Sarah
Chip Palmer is the type of character I enjoy, a reclusive forensic expert and criminal profiler, this is because I'm obsessed with Criminal Minds, true crime and anything to do with crime and forensics.
This is not a cozy mystery, it's more violent with darker themes but is well written with good characters who you know will flourish in the rest of the series, their back story and development will be well done and explored thoroughly.
Huge thanks to Jennifer Chase, JEC Press and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
I was looking forward to reading this as it takes place in a book club (hence the title!) and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Filled with quirky characters, a decent mystery and a wonderful setting, it was a quick and fun read.
Huge thanks to Leslie Nagel, Random House Publishing Group - Alibi and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
I enjoyed this book but I don't think this series is for me, I'm not really interested in bird watching so I tend to gloss over that part. It doesn't mean it's a bad series because I have enjoyed the 2 books I've read, I just don't think I'm going to be continuing with it.
Huge thanks to J.R. Ripley, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
If I would've known about this series when it started I would've been all up in this from that moment but I didn't hence the reason I started at book 8 shaking fist in the air in frustration
It's well written, set in a wonderful location, has coffee AND books, the characters are fun and the mystery is compelling.
Will be sneaking around trying to find the entire series now, after I've read book 9 which I have on my kindle.
Huge thanks to Lynn Cahoon, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Lots of secrets and lies abound in this mystery thriller as Melanie Oak and her husband Jacobs teenage daughter Beth goes missing and is then found near death in the marshes near their home.
As Beth lies in a hospital bed in a coma, Melanie and the police struggle to find out what happened and try to piece together the mystery surrounding her. Everyone has secrets, everyone is lying and we have to read between them both to find the truth.
Was an alright read, worked it out pretty early on but this is the sort of book I read a lot so I kinda know what will end up happening.
I have another book my this author to read so we'll see how that goes.
Huge thanks to Barbara Copperthwaite, Bookouture and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
The relationship between the main character Sophie and her mum Harriet is so much fun! I found myself chuckling along at their interactions and not wanting the story to end.
Any book involving books will always be on my list of books I WILL get to very soon and I thoroughly enjoyed this wander to Arizona, settling in to pretend I'm with them in the warmth but knowing I ain't gonna get murdered and if I am, they can help find the killer.
Book 2 is waiting on my kindle, yay!
Huge thanks to J.C. Eaton, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Prepare yourself for the SPIDERPOCALYPSE!!!
The Hatching was the first wave, Skitter brings the second wave
Who ya gonna call!? Not sure yet!
It starts where The Hatching left off and that's right where I wanna be, knee deep in the action, from the safety of my reading spot without having to worry about running out of bullets. We're still following the main characters from the first book and then we're introduced to new people as and when to move the action, suspense and spidery goodness on!
I've written 6 pages of notes for this and, like always, can't use hardly any of it because of spoilers so basically what I've written above is about all I can safely say.
Also ‘Giant package of DOOM!!!' I just love that quote because it's so very true!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this series, I cannot get enough of the action, humour, the characters, the way the story flows, tension you feel as it all ramps up and the spiders, oh my goodness the spiders.
Eagerly awaiting Zero Day, the final book in this trilogy and out in Feb next year (I NEED THIS BOOK NOW!!!!!)
My huge, huge thanks to Ezekiel Boone, Atria Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Book 3 in the Bridget Sway series and it's just as good as the previous 2!!
How Bridget manages to get into these situations I will never know but they're written with such warmth, humour, sarcasm (gotta love some sarcasm!) and the mystery is wonderful.
It's such a well written and engaging story, we learn more about Bridget, see her friendships grow and the conversations she has with her best friend Sabrina and her housemates are both weird and humorous.
I laughed out loud reading this and got weird looks from Bella the dog as I did because I was disturbing her very important business of looking outside and supervising the garden!
I highly, highly recommend this series to everyone, I love it so much and am definitely going to marathon all 3 again as they're such enjoyable and fun reads!!
