The Intruder by Freida McFadden

Description from Amazon:

Who knows what the storm will blow in…

Casey’s cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door sways ominously in the wind. But she’s a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window.

She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood.

The girl won’t explain where she came from or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.

The girl has a dark secret. One she’ll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.

 

I figured since I’d given Deaver and Colter Shaw a second chance, I’d do the same for Freida McFadden. Unfortunately, it just solidified that I do not gel with her writing! I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who love her stories, but this book did not do it for me.

 

I read it in about two hours, and it had a good start with an interesting book description. But...

It’s not a thriller as you would expect. It’s a psychological drama with childhood abuse and an unreliable narrator. And deals with themes of hoarding and trauma shaped by unhinged parents.

So in the midst of this crazy storm in the description, Casey finds this young girl with a knife. And the girl is threatening her. But Casey still invites her in for cookies. That struck me as very weird. Yes, the child is obviously running from something, but Casey has no means of communication with the outside world due to the storm so why does she feel comfortable enough to do this? Okay, let’s just chalk it up to Casey being a good person.

Now, she is in the woods, with a next-door neighbour who she thought she felt attracted to but is not sure about and a creepy landlord who is hitting on her. And this storm is so bad it’s threatening to bring down a huge tree on her house and take her roof off. And she still wants to take care of a girl who has literally told her she will harm her.

However, the story starts with a young girl who lives with her unhinged hoarder mother and the girl is trying to make the best of a bad situation. Granted, her choices are not the best, but she is young and has no other way of doing things. Her mom is pretty awful and locks her in the closet whenever she has male companionship – sounds like a great way to raise a kid, right?

The girl makes friends with an unlikely schoolmate and they form an unconventional but very close friendship. Something accidental but extremely serious puts paid to that.

Now I have to say that there are some *spoilers* coming up. It’s difficult to describe the book without them. I’ve tried not to give it away, but you could read into them.

The narrator is not who you think it is. And Freida has tried too hard to run parallel lives explaining the story. The odds of people who have experienced almost the same things finding each other in those circumstances are so slim (even with the explanation offered), and without them the whole story falls apart. Besides that, you have people who have literally given up their lives to keep an eye on someone based on a promise. Sweet, but no.

It caught me in the beginning, let me down in the end, and shows that she and I don’t mesh. You may have your legion of fans, but shoving “infinity promise” down my throat that many times made us break up. Sorry, Freida!

The Puppet Show by MW Craven

Description from Amazon:

A serial killer is burning people alive in the Lake District's prehistoric stone circles. He leaves no clues and the police are helpless. When his name is found carved into the charred remains of the third victim, disgraced detective Washington Poe is brought back from suspension and into an investigation he wants no part of . . .

Reluctantly partnered with the brilliant, but socially awkward, civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw, the mismatched pair uncover a trail that only he is meant to see. The elusive killer has a plan and for some reason Poe is part of it.

As the body count rises, Poe discovers he has far more invested in the case than he could have possibly imagined. And in a shocking finale that will shatter everything he's ever believed about himself, Poe will learn that there are things far worse than being burned alive ...

 

I had never heard of this author before and I’m always sceptical when covers tell you about awards authors have won because I find a lot of them never live up to the expectation created in my mind. However, this was a fantastic book.

 

Poe’s character is really well written. You have to admire his tenacity and his willingness to do the wrong things for the right reasons. I loved the way he was incorporated into the narrative and the pushes in directions to get him to places. However, Tilly was an awesome character! Definitely on the spectrum, filled with loyalty and a fierceness that worked brilliantly with Poe’s ideals, her addition to the story created a side to it that added the genius and doggedness. If you are squeamish, be warned that there are scenes describing the burning bodies.

 

The plot itself took you one way and then another and layers were added at each turn. It took a while to get to the ultimate message, but the journey kept me turning page after page. And just when you thought the book was over, Poe added something right at the end that was a game changer. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one!

The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver

Description from Amazon:

The son of a survivalist family, Colter Shaw is an expert tracker. Now he makes a living as a “reward seeker,” traveling the country to help police solve crimes and locate missing persons for private citizens.

“You’ve been abandoned. Escape if you can. Or die with dignity.”

Hired by the father of a young woman who has gone missing in Silicon Valley, Shaw's search takes him into the dark heart of America’s cutthroat billion-dollar video-game industry. When another person goes missing, Shaw must ask: Is a madman bringing a twisted video game to life?

Encountering eccentric designers, trigger-happy gamers, and ruthless tech titans, Shaw soon learns that he isn't the only one on the hunt: someone is on his trail and closing fast....

 

Okay, so I said I wouldn’t read any more of this series, but I found this in the library and figured I’d try the first one to see if it sets the series up well and I just happened to not enjoy a later one. Turns out that was the case!

