy from a potential copy –cat killer; a stalker who uses Mercy for his own perverted pleasure; and the fall out from a killer’s need for power and control.

Cain Killion has the ability to ‘read’ blood-a killer’s thought and ideas whenever he touches the blood of one of the victims. His psychic abilities leave our hero in a world of hurt and pain, and not without some difficult side effects he’d rather not endure but as an FBI profiler Cain’s ‘powers’ can be used as a positive when on the hunt for the criminally responsible, making amends for his father’s past. His connection to Mercy Ledger comes on the twentieth anniversary of her family’s murders, and a string of killings linking directly back to Mercy and Cain find our couple on the run, not knowing whom to trust or where next to turn. The overwhelming darkness and demons continue to ride Cain Killion-a man whose own father destroyed everything he touched. Mercy is not without some psychic abilities of her own, and together they will form a powerful team but not before Mercy is targeted by someone from her past.

SAVING MERCY is an intense, tragic and alarming look at one man’s ability to destroy everything in his path. There are moments of passion and romance, atrocious violence and abhorrent acts, betrayal, redemption and vindication. The premise is suspenseful and disturbing; the characters are broken, destructive and tormented; the romance is fated, profound and heartbreaking. SAVING MERCY is a dark, deadly, fiery and tense story; a well written psychological thriller about a tortured hero, and the woman with whom he will fall in love.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Guest Post=Black and Red

Developing the hero/heroine with Abbie Roads

I’m a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants author. That means I don’t plot out my books and I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen from one scene to the next. I’ve tried plotting and planning and the thing I’ve discovered… If I know what’s going to happen, then I don’t want to write it. I get a weird writer’s high from all the unexpected things that happen on the page.

And I’m the same way with developing my heroes and heroines. I’ve sat down and filled out complicated character development forms. I’ve spent weeks exploring every single facet of a character and you know what happened when I tried to write that character? I couldn’t write him. I couldn’t force that character to be the things I said he was going to be.

I wish I could plot a story. I wish I could plan out my characters. But it’s just not how my process works.

Here’s how I develop my characters:

I write. And write. And write. I keep writing until I feel that spark that interests me. Then I delete all the crap I wrote before. I follow that spark and let it guide me. It doesn’t always lead me in a good direction, so I delete a lot.

The first one hundred pages of my books are always the hardest for me. It takes me a long time to find my characters in writing and re-writing—usually six to eight months to get those pages right. The rest of the book comes easier after that. Thank God.

A weird thing I’ve noticed about my heroes and heroines is that they all tend to be introverted and crave to live isolated lives. Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but those are purely Abbie Roads traits. I’m a super-deep introvert, but I can become extroverted sounding when I’m excited about something—it just exhausts me. I yearn to live in isolation from other people. I want my home to be in a place where I can walk outside naked and there’s no one around for miles to see. Not that I’m a nudist or anything. It’s just the idea of being able to do that that appeals to me! Lol.

QUESTION

I have a question for the readers: What kinds of heroes/heroines do you like best? Are they a reflection of your own personality?

Giveaway-redandblack_zps8ff4dc4b

Fatal Dreams giveaway

Abbie’s publisher is graciously offering a two-book bundle of Race the Darkness and Hunt the Dawn (Fatal Dreams 1 & 2) to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

NOTE: If you are having difficulty commenting after logging onto the site, please refresh the page (at the top of your computer).

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8. Giveaway is open to USA only

9. Giveaway runs from April 10-14, 2017

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