Tag: #suspense #thriller

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Mercy Creek by M.E. Browning

Mercy Creek

by M.E. Browning

October 11 – November 5, 2021 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MERCY CREEK (Jo Wyatt Mystery Book #2) by M.E. Browning.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio, the author’s social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!

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Book Description

In an idyllic Colorado town, a young girl goes missing—and the trail leads into the heart and mind of a remorseless killer.

The late summer heat in Echo Valley, Colorado turns lush greenery into a tinder dry landscape. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, long buried grudges rekindle. Of the two Flores girls, Marisa was the one people pegged for trouble. Her younger sister, Lena, was the quiet daughter, dutiful and diligent—right until the moment she vanished.

Detective Jo Wyatt is convinced the eleven-year-old girl didn’t run away and that a more sinister reason lurks behind her disappearance. For Jo, the case is personal, reaching far back into her past. But as she mines Lena’s fractured family life, she unearths a cache of secrets and half-lies that paints a darker picture.

As the evidence mounts, so do the suspects, and when a witness steps forward with a shocking new revelation, Jo is forced to confront her doubts, and her worst fears. Now, it’s just a matter of time before the truth is revealed—or the killer makes another deadly move.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56706283-mercy-creek?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=uwDmZBsUQK&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MERCY CREEK (Jo Wyatt Mystery Book #2) by M.E. Browning is an intense small town police procedural/mystery/thriller with a determined female detective lead and a strong cast of secondary characters that is fast becoming a must read for me. This is the second book in the Jo Wyatt series and it is easily read as a standalone, but I feel you should go back and read the first book just because it is as intriguing a crime/mystery and will give you a little more back story on the main characters.

Detective Jo Wyatt is in the dunk tank for charity at the carnival that has come to Echo Valley on a late summer morning when she and her partner are notified of a missing eleven-year-old girl, Lena Flores. Lena’s parents are divorced and she was staying at her mother’s home the night of the 4-H show. Her older sister was with her at the carnival as she took care of her steer in the 4-H show the night before and returns home with her later. But she does not show up for the morning show.

Jo is convinced Lena did not runaway, but something more sinister happened to her. As she and her partner investigate the parent’s, she attended high school with in the past, she discovers secrets and lies which leave her questioning decisions in her past. There are plenty of suspects and with each new piece of evidence in the investigation, Jo is soon facing a shocking revelation which could be her last.

I am always amazed and intrigued with the intricate plotting and step-by-step investigations in this author’s stories. The plots and characters are both believable and emotionally engaging. Jo is the type of strong, intelligent and determined law enforcement officer I love to follow. Her personal life is not smooth and that just makes her more relatable. All the secondary characters are fully developed, good and bad. The crime plot in this book is dark and horrific with a stunning climax. I was on the edge-of-my-seat to the very end.

I highly recommend this new Jo Wyatt book and I cannot wait for more!

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Excerpt

Chapter One

Everyone had a story from that night. Some saw a man, others saw a girl, still others saw nothing at all but didn’t want to squander the opportunity to be part of something larger than themselves. To varying degrees, they were all wrong. Only two people knew the full truth.

That Saturday, visitors to the county fair clustered in the dappled shade cast by carnival rides and rested on hay bales scattered like afterthoughts between games of chance and food booths, the soles of their shoes sticky with ice cream drips and spilled sodas.

Detective Jo Wyatt stepped into the shadow of the Hall of Mirrors to watch the crowd. She grabbed the collar of her uniform and pumped it a few times in a futile attempt to push cooler air between her ballistic vest and sweat-sodden T-shirt.

The Echo Valley Fair marked the end of summer, but even now, as the relentless Colorado sun dipped, heat rose in waves around bare ankles and stroller wheels as families retreated toward the parking lots. An older crowd began to creep in, prowling the midway. The beer garden overflowed.

Within minutes the sun dropped behind the valley walls and the fairground lights flickered to life, their wan orange glow a beacon to moths confused by the strobing brightness of rides and games. Calliope music and the midway’s technopop collided in a crazed mishmash of notes so loud they echoed in Jo’s chest. She raised the volume of her radio. 