The ending has me really excited for the next book in the series so write Jordaina, write like the wind!!!
Massive thanks to Jordaina Sydney Robinson for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Beautifully illustrated adapted version of this classic novel, I love manga and this is a wonderful start to those who haven't read classics before.
Huge thanks to Jane Austen, Po Tse, Crystle S. Chan, Stacy King, Udon Entertainment and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Right then, what did I think of this? Have given it some time to sink in and re-read my notes and now feel ready to say some stuff.
At the beginning of this I really felt for Hannah, that gut wrenching feeling when the person you loves just leaves with no explanation whatsoever (happened to me, not a nice feeling) but as we get further into it you just want to shake her and say ‘you're getting way too obsessed about this now, chill the fuck out!' but I'm sure she wouldn't have listened.
Is she going crazy or is someone or someones conspiring against her? As you read it you'll make your own decision about that and I'm trying not to say much because I don't want to spoil it for you.
There are good points and bad points in this book, that, again, I can't talk about because spoilers. Let's just say I have mixed feelings about it all and leave it at that.
Not the worst book I've read this year but not the best either.
Huge thanks to Mary Torjussen, Headline and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Holy twists and turns batman!!
Now I read a lot of mystery/thriller books and most of the time I can work out who it is or what's happening either because I've guessed or process of elimination but this one, THIS ONE, had no idea, no idea whatsoever!!
The Final Girls are girls who have survived a massacre or the spree of a serial killer, there are only 3 of them at the moment, Lisa, who survived a sorority house massacre, Sam, who survived the rampage of the Sack Man and Quincy, who survived the Pine Cottage massacre.
When Lisa is found dead, Sam turns up at Quincys address to bond with her, asking her questions about what happened at Pine Cottage, Quincy can't remember and we follow her as the details become clear in her head. Here starts the story proper, we're thrown information, twists and turns at every opportunity, we don't know what's really happening or who to believe as we work our way to the shocking conclusion.
I really enjoyed this story, when I picked it up I could not put it down! Bella, my brothers dog, wasn't best pleased about it as it meant less cuddles and belly rubs for her but I needed to know what happened!
If the next book by this author is as good as this I will definitely be reading it. So very good.
My reviews may seem a little jumpy but that's how my brain works and I hope you get all the relevant info you need from them. :)
Huge thanks to Riley Sager, Random House UK, Ebury Publishing and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Huge hugs to both Robert and Jan Bryndza! You keep writing em and I'll keep reading em!
I bloody love this series!! I love Erika, Peterson, Moss and Isaac, I wait, sometimes not so patiently, for the next book to get my fix and it always, always meets my expectations!!
Erika is still with the Projects Team and still hates it, she wants to be back with the Murder Investigation Team and pushes to get back the job she loves.
A young woman's body is found horribly beaten and horrifically tortured in a dumpster at a kitchen showroom and thus begins our story. When another womans body is found with the same injuries in another dumpster across town Erika knows there's a connection between them and the story ramps up.
9 pages of notes I took for this review and, as usual, they're mainly spoilery, so I can't use them. Boo!
You should go into this not knowing much and let Mr Bryndza blow you away! He is a sneaky, sneaky one at times though!
I cannot praise this series enough, it is one of my all time favourites and I will continue to read it until there are no more (there'd better be more!!!!)
I'm going to say no more about the plot because I'll just gush about it and spoil it, so I'm stopping myself right here.
Huge thanks to Robert Bryndza, Bookouture and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
When Cat Latimers ex-husband Michael dies he leaves her the home they shared in Aspen Hills, Colorado so she decides to move back and hold writers retreats there to help aspiring writers have a quiet and beautiful surrounding to continue their work.
Add in her best friend Shauna, her Uncle Pete (the chief of police) and Seth Howard, her high school boyfriend and you have the perfect main characters to include in a story. Not to mention the fact that it's a book about writers!