 

The book opens with a bang and it’s pretty much at a fast pace all the way through. We learn a bit more about Shaw’s background and how he was raised, plus are offered a question into his past. But for now, Shaw is a private citizen for “hire”, one who will track down missing people for the reward. When he takes up an offer in Silicon Valley, he finds out that the case may be linked to the world of gaming, and in particular one called The Whispering Man that gives you five pieces of equipment and you have to figure your way out of a life or death situation with them.

 

The gaming parts were interesting and the whole world of gaming (not just the stuff you see in movies) is really complex and hugely popular. Shaw gets to meet a number of rivals within the industry as well as fans, one who becomes a romantic interest. I found her character somewhat stilted, though. Couldn’t really connect with her.

 

I did enjoy the way Shaw worked through the kidnapping but I guess in many places you have to just accept certain things about the story that would normally require a decent explanation like his money or his ability to get through areas he shouldn’t be allowed in.

 

I still don’t think this series is as good as Rhyme but I’ll try another just to see where it’s going.

Keep the Ghost by Scott Kelly

Description from Amazon:

It started as a fake suicide. It ended in a very real murder.

Sean would do anything for his crush Kayla, even help the girl stage her own death. But after her near-sighted plan takes a dark turn and her corpse washes up on the beach, those little lies he told to the police don’t seem so little anymore.

When he becomes the prime suspect, his only hope to avoid prison may be to follow in Kayla’s doomed footsteps by faking his own death. With the manhunt on his heels, he must put his trust in a dangerous couple with a devious idea for his second chance at life. Will Sean escape to freedom or will he unwittingly step into the noose of his own tangled plan?

Keep the Ghost is the first book in a series of edgy mystery thrillers. If you like fast-paced suspense, heart-stopping plot twists, and deadly double-crosses, then you’ll love Scott Kelly’s nail-biting tale.

 

Well, this was an odd one. It sounded very different and I figured it would be quite a change. I’m not sure how I feel about it, though.

 

The idea behind faking your death (pseudocide) is to not be bound by your name. To not be defined by the name given to you and to free yourself from your ghost. But with Sean on the run and being helped by some very shady characters, he needs to get a new identity. And surely then he is bound by this new identity? You couldn’t keep changing it all the time, after all. It does go deeper than this because obviously, to have the funds to do this, you’d need some sort of scam behind the scenes, and that is exactly what is happening, as Sean soon discovers.

 

The writing definitely made you want to read more to find out what happens. There are a couple of cringy bits, and bits that seemed off, but when actual murder takes place to hide a name, it wasn’t justified. And then… the story doesn’t finish. With loads of space left in the book, it just ends and ends without either a satisfying conclusion or a decent lead in to the next book. Unfortunately, this series is not for me.

Billy Summers by Stephen King

Description from Amazon:

The perfect crime doesn’t exist. The perfect getaway . . . that’s another story.

Billy Summers is a killer for hire. He’s among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet who can blend into any neighbourhood and disappear after the shot is taken. But he’ll only agree to a contract if the target is a truly bad guy.

Now Billy wants out. But first he’s offered one final job - an offer which is just too big to refuse.

As the days count down to the hit, Billy senses something is wrong. He doesn’t yet know just how wrong, or about the woman who will help him try to set things right.

Part thriller, part war story, part lyrical portrait of small-town America, Billy Summers is about a good man in a bad job, with one last shot at redemption.

 

I absolutely loved this. It’s quite different from his usual fare, and I thought the nod to The Shining was a fun addition.

 

Billy’s job and the people involved is laid out nicely, and even though what he is about to do is so completely wrong, you are cheering him on. The book is quite thick, so as the job is put into action, there seem to be a lot of pages over. Enter the second portion, which, while it has a different element to it, ties it all together so well that by the end the emotions are a rollercoaster.

 

Billy takes you through parts of his life in wars through memories and the book he is writing, and I thought the way he writes his book using his simple voice and then his usual one read really well. There are cringy parts and his first interaction with Alice as well as some of the decisions he makes about her are downright questionable. But I guess that also shows how people make decisions and how wrong they can be.

 

Many won’t like this book based on decisions made and the political jabs, but I really enjoyed it!

Lady Apprentice by Toni Cabell

Description from Amazon:

Her homeland under siege. A dark sorcerer hot on her trail. All the prophecies say Linden can stop him. Who are they kidding?

Linden is the worst mage apprentice at her school. Her latest disaster: accidentally destroying her classroom when a small hooded fay pops up inside the fireball she’s just conjured.