The day shift officers had clocked out having handled nothing more pressing than a man locked out of his car and an allegation of unfair judging flung by the second-place winner of the bake-off.  

Jo gauged the teeming crowd of unfamiliar faces. Tonight would be different.

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Carnival music was creepy, Lena decided. Each ride had its own weird tune and it all seemed to crash against her with equal force, following her no matter where she went. 

The guys in the booths were louder than they had been earlier, more aggressive, calling out, trying to get her to part with her tickets. Some of the guys roamed, jumping out at people, flicking cards and making jokes she didn’t understand while smiling at her older sister.

Marisa tossed her hair. Smiled back. Sometimes they let her play for free.

“Let’s go back to the livestock pavilion,” Lena said.

“Quit being such a baby.” Marisa glanced over her shoulder at the guy running the shooting gallery booth and tossed her hair. Again.

Lena rolled her eyes and wondered how long it would be before her sister ditched her.

“Hold up a sec.” Marisa tugged at the hem of her skintight skirt and flopped down on a hay bale. 

She’d been wearing pants when they’d left the house. The big purse she always carried probably hid an entire wardrobe Momma knew nothing about. Lena wondered if the missing key to grandma’s car was tucked in there too.

Marisa unzipped one of her boots and pulled up her thin sock.

Lena pointed. “What happened to the bottom of your boot?” 

Her sister ran her finger along the arch. “I painted it red.”

“Why?”

“It makes them more valuable.”

“Since when does coloring the bottom of your shoes make them more valuable?”

Marisa’s eyes lit up in a way that happened whenever she spoke about clothes or how she was going to hit it big in Hollywood someday. “In Paris there’s this guy who designs shoes and all of them have red soles. He’s the only one allowed to do that. It’s his thing.”

“But he didn’t make those boots.”

“All the famous women wear his shoes.” She waved to someone in the crowd. 

“You’re not famous and you bought them at Payless.”

“What do you know about fashion?”

“I know enough not to paint the bottom of my boots to make them look like someone else made them.” 

Marisa shoved her foot into her boot and yanked the zipper closed. “You bought your boots from the co-op.” She handed Lena her cell phone. 

“You should have bought yours there, too.” Lena dutifully pointed the lens at her sister.

 “Take a couple this time.” Marisa leaned back on her hands and arched her back, her hair nearly brushing the hay bale, and the expression on her face pouty like the girls in the magazines she was always looking at.

Lena snapped several photos and held out the phone. “All those high heels are good for is punching holes in the ground.” 

“Oh, Lena.” Marisa’s voice dropped as if she was sharing a secret. “If you ever looked up from your animals long enough, you’d see there’s so much more to the world.” Her thumbs rapidly tapped the tiny keyboard of her phone.

In the center of the midway, a carnival guy held a long-handled mallet and called out to people as they passed by. He was older—somewhere in his twenties—and wore a tank top. Green and blue tattoos covered his arms and his biceps bulged as he pointed the oversized hammer at the tower behind him. It looked like a giant thermometer with numbers running along one edge, and High Striker spelled out on the other. 

“Come on, men. There’s no easier way to impress the ladies.” He grabbed the mallet and tapped the plate. “You just have to find the proper motivation if you want to get it up…” He pointed with his chin to the top of the game and paused dramatically. “There.” He craned his neck and leered at Marisa. Lena wondered if he was looking up her sister’s skirt. “What happens later is up to you.”

 Never breaking eye contact, he took a mighty swing. The puck raced up the tower, setting off a rainbow of lights and whistles before it smashed into the bell at the top. He winked in their direction. “Score.” 

Twenty minutes later, Marisa was gone.

Lena gave up looking for her sister and returned to the livestock pavilion. Marisa could keep her music and crowds and stupid friends. 

Only a few people still wandered around the dimly lit livestock pavilion. The fireworks would start soon and most people headed for the excitement outside, a world away from the comforting sound of animals snuffling and pawing at their bedding. 

Marisa was probably hanging out near the river with her friends, drinking beer. Maybe smoking a cigarette or even a joint. Doing things she didn’t think her baby sister knew about. 

