Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for ASYLUM by Tamera Lawrence on this Blackthorn Book Tour.
Below you will find an about the book section, my book review and an about the author section. Enjoy!
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About the Book
Like all children living at Rose Hill Asylum, Kyle Hampton wanted freedom from the abusive staff and violent residents. When at nine he was adopted into a loving family, he left his younger brother behind and didn’t look back. Twenty-eight years later, his choices have returned to haunt him.
Now a family man, Kyle has hidden his true childhood from his wife, only to stir up the past when, as a lark, he revisits the underground tunnels and the abandoned asylum with a friend. A dark figure wants revenge and emerges ready to destroy Kyle and everyone he loves. But Kyle isn’t going down without a fight—he’s played in the shadows before.
Will his childhood, rooted in terror, be what saves him?
ASYLUM by Tamera Lawrence is a suspense/thriller standalone by a new to me author that left me guessing throughout. A creepy abandoned asylum, an atmosphere of fear and a history of violence and abuse all kept me turning the pages and keeping the lights on.
Kyle Hampton and his younger brother, Roy were both born at Rose Hill Asylum. As a young boy all Kyle wished for was to be freed from the abusive staff and violent residents. At nine, he was adopted, but he had to leave his brother behind.
Rose Hill Asylum has been vacant and abandoned for many years and it is about to be sold. Kyle wants to return to the place he was born one more time with is best friend, Randy who also grew up at Rose Hill and is a part-time urban explorer. The tunnels underneath the facility connect all the buildings and Kyle begins to remember the terrors they held for him.
A dark figure emerges from the asylum and wants revenge on all who wronged him. Kyle is one of his targets as well as all the people he loves, but Kyle will not go down without a fight.
This book gives you a building sense of dread and chills up your spine from beginning to end, but it is a slow start. I began this book thinking it would be a horror story, and it does scare you, but it is not supernatural. It is the horror of things that humans do to other humans. Kyle is a protagonist that kept my feelings in turmoil because at times I felt sorry for him and at other times I wondered how damaged he was from growing up in the asylum when he did not seem to connect with his wife. The author’s writing makes you feel the atmosphere of the abandoned asylum and the tunnels beneath as well as the menace and violence from the antagonist.
I recommend this chilling suspense/thriller and I will be looking into other works by this author.
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About the Author
With a passion for writing, Award winning author Tamera Lawrence likes to entertain readers with edgy thrillers and mysteries. As a mother of six, Tamera draws on personal experiences to bring to life interesting characters set in today’s complex world. She loves meeting fans and writes book reviews upon request.
Tamera also likes to play softball and clang out a tune or two on the piano.
Other books include:
THE POND, GHOSTS OF MAYFLOWER: A PENNHURST HAUNTING & PENNHURST GHOSTS OF MAYFLOWER 11
The discovery of human remains unearths another nightmare from Sheriff Bree Taggert’s past in a bone-chilling thriller by #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.
Twenty-seven years ago, Sheriff Bree Taggert’s father killed her mother, then himself. Now Bree and her younger brother, Adam, find human bones on the grounds of their abandoned family farm. The remains are those of a man and a woman, both murdered in the same horrible way.
When the investigation determines the murders occurred thirty years ago, Bree’s dead father becomes a suspect, forcing Bree to revisit the brutal night she’s spent most of her life trying to forget. The only other suspect is an unlikely squatter on the Taggert farm who claims to know secrets about Bree’s past. When he mysteriously disappears and Bree’s niece is kidnapped, the cold case heats up.
Bree has stoked the rage of a murderer who’ll do anything to keep his identity—and motives—a secret. To protect everyone she loves, Bree must confront a killer.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh is a gripping read, just like her other books. Readers get sympathetic heroes and monstrous villains along with a plot that will keep them turning the pages.
Sherriff Bree Taggert agrees to travel to her childhood home with her brother Adam. She must confront the memories of her childhood that includes the cruelness of her father, being attacked by his dogs, the night her father murdered her mother, and then committed suicide.
What she did not expect to find are human bones on the grounds of the abandoned family farm. They appear to be cruelly murdered thirty years ago. She is wondering if her father, who killed himself and her mother while she hid herself, her brother, and sister, is the culprit. Suspects begin to pile up, including someone who kidnaps her niece to warn her from further investigation. Assisting is Matt Flynn, the police investigator, who is also helping Bree realize she wants a relationship with him. She begins to feel the need for family and starts to tear down the wall she has built to protect herself.