Linden is sent to the headmaster’s office to be formally expelled, when she is saved by the bell—quite literally. Someone is frantically ringing the bell inside the watchtower overlooking the western frontier. Raiders are coming, in broad daylight, wearing the uniforms of the enemy army.

In the days following the raid, rumors begin to fly about the invading commander, with dark powers and an even darker mission. And for some reason Linden has yet to fathom, he’s taken a personal interest in her and her unruly magic.

 

This is definitely aimed at YA but still interesting enough to keep older readers somewhat engaged. It’s the first I’ve read of this author, and her writing style is very easy to follow, her characters well varied, and the plot carefully thought out.

 

Because it’s the first in the series, a lot of world-building and background info on characters had to take place to get the story where it needed to be at the point of Linden’s place in the war. This did make certain areas drag out a little, but Linden’s journey in finding herself was necessary. The different abilities and levels are well described and the action sequences entertaining.

 

Linden’s path in coming to terms with her abilities and finding her confidence was a great basis for the age of the reader, but my gripes were that she was more concerned about her boyfriend than her brother, and the fact that this script had editing mistakes in it.

 

I would like to read the rest of the series just to find out if Linden gets to become the person she is meant to be.

Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard

Description from Amazon:

A ghostwriter is tasked with capturing the memoirs of a celebrity widely suspected of murder; now she’s locked in an interview room with a killer and he’s ready to confess... The night Jack Smyth ran into flames in a desperate attempt to save his wife, he was, tragically, too late - but hailed a hero. Until it emerged that Kate was dead long before the fire began.

 

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and based on this I wouldn’t read another. The story starts off with a bang and you are sucked into a situation someone is not getting out of and might end up dying in horribly. This definitely grabs attention.

 

Then the book meanders into the weird rules about how the ghostwriting must take place, Emily’s feelings toward Jack and her going back and forth between believing him or not, and then the misdirection the author tries to take us through. Which, unfortunately, is not difficult to spot.

 

The characters are 2D and I felt nothing for any of them. There are huge plot holes in the book that the author tries to explain but it feels like the explanations are being tacked on. I read the whole book in hope, but by the end I felt shortchanged.

Watching You by Michael Robotham

Description from Amazon:

I am the most important figure in Marnie’s life, but she doesn’t know it yet . . .

I am the one who watches.

Marnie Logan often feels like she’s being watched. Nothing she can quite put her finger on - a whisper of breath on the back of her neck, or a shadow in the corner of her eye - and now her life is frozen. Her husband Daniel has been missing for more than a year. Depressed and increasingly desperate, she seeks the help of clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin.

Joe is concerned by Marnie’s reluctance to talk about the past, but then she discovers a book packed with pictures, interviews with friends, former teachers, old flames and workmates Daniel was preparing for Marnie’s birthday. It was supposed to be a celebration of her life. But it’s not the story anyone was expecting . . .

 

This is the first Joe O’Loughlin book I’ve read in the series, and it’s easy to jump into and read as a standalone. I really enjoyed this one and was amazed it was written so long ago yet still feels so fresh.

 

You really are taken back and forth where you think something is real then it’s fake then it might be real again. Marnie is stuck in a terrible financial situation and resorts to something soul crushing to earn some money for her children seeing as her husband cannot be declared dead and his insurance paid out. Of course the kids don’t know what she is doing and her teen daughter thinks her mom is pretty much useless while her son is really ill.

 

But it seems that a lot of people connected to Marnie either turn up dead or something bad happens to them, so she is high on the list of suspects for her husband’s disappearance. All this while she is seeing Joe for depression. And he is about to find out some fascinating things about her. Marnie’s past didn’t stay there and it’s threatening to overtake her future.

 

This was a thriller of note and I kept wanting to read just one more chapter. As the clues are unravelled and you are sure of your guesses, more turns up. Marnie’s character was so well written that you could feel her anguish all the way through and the fact that part of the book are written from an unknown character’s POV makes the guesswork all the more fun.

 

This kept me engaged all the way through with fast-paced writing and great characters and one heck of a great plot! I love it when a book is described as a psychological thriller and it actually is one...

Return of the Spider by James Patterson

Description from Amazon:

Along Came a Spider introduced Detective Alex Cross to readers around the globe and delivered an unsurpassed rivalry: Cross—named the “human superhero” by The New York Times—versus Gary Soneji, who the Lexington-Herald Leader called the “most deliciously wicked character since Hannibal Lecter”. But that wasn’t their first meeting ...

Police discover that Soneji kept a murder book, Profiles in Homicidal Genius, detailing his transformation from substitute teacher to hardened serial killer—including clues that imply missteps that Alex Cross may have made a rookie homicide detective.

Now, Alex must retrace the steps of that long-ago investigation and face ... the Return of the Spider.