Lena walked through an aisle stacked with poultry and rabbit cages. The pens holding goats, swine, and sheep took up the middle. At the back of the pavilion stretched a long row of three-sided cattle stalls. The smells of straw, grain, and animals replaced the gross smell of deep-fried candy bars and churros that had clogged her throat on the midway. 

Near the end of the row, Lena stopped.

“Hey there, Bluebell.” Technically, he was number twenty-four, like his ear tag said. Her father didn’t believe in naming livestock, but to her, he’d always be Bluebell—even after she sold him at the auction to be slaughtered. Just because that was his fate didn’t mean he shouldn’t have a name to be remembered by. She remembered them all.

She patted his hip and slid her hand along his spine so he wouldn’t shy as she moved into the stall. She double-checked the halter, pausing to scratch his forehead. A piece of straw swirled in his water bucket and she fished it out. The cold water cooled her hot skin.

“You did good today. Sorry I won’t be spending the night with you, but Papa got called out to Dawson’s ranch to stitch up some mare.” 

He swished his tail and it struck the rail with a metallic ring. 

“Don’t get yourself all riled. I’ll be back tomorrow before you know it.”

If she hadn’t been showing Bluebell this afternoon, she’d have gone with her father. Her sutures had really improved this summer and were almost as neat as his. No one would guess they’d been made by an eleven-year-old. If nothing else, she could have helped keep the horse calm.

Instead, she’d go home with Marisa and spend the night at Momma’s. She wondered if Marisa would show up before the 4-H leader called lights out in the pavilion or if Lena would have to walk to her mom’s house by herself in the dark. 

She reached down and jiggled the feed pan to smooth out the grain that Bluebell had pushed to the edges.

“That’s some cow.”

The male voice startled them both and Bluebell stomped his rear hoof. Lena peered over the Hereford’s withers. At first all she saw were the tattoos. An ugly monster head with a gaping mouth and snake tongue seem to snap at her. It was the carny from the High Striker standing at the edge of the stall.

“It’s a steer,” she stuttered. “And my sister isn’t here.”

“Not your sister I wanted to talk to.” He swayed a bit as he moved into the stall, like when her mother drank too much wine and tried to hide it. 

Lena ducked under Bluebell’s throat and came up on the other side. She looked around the pavilion, now empty of people.

“Suspect they’re all out waiting on the fireworks,” he said.

The first boom echoed through the space. Several sheep bleated their disapproval and Bluebell jerked against his halter.

“Shhhh, now.” Lena reached her hand down and scratched his chest. “All that racket’s just some stupid fireworks.”

“Nothing to worry about,” the man added. He had the same look in his eyes that Papa’s border collie got right before he cut off the escape route of a runaway cow.

A bigger boom thundered through the pavilion. Halter clips clanged against the rails as uneasy cattle shuffled in their stalls. Her own legs shook as she sidled toward Bluebell’s rear. 

He matched her steps. “What’s a little thing like you doing in here all by yourself?” 

“My father will be back any minute.” Her voice shook.

He smiled, baring his teeth. “I’ll be sure to introduce myself when he arrives.” 

A series of explosions, sharp as gunfire, erupted outside. Somewhere a cow lowed. Several more joined in, their voices pitiful with fear. 

“You’re upsetting my steer. You need to leave.” 

“Oh, your cow’s just fine. I think it’s you that’s scared.” 

He spoke with the same low voice that Lena used with injured animals. The one she used right before she did something she knew would hurt but had to be done. 

“You’re a pretty little thing,” he crooned. “Nice and quiet.”

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She stood frozen. A warm trickle started down her leg, and the wet spot expanded on her jeans.

He edged closer. “I like them quiet.”

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Author Bio

M.E. Browning writes the Colorado Book Award-winning Jo Wyatt Mysteries and the Agatha-nominated and award-winning Mer Cavallo Mysteries (as Micki Browning). Micki also writes short stories and nonfiction. Her work has appeared in dive magazines, anthologies, mystery magazines, and textbooks. An FBI National Academy graduate, Micki worked in municipal law enforcement for more than two decades and retired as a captain before turning to a life of crime… fiction.

Social Media Links


MEBrowning.com
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram – @mickibrowning
Twitter – @MickiBrowning
Facebook – @MickiBrowningAuthor

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f24bf84b758/?