This story will keep readers captivated with plenty of emotion and suspense including wondering who committed the crime.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: In this story there is more of Bree’s backstory?
Melinda Leigh: I think there will be at least eight books in the series. This is book 4. After each book my goal is to leave each character in a happy place because they need a break. This continuing character series will develop the characters and their relationships over a long term. I will continue writing the series as long as the character personal development moves forward and is never stale. For me, the highest flattery a writer can receive is being told people enjoy their books.
EC: You try to make some of the bad guys redeemable?
ML: In reality, people have shades of grey. There are various shades of grey, some darker than others, some being greyer. Every character has their own viewpoint, their own perspective. Bree in this book found out more about her family and the memories she avoided as a traumatized child.
EC: How would you describe the relationship between Matt and Bree?
ML: At first it was just a friendship, but they had a connection. Her backstory affects her feelings until she allowed herself to lean on Matt a bit. She is learning she does not have to exist all by herself. Although she is there for others, to support them, there is a back and forth in relationships and she is seeing this. Bree is finally learning not to be a loner and allows Matt to support her.
EC: There is some therapy in this book?
ML: Bree is realizing that dogs are a great companion and know when they are needed. Brody, the German Shepherd retired police dog is a hero in this story. The saying feelings run down leash applies to all the dogs in the story.
EC: There is also paint therapy?
ML: Bree’s brother Adam obtained solace from painting. He had been born into a family filled with grief, anger, and abuse. Like Bree, he carried that burden into adulthood. Darkness always filled his work. The book quote, “Dark reds, bold blues, and stormy grays dominated the canvas. Bree saw sadness and anger and lack of control in the turbulent brushstrokes. But in one corner, a shaft of light blue with just the slightest hint of pale-yellow shadow pierced the darkness… Despite being a minute portion of the overall work, the smaller sliver of brightness drew and held the eye. It was a spark of hope at the edge of overwhelming despair…that tiny ribbon of light pulled her in.”
EC: A heads up about your next book?
ML: It is titled Dead Against Her and should be out in May 2022. It is about a double homicide in which Bree is a prime suspect. Morgan Dane from my other series will make an appearance and will be in this book quite a bit.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
THE HAPPY ACCIDENTS by Jamie Beck is a Women’s fiction story that has three women in their thirties at a crossroad in each of their lives due to the consequences of an impulsive night on the town.
Successful artist Jessie Clarke has a pact with her younger sister, Liz, the co-host of a successful morning show and her childhood best friend, Chloe, the stay-at-home mom of two in which the three will say “Yes” to any adventure that comes their way.
Jessie is mourning her divorce and reminds her sister and friend of their pact. They go to a casino to celebrate Jessie’s upcoming birthday and twelve hours later wake to the consequences of their behavior. Jess makes a life changing bid to unblock her artistic creativity. A viral video throws Liz’s career and reputation into question. Chloe has a major loss at the craps table.
Now each woman finds their lives and friendships tested. As each struggle with the changes from their pact, they try not to let fear decide their future fates which could lead to their greatest fulfillment yet in their lives.
I enjoyed each of these women’s journeys and I found each of the women to be believably and realistically portrayed. Sometimes when reading a Women’s fiction story, it feels like I am reading a soap opera, but Ms. Beck’s characters make me feel like I am following real people that I could meet anywhere and empathize with. This plot is full of thought-provoking questions, but the story itself is optimistic. Change can be terrifying and most of us prefer to just keep to the status quo, but this story makes you want to fight that fear and find something amazing, fulfilling, and new with a change, forced upon us or not.
I recommend this optimistic Women’s fiction story!
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Author Bio
Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Jamie Beck’s realistic and heartwarming stories have sold more than two million copies. She is a two-time Booksellers’ Best Award finalist and a National Readers’ Choice Award winner, and critics at Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist have respectively called her work “smart,” “uplifting,” and “entertaining.” In addition to writing novels, she enjoys hitting the slopes in Vermont and Utah and dancing around the kitchen while cooking. Above all, she is a grateful wife and mother to a very patient, supportive family. Fans can get exclusive excerpts, inside scoops, and be eligible for birthday gift drawings by subscribing to her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/b7k7G5. She also loves interacting with everyone on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JamieBeckBooks.
ENEMY AT THE GATE (Mitch Rapp Book #20) by Kyle Mills is once again my “favorite” book in this series! Action-packed and fast-paced as the previous books in the series, this new book also includes worldwide political intrigue played by billionaires and autocrats as intricate as a chess game with the common man as their pawns. If for some reason you have not read this series yet, this book is easily read as a standalone and a great place to jump in.
