THOSE EMPTY EYES by Charlie Donlea is a complex and gripping thriller featuring the notorious sole survivor of the murder of her family and her ten-year search for their killer. I have read several of Mr. Donlea’s books and he never fails to keep me turning the pages in anticipation of the inevitable unexpected twists to come.
Alex Quinlan not only survived the horrific murder of her parents and brother but is accused of the crime and dubbed “Empty Eyes” by the insatiable media. When the state’s case falls apart, Alex with the help of her attorney sues the state for defamation and while she wins the case, the media still has doubts of her innocence.
Ten years later and Alex is now Alex Armstrong and working as an investigator for her attorney’s law firm. When she is sent to investigate the disappearance of a college student, Alex discovers unexpected connections to the murder of her family and soon realizes that those she is closest to may not be who they seem.
This is one of those books that you think is finished with the revelation of the killer, but it is not. A twist filled plot and another in the last pages of the book, make this a book that will be discussed long after “The End” whether you liked it or not. Alex is a character that you immediately feel sympathy for with her treatment after the murder of her family, but as the story continues, she grows into a strong and intelligent protagonist who refuses to forget the past but seeks answers from it. This thriller has intriguing characters that are fully fleshed and believable, multiple mysteries and shocking twists that never end.
I highly recommend this intriguing thriller!
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About the Author
Charlie Donlea is the #1 internationally bestselling author of Summit Lake, The Girl Who Was Taken, Don’t Believe It, Some Choose Darkness, The Suicide House, Twenty Years Later, and Those Empty Eyes. Praised for his “soaring pace, teasing plot twists” (BookPage) and talent for writing an ending that “makes your jaw drop” (The New York Times Book Review), Donlea has been called a “bold new writer…on his way to becoming a major figure in the world of suspense” (Publishers Weekly). A late bloomer, he was twenty years old when he read his first novel––THE FIRM by John Grisham––and knew he would someday write thrillers. His books have now been translated into twenty languages across nearly forty countries.
He was born and raised in Chicago, where he continues to live with his wife and two children.
To find a Russian mole in the White House, an FBI agent must question everything. . . and trust no one
To save America from a catastrophic betrayal, an idealistic young FBI agent must stop a Russian mole in the White House in this exhilarating political thriller reminiscent of the early novels of John Grisham and David Baldacci.
No one was more surprised than FBI Agent Peter Sutherland when he’s tapped to work in the White House Situation Room. From his earliest days as a surveillance specialist, Peter has scrupulously done everything by the book, hoping his record will help him escape the taint of his past. When Peter was a boy, his father, a section chief in FBI counterintelligence, was suspected of selling secrets to the Russians—a catastrophic breach that had cost him his career, his reputation, and eventually his life.
Peter knows intimately how one broken rule can cost lives. Nowhere is he more vigilant than in this room, the sanctum of America’s secrets. Staffing the night action desk, his job is monitoring an emergency line for a call that has not—and might never—come.
Until tonight.
At 1:05 a.m. the phone rings. A terrified young woman named Rose tells Peter that her aunt and uncle have just been murdered and that the killer is still in the house with her. Before their deaths, they gave her this phone number with urgent instructions: “Tell them OSPREY was right. It’s happening. . . “
The call thrusts Peter into the heart of a conspiracy years in the making, involving a Russian mole at the highest levels of the government. Anyone in the White House could be the traitor. Anyone could be corrupted. To save the nation, Peter must take the rules into his own hands and do the right thing, no matter the cost. He plunges into a desperate hunt for the traitor—a treacherous odyssey that pits him and Rose against some of Russia’s most skilled and ruthless operatives and the full force of the FBI itself.
Peter knows that the wider a secret is broadcast, the more dangerous it gets for the people at the center. With the fate of the country on the line, he and Rose must evade seasoned assassins and maneuver past jolting betrayals to find the shocking truth—and stop the threat from inside before it’s too late.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk was published in 2021. It has been made into a Netflix TV series, http://www.netflix.com/thenightagent, and was released on March 23rd. Both the show and book are riveting thrillers that delve into corruption at the highest levels of government.
The plot has FBI Agent Peter Sutherland tapped to work in the White House Situation Room. When Peter was a boy, his father was suspected of being a traitor, a breach that cost him his career, his reputation, and eventually his life. Now Peter’s job is monitoring an emergency telephone line from US diplomats or assets in trouble. The phone never rings until one night a terrified young woman named Rose tells Peter that her aunt and uncle are being threatened and the perpetrator is after her. Peter believes her and decides to help, thrusting him and Rose into danger as they try to find out if there is a traitor in the White House.