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen

Book Description

Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.

The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.

Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.

Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it right and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew―how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Gone For Good by Joanna Schaffhausen is the first in a new mystery series featuring Detective Annalisa Vega.  She writes very intriguing serial killer mysteries and this one was no different.

Readers are introduced to Chicago PD detective Annalisa Vega who has some personal experience with the new case assigned to her. Twenty years ago, in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, the Lovelorn Killer viciously murdered seven women. After hog-tying them with ropes, he watched as they suffocated to death. He also mailed hand-written love letters to the “Sun-Times.”

This serial killer has resurfaced, bringing back horrible memories for Annalisa. The Lovelorn Killer had murdered seven women including Annalisa’s neighbor, Katherine Duffy, who was also her high school boyfriends’ mother, and confidant, someone she felt close to. Her dad’s Parkinson’s disease, her brother’s alcoholism, and her boyfriend’s fear of commitment were all triggered by stress, fear, and sorrow wrought by the serial killer. The villain is diabolical, perverted, deceitful, and intelligent.

The current case finds Vega investigating the killing of grocery story manager Grace Harper.  Grace is an amateur sleuth, part of the Grave Diggers group, and is found murdered in the same fashion. To make matters worse, Vega is asked to partner with her ex-husband, Nick Carelli, who was disloyal and a womanizer. In Grace’s apartment they find photos of women in similar poses, all victims of the Lovelorn Killer plus extracts from Grace’s journal that offer some great insights into a murderer’s mind. What makes the story even more interesting are chapters from Grace’s point of view, giving information about the cases that Grace and her team were uncovering as well as clues she discovered that would identify the killer. After the detectives appear to be zeroing in on the serial killer, he decides to target Annalisa by calling her cell, stalking, and threatening her. He is like a spider trying to entangle Annalisa in the web.

This story has many red herrings and twists.  Just when the reader thinks they know who the killer is, it becomes obvious that there is another person of interest. Vega has a vicious cat-and-mouse game with an elusive killer. At the end of the book people start to sympathize with the detective as she must struggle with a painful ethical dilemma.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the story?

Joanna Schaffhausen:  It was a combination of things:  Online sleuths, the cases they take on, how they go about their business, as well as my interest in serial killers.  This story came about when I thought what would happen if an amateur sleuth tries to find a Cold Case serial killer.

EC: Is the amateur sleuth group Grave Diggers realistic?

JS: Yes, there are some groups more organized and tend to have members with established credentials. They tend to take cases that track down missing persons and are willing to put in the hours.  Localized law enforcement can only put in so much time so amateur groups can take the information and run with it.  This is an area where they have pretty good success.  Most of the cases taken on are not active investigations.

EC:  So amateur sleuths can be helpful?

JS:  Not all.  Some do not produce results.  Some are prone to conspiracy theories.  The fantastical tend toward that.  They create narratives but don’t solve any crimes unlike the Grave Diggers.

EC:  How would you describe Annalisa?

JS: She is a second-generation dedicated police officer who is daring, determined, and fearless.  She is caring and seeks justice.  Because she comes from a broken family, she joined the police force to have a 2nd family.

EC:  How would you describe Nick?

JS:  Charming.  He makes each date feel like they are number one.  But when married to Annalisa he was unfaithful.

EC:  How would describe their relationship?

JS:  He hurt Annalisa with his infidelities. Now he says he has reformed and appears more mature.  It remains to be seen if she will give him a second chance. There is a love triangle where her old boyfriend Collin is back in the picture.  Collin and Nick are competing for Annalisa’s affections.

EC:  How would you describe Grace, the amateur sleuth?

JS:  Smart, impatient, abrasive, usually right, and funny.  She found the serial killer because of a clue she found.  In searching for him she became fearless.

EC:  How would you describe the killer?

JS:  Someone who missed the “old glory days.” He was born with the devil inside, lacks human empathy, and just looks for an excuse to kill.  He likes to humiliate his victims and is an egotist.  He enjoys the hunt, the power, the control, and creating fear in his victims.

EC:  Why Chicago?

JS:  I first set it in Boston.  To differentiate from the first series my publisher and I decided to set it in Chicago.  I needed some place reasonably familiar to me that had neighborhoods with family generations staying there.