Mitch Rapp is trying to find a new normal and balance in his life. He is working on recovering from the damage done to his body and rehabbing and strengthening with long-distance cycling. He is also finding he is more at home and happier with Claudia and Anna in South Africa on their vineyard than in their home in the United States.
As he decides if he is out of the game for good, Irene Kennedy pulls him back in with a meeting between the new President, Anthony Cook and the world’s first trillionaire, Nicholas Ward when Ward’s research compound in Uganda is attacked and destroyed and the fate of his most valued scientists in unknown. Mitch has his reservations about the new administration, but Nicholas Ward hires Scott Coleman and his team and with Mitch along at point they enter the Ugandan jungle for a rescue op.
This is just the beginning of an intricately plotted thriller that pits Mitch against a terrorist with a God complex and an army of drug fueled followers in the Ugandan jungle, a CIA mole at the highest level and a new President and First Lady with dreams of an autocratic dynasty.
I am a Mitch Rapp Ambassador and love the whole series, but this book was a tour de force by Kyle Mills. He is able to emotionally mature Mitch Rapp without changing him so much that his fans would protest. The plot of this thriller not only keeps you turning the pages, but also makes you think and question the world order today of power and money, morally, politically, and scientifically. There are enough open-ended questions and powerful and dangerous people left for Mitch to be busy for quit a few more books and nothing could make me happier.
I highly recommend this new Mitch Rapp thriller!
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About the Author
Kyle Mills is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty books, including the latest in Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, Total Power.
Growing up in Oregon, Washington, DC, and London as a the son of an FBI agent, Kyle absorbed an enormous amount about the intelligence community, giving his novels their unique authenticity. He and his wife live in Wyoming where they spend their off hours mountain biking and backcountry skiing.
I will be posting Feature Post and Book Review blog posts on the Harlequin Investigator Blog Tour for all of these great reads throughout this month and the next.
Today I am sharing my blog post for MISSING AT CHRISTMAS (West Investigations Book #2) by K.D. Richards.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Come back throughout the month for more and enjoy!
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Book Description
To bring her sister home for the holidays
They’ll put everything on the line.
Private investigator Shawn West is stunned when the attack victim he rescues is Addy Williams—the one woman he never forgot. She’s turning a quiet upstate New York town inside out to bring her missing sister home by Christmas. Shawn offers to help if she’ll provide a cover for his own investigation into a suspicious company in town, but can they work together to find Addy’s sister…or are they already too late?
MISSING AT CHRISTMAS (West Investigations Book #2) by K.D. Richards is another action-packed romantic suspense in the West Investigations series. This book can easily be read as a standalone with minimal crossover of characters from the first West Investigations story.
Private Investigator Shawn West is in upstate New York to investigate the source of counterfeit computer chips for a client. While on his way to his hotel, he sees a woman being attacked and intervenes. He is surprised when the woman turns out to be the one woman he has been unable to get off his mind since he met her at his brother’s destination wedding.
Addy Williams is searching for her missing younger sister. She was doing an internship before attending MIT and has failed to get in touch with Addy. Told her sister quit her internship and moved away, Addy is determined to find her before Christmas. Shawn offers his help Addy for free if he can use their search for her sister as a cover for his own investigation.
Will Addy and Shawn be able to find Addy’s sister before it is too late for them all?
This is the second book in this series I have read by this new to me author and I really enjoyed both. In this book Shawn and Addy work well together with Addy being an intelligent and strong heroine who can hold her own even with firearms. There is strong chemistry between these two, but the two investigations keep their romance to a slow burn. The suspense plot was fast-paced and action packed with a believable crime premise.
This is a well written romantic suspense by a new-to-me author that I will be following in the future.
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Excerpt
The doors to the kitchen swung outward, and the man reappeared, a white plastic bag in one hand and Cassie’s picture in the other.
Addy slid her phone back into her purse and rose. The pity she saw in the man’s face as he drew nearer dashed the hope that had swelled in her chest.
“I showed your sister’s picture to everyone who’s still here, and no one recognized her. I’m sorry.”
Two solid days of showing Cassie’s picture everywhere she could think of in Bentham and nothing. No one remembered seeing her.
“Thanks, anyway.” She didn’t bother trying to muster a smile of thanks. She reached in her purse for her wallet.
“No charge,” he said, thrusting her food and Cassie’s picture at her. “You take care of yourself.”