People can watch the Netflix episodes first and then read the book or vice versa. In both cases there is a riveting story that has some different aspects between the book and the series. Below is an interview with the stars of the show, Gabriel Basso (Peter Sutherland), Luciane Buchanan (Rose Larkin), the creator/showrunner/executive producer, Shawn Ryan, and the author, Matthew Quirk.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: After watching the Netflix episodes people could still go back and read the book because of the differences. Do you agree?
Matthew Quirk: People are not watching a rendition of the book. The show and the book are on their own terms. It is wild to see a scene I have written on screen, but there were also things that happened I did not write. I really loved the series. My wife and I were able to watch all ten episodes. I forgot it was my book. We were completely hooked. I am grateful to everyone involved in the production. The fun of it was seeing some of my scenes filmed and bringing in new stuff to give it a second life. It was fascinating to see how they did it and bring all the pieces together. Yet, both the book and the series have a man/woman on the run. They have the same spirit.
Shawn Ryan: I encourage people to read the book and watch the series. Matthew was great telling me to change what I wanted to change. For instance, the Metro bombing in the book is almost like a memory, whereas in the show I elevated it to a crucial event. There is a lot in the spine of the book that provides the spine of the show, a lot we filled in, and some things we felt we changed for the better. The book and the show are very much related, but they are also different artistic endeavors. I think you can enjoy both independently.
EC: What was your idea for the story?
Matthew: The world of the Night Agent does come from real life although I did take some liberties. It is something that is put on diplomatic cables to indicate the importance. Someone like Peter must wake-up an important official including the President. A relatively junior person on the Situation Room desk, if it happens in the middle of the night, that person could be briefing the President, the first point of contact of a global disaster.
Shawn: The story of a young man who wishes he knew more about his deceased father. I had an experience where my father died suddenly. As I cleaned up his house, I found some stuff that had me wanting to ask him questions about his past, but I knew I would not have that chance. I think I worked out my personal stuff through this story.
Matthew: I also wanted to have the accusations against Peter’s father as a cloud over him. His loyalty is being questioned for the sins of his father. I had friends whose stories are not dissimilar. The evil states try to entrap Americans and their tactics are very brutal. I tried to show how the Cold War was played out between the generations of Peter and his father.
EC: How did you come by the story?
Shawn: I read thrillers and have a couple of friends who are authors, Gregg Hurwitz, and Robert Crais. In this case I had a meeting with Jamie Vanderbilt, the writer and producer whose company optioned the book. He asked if I would be interested. After reading this book I fell in love with the characters and saw an opportunity for the Secret Service arc I had been working on. I did not feel there was enough in the book for ten episodes.
Matthew: I had a friend who worked for the FBI in DC and would disappear every night around ten pm. People would whisper what was his job. This idea stuck with me even though I did not know what his actual job was. After speaking with my agent and friends, we all thought this is a good premise for a book. I came up with the story including the phone that never rings. The whole story is based on my imagination of what my friend did. I wanted to write something like classic 70s thrillers, written by Robert Ludlum.
EC: What about the Secret Service arc that was not in the book?
Shawn: I had been working on a Secret Service story independently but did not have enough for one show. I did not want to do a Secret Service story about protecting the President considering we see that a lot. I thought what jobs would not be prestigious in the protection part of that organization. I always have been fascinated in children of Presidents going off to college. How would that work? I did speak to someone on Chelsea Clinton’s detail. I essentially said this is how I imagine it and he thought I was close to reality.
Matthew: This made it fun because now I am watching as a viewer, with all the surprises. Shawn and I did talk a little bit on where the story was going. But overall, my attitude was ‘go for it’ since ‘I love your stuff and trust you.’ I also was invited to the set to watch some of the filming. I did chat with the actors and actresses briefly on the set.
EC: What about this quote in the show, “The Secret Service’s job is to protect the institution.”
Shawn: Those in the Secret Service must be different political types. Someone is willing to give up their life for Barack Obama, then Donald Trump, and then Joe Biden. I have always been interested in the mentality of this. They believe they are standing up for the institution of the Presidency and Democracy. The above quote by the Secret Service character Eric Monks is what he believes, standing up for a set of values.
EC: What were your favorite scenes in the series versus the book?
Matthew: The Secret Service arcs. The actors, D. B. Woodside who played Erik Monks, and Fola Evans-Akingbola, who played Chelsea Arrington, absolutely did a great job with their portrayals. This was all Shawn Ryan’s part of the story.
EC: Is it a David versus Goliath story?