One of the writers on the retreat, a popular author called Tom Cook, is found murdered in his bedroom and thus begins the main arc of the story.
Secrets, lies, sex, murder and old mysteries weave together with the well written characters to begin a series that I will continue to read.
There's also a backstory involving Michael and his death and what he was working on shortly before it happened which is another reason I'm loving this series! Can't wait for more books!
Huge thanks to Lynn Cahoon, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Book 2 in the Cat Latimer series and it's just as good as the first!
A new group of writers have arrived at Cats house for the retreat and you know someone gonna end up dead, which, you know, happens so Cat begins her investigation into the murder, putting herself into danger again as she does.
With the main characters from the first book returning we see them becoming more developed and the humour getting sharper, the surroundings are still well described and you really feel like you're there with them.
We also learn more about the backstory of Michael and what he was up to before his death, it's all well placed and doesn't detract from the main story we're reading. Very well done.
I am hugely looking forward to the next book in this series, I need it now!!
Huge thanks to Lynn Cahoon, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
My notes for this book are 14 pages long, most of it spoilery, but all of it bringing back how I felt when I read this, which is what notes are supposed to be for really, I shall try to write this without spoiling anything, so here we go.
It's told from multiple pints of view with the main two being Detective Sam Porter and from entries of the diary Sam finds in the pocket of a man hit by a bus. This diary belongs to the Four Monkey Killer who has been terrorising Chicago for over 5 years and it tells the story of his life and why he is who he is and why he does what he does.
Very well written, how the story twists and turns and weaves together, the characters are fleshed out and fun to read about, the humour between Sam and his team is wonderfully done to take a little bit of the pressure and tension away before it builds up again and the diary is twisted and violent yet surprisingly loving and family driven.
I loved the last few chapters where it ramped up an extra level and the end of the book was just right for me, I loved it.
Hoping that this turns into a series or we get another book with these characters. I would definitely be picking that up!!
Huge thanks to J. D. Barker, HQ and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
There is an undercurrent of supernatural shenanigans is this series, just a trickle, a slight sprinkling if you will, one that's been building and building, ever so slowly, since the first book. It makes itself a little more aware in this one, like a half-hearted jazz hands with only one hand. This makes me excited for the next one. Please let that be soon!!
As Gary said in his wonderful review it is better to read this series in order to fully appreciate each and every thing that happens. If you read books about detectives then you need to pick this up and be swept away.
Come on book 8!!!!
Huge thanks to James Oswald, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Everyone should read this book! Everyone!
This is the diary of Samer (pseudonym) and his life in Raqqa before and during the takeover of his city by IS.
It is horrifying and heartbreaking to read what Samer and his towns people are put through by the Daesh and their twisted view of Islam. Beheadings in the street, people thrown to their deaths, crucifixions and torture.
But through all that there is still love, he thinks of others before himself and risked his life to share his story with the world.
Air strikes killing many of his towns people and hardly any Daesh terrorists but still they try to rebuild their once wonderful town and trying to live their lives while being terrified of being the next one the Daesh chose to pick.
This is such an important book to read, it shows the humanity trying to fight the horror that is Daesh and how we all need to work together to bring an end to it, to open our hearts and help them rebuild their lives without fear.
Huge thanks to Samer, Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Oohh creepy, creepiness in this one! Also some ‘huh?' moments and a couple of ‘wtf!?' moments too!
The first part starts off when two young lads are messing about on a building site and find some bones and a large clay urn, as you do. We're then introduced to Bob Chambers, a forensic Pathologist who works for a secret agency that investigates weirdness all over the world. After the suspicious death of the British Museums forensic pathologist (and by suspicious read ‘stabbed his own eyes out and tried to cut his own throat') Bob is asked to check out the bones. More weirdness ensues and we meet Karen, a journalist writing about said bones even more weirdness ensues and the story ramps up.
Part two is set in an old church and it soon gets really weird, there's action, violence, creepiness and crazy people. This part fell a little flat for me and began the ‘huh' and ‘wtf' moments I was talking about, was still highly enjoyable just ‘huh'.
