Book Review: A Blood Thing by James Hankins

Author: James Hankins

Title: A Blood Thing

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Date: 2018

Plot: Never trust a blackmailer.

Vermont’s promising young governor, Andrew Kane, is at another public meet-and-greet when a stranger from the crowd slips him a cell phone and whispers, “Keep this with you…keep it secret…you’re going to need it after the arrest.”

Hours later, Andrew’s brother, Tyler, is taken into custody—framed for the brutal murder of a young woman—and Andrew discovers there is only one way to free him: answer the mysterious phone and agree to a blackmailer’s demands. All the governor has to do to make it all go away is compromise everything he stands for and grant a full pardon to a convicted felon. With no better option, he complies. Which is his first mistake…because the stranger isn’t through with him. He has another little condition. Then another. And another. And Andrew has no choice but to play along until he can find a way out of this personal and political nightmare. But he isn’t prepared for what he will face, or how far he will have to go to save his brother and keep his family together.

The Last Mrs Parrish Review | Liv Constantine

It’s been a while since I read a psychological thriller that really grabbed me, but this one did! Intricately crafted characters, with a twist just at the point where I thought things were getting predictable – I can’t recommend this one enough. Keep reading for my The Last Mrs Parrish review.

Publisher: HarperCollins | Date: 2017 | Genre: Thriller

Plot: All she wants…is everything you have!

How far would you go to make all your dreams come true?

Amber Patterson is tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who melts into the background. She deserves more. She deserves a life of wealth, luxury and leisure.

Daphne Parrish is golden girl of the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut. With her modelesque looks, her picture-perfect mansion and her millionaire husband, Jackson, she has everything Amber has ever wanted.

Amber’s envy could eat her alive—if she didn’t have a plan. Gradually, Amber insinuates herself into the Parrish family’s life. Before long, she has become Daphne’s closest confidante, and is catching the eye of Jackson. But a skeleton from her past could undermine everything Amber has worked for, and if discovered, her well-laid plan may end in disaster…

Book Review: Past Life by Dominic Nolan

Title: Past Life

Author: Dominic Nolan

Publisher: Headline

Date: 2019

Synopsis: A policewoman suffering amnesia must find the truth about her own violent kidnapping – in a thrilling crime debut as darkly gripping as Susie Steiner’s Missing Presumed and BBC’s Happy Valley.

Book Review: The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Title: The Sentence is Death

Publisher: Random House, Uk, Cornerstone Century

Date: 2018

Synopsis: ‘You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late…’

These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine – a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth £3,000, to be precise.

Odd, considering he didn’t drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the man’s many, many enemies did the deed?

Baffled, the police are forced to bring in Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, the author Anthony, who’s really getting rather good at this murder investigation business.

But as Hawthorne takes on the case with characteristic relish, it becomes clear that he, too, has secrets to hide. As our reluctant narrator becomes ever more embroiled in the case, he realises that these secrets must be exposed – even at the risk of death…

Book Review: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

Author: Matthew Sullivan

Title: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

Publisher: Random House, Cornerstone

Date: 2017

Synopsis: Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.

But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has inherited his meagre worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?

As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long-buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left.

The Word is Murder Review | Anthony Horowitz

I’ve been a fan of Anthony Horowitz since a teen. When I saw this come up on Netgalley, I was intrigued to say the least. Deciding it was time to explore his adult fiction, I requested a copy – and had such a blast with this book. Keep reading for my review on The Word is Murder.

Publisher: Random House, Uk, Cornerstone Century | Date: 2017 | Genre: Mystery

Plot:  SHE PLANNED HER OWN FUNERAL. BUT DID SHE ARRANGE HER OWN MURDER?

New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz has yet again brilliantly reinvented the classic crime novel, this time writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes.

One bright spring morning in London, Diana Cowper – the wealthy mother of a famous actor – enters a funeral parlor. She is there to plan her own service.

Six hours later she is found dead, strangled with a curtain cord in her own home.

Enter disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who’s as quick with an insult as he is to crack a case. Hawthorne needs a ghost writer to document his life; a Watson to his Holmes. He chooses Anthony Horowitz.

