Tag: #suspense

Book Review: The Blackest Crimson by Debra Webb

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WOW!

This prequel is a gut twisting, edge of your seat, unable to put down read to Debra Webb’s new Shades of Death series.

THE BLACKEST CRIMSON (Shades of Death #0.5) introduces us to a demented serial killer known as The Storyteller. Once a year, he takes a victim and tortures her for weeks as he tattoos a story on her back before dumping the body in another state in a public location. He leaves no DNA, no one knows who he is because all of his victims are dead.

Detective Bobbie Gentry was excited to be involved in working The Storyteller case with the FBI. After his latest murder and no new leads, everyone believes he will move on for another year. Bobbie is ready for a break from the intense case. Her husband, and small son are looking to celebrating Christmas with her, but The Storyteller has plans for her, too.

On Christmas Eve, Bobbie has her world destroyed. The Storyteller abducts her after killing her husband. He is obsessed with Bobbie and breaks his pattern to have her. As she is tortured for weeks and becomes resigned to her death, he makes a mistake. Can she escape the fate of all his other victims?

This is a very fast paced and intense read. I was done in one short sitting and could not put it down. The characters are compelling and realistic. I cannot wait to get the first full length book in this series. Bobbie and The Storyteller are not done with each other.

Book Review: Deadly Secrets by Robert Brynzda

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DEADLY SECRETS (Detective Erika Foster, #6) by Robert Brynzda is another highly addictive addition to the series. I wait anxiously for each of these books to come out so that I can be completely engrossed in a new crime mystery and catch up on all of the characters that I have come to love.

DCI Erika Foster is still recovering from her last case and is finding this Christmas season especially difficult emotionally. Rather than deal with what is sure to be an emotion packed Christmas lunch with the Marsh family, she takes the lead in a horrific murder of a young burlesque dancer. As Erika and her team start to work the case, they find that their murder case may overlap with a separate series of attacks in the same neighborhood. All of the victims have been attacked by a frightening specter in black wearing an old fashioned gas mask.

As the case progresses, Erika receives a call from up north that her father-in-law has had a medical emergency. DI Kate Moss is promoted to handle the case. As the clues come together and the case heats up, Moss finds herself stumbling into a dangerous situation with a soulless madman who will do anything not to be caught.

This book has Erika facing some very difficult personal problems and decisions. Mr. Brynzda humanizes Erika in this story more than in any other. Putting Moss in charge shows her vulnerabilities and strengths in her work and home life. Peterson is back to work and brings a new personal twist to his story. The whole team is facing dynamic personal changes in future storylines.

What appears to be one plot, turns into two diverging plotlines. Each has twists and surprises that had me guessing until the end. It is a fast paced read that kept me turning the pages and hating to set the book down. These books can be read as standalone crime fiction mysteries, but the continued growth and interactions between all of the main characters makes me glad that I read them in order. This is a series that continues to engage, surprise and be on my “Must Read” list!

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

Book Review: Scent of the Jaguar by S.E. Gilchrist

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SCENT OF THE JAGUAR (Deadly Forces #2) by S.E. Gilchrist had me on another action packed romantic suspense adventure in the steaming Amazon jungle. This book features Kitarna Ashford’s older sister, Bernie and the other band of passengers from their downed plane being hunted by mercenaries through the deadly jungle.

Bernadette “Bernie” Ashford is an archeologist on her way with her botanist sister to a new dig that could turn into an important major discovery. Before they make it to the site, the sister are warned through a static filled call from their father that their lives are in danger from “El Jaguar” and to leave the area immediately. As they are flying away over the vast jungle, Bernie realizes that the plane is too low and they are suddenly told to brace for a crash landing.

Zane MacIntosh was on a previous dig with Bernie and mysteriously disappeared the same day as a valuable artifact. Bernie cannot believe he is on the plane and is suspicious of his motives. She is sitting with Zane and his mother as the plane goes down. She gets a brief glimpse of her sister after the crash, but they get separated as the two groups flee from the mercenaries chasing them.

