Category: Suspense/Thriller

Book Review: Everything To Lose by Gordon Bickerstaff

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

EVERYTHING TO LOSE (A Lambeth Group Thriller) by Gordon Bickerstaff takes you back to the world of scientist, Gavin Shawlens and the secretive Lambeth Group. This time around Mr. Bickerstaff has Gavin being protected and handled by an SAS Captain, Zoe Tampsin. Zoe is a great addition to this series. She is professional, highly trained, kicks butt, takes no prisoners and does not like to lose.

In this thriller, Gavin is still recuperating and grieving over incidents from “Deadly Secrets” which leave his readiness for this new assignment in question. The Lambeth Group assigns SAS Captain Zoe Tampsin and her small team to go undercover on this assignment with Gavin. Their assignment is the investigation of a sports enhancement liquid which is making impossible claims. The university professors believe they will make billions off of this new product, but are being kept in the dark of the provenance of this drug by the criminals producing it. The athletes who inject the liquid die horrible deaths.

Gavin stirs the pot by letting it be known that he believes he can solve the problem that is killing the athletes who use the drug. When Gavin goes missing, Zoe and her team work to locate him before he becomes the next victim.

Not only are Zoe and her team fighting international drug criminals, but past events in Gavin’s life have made him a target of the U.S. government. Gavin, himself has no idea why and before the English government can turn him over, Zoe’s superior sends Zoe and Gavin underground and on the run.

As I have stated in many previous reviews, I usually do not like cliff-hangers, but this one had me so excited and it really did fit the situation and timing of this story. This thriller combines dangerous and credible science with action and plot twists that just do not stop. Gavin is a wonderfully flawed character that is perfectly paired with the professional and resourceful soldier, Zoe. I absolutely cannot leave them hanging! On to the next book in this series.

Book Review: Bones Don’t Lie by Melinda Leigh

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BONES DON’T LIE (Morgan Dane #3) by Melinda Leigh is another thrilling addition to this series!

One mystery that has influenced Lance Kruger’s life for the past twenty-three years was the disappearance of his father, Victor Kruger when he was just a boy. His mother’s mental instability completely collapsed and he took on more responsibility than any child should.

Lincoln Sharp, Lance’s current partner in their P.I. firm has always carried the burden of the unsolved case from his years as the detective assigned the case. He took the fatherless Lance under his wing and helped with his mother. Sharp is called to the scene of a car being pulled from the bottom of Grey Lake. It is identified as belonging to Lance’s father. They do not find Vic, but they do find a female skeleton locked in the trunk.

For Lance, this development causes more questions than answers and also has Lance questioning if his memory of his father is accurate. As Sharp, Lance and Morgan all work to find the truth of what happened all those years ago, some witnesses are being caught in lies and others are being killed for the information they have. To add to the suspense, Morgan is also receiving threats from an unknown source.

Ms. Leigh keeps making this series a must read for me. The plotting is fast paced and the dialogue is realistic. The warmth and love between all of the characters makes you want to keep returning to check up on them. The emotional growth and love between Morgan and Lance is wonderfully satisfying and heart-warming. I was completely surprised by the killer, which makes this book even more fun for me. I am looking forward to many more books in this series to come.

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I love this series!

Book Review: Cold Harbor by Matthew FitzSimmons

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

COLD HARBOR (Gibson Vaughn, #3) by Matthew FitzSimmons satisfied this fan immensely!

Even though I do not enjoy cliffhangers, Gibson Vaughn just got under my thriller loving skin and I had to keep reading on in the series. I am so glad that I did. I had no idea how Mr. FitzSimmons would get Gibson moving forward from book #2 to book #3, but he managed it with the additional emotional satisfaction of giving Gibson a sort of completion and happiness that he so deserved.

Cold Harbor begins with Gibson trying to regain control of his mental and physical health after being released from a CIA black-ops prison. For 18 months, all he had were the ghosts of his father and Suzanne to keep him company. As Gibson tries to return to the world of the living, the author continues to throw roadblocks in his way so that he can only go forward and not back to his old life. Gibson’s old friends return at just the right time to assist him by using him to assist them.

Many questions are answered and relationships resolved from the previous books, not always to the good, as the plot picks up pace to the thrilling conclusion.

This book is as intriguing as it is thrilling and I just love the Gibson Vaughn character. This is not a series that should be read as standalones out of order. Each book builds on the last and all the characters and situations are like a giant web.

