Tag: thriller

Book Review: The Paris Files, by Eva Jurczyk

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Title: The Paris Files
Author: Eva Jurczyk
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Genie St. Onge’s heart is broken more often than it’s not—but that doesn’t stop her from diving in head-first when she meets Jacob Ford. Their connection is instantaneous and consuming, and they agree to meet again in Paris. In a heady mix of sugared pastries and rumpled bedsheets, they begin plotting their future together. In the dreamy apartment they’re renting in the 11th arrondissement, they become intoxicated by each other.

Until Jacob disappears.

Genie knows Jacob would never leave her. Not by choice. When phone calls to hospitals turn up nothing, she grows convinced that someone must have taken him. It’s the only explanation.

Under the scrutiny of the French police, however, Genie’s story doesn’t quite hold up—and it sounds like Jacob might not be all he seems, either. Through police interviews with Genie and nearby residents of the 11th arrondissement, the truth remains elusive. She swears has no idea what happened to Jacob – so why doesn’t her story align with anyone else’s?

This was pretty twisty! I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy or Genie was for a long time. The style—the story is told through police reports—was a bit strange to me at first, but it really worked for this story. This is a mystery with a very small setting—a building and its residents and a neighboring shopkeeper—but set against the larger backdrop of Paris. This was a very solid mystery read.

Eva Jurczyk lives in Toronto. The Paris Files is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Viking Penguin | Pamela Dorman Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Where There’s Smoke, by Rachel Louise Adams

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Title: Where There’s Smoke
Author: Rachel Louise Adams
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

A lot has happened in Dolores Hawthorne’s life since the events of last Halloween. She’s divorced, traded being a forensic pathologist for a job as a medical examiner, and now lives in small-town Wisconsin, close—but not too close—to her family.

Dolores doesn’t have much in the way of work, but that all changes when a body is found at the local slaughterhouse. Benedict Marcy owned Marcy’s Meats, and is affectionately called Mr. Mercy across the region. This high-profile case quickly catches the attention of Dolores’s friends at the FBI.

From the very beginning, this case is full of contradictions and surprises, and the team quickly learns someone is willing to go to extreme lengths to stop them from finding out the truth behind Benedict Marcy’s murder.

The cover for this novel is so creepy to me! Definitely fits the vibe of the book. I haven’t read the first books in this series, but that wasn’t a problem (although having read the first one would probably have added some nuance to this read). The crime scene was very gross and illustrated the layers of confusion that filled the mystery itself. This was a solid thriller read, and I’ll probably go back and read the first one as well.

Rachel Louise Adams was raised in Brittany. Where There’s Smoke is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Wildwood, by Amy Pease    

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Title: Wildwood
Author: Amy Pease       
Genre: Mystery/thriller    
Rating: 4 out of 5 

 Deputy Sheriff Eli North has spent the last year getting his life back together. He hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol, he’s working through his PTSD from his military deployment, and he’s repairing his most important relationships. When an undercover informant disappears and all signs point to murder, Eli must expose the dark underbelly of his idyllic Wisconsin small town while safeguarding his newfound stability.

Then, with the unexpected arrival of FBI Agent Alyssa Mason, Eli and his mother, the sheriff, are pulled deeper into a violent criminal network built on the backs of the lost and forgotten.

As the case deepens, loyalties fracture and the line between justice and survival begins to blur. In a town where everyone has something to hide, exposing the truth may cost them everything.

I’m pretty sure I thought the setting for Northwoods—the first novel in this series—was bleak, and that opinion hasn’t changed. I have zero desire to visit Wisconsin. Though bleak, the setting is vivid and well-drawn, and I have no problem picturing it, even if I have no desire to go.

There are so many layers in this town and with these characters. I found that fascinating, and the investigation into whatever happened to Trinity drew me in immediately. This book deftly avoids the sophomore slump to keep the reader glued to the page, eager to figure out just what is going on in Shaky Lake.

Amy Pease lives in Wisconsin. Wildwood is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour: No One Aboard, by Emy McGuire  

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Title: No One Aboard
Author: Emy McGuire      
Genre: Thriller   
Rating: 3 out of 5

At the start of summer, billionaire couple Francis and Lila Cameron set off on their private luxury sailboat to celebrate the high school graduation of their two beloved children.

Three weeks later, the Camerons have not been heard from, the captain hasn’t responded to radio calls, and the sailboat is found floating off the coast of Florida.

Empty.

Where are the Camerons? What happened on their trip? And what secrets does the beautiful boat hold?