EC:  What about your next books?

JS:  In January will be the fifth book in the Boston Police Detective Ellery Hathaway series, titled Last Seen Alive. She and the FBI Agent Reed Markham must confront their old nemesis, serial killer Francis Coben.  He claims he wants to make amends and will tell where the remaining bodies are buried but only to Ellery. Then a new body turns up with Coben’s signature.

In this series, the second book titled Long Gone will be out in August 2022.  Annalisa is asked to investigate how a fellow police officer is shot in his own home with his much younger wife standing over the body unharmed.  Her best friend is dating the number one suspect who has been accused of killing his girlfriend years ago.  Now the family and some in the police force are estranged from Vega because of what she had to do in the current book.

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.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Asylum by Tamera Lawrence

Hi, everyone!

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?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56949519-asylum?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=tD9vZYnqNY&rank=1

ASYLUM

by Tamera Lawrence

  • Genre:  Psychological thriller
  • Print length: 232 pages
  • Age range: This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16+
  • Trigger warnings: No
  • Formats available for the Tour: all standard electronic formats (sorry, no paperbacks)
  • Amazon Rating: 5 stars
  • Purchase link: https://mybook.to/TLawrenceAsylum

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My Book Review

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

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

Book Review: Enemy at the Gates by Kyle Mills

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

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.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.kylemills.com/

Facebook: https://www.kylemills.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KyleMillsAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/76671.Kyle_Mills

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Family Across the Street by Nicole Trope

Book Description

Sometimes, the most perfect families are hiding the most terrible secrets. How well do you know the people next door…?

Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses. The new family, The Wests, are a perfect fit. Katherine and Josh seem so in love and their gorgeous five-year-old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn.

But soon people start to notice: why don’t they join backyard barbecues? Why do they brush away offers to babysit? Why, when you knock at the door, do they shut you out, rather than inviting you in?

Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realize: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Family Across The Street is Nicole Trope’s latest novel. Her American debut was in June of this year with the outstanding book, The Boy In The Photo.  With all her books, readers get a vivid plot that grips them and grabs their full attention. The stories usually delve into everything from emotional abuse, child abuse (both psychological and sexual), and domestic violence.

The Boy In the Photo was first published by Grand Central Publishing this June.  It takes readers on an emotional roller coaster involving love, hurt, heartbreak, and joy. The story is told in two parts: six years ago, and six years later.  Megan Kade divorced her abusive husband, Greg Stanthorpe.  Intending to get Megan back or to hurt her he kidnaps their son and goes off the grid. Six years later the boy, Daniel, appears at a New South Wales police station, reporting that his dad died in a fire.  Daniel is distant, volatile, and in some ways resistant to Megan.  He believes all the horror stories told to him by his father.  The flashbacks of how both Megan and Daniel feel in the six-year gap emphasizes their grief and apprehension.

The Family Across The Street, her latest book, can be purchased as either an e-book or a paperback.  The plot begins with Kathleen and her five-year-old twins, George and Sophie, being terrorized by someone in their house. Logan, a delivery driver, gets a strange feeling that something is wrong after he tries to deliver a package that requires a signature, and the homeowner tells him she can’t open the door. He is not alone; Gladys, the caring across the street neighbor, also suspects something is wrong. Both grapple with deciding if they should intervene. Would they be interfering and falsely calling the police or should they be disinterested and mind their own business. This is a subject explored throughout the plot along with how Kathleen plans to protect her children.

All her books are riveting reads with another two books that readers might want to read first, The Nowhere Girl and The Life She Left Behind.

The Nowhere Girl has Alice married to a wonderful man, Jack, and raising three wonderful children. But as with many of Trope’s books this character has a secret.  She has told Jack that she ran away from home when she was younger, but she didn’t tell him the whole story. Her husband doesn’t know about the guilt she bears about her little sister she failed to save. Trying to come to grips with her emotions, she starts a blog for those abused. One of the women she is in contact with wants to meet her.  But she wants her past to stay in her past, until she realizes that her abusive father is watching her and waiting to attack.  The story goes back and forth explaining Alice’s childhood and how she plans on protecting her family.