 

I decided to try an indie book again and picked one randomly on my Kindle. On the first page a character bashes a cat against a wall to see if they have psychopathic tendencies. Well that book got closed quickly. So I thought I’d see if James Patterson was still writing (and I say that tongue in cheek) mass-produced generic stuff. I used to love Patterson and thoroughly enjoyed his books until they became predictable as he churned them out so quickly. Even the Amazon description seems to have an error in it!

 

I didn’t read the back of the book, just picked it up as it was new. Oh dear. It seems it was a prequel of sorts to Along Came a Spider, which was written way back when. It doesn’t start off as a prequel though, so I felt cheated when I was expecting a new story and it lands up taking you back to how Gary Soneji started his reign of terror; and since we know how it ended, it felt like a backstory that was not necessary.

 

Sure there were clues here and there that were quite clever to have used to frame the guys he managed to make the fall guys, but there were also timing issues. If I remember Along Came a Spider correctly, Alex was a well-established detective by then, but according to this he was a rookie and making a lot of mistakes. Plus I think he mentioned an iPad in the 90s? Yeah, no.

 

I read it, closed it, and then said no more Patterson for me. Once upon a time they linked and had good ideas in them. Now they just follow a formula where it feels like drop-down menus to fill in the blanks.

Just finishing off a Michael Robotham and enjoying that one a lot more. Review up soon.

When She Was Good by Michael Robotham

Description from Amazon:

Criminal psychologist Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in this “powerhouse of a novel” (Booklist, starred review) from internationally bestselling author Michael Robotham, a writer Stephen King calls “an absolute master...with heart and soul.”

Who is Evie, the girl with no past, running from? She was discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Her ability to tell when someone is lying helped Cyrus crack an impenetrable case in Good Girl, Bad Girl. Now, the closer Cyrus gets to uncovering answers about Evie’s dark history, the more he exposes Evie to danger, giving her no choice but to run. Ultimately, both will have to decide if some secrets are better left buried and some monsters should never be named...

 

I loved the first book in this series and was hoping for all the answers here. We did not get them as it turns out there is another book (or two)! But a lot of questions were answered and Evie certainly got some vindication.

 

Evie is back at Langford Hall and elsewhere Cyrus is brought in to a suspected suicide that is anything but. And the more he looks into it, the more connection there is with Evie’s past. Cyrus manages to convince Sasha, the police officer who found Evie as a child, to team up with him. She is rather reluctant to do this but she eventually agrees, and what they find out leads them to organised groups who find pleasure in using children for sick deeds. It’s heartbreaking to hear what Evie went through as a child, and what Terry endured to keep her safe was quite something.

 

As usual the writing is compelling and you keep wanting to read just one more chapter. Evie wants Cyrus nowhere near the case as she is worried about him, just as he is worried about her. If they had managed to be open with each other a lot sooner much could have been averted. But this all adds to the tension and the author’s way of showing us vulnerability yet courage.

 

I was annoyed that not everything was ended off but at least I know there is more to come. And more of Poppy, the black Labrador, I hope! Just make sure, Mr. Author, that someone is there to look after her and feed her when your characters decide to go wandering off, please...

The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz

Description from Amazon:

In the year since her son Danny’s tragic death, Tina Evans has suffered incredible heartache. But now, with her Vegas show about to premiere, Tina might be ready to put her grief behind her and start over.

Until a shocking message appears on the chalkboard in Danny's room: NOT DEAD. Those two words send her on a terrifying journey from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the cold shadows of the High Sierras, where she uncovers a terrible secret.

 

I knew Dean Koontz had written under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols before, but I hadn’t read any of them or realised how old they were. This one had been rereleased and updated and the story worked relatively well.

 

I found it very quick and easy to read and the story felt more solid, as though the older works focused on the plot itself and didn’t need bells and whistles. It almost felt like the seed for so many new books today that have tried to twist exactly this.

 

When Tina gets the message, she thinks someone is out to deliberately spook her and initially blames her ex-husband. She still misses her son immensely, but is in a better space in her head and her work is going well, so when the messages start, she is torn between going forward or back to the bad place in her life.

 

At one of her shows she meets Elliot and they hit it off. When she shares with him that she thinks Danny might be trying to get hold of her after a few more odd coincidences occur, he refuses to believe it. Until two men show up at his house with nefarious intentions.

 

Using any methods they can, they are able to locate an area they think Danny might be and head off. Where they find coverups and secrets galore.

 

This is a bit dated in that it’s a simplistic plot but it feels like an “original” and a precursor so was just putting the bones out there for the time. The ending was the ending but could have been done so much better. There was scope for so much more yet it was abrupt. And yes, there are questions – which would give away a lot of spoilers, so I won’t go into them. The tie-in with the 2020 worldwide disaster is ominous considering when this was written, so having read it now, I guess back then it wouldn’t have made the same impact.