Matthew: I think the espionage stuff mingled with the mundane. They are spies where on the weekends they would go to their children’s soccer games. They have suburban lives. The international intrigue intruded on the normal, boring, suburban life. It was a David versus Goliath story with a lowly analyst up against many powerful state actors.
Shawn: Ultimately what I really liked that emulates from Matthew’s book is that it is an underdog story. Peter is the least important person in a very important place, until that phone rings. This is like an Alfred Hitchcock movie where a very ordinary person is put in a very extraordinary circumstance. He is not a Jason Bourne or John Wick who would take on ten people in a room and come out victorious. I liked that Peter gets bruised and battered and yet keeps going. This could be a lesson for us: we might be overwhelmed at times with circumstances bigger than we can imagine yet we plow forward to do the right thing.
Gabriel who plays Peter: A better analogy is Hercules versus the Hydra. One head is cut off and more heads grow. It never feels like it’s a singular enemy and you do not know who it is, always being betrayed. This is what I likened it too.
EC: How would you describe Peter?
Shawn: This is a case where the collaboration between Matthew and me is very important. There is something noble about Peter, not wanting a lot of attention. He must be super careful because of the backstory involving his father. I absolutely think he is a bit naïve, which he must overcome throughout these ten episodes. I took pieces from my own marriage without realizing it. I tend to be like Peter in my life, immediately trust people until proven otherwise. Where my wife tends to be like Rose, justifiably skeptical.
Matthew: A rule follower, calm, bright, ambitious, curious, meticulous, confident, and honest to a fault. What I wanted to do with Peter, is force him to face the most difficult challenges. He was on the Metro train that was bombed, which lit a fire under him. He felt there was a conspiracy that drew him into the high stakes plot. Readers will question if he changed in the book, or did he have things bottled up most of his life?
Gabriel: Relentless, not caring about his own personal risk. He goes for it. He has become a rule follower because it was told to him by his dad that it matters. When you uphold the system, you uphold the principles behind the system. It does not make sense to him how those who took an oath are lying and manipulative. He feels betrayed by the whole process.
EC: How would you describe Rose?
Matthew: A survivor, sharp, tough, fearless, determined, and adaptable. She is a foil to Peter, because she is resourceful and does what it takes to get things done.
Shawn: I was having trouble with her characterization. I contacted Matthew and asked him what he was thinking with Rose. He told me something that really unlocked her for me, ‘I always thought of Peter as a rule follower and Rose is a rule breaker. The two of them must become a little more like each other to survive together.’ She had to live by her wits from a young age with no father and an absentee mother.
Luciane who played Rose: Very driven and ambitious. She is at a very, very low point in her life. I think she is like Peter; both are loners.
EC: Why did you choose the role?
Gabriel: I talked to Shawn, and he told me Peter will be real, grounded, and his hits will be grimy, with Peter out of his depth. Peter will not have to be Superman. I liked that a lot. I think it is more layered and nuanced than ‘I am the protagonist, get out of my way.’ It is more fun and serious. I was able to invest in the story. I think what helped is that I have been hit in real life, so I know what it is like. The tattoos are real; the scars are real. I am real. I did all the fighting and most of the other stuff. Except where insurance thought it too risky so the stunt coordinator would do it.
EC: Will there be a season two with the same actors?
Shawn: We would love to make a season two. I hope there are enough people to watch season one and like it. It is important to me that each season tells its own story with a new location. Peter will probably be one of those characters.
Luciane: We do not make the decisions, but Gabriel and I hope there will be a season two.
Matthew: Right now, I have no plans to write a sequel to The Night Agent.
Thank you!!
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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.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for EMPEROR by John Fullerton on this Black Tide Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Can ex-NSA agent Ava stop the Emperor’s war plans before he kills millions – and her?
There’s a new Cold War…and it’s about to erupt into World War Three.
Emperor Qin – absolute ruler, dictator for life – has one task before he succumbs to brain cancer, and it means war. Can ex-spy Ava stop him in time to save millions – and survive?
Qin will ‘unify’ China by ordering the conquest of Taiwan, a democratic nation of 23 million people just 100 miles off the mainland, a pledge the Chinese Communist Party has made every year since the 1949 Revolution.
But there’s a leak, a flood of state secrets.
They land in the lap of the former NSA analyst in Washington DC. Ava Shute hasn’t sought the material. On the contrary, she’s a most reluctant recipient.
One thing keeps Ava going: the prospect of a nuclear Armageddon. The clock is ticking as Chinese agents hunt Ava down with orders to kill.