Addy looked up into the man’s now compassion-filled eyes and wiped away the single tear she couldn’t stop from falling. “Thank you,” she croaked out before turning and fleeing the restaurant before the dam of tears broke.
Silver garlands hung from the streetlamps along with fluttering signs ordering the denizens of Bentham to have a happy holiday. The lamps themselves were spaced too far apart for the weak yellow light they cast off to beat back the dark December night.
Five blocks west, cars coasted along one of Bentham’s main thoroughfares, but the street in front of Addy was clear and quiet, the surrounding businesses having long since closed for the night.
She’d left the metallic-blue Mustang she’d rented for the two-hour drive from Manhattan to Bentham in the hotel’s parking lot. It was easier to canvass the neighborhood on foot. All she had to show for her effort were sore feet.
A footstep sounded as she pocketed her phone. Shooting a glance over her shoulder, she squinted into the darkness but saw no one.
You’re just not used to so much quiet, she thought, walking on.
She’d lived in New York City since she was twelve but spent summers on her grandfather’s ranch in Texas. She’d loved the ranch almost as much as she loved the city, but New York wasn’t called the city that never slept for nothing. There was always something to do and see, and she was used to being surrounded by thousands of people, even though she’d been very much alone since Cassie moved to Bentham.
A scraping sound came from close behind her, followed by the unmistakable sound of fast-moving footsteps.
She turned, intending to move to the side, when a hand clamped around her ponytail, jerking her backward against a hard chest.
It took a moment for her brain to catch up with what was happening, and by the time it did, her assailant had taken his beefy hand from her hair and clamped it over her mouth.
Addy fought her rising panic. Like any savvy city girl, she’d taken self-defense classes, but it had been a while since she’d brushed up. She’d never thought she’d actually have to use any of those techniques.
She tried to pull away, but the man’s arm was like a vise around her neck.
“Don’t fight, and I won’t hurt you,” the man growled.
She didn’t believe that for a minute. She’d left the small gun she carried for protection locked in her car’s glove compartment, a decision she regretted now. Who’d have thought the streets of Bentham were more dangerous than Manhattan?
Well, she had no intention of going down without a fight, gun or no gun. She sent up a quick prayer and fisted her hands at the same time a yell came from somewhere in the night.
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About the Author
K.D. Richards is a native of the Washington, DC area who now lives outside of Toronto with her husband and two sons. You can find her at kdrichardsbooks.com.
Defending Britta Stein is a story of bravery, betrayal, and redemption—from Ronald H. Balson, the winner of the National Jewish Book Award
Chicago, 2018: Ole Henryks, a popular restauranteur, is set to be honored by the Danish/American Association for his many civic and charitable contributions. Frequently appearing on local TV, he is well known for his actions in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II—most consider him a hero.
Britta Stein, however, does not. The ninety-year-old Chicago woman levels public accusations against Henryks by spray-painting “Coward,” “Traitor,” “Collaborator,” and “War Criminal” on the walls of his restaurant. Mrs. Stein is ultimately taken into custody and charged with criminal defacement of property. She also becomes the target of a bitter lawsuit filed by Henryks and his son, accusing her of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Attorney Catherine Lockhart, though hesitant at first, agrees to take up Mrs. Stein’s defense. With the help of her investigator husband, Liam Taggart, Lockhart must reach back into wartime Denmark and locate evidence that proves Mrs. Stein’s innocence. Defending Britta Stein is critically-acclaimed author Ronald H. Balson’s thrilling take on a modern day courtroom drama, and a masterful rendition of Denmark’s wartime heroics.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Defending Britta Stein by Ronald H. Balson is a wonderful read. Although the book has some courtroom drama including legal strategy and loopholes, most of the story is Britta Stein’s recounting of the events leading up to and during World War II in Denmark. This is historical fiction at its best with bravery, betrayal, and redemption.
Britta Stein is a 92-year-old Jewish Danish woman who emigrated to America. She is being sued for defamation after being seen and then admitting to spray painting “Coward,” “Traitor,” “Collaborator,” and “War Criminal” on the walls of a restaurant. The owner, 95-year-old Ole Henryks, will be honored by the Danish/American Association for his many civic and charitable contributions. Frequently appearing on local TV, he is well known for his actions of saving Jews in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II and is considered a hero. But not to Britta who claims he was anything but and sent Jews to their deaths including her sister and brother-in-law.