 

I did enjoy the book. Wasn’t fabulous and I wouldn’t read it again, but it delivered a simple story with a supernatural lean to it and a good take on never giving up.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Description from Amazon:

On a plane bound for Sydney the unassuming woman from seat 4D walks down the aisle making unsettling predictions about the passengers.

And six strangers find their lives unexpectedly crossing.

Each tries to put the experience behind them. But, just weeks later, they can't any longer.

Because not believing a prediction is easy, Until it comes true . . .

 

I had seen some of the adaptions of her books and enjoyed a few, so was hoping this would have the same appeal. Unfortunately even though it started with a great premise, it fell really flat. This book took a lot longer than it should have taken to read because it felt like a slog to get through.

 

So the “death lady” on the plane predicts how people will die and at what age. Once they land, the book splits into each person’s story and how they cope with the prediction. Obviously many don’t want to believe it, but when a few people start dying, they now want to take it seriously. It’s a case of do I want to live my life fullout if I know I’m going to die, or do I take the predictions to heart and do all I can to avert them. So it’s really a morality issue and not a fabulous new concept.

 

It gets a bit confusing switching between so many characters, and while the death lady’s history was interesting, it was a lot of info, and it would have been more fascinating having leaned to the supernatural. I suppose in the end the point she is trying to make is that fortune telling is more of a case of what people need to hear not what they want to hear and is done through subtle suggestions.

 

I was hoping for an amazing ending that tied it all up, but it petered out and left you feeling rather unsatisfied. I’ll try one more of her books, but there are so many more authors to discover!

 

One thing that was odd was that the title of the book was printed in such a way that in a certain light, if you moved the book quickly, the title would “jiggle” as one image. Spooky!

Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin

Description from Amazon:

Long ago, Carl Feldman was acquitted of murder.

Now he’s an old man, living alone with his fading memories.

His daughter has come to see him, to take him on a trip.

Only she’s not his daughter, and if she has her way, he’s not coming back . . .

This woman is sure Carl’s a murderer, and that he’s killed others - including her sister Rachel.

And she will stop at nothing to find out the truth.

 

This description really caught my eye and I wondered how on earth she would get this right.

 

So after years of putting together clues, pictures, and making plans about finding out whether Carl killed her sister, our protagonist manages to convince the woman in charge of the halfway house Carl is at to let him out for a short road trip. Carl has dementia and has lost some of the use of one of his arms. She figures that on this road trip if she takes him to places where his other possible victims may be and align them with pictures from his photography book it may stir his memory and help him to reveal what happened to her sister. What is not said but implied is that Carl is not coming back.

 

The trip starts off well but you get the feeling that Carl’s faculties are not that confused and that his arm works better than he claims it does. He asks for a list of “must haves” on the trip and these begin to look suspiciously like tools one would use to murder and then bury the body.

 

The first couple of stops yield no clues even though she seems to be picking up more about Carl, but he also seems to be one step ahead of each decision she thinks she has made in advance. The trip meanders a bit and gets a bit boring but it’s interesting to see how she tried to bring the victims’ places together and how he justified his photos each time.

The ending kinda threw me. It’s one of those that comes out at you from left field where there were no clues sprinkled throughout to support it. There are plenty of action scenes and enough places where I wondered if the plan was futile and exactly who was not coming back.

 

Overall it was a good book and well written; it was just the ending that let it down.

Untouchable by Jeffery Deaver

Description from Amazon:

For Special Agent Constant Marlowe, a quiet college town hides a nest of malice and revenge in this twisty novella by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver.

 

Special Agent Constant Marlowe is passing through the charming college town of Prescott, Illinois, when a chance encounter with a terrified student stops her in her tracks. Kathleen Delaine thought she was doing the right thing when she demanded an inquiry into traumatic brain injuries among the university’s football team. But after a manosphere shock jock picks up the story on his radio show and makes it personal, the online uproar bleeds into the real world. As Constant works to identify which of the host’s fanboys is threatening Kathleen, she discovers that behind the bullying campaign lies a vast and deadly conspiracy.

 

This is another quick read for Deaver, and even though Constant has popped up in previous novellas, this can be read as a standalone.

 

Constant is quite the spitfire and sometimes her ability to take down threats seems a little off the charts, like not calling for backup when in a dangerous situation but rather deciding to have a boxing match? After seeing Kathleen being harassed on the streets, she quickly intervenes even though Kathleen insists she doesn’t need help. But Kathleen’s good work in requesting an inquiry into brain injuries of football players seems to have been blown out of proportion when a caller named Sam phones in to Brad Phillip’s toxic “man show” to ridicule her and make her out to be some sort of easy lay. Constant now needs to find out who this Sam is and help Kathleen to get to the bottom of why this all started.