EMPEROR by John Fullerton is a twisted espionage thriller that immerses you in a fictional and yet realistic game of politics, propaganda, and spies from the point of view of the Chinese Supreme Leader Qin and American former NSA analyst, Ava Shute. This is a standalone novel.
Qin is the type of totalitarian leader most westerners picture as the leader of China. Qin is isolated, ruthless, and even with a brain tumor able to outwit any opposition. Before his tumor kills him, the legacy he wants to leave is the reunification of China and Taiwan.
There is a leak of Qin’s military plans and Ava Shute is the recipient of the information. The informant wishes to remain secret and have their information released to the press rather than government agencies so that it cannot be buried. With Chinese agents out to shut down the leak permanently, Ava must trust an old acquaintance from her NSA past with her life.
This is such a great thriller. It does not rely on fast action scenes to carry the story, although they are there, it is more of game of political chess. There are in depth descriptions of military equipment and maneuvers beside the examples of types of espionage which show a voluminous amount of research and knowledge. While the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat about whether there will be a world war or not, whether the leaker will be unveiled or not, or if Ava will survive, the author brings the reader to a brilliantly executed, twisted, and yet believable climax. Sorry, no spoilers here. You have to read this book.
I highly recommend this espionage thriller!
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Author Bio
John Fullerton worked briefly during the Cold War as a ‘contract labourer’ for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, an episode that fired up his interest in fictional espionage. He failed spectacularly in his efforts as a farmer in Zimbabwe and as a trainee financial manager in Cape Town.
All told, he’s lived or worked in 40 countries as a journalist and covered a dozen wars. For 20 years Fullerton was employed by Reuters as a correspondent and editor with postings in Hong Kong, Delhi, Beirut, Nicosia, Cairo, and London.
His latest thriller, Emperor, was published in 2022. He has an MA with distinction in Buddhist Studies and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Roehampton University in 2006/7.
Today is my turn to share my Feature Post and Book Review for CHAOS ON THEISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #9) by Stewart Giles on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
If there’s one thing Detective Liam O’Reilly hates, it’s bombs.
The Irishman transferred to the peaceful island of Guernsey to escape that kind of thing.
So, when random explosions start taking the people on the island by surprise, O’Reilly wonders if moving to Guernsey was such a good idea.
It soon becomes clear that the bombs are a smokescreen for something else. Something more sinister is going on, and when a gang of masked men enter the equation, O’Reilly realises this has nothing to do with blowing things up.
A team of armed men, dubbed the Fab Four Robbers by the press, soon capture the hearts of the people of Guernsey, and chaos hits the island.
O’Reilly is facing the worst dilemma of his career.
Many residents of the island are championing these thugs.
This new breed of criminals disguised as John, Paul, George and Ringo are about to educate O’Reilly in the fine art of chaos.
CHAOS ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #9) by Stewart Giles is another engaging mystery/police procedural featuring DI Liam O’Reilly and his team on the island of Guernsey. This is the ninth book in the series and while the characters’ relationships continue to grow, each crime plot is unique and is solved by the end of the book so they can be read as standalones.
April Fool’s Day is not a good day for police, and it is an especially bad day for DI Liam O’Reilly as a bomb explodes on Guernsey island. Liam hates bombs. As everyone is busy at the site of the blast, four men in Beatles masks rob a high-end jewelry store. The island paper nicknames them “The Fab Four” as they continue to cause chaos on the island. At first there are no casualties, but that soon changes with Liam and his team no closer to uncovering who they are and understanding what their motive might be.
Liam knows there must be a motive for the Fab Four’s crimes, but it will take his and his team’s usual dogged determination and out of the box investigative skills to stop the chaos on the island.
Once again, Mr. Giles has led me on an exciting chase with DI Liam O’Reilly. I love this protagonist and series. Not only is the crime mystery captivating, but there are also many changes going on in Liam’s personal life in this book. I always look forward to catching up with Liam, his daughter, and the members of his detective squad. The Fab Four disguises were an entertaining way to bring song references and debates about who you liked best of the four into the story even though these four were killers. I was guessing and surprised right up to the end in this fast crime read that I could not put down.
I highly recommend this crime mystery addition to the DI Liam O’Reilly series!
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Author Bio
After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey. The first 8 books in the Detective Liam O’Reilly series are now available. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
SLOW HORSES (Slough House Book #1) by Mick Herron is a great riveting British espionage thriller and start to the Slough House series. This group of characters are unique, and the story has so many twists I was unable to put it down. Even though this is the first book in a series, it is does have a solid ending and can be read as a standalone.