The Life She Left Behind also has a wife not able to confide in her husband about her past. Twenty-eight years later the secret does not stay buried.  Rachel and her husband Ben, along with their young daughter Beth, have just moved into their very first house in a new housing complex. But what should be a happy and joyous moment is shattered when someone breaks into their new home leaving Rachel with memories of a childhood she wishes to forget. Someone is leaving her childhood Troll dolls in places for her child to find. It seems her mother and she escaped the domestic violence inflicted by the husband/father.  But has he returned? 

As with all her books, Trope skillfully keeps readers guessing, always having a twist at the end of the story.  She has the reader take a journey with the characters as they try to protect themselves and their family.  She also has the reader ponder a question about what would they do:  would they call the police, would they leave and start a new life, or would they stay? Because of the abuse scenes, readers will be on the edge of their seats hoping that the heroine can overcome the evil in her life.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How would you describe your books?

Nicole Trope: There is a family where, in a certain moment, something changes in their life, and how they react.  Usually there are troubling characters, where I hope to redeem them in some way.  I want readers to understand why they behaved the way they did.  Many of the books deal with abuse and families in crisis. 

EC:  How did you get the idea for your last book, The Family Across The Street?”

NT:  Looking at Facebook, I saw a post by an American photographer who took pictures of gang members’ and their tattoos.  One guy had a very emotional reaction after seeing his picture where the tattoos were photoshopped out. He felt without them he looked like an average person. I thought about someone who might not have had a good start and wanted to change their life.  Yet, they are marked forever.  In this book, Logan, the delivery driver was like that and after he entered my head along came the story.

EC:  In most of your books the abusers have a certain persona?

NT:  They are dominant, distrustful, angry, violent, and like to inflict fear.  Many times, they like to be in control because they cannot control their own rage, anger, and fear.  There is an underlying reason for their emotions.

EC:  There are also mothers who want to stay close to their children?

NT:  In this book, The Family Across The Street, the heroine Katherine West has a wonderful new start.  Yet, she does not want to be cut out of her older child’s life.  She is very much a mother who is trying to do her best.

EC:  Gladys, is the neighbor across the street?

NT:  She is an elderly woman who is from a different generation when all the neighbors knew each other.  She is struggling because her best friend, her husband, is dying. She must contemplate a future without him in her life.  She never had children, so she is lonely.

EC:  This book shows how many people feel about getting involved?

NT:  This is something that fascinates me.  When to call the police?  Does someone call if they hear a child crying or do they go over to their neighbor’s house to make sure everything is OK? I understand the reader wants someone to call the police because they know more than the neighbors.  I made sure the event takes place only over one day because I want the neighbors and Logan to consider what to do.  People are afraid to put forward the wrong foot yet, the consequences could be devastating if wrong.  The Family Across The Street had people afraid of overreacting, but worried their neighbors are being harmed. It is very difficult to know what to do.

EC:  Did the five-year-old George steal the show in your latest book?

NT:  He is very protective, caring, and will grow up into a lovely man.  I loved him.  He is a brave little soldier.

EC:  What about your next book?

NT: It comes out October of this year, titled, The Mother’s Fault. It is in the same vein as the last book. 

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: False Witness by Karin Slaughter

Book Description

AN ORDINARY LIFE

Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised – her life is just as unremarkable as she’d always hoped it would be.

HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST

But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average… a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence.

BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP

Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It’s the highest profile case she’s ever been given – a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it’s no coincidence that he’s chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT

If she can’t get him acquitted, she’ll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Calli, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice…

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Elise’s Thoughts

False Witness by Karin Slaughter shows why she is one of the best for writing fabulous characters. This story has two sisters’ childhoods tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence as well as one of the sister’s tragedy of addiction. She was portrayed with empathy and grace by the author. This story is brutal, honest, real, and heartbreaking at times involving issues of rape, drug use, murder, and abusive violence. 