Brad’s character is written really well and gives you the icks immediately. He is slimy and judgemental and believes that his views are right no matter what and that women shouldn’t be offended by what he has to say because they should know their place.

There is another side plot to the story and initially it’s difficult to put them together, especially when a character enters whose motives are questionable.

Without giving any of the plot away, you can guess that Constant follows a rather unorthodox plan to try to solve it all.

I liked the fast pace of the novella and the idea behind the plot, but I found the ending rather rushed and didn’t really feel the connection that Constant’s love interest had to this book. It just seemed a bit easy and convenient. It’s one of those fabulous reads while you are in it, but besides the main plot I’m not sure if I’ll remember much else a week later.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to review this arc copy.

Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham

Description from Amazon:

A girl is discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Half-starved and filthy, she won’t tell anyone her name, or her age, or where she came from. Maybe she is twelve, maybe fifteen. She doesn’t appear in any missing persons file, and her DNA can’t be matched to an identity. Six years later, still unidentified, she is living in a secure children’s home with a new name, Evie Cormac. When she initiates a court case demanding the right to be released as an adult, forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven must determine if Evie is ready to go free. But she is unlike anyone he’s ever met—fascinating and dangerous in equal measure. Evie knows when someone is lying, and no one around her is telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Cyrus is called in to investigate the shocking murder of a high school figure-skating champion, Jodie Sheehan, who died on a lonely footpath close to her home. Pretty and popular, Jodie is portrayed by everyone as the ultimate girl-next-door, but as Cyrus peels back the layers, a secret life emerges—one that Evie Cormac, the girl with no past, knows something about. A man haunted by his own tragic history, Cyrus is caught between the two cases—one girl who needs saving and another who needs justice. What price will he pay for the truth?

 

This was a great story! It does leave it open at the end to go into the next book, but this can still be read and enjoyed on its own.

Cyrus’s character was truly intriguing and the tattoos definitely need some explaining. Plus, we really need to find out more about the tragic murders in his childhood.

The fact that we were able to see things from Evie/Angel Face’s POV gave us a great insight into the change in her feelings throughout the book and helped us to see her growth. There are still questions we need answers to when it comes to her imprisonment, but the fact that she was able to share what she could was a huge leap for her.

There were many red herring routes offered and we were taken on a ride to see how Jodie’s case would all pan out.

The writing flowed really well and kept me hooked all the way through. Great descriptions, fascinating characters (Felix gave me the creeps), and a gripping story. I’m definitely going to find the second book asap.

Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Description from Amazon:

Almost a decade has passed since Andy Sachs quit the job “a million girls would die for” working for Miranda Priestly at Runway magazine—a dream that turned out to be a nightmare. Andy and Emily, her former nemesis and co-assistant, have since joined forces to start a high end bridal magazine, The Plunge, which has quickly become required reading for the young and stylish. Now they get to call all the shots: Andy writes and travels to her heart’s content; Emily plans parties and secures advertising like a seasoned pro. Even better, Andy has met the love of her life. Max Harrison, scion of a storied media family, is confident, successful, and drop-dead gorgeous. Their wedding will be splashed across all the society pages as their friends and family gather to toast the glowing couple.

Andy Sachs is on top of the world. But karma’s a bitch. The morning of her wedding, Andy can’t shake the past. And when she discovers a secret letter with crushing implications, her wedding-day jitters turn to cold dread. Andy realizes that nothing—not her husband, nor her beloved career—is as it seems. She never suspected that her efforts to build a bright new life would lead her back to the darkness she barely escaped ten years ago—and directly into the path of the devil herself... Featuring all new scenes with the villainess we love to hate (hate to love?), Miranda Priestly.

 

I enjoyed the first movie and when I saw this book on the shelf, I thought I’d give it a go, expecting it to be about Miranda’s revenge on Andy for the stunt she pulled. But oddly enough, Miranda hardly plays a role in this.

 

The book starts with Andy’s wedding to Max and her finding a letter from his mother warning him away from her and mentioning a chance encounter with his ex before the wedding. Instead of doing the mature thing and speaking to him, she completely freaks out, assumes he is cheating, and wants to break off the wedding. Well, the wedding eventually happens, but Andy is constantly puking and is tired all the time. Food poisoning? Really? Those signs are kinda obvious. And then as we move through the book, it’s all about Andy and her immaturity and not facing things head-on.