What I really loved though was the inclusion of the word ‘twonk' a word I haven't used in years and is always a pleasure to find it in any book, that word kept me involved until the very end of this book. Very well done!! Plus this is the first in a trilogy so I know I will be reading the other two, especially if twonk is included again!
Huge thanks to John Llewellyn Probert, Pegasus Books and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
One of the reasons I enjoy this series so much is because of the supernatural aspect, it's just a small sprinkling but it works well and helps build Tony's character and the stories.
I don't know how to tag someone else's review in my own review but if I did I would tell you all to check out Gary's reviews of this series as he rocks!!
How Tony manages to work with some of these idiots I will never know, I'm surprised he's not hit one of them yet. The ongoing politics, the secrets and the lies flying about makes you wonder why no-one wears a hard hat in the police station.
Still loving this series and need more!!
Huge thanks to James Oswald, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
The closer I get to the 7th book the more I want to savour reading each one but can't put them down and end up devouring them, to me that shows how good this series is, some book series I can put down and not pick up again for months, this one, refuses to do that the more I get into it!!
Tony is still doing his job while having to put up with the arseholes he works with/for and the supernatural aspects floating around in his world do their very best to throw spanners, hammers and other tools in the works to mess him up.
It all builds together well and melds into another great story. Love it.
Huge thanks to James Oswald, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
I was lucky enough to receive all 7 books currently available in the series and I'm so very happy about that! It's become one of my favourite series and I am so invested in these characters now!!
This series is well written, funny and a little gruesome at times but always well within the story and the character development is wonderful.
My original plan was to marathon the entire series, an idea I had after reading the first one but I ultimately decided on trying to break it up to make it last longer, it didn't work out that way though and now I'm sad that I've read them all and have to wait for the next book in the series :(
I like to go into the books not knowing too much about the plot and then take lots of notes than all end up being spoilery so I'm happy to leave you with the info I've given plus to say again, I bloody LOVE this series!!
Huge thanks to James Oswald, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Inspector Tony McLean is back in the 3rd book in the series, these books continue to be great reads!
We still have the main characters in play as they continue their work solving crimes and Tony's involvement in the ‘spooky' cases, whether he wants to be involved or not.
I love the slow build of character development and the humor that's woven throughout, the cases are interesting and well developed and I know I love to get back into Tonys story, both professional and personal life.
Onto book 4 now! Yay!
Huge thanks to James Oswald, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Arden Arrowood was 8 years old when her nearly 2 year-old twin sisters, Violet and Tabitha, disappeared, not long after the family moved away and tried to carry on with their lives. Now she's back home, the house left to her in her grandparents will and it brings back all the memories of her life before and she begins to piece together what happened to her sisters.
It's a beautifully descriptive tale most of it woven together well but with a few hiccups along the way, especially the ending, it didn't do it for me.
There's people in here who seem off and people who don't seem to care at all about things, you'll see what I mean when you read it, don't want to say too much because spoilers so just gonna say I HATED 1 specific character with a passion!! Still winds me up thinking of them now and I read it over a month ago!
Huge thanks to Laura McHugh, Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own
Once I picked this up I could not put it down!
I loved the violence in this (don't judge me!) and the way Moxley, Vinnie and Christine were written, the way their characters grew throughout the book and how the story weaves together.
Daniel Moxley is a psychopath who breaks out of prison and starts up another killing spree, kidnapping and torturing people he believes have wronged him before he kills them, his mistake, however, is to involve DI Vinnie Palmer by ringing him to taunt him.
Vinnie, along with Christine Jones, a tv reporter, work together to unravel the clues and find out where Moxley will turn up next and what his end game will be.
Gotta love police procedural books with lots of gruesome murders and well written main characters.
I very much look forward to reading more in this series to see what other psychopaths try to mess with Vinnie and Christine.
Huge thanks to Roger A. Price, Endeavour Press and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own