Attorney Catherine Lockhart and Investigator Liam Taggart, husband, and wife, have agreed to defend Britta and have as an assistant counsel her granddaughter Emma. The plot alternates between present day Chicago (2018) and Britta’s oral account of her memories of her homeland of Denmark prior to the presence of the Nazis and during World War II. They are up against “Six o’clock” Sterling Sparks, Henryk’s’ shady attorney, who pushes for a speedy trial and is willing to waive witness lists and pretrial exhibits. Readers anxiously turn the pages hoping Britta will be vindicated since they take a journey with her during the horrific events.
What is very interesting is the way Balson contrasts defamation versus freedom of speech, the consequences of staying versus leaving, and Denmark’s role in protecting its Jewish citizens.
This book will stay with readers well after they finish the book. The author has an incredible way of telling a story with sympathetic heroes and monstrous villains before and during World War II. The story has mystery, intrigue, suspense, and history all intertwined into a riveting novel.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why Denmark?
Ronald H. Balson: I wanted to tell the story of what this country did since it was so unique and extraordinary. They unified and came together as a country, they came together to hide, protect, and ultimately rescue 7,600 of their Jewish brethren from certain death. Other countries did not do it: not Belgium, not France, not Norway, not any other country.
EC: It was interesting that Hitler made a non-aggression pact with Denmark, The Cooperation Agreement?
RHB: Denmark got a pass from Hitler who considered the country small and not a military force. But he needed this country to get into the North Sea. For whatever reason he decided not to totally occupy Denmark and to peacefully co-exist. Denmark ran its own internal affairs and was allowed to govern their Jewish population until 1943.
EC: The Danish people were incredible?
RHB: I hoped to get across through the civil jury trial here in America what it was like to be a Dane and Jewish. As I recounted in the book, there were plenty of non-Jews who put themselves at risk to help save the 7600 Jewish citizens in Denmark. They were hidden in hospitals, churches, stores, and homes. Many also helped the Jews get to Sweden. I wanted to show how the Danes had emotional pride and belief in their own country.
EC: You discuss the debate about staying versus leaving?
RHB: I have this scene in the book between Catherine her lawyer, and Britta. Catherine says, “I know it’s easy for me to say in hindsight, and it’s not fair, I shouldn’t judge, but the consequences of staying were dire, yet they found some reason to ignore the writing on the wall, which to me defies logic and good sense.” Britta responds, that if they could see into the future a wiser decision could have been made; yet, they “would have packed up and left everything and everyone… your job, your home, your profession, and headed off blindly in some unknown direction… At that time, in 1943 Hitler owned Europe.”
EC: You seem to explore this in many of your books?
RHB: It is a constant theme in a lot of my books. They all had the same opportunity to leave. But how does someone leave everything including family and community. Where would they go? How many countries would have taken in millions of Jews? What the Nazis did continued to escalate, and no one could imagine the concentration camps. Many thought they could last out the war.
EC: How would you describe Britta-I thought of her like Golda Meir?
RHB: Really interesting. She was a spunky young woman and now in her 90s she is a spunky older woman. She is a fighter, passionate, principled, independent, determined, and headstrong.
EC: She was accused of having a Nazi symbol but denied it?
RHB: She said she would never use these symbols because then it becomes a part of her language.
EC: In the story there is an explanation between freedom of speech and defamation?
RHB: I have a scene in the book where Catherine explains to Britta that freedom of speech is not absolute. No one can use words to legally defame someone. If someone is accused of criminal conduct, crimes of moral turpitude, and coalescence with the Nazi Party there can be serious consequences. Traitor, Nazi agent, and Nazi collaborator are defamatory on their face. But couldn’t liar, informer, and betrayer be opinions?
EC: How would you describe the granddaughter, Emma?
RHB: She is learning a lot about her grandmother who she admires. She is a brilliant young lawyer who is articulate and dignified.
EC: What about the lawyer Sterling Sparks?
RHB: He is called “Six O’clock Sparks” for a reason. I have been practicing law for over 49 years and have met plenty of Sterlings. He knows how to work the media. Very flashy but not that sharp as a lawyer. Very brash, narcissistic, over-confident, and conceited.
EC: What do you want readers to get out of your books?
RHB: I think of historical fiction like cheating. The backdrop has already been written by history. My job as a writer is to create characters, a plot, and a setting to weave into the history, making sure a certain point is brought out. I want my readers to be invested in the fictional characters created. My goal is for people to learn something.
EC: What about your next book?
RHB: It will not have Catherine and Liam although I think I will write another one with them. This next book takes place in 1945 with some espionage. It will possibly come out in September next year.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