Zane and Bernie work together to get their group to safety. As they are being chased by mercenaries, they are also vulnerable to all the dangers of the Amazon. The heat, humidity, native bugs, reptiles and animals all add to the misery and despair as the group tries to survive. As Zane and Bernie learn to trust one another, they wonder if there is a traitor in their little group? Bernie keeps praying that Kit has survived and Zane’s mother seems to be more than a retired school teacher.

This is a suspenseful and action packed read that sets a fast pace with an ever increasing threat to the survivors. Zane and Bernie were well written, resourceful and realistic main characters. Zane’s mother was a surprise and an intriguing addition. The sex scenes fit well in the story. This is the second book in this duet of stories and can be read as a standalone, but if you are interested in the first book it is Beat of the Jungle by Erin Moira O’Hara. Both are excellent reads.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.

Book Review: The Black Fox by Gordon Bickerstaff

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE BLACK FOX (Lambeth Group Thriller Series #3) by Gordon Bickerstaff is a nonstop thriller that has hairpin plot twists, action-packed scenes that keep you turning the pages and characters that are complex, intense and memorable beyond the pages.

Zoe Tampsin has been ordered to take Dr. Gavin Shawlens into hiding.

The United States has deemed Gavin a national security threat of the highest order and are willing to send the CIA and Special Forces onto English soil to find and eliminate him if the English will not hand him over. The British government wants to hand him over, but to also find out what Gavin knows that is worth billions and an international incident. Zoe is a highly decorated and trained British Special Forces captain. She is tasked with keeping Gavin alive and hidden until he can remember what memories are so important to the Americans.

On the run, Zoe displays why she was code named the “Black Fox” in Bosnia. Friends old and new come to her and Gavin’s aid. The run to the climax is filled with ingenious tricks and strategic brilliance on Zoe’s part that just keep ramping up the suspense to a climax that gave me chills.

Mr. Bickerstaff has demonstrated his ability once again to write a thriller that grabs your attention and imagination. This is a fast paced read that surprised me many times with situational plot twists that I did not see how Zoe and Gavin could survive and a climatic secret that had me stunned.  Zoe is brilliant, in deeds, action and character. Gavin is also brilliant, but in a very different way which makes the pairing work and these two characters fascinating. This book can be read as a standalone on-the-run thriller, but the depth of the characters is better appreciated by reading at least the previous book, Everything to Lose.

The Black Fox needs to be a “Must Read” on your TBR thriller list!

Book Review: Murder Notes by Lisa Renee Jones

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

NOOOOOOO!!!

One of the best starts this year to a new Romantic Suspense series with fantastic characters and Lisa left me hanging!

MURDER NOTES (Lilah Love, #1) by Lisa Renee Jones had me quickly turning the pages and falling into the story to the exclusion of all else. Lilah Love is an FBI profiler with an extremely abrasive personality, foul mouth and a secret that could destroy her career. Also, she loves, but refuses to allow it, the gorgeous head of a multinational conglomerate, Kane Mendez, that when run by his father was more of an illegal Mexican cartel than corporation.

When Lilah starts looking into a series of murders, which she believes are assassinations, they lead her back to her hometown in the Hamptons.  What becomes apparent to Lilah is that all the murders lead to a secret from her past that she believes was only between herself and Kane Mendez, her former lover. As the body count increases, so do taunting notes from the person who has been hiring the assassin. Lilah has to work this case without exposing her past, while catching a killer who may be from her own family or circle of friends.

Lilah Love, who calls herself “Murder Girl” is the type of character that I love to follow. An FBI profiler, but with a secret in her past that could destroy her future. She loves the “F” word and is confrontational, but she also loves to be a woman who dresses in designer clothes and loves her family. The sexual heat that flies between Lilah and Kane could spark a wild fire in a snow storm. I cannot wait to get the next book in this series! You need to read this book yourself and get ready for the next one, too.

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to review this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I am anxiously awaiting more!

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.