Drawn in against his will, Horowitz soon finds himself a the center of a story he cannot control. Hawthorne is brusque, temperamental and annoying but even so his latest case with its many twists and turns proves irresistible. The writer and the detective form an unusual partnership. At the same time, it soon becomes clear that Hawthorne is hiding some dark secrets of his own.

The Girl in the Moon Review | Terry Goodkind

Having been a huge Terry Goodkind fan due to his ‘Sword of Truth’ series, I was intrigued by what else he had written. This was not what I was expecting – it was far darker and more graphic than anticipated, to the point of making me feel uncomfortable. Here’s my full review on The Girl in the Moon.

Publisher: Head of Zeus | Date: 2018 | Genre: Thriller

Plot: Angela Constantine is a girl born broken.

When Angela was young, before she came to realize she had a rare ability, she was a rather ordinary girl. At least, that was what everyone said. But Angela is anything but ordinary. The daughter of a meth addict, she is convinced she was born a freak. Haunted by an abusive childhood, she was forced to become a woman far too soon. And in the process, she became more.

Angela Constantine has a secret life.

Angela juggles multiple jobs to live a secluded life in a cabin in the mountains. But she also lives a secret life, right under everyone’s noses. Because her family’s bloodline carries the ability to recognize killers, she adopts a solitary, violent existence in service of her own, personal mission in life. When Angela unexpectedly finds herself the prey of a group of international terrorists, she is the only one who knows the truth of what they are about to do. She might look like an unlikely hero. She might also be our only hope.

Angela Constantine is . . . The Girl in the Moon

Three Little Lies Review | Laura Marshall

After thoroughly enjoying Friend Request, I was eager to read another Laura Marshall book and see if it lived up to the same standards. I have a very strange relationship with these kinds of thrillers as I’ve read too many and found they’re predictable, but this one held my interest. Read on for my review on Three Little Lies.

Publisher: Sphere | Date: 2018 | Genre: Thriller

Plot: Someone told a lie. Someone knows the truth. Someone is watching you.

When Sasha North comes into Ellen’s life, Ellen falls under her spell. As Ellen is welcomed into Sasha’s family, she doesn’t see the darkness that lies beneath their bohemian lifestyle. Not until a brutal attack changes all their lives forever.

Ten years later, Ellen and Sasha share a flat in London, still bound together by that night. When Sasha disappears, Ellen fears the worst. The police won’t take her seriously, but the events of the past give Ellen good reason to be frightened.

What really happened that night? Who is telling the whole truth? These are the questions Ellen must confront when searching for her friend. But someone knows Ellen is looking. And they don’t want the answers coming out . . .

Friend Request Review | Laura Marshall

I’ve got a new thriller for you today! Laura Marshall was a new author for me with this book and I was intrigued by the timely nature of the premise. It takes a lot for a thriller to keep me guessing these days and I have to admit that Marshall caught my attention throughout the entire book.

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Date: 2017 | Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Plot: When Louise Williams receives a message from someone left long in the past she feels sick.

Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook.

Because Maria Weston has been missing for over twenty years. She was last seen the night of a school leavers’ party, and the world believes her to be dead. Particularly Louise, who has lived her adult life knowing herself responsible for Maria’s disappearance. But now Maria is back. Or is she?

A Stranger in the House Review | Shari Lapena

Shari Lapena is a relatively new author for me. Having enjoyed her first novel, I was eager to read the second. I knew what I was getting into – a classic thriller with nothing quite what it seems, and some predictable twists rather than a heart-stopping read. Still, it was enjoyable – check out my review on A Stranger in the House.

Publisher: Bantam Press | Date: 2017 | Genre: Thriller

Plot: Why would you run scared from a happy home?

You’re waiting for your beloved husband to get home from work. You’re making dinner, looking forward to hearing about his day.

That’s the last thing you remember.

You wake up in hospital, with no idea how you got there. They tell you that you were in an accident; you lost control of your car whilst driving in a dangerous part of town.

The police suspect you were up to no good. But your husband refuses to believe it. Your best friend isn’t so sure. And even you don’t know what to believe . . .