Thanks very much to Thomas & Mercer and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: An Uncommon Honeymoon by Susan Mann

RATING: 5 out 5 Stars

Susan Mann had me once again turning pages well into the night in Quinn and James’ latest exploits. This is such a fun series with a couple that takes you on their CIA over-the-top missions. The plots have serious background premises, but are entertaining and balanced with a lighter side at the same time. James is your secret agent dream come true and Quinn is great as a covert research librarian.

AN UNCOMMON HONEYMOON (Librarian and the Spy Escapade #3) by Susan Mann has the big marriage scene between Quinn and James and it is everything I was hoping for, beautiful, fun and filled with love.

As they are on their honeymoon in the Turks and Caico’s, they are approached by Dave Flores, a former CIA operative now working for a group that rescues children caught in human trafficking. Quinn and James were invited to a party that Dave would like them to surveil, but Quinn meets two of the children being held at the compound and vows to help them get free. The plot has child slave trafficking, drug trafficking and a Russian crime lord. The child slave trafficking is handled seriously and with heart by Ms. Mann, while the Russian crime lord and his minions get the action packed, super spy treatment.

Quinn and James are just perfect together. Their love for each other is always present, Quinn is always James’ equal in any situation and they are seriously sexy and hot. I especially love the sometimes witty, sometimes steamy banter between these two. All of the secondary characters that I have come to care about in the two previous books make an appearance. This series does continually progress forward in Quinn and James’ relationship and abilities, so I really think it is more enjoyable to read in order.

I am waiting anxiously for the next installment!

Thanks very much to Kensington Books, Zebra Shout and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Serenity Avenged by Craig A. Hart

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

SERENITY AVENGED (The Shelby Alexander Thriller Series Book 3) by Craig A. Hart places Shelby’s pregnant daughter in danger due to his ex-wife’s debt to a sadistic crime boss named Darkmore. Ex-boxer and retired fixer Shelby Alexander has once again found himself to be anything but retired and at peace.

When Leslie, Shelby’s daughter, goes into early labor he heads out of Serenity and drives down state. When he arrives, Leslie is stable, but his ex-wife has led serious trouble to her door. Due to a hidden gambling problem, Helen borrows money from a loan-shark. When she can’t pay, the threats begin and Darkmore sends his nephew after her and uses Shelby’s abducted daughter as collateral.

Shelby teams up again with his best-friend, Mack, a retired detective to save Leslie using Helen and Jimmy, Darkmore’s nephew as bait. With lots of fire power and Jimmy’s inside help Shelby is determined to save Leslie and her unborn child.

I love reading these fast paced thriller stories featuring Shelby, who is not your usual hero. His character is so interesting and well defined. The plot is action packed and suspenseful with a truly terrifying and evil antagonist featured in this book. The dialogue is entertainingly sarcastic at times which smooths some of Shelby’s rough edges. This book can be read as a standalone, but the characters grow and interact more in each book, so I recommend reading them in order.

I will be anxiously waiting to read more of Shelby’s adventures in the future.

Book Review: Her Last Goodbye by Melinda Leigh

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HER LAST GOODBYE (Morgan Dane #2) by Melinda Leigh has me very excited for this series! I loved this book even more than the first in this new series and I gave Book #1 a five star review. I love when I think I have figured out the ending and the author still has another twist in store for me that surprises me once again.

Morgan Dane and Lance Kruger are on the case of a young mother of two who has disappeared. Morgan feels Chelsea Clark would never have left her small children even though the sheriff believes she just walked away or the husband is responsible and the prime suspect. For Lance, this case brings up all of his memories of the disappearance of his own father many years ago.

As Morgan works the case, she becomes the focus of the violent predator and her children and grandfather are put at risk. Morgan and Lance will do anything, even bend the law, to protect those they love and catch the predator.

This is a fast paced and easy to read book that kept me turning the pages. The plot twists and turns so that even when I believed I had the case solved there was still more to come. Morgan and Lance are so realistically written that I feel I could walk right into their office. The secondary characters; grandpa, Morgan’s girls and extended family, Sharp and Lance’s mother are all great additions that add the true to life feel and dialogue to these books. I was also very happy that Morgan and Lance finally got their “Let’s Get It On” scene. Oh, yeah!

Another series to add to my must read list!

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.