Slough House is the place that washed up spies go when they can no longer be trusted and used in regular service. It is a place for the “slow horses” to either finish out their MI5 career doing endless office drudgery or quit the service entirely. All hope to one day be called back up to the big game, but none are. The Slough House is headed by the infamous Jackson Lamb.
River Cartwright has waited his entire life to be a part of MI5 like his grandfather, but after a tremendous failure on his last training assignment, he is sent to Slough House. River is determined to not only redeem himself, but prove the mistake during his assignment was not his fault. When a young man is kidnapped and then threatened to be beheaded live on the internet, River believes this is his chance to get out of Slough House, but this kidnapping is not entirely what it seems. Jackson Lamb must count on all his “slow horses”, including River, to pull together to outwit more than kidnappers.
I loved this book and cannot believe I had not already read it. I picked it up because I had heard of the Apple+ series and I prefer to read the book before watching the movie or TV series and I am very glad I did. I always enjoy finding a great story with memorable characters and that it is the first book in a series only makes it better. Jackson Lamb and all the slow horses have very interesting reasons for being sent to Slough House and even though everyone has written them off, they rise to the occasion and prove they are still able to play the game.
This plot has many unexpected twists and surprises that make this espionage thriller a great read and I cannot wait to start book #2 in the series. I highly recommend this book!
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About the Author
Mick Herron’s six Slough House novels have been shortlisted for eight CWA Daggers, winning twice, and shortlisted for the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year three times. The first, Slow Horses, was picked as one of the best twenty spy novels of all time by the Daily Telegraph, while the most recent, Joe Country, was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller.
Mick Herron was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and now lives in Oxford.
On the dark streets of Mumbai, the paths of a missing dancer, a serial killer, and an inspector with a haunted past converge in an evocative thriller about lost love and murderous obsession.
After years of dancing in Mumbai’s bars, Tara Mondal was desperate for a new start. So when a client offered her a life-changing payout to indulge a harmless, if odd, fantasy, she accepted. The setup was simple: wear a blue-sequined saree, enter a crowded railway station, and escape from view in less than three minutes. It was the last time anyone saw Tara.
Thirteen years later, Tara’s lover, Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, is still grappling with her disappearance as he faces a horrifying new crisis: on the city’s outskirts, women’s dismembered bodies are being unearthed from shallow graves. Very little links the murders, except a scattering of blue sequins and a decade’s worth of missing persons reports that correspond with major festivals.
Past and present blur as Arnav realizes he’s on the trail of a serial killer and that someone wants his investigation buried at any cost. Could the key to finding Tara and solving these murders be hidden in one of his cold cases? Or will the next body they recover be hers?
THE BLUE BAR (Blue Mumbai Thriller Book #1) by Damyanti Biswas is a gritty crime thriller/police procedural which is hopefully the first in a new series set in Mumbai, India, and features Inspector Arnav Rajput.
This thriller pulled me in with a perfectly paced police procedural on the hunt for a serial killer who has been able to kill for two decades without capture. Money, power, fame, government corruption, and police graft have misdirected or eliminated attempts to solve the killings of dance girls in the Mafia controlled Mumbai bar scene. The girls are all found without the same body parts, but the killings are not described in real time.
The story is told in alternating chapters by Inspector Arnav Rajput of the Mumbai Police department and Tara Mondal who was a young bar girl who got away but is back for the offer of a life-changing payment for one week’s work at the re-opening of The Blue Bar. They slept together when they were young and then Tara disappeared without a word. Arnav has never forgotten her and fears every time he discovers a young female’s body that it will be Tara. He shows up for The Blue Bar’s re-opening and is shocked to find Tara there once again. While Arnav has changed and wants Tara back, she is hiding a secret from him. Tara was the one who got away, not just from Arnav, and now that she is back, she once again becomes a target of the serial killer.
I was completely engrossed in this thriller. The characters are fully drawn and believable and even more interesting with the cultural differences. The crime thriller plot was paced perfectly as it continued to gain momentum as it got closer to the climax. I had to change my guess of who I believed was the serial killer several times. The descriptions of the scenery in and around Mumbai were vivid and made me feel like I was there. This was the first book I have read by this author, and it definitely will not be the last.
I highly recommend this crime thriller/police procedural with memorable characters and unique setting.
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About the Author
Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore, and works with Delhi’s underprivileged children as part of Project Why, a charity that promotes education and social enhancement in underprivileged communities. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine. Her debut crime novel You Beneath Your Skin has been optioned for screen by Endemol Shine, and her next, The Blue Bar, will be published on Jan 1, 2023 by Thomas & Mercer.