 

In the interim between the time she left Runway and now, she and new bff Emily have created and are running a bridal magazine called The Plunge. I thought it was a joke at first as it sounded like a bra catalogue. But not, apparently it’s meant to cater to the elite wedding. Okay then. Now it seems that someone wants to get their hands on this magazine and Emily is all for it, but Andy not so much. Guess what Andy does. Runs away from it all. Won’t talk about it. Can’t deal with it because it’s too much to handle.

 

And because of this something drastic happens. Now I didn’t agree with that part at all. I think the whole behind the back thing was really being traitorous, but the entire story and the way it plays out is just silly. I was interested to see what other reviewers thought and one said that because Miranda only appeared four times in the book that it was obvious she didn’t want revenge so the title was misleading. I’m on the fence. Miranda seemed like the type of person who wouldn’t waste five seconds of her time thinking about if it didn’t do anything for her, but also the type of person who, if they could get their revenge somehow, then would.

 

The path you want in life might not be the path you land on, but ten years later Andy could really have let go of the fear of Miranda (we have all had hell to work under). And her character was incongruous where she was petrified her then fiancé had cheated on her yet was happy to advise a person in her “mommy group” to cheat on her boyfriend. Not the Andy we admired from before.

 

I was really excited for this but it was just a beach read at best. And one to forget.

21st Birthday by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Description from Amazon:

Detective Lindsay Boxer vows to protect a young woman from a serial killer long enough to see her twenty-first birthday in this thrilling Women’s Murder Club novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson.

When young wife and mother Tara Burke goes missing with her baby girl, all eyes are on her husband, Lucas. He paints her not as a missing person but a wayward wife—until a gruesome piece of evidence turns the investigation criminal.

While Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas pursues the story and M.E. Claire Washburn harbors theories that run counter to the SFPD’s, ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender ... who suddenly puts forward an unexpected suspect.

If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn’t a woman in the state of California who’s safe from the reach of an unspeakable threat.

 

I have read numerous James Patterson books, but when it was rumoured he was using a ghostwriter and they started becoming the same story over and over, I decided enough was enough. I’m really glad this was from the library and I didn’t buy it.

 

It started off well with the missing woman’s mother asking for help from Cindy, which eventually gets Lindsay involved. The fact that a baby is missing was also concerning. With the husband being the prime suspect, it starts off rapidly but soon turns into a bizarre set of he said/he said. I say bizarre as there is no plot twist as such, but rather info being fed to you bit by bit supporting two possibilities right until the end when the story finishes and you go: “Huh?”

 

The 21^st birthday premise didn’t even play out for an actual storyline, and there is a scene that maybe should have come with a trigger warning at the beginning. The girls in the club are becoming quite annoying too. Their dinners and what they eat and drink are really not that interesting to me, so do not need to be harped on as much. The courtroom scenes were weak, the reasoning and evidence were sketchy, and the rushed ending didn’t work at all. It’s difficult not to give away spoilers, but some of the girls’ reactions were not normal considering what happened.

 

It just feels like the reader is being fed that the girls can do no wrong and we must just accept the stories as they will be solved and all will be fine with everyone. Patterson stories used to be light but fulfilling. This one was light and had no substance. I am rather disappointed.

The Julius House by Charlaine Harris

Description from Amazon:

Aurora Teagarden is happily preparing for her wedding to dashing business executive Martin Bartell. As a wedding gift, Martin buys her the house of her dreams: the “Julius house,” infamously named after the family who vanished from the house without a trace six years ago. As Roe sets about renovating and decorating her new home, she’s never felt happier.

Then Martin suddenly rents the small apartment on their new property to an old army buddy and his wife, who seem to be more bodyguard than tenant, and Roe is sure her husband-to-be is keeping secrets. To take her mind off her suspicions, she opens her own unofficial investigation into the Julius family cold case. But when an axe-wielding stranger attacks her, Roe must determine whether it’s her husband’s secrets, the mystery of the Julius family’s fates, or both, that have put her own life on the chopping block.

 

I had read the Sookie Stackhouse novels before, so thought I’d try out this one in the series (in the wrong order again) that I’d heard were Hallmark movies.

 

The premise here is quite different, so with people going missing and an axe-wielding stranger, I figured this would be full of action. It turns out not really. Sure, it has its moments, but for the most part it’s Aurora being in love with her new husband but questioning whether she actually knows him or not. And we really never get to find out that much about him.

 

The first thing that blew me away was the ease with which he just buys her a house as a gift. A house. Who does that? And since she has inherited a large sum of money, she buys him a farm. A farm? I know there was a sentimental reason behind it, but wow – that’s a bit ostentatious. And weirdly enough, even though she has all this money, she baulks at getting room service at a hotel later as it’s expensive??? Hmmm.