Kudos to Slaughter for balancing the strong relationship between the sisters. Readers will grow attached to the sisters Leigh, Callie and Leigh’s husband, Walter, as he becomes involved to help them. Each of the sisters have taken a different route through life. Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life after being sexually harassed as a child babysitter. She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, who would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, while managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter. The other sister, Callie, is a drug addict, but sympathetically humanized. She was a child gymnast and cheerleader, who after suffering a broken neck, had constant back pain. Her childhood experience involved being groomed and regularly sexually assaulted by a violent pedophile while babysitting his 10-year-old son, and turning her into a heroin addict.

As Leigh is asked by her boss to defend a serial rapist, she is confronted with her past. When she meets the accused face-to-face, Andrew, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. They know each other. Leigh wonders how much he knows about what happened over twenty years ago. The only person who can help her is Callie, the younger, estranged sister. With the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice to involve Callie. The shocking twist at the end of the book will keep readers engrossed.

This complex plot has as its central theme, the heart of the relationship between Callie and Leigh. Both these heroines are believable, flawed, and courageous.  The highly intense themes, along with the horrible graphic actions of the evil doers, makes for a riveting read.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why write about the pandemic?

Karin Slaughter:  I started with a character, Leigh Collier, who I thought about three years ago.  I knew I was going to write a story during the pandemic.  When the book was finished the vaccines came, so I knew I wanted to incorporate the virus into the story.  It was fun and challenging for me as an author.  I tried to make Covid exist, but not as an intricate part of the story.  I made sure not to politicize it. 

EC:  There is a difference between the two sisters?

KS:  Some have the luxury to keep themselves as safe as possible and some do not.  To highlight this, I used the two sisters, Callie and Leigh.  Callie always had to work.  Because of her addiction she had to be on the streets.  Having a disability made her vulnerable. 

EC:  Why the addiction angle?

KS:  I wanted to humanize someone struggling with addiction.  She had an emotional, mental, and physical addiction.  Hopefully, I showed how we are really failing in how to handle addicts and help them.  Callie figured out a way to help herself through maintenance doses.  If only addicts could get levels that could help them function in society and eventually wean themselves off of the drugs.  Instead of punishing the people into the ground we should look at ways people could get help. 

EC:  Drug addicts?

KS:  The personality of the person must be considered.  If someone is actually a good person who is controlled by addiction, they are still decent.  If someone is a horrible jerk, addiction will definitely amplify it.  We spend trillions of dollars on the war on drugs, which has failed miserably.  Imagine if we spent that money on helping low-income students get better Internet, classrooms, schoolbooks, nutritional meals, and safe schools.  This would be more useful.

EC:  How would you describe Leigh?

KS:  She experienced a horrific trauma with her sister when they both were younger.  She is now a successful lawyer.  But Leigh is a control freak, compartmentalizes people, never likes to feel powerless, and is a survivor. She presents a front to hide her guilt and deep vulnerability. 

EC:  How would you describe the bad guy, Andrew?

KS:  My grandmother used to say, ‘if someone wants to be bad, they will find any excuse to be bad.’ He is definitely an illustration of that.  Andrew is someone looking for a reason to justify the bad things he wants to do.  He thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants in life because he is entitled to do it.  He is cruel and likes to terrorize people.  When I wrote that fish scene with him, I laid a foundation for his personality. 

EC:  Speaking of fish, there is some humor?

KS:  I love puns and love to be silly.  It was delightful time for me to make up all that stuff, such as “Anne Chovey, Genghis Karp, Mr. Dar-Sea, and James Pond.”  I spent far more time than I care to admit on this.

EC:  There is a quote about prosecutors and judges caring more about optics than justice.  Please explain.

KS:  Many prosecutors only take cases they think they can win.  They plead out everything else.  Many overcharge to get someone to plead out to a lesser charge.  As voters we need to look at how the justice system runs.  For example, women in prison are limited to the number of tampons and pads they can have.

EC:  There is also a quote about losing someone.  Please explain.

KS:  You are referring to this one, “Your relationship with a person doesn’t end when they die.  It only gets stronger.”  Someone told me that after I lost my 9th grade teacher who I consider my mentor.  She died about five years ago from cancer.  I had all these memories of her.  I remember our relationship and how important she was to me.  The choices I make in the present are based on what she told me in the past.

EC:  Your next book?

KS:  It will have a murder and be out this time next year.  A couple of characters from a previous stand alone will be back.

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.