 

The investigation into the missing persons was a good one, and that along with the introduction of her husband’s new “friends” to “help” at the house (read into it: bodyguard) made this story only slightly better than the under average book it was. It was really slow with so much time spent on Aurora wondering if she married the right person and vacillating between thinking her husband is an Adonis and they are soulmates to not trusting who he is. Even when she meets (stalks) his ex-wife who warns her he keeps secrets, she decides not to ask about them. Um, really? Oh, and then the best reveal of all. He comes clean and tells her he is an arms dealer. An illegal gun smuggler. Her response? Oh well, at least it’s not drugs. OH MY WORD!!! And who goes to their ex for couple counselling? This was all very strange.

 

Not my cup of tea so this will be my one and only Aurora Teagarden mystery.

Darkness Within the Forest by Matthew Neighbours

Description from Amazon:

Shadows of recent events follow James as he leaves Alaska, traveling through Canada with a group of strangers until a detour brings them to a house nestled deep in the forests of British Columbia. Haunted by his failures, conflict and mystery threaten to pull James into the very thing he’s been trying to run from.

When the fate of other people’s lives are affected by the choices James makes, will he take a side in a conflict he doesn’t fully understand, or will he look to the road again, distancing himself from any involvement, and the potential consequences it brings.

 

This book became confusing immediately as I didn’t realise it was the second in a series, and the book seems to be in two major parts with only a slight connection at the end.

The descriptions of places were great and I did love how the author seemed passionate about the outdoors. But the story itself made me feel no connection to it or the characters. Maybe knowing more about James from the first book would have helped.

Straight away I questioned the wisdom of deciding to go on a roadtrip to a different country with a group of strangers. Where I come from, that would be like sending in your photo for Police File before you have left as you’ll know the outcome. James seems quite fine to have someone uninvited in the car with him who has been whispering secrets with one of the others and won’t tell him what it’s about. Red flag anyone? All this while he is working out what to do about a murder and a death and how he is involved in it all.

They arrive at a house that has questionable people inside and James proceeds to join the party. His life choices at this stage really surprise me. Anyway, it seems James has been recruited to help broker a peace deal between those who want to embrace forward movement and those who want to hold on to traditions. The problem comes in when a family member is aligned with both sides and there might be no winner here. James finds out that not choosing sides sometimes his its own consequences.

The grammar issues really got me in this book, though. Yes, even in edited books typos sneak through and often we can turn a blind eye to a few of them or even continuous ones if it’s the same “rule” over and over. But here we had missing commas before direct address, missing quotation marks, missing words, and numerous others.

Unfortunately, this book did not speak to me and I wouldn’t go back to see the first book to find out how they fit together. There was a glimmer of hope when James was in the wilderness, but not enough to draw me in.

The Girl in the Van by Helen Matthews

Description from Amazon:

Now you see her. Now you don’t…

A haunted mother. A missing girl. A lethal game of deception…

A few years ago, Laura lost her daughter in tragic circumstances. Now, she is running from her past, but a chance encounter with a frightened teenager, Miriana, drags her back into a web of secrets and danger.

As Miriana’s cryptic story unravels, Laura realises the threat is closer than she ever imagined. Someone is hunting Laura, determined to bury the truth about what really happened to her daughter.

A predator is watching. Waiting. Ready to strike again.

Trapped between fear and fury, Laura must confront her darkest suspicions and uncover the terrifying truth before the hunter closes in. Because this time, it’s not just her past on the line—it’s her life.

 

Laura is ready to face life again and goes on a singles campervan trip. When leaving, she discovers a young girl stowed away in her van and must make the decision of believing her story and helping her or tossing her out since she doesn’t need this in her life. Straight away this grabbed me as I wanted to know how this would play out. And then it became a hit and miss for the rest of the book.

There was a lot to unpack in this – Laura’s new relationship, her relationship with her mother and how her mother didn’t understand why Laura would not get back together with her ex, the relationship Laura had with her flatmate/neighbour, the relationship Laura had with her feelings about her daughter’s disappearance and her disagreement with her ex that he should keep looking, and her relationship with Mariana and the stories she was weaving. Couple this with a dual timeline and it became a bit much at times.

It felt less like a psychological thriller to me than a general thriller as even though psyches are being manipulated, there really isn’t anything that made me grab the edge of my chair and sit there wide-eyed as though I could never have seen it coming. In fact, the ending had me rolling my eyes a little even though the reasons were given. It’s like characters have watched too much Dexter and think they can stage crime scenes now.

There are some hard hitting areas in here like grooming, sexual exploitation, immigration issues, grief and depression, and drugs, so it’s a lot to take in. I feel I should have enjoyed this more, but in the end, I just felt it wasn’t a standout to me as I don’t remember a whole lot about the book now a few days later.