I should not have finished reading this. Not because the writing was bad—it wasn’t. The writing was solid, with strong descriptions and a believable narrative, but the characters were terrible people. All of them, except maybe Jerry, the fisherman who finds the empty sailboat. The Camerons, all four of them, are all pretty terrible people, and the people they surround themselves with are no better. There’s no reliable narrator here, and no one to root for, so this just wasn’t a good fit for me.

Emy McGuire was raised in Colorado. No One Aboard is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin Trade Publishing | Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Where He Left Me, by Nicole Baart

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Title: Where He Left Me
Author: Nicole Baart            
Genre: Thriller   
Rating: 4 out of 5

College professors Sadie Sheridan and Felix Graham are on sabbatical at Hemlock House, located on a remote mountain homestead established years ago by Felix’s family. When Felix leaves on a work trip but doesn’t return, effectively stranding Sadie on the mountain, her world collapses.

Alone at Hemlock House, frantic Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing astronomer husband left behind. Forced to confront two mysterious trespassers just as a powerful storm bears down, Sadie and the strangers have no choice but to ride it out together. As conditions worsen and shocking secrets are revealed, Sadie must face whether or not she ever knew the man she married and is she fighting only for her own survival now—or still for the man who promised her the stars?

This was a solid thriller read—and did not make me look forward to winter even a little. I liked how the mystery of what was going on with Felix built slowly, twisting and turning on different rabbit trails, and ending up being unexpected. Sadie got on my nerves a bit with her back-and-forth mentally, but I liked her well enough. This is a solid read.

Nicole Baart lives in Iowa. Where He Left Me is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

   

Book Review: Fire Mountain, by Dana Mentink

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Title: Fire Mountain   
Author: Dana Mentink
Genre: Christian, mystery/thriller    
Rating: 4 out of 5

In the shadow of a threatening volcano, long-haul trucker Kit Garrido wakes up in her crashed big rig, unable to recall what happened or why she’s suddenly in possession of someone’s baby. Fiercely independent, she has to admit that perhaps this time she could use a little help.

As the threat of eruption grows, former cop Cullen Landry refuses to leave his cabin in the evacuation area, which is why he’s the only one left who can help Kit escape the crumpled cab of her truck. He doesn’t want to get tangled up in the mystery of the beautiful woman with an abandoned infant, but when he sees the bullet hole in the windshield and the bloody handprint on the interior, he realizes that he’s in this thing, like it or not.

When two armed men with ill intent approach, the race is on to stay alive, discover the truth, and find the baby’s missing mother–all while a deadly mountain rains fire from above.

The imminently erupting volcano certainly added a sense of urgency to this read! I thought this was a solid thriller, and I enjoyed it. Kit and Cullen were both good characters, and their growing relationship keep me invested—almost as much as the threat of the volcano!

Dana Mentink is a USA Today bestselling author. Fire Mountain is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Revell in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge, by Kate Khavari

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Title: A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge
Author: Kate Khavari 
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery/thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor—in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.

When their neighbors, the Hales, invite a spiritual medium into the village who starts angling for Saffron’s mother’s attention, Saffron realizes that there is more afoot in her hometown than she originally thought. Not to mention inviting Alexander to Ellington has put their budding relationship under her family’s microscope.

As tensions rise at Ellington, Bill demands that Saffron hand over old research documents belonging to her late father. With her relatives under his power as their ‘doctor,’ Saffron fears she may be forced to surrender the files along with her hopes of ever understanding her father’s obscure legacy. Nothing and no one is as they seem at Ellington. It’s through the perfumed haze of the séance’s smoke that Saffron must search for the truth before it’s too late.

I enjoyed this audio book. The narrator is good and is perfect for this series. So much family drama here! I thought Saffron’s grandmother was pretty awful, and her grandfather wasn’t much better. I enjoyed the mystery aspect quite a bit, but the family drama less so (that’s just my own personal preference). The writing is solid and kept me engrossed in the story. This is a good series!

Kate Khavari lives in Dallas-Fort Worth. A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Party of Liars, by Kelsey Cox   

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Title: Party of Liars
Author: Kelsey Cox     
Genre: Thriller   
Rating: 4 out of 5 

Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion—once thought haunted—is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.

It’s a killer guest list . . .

DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl

ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house

MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume

KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of . . .

Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.

I really never figured out exactly what was going on or who was guilty—of what until the end! Kim was pretty horrible for most of the novel, so much hatred and vitriol and alcohol. I couldn’t figure out if Dani was crazy, or as almost-perfect as she seemed. Sophie and Mikayla seemed like typical teenage girls on the surface, but were they really? Ethan and his friend Curtis were just a little too high-handed, weren’t they? There was a lot going on here, and I was engrossed from the beginning. And what about the dollhouse/mansion? Creepy!

Kelsey Cox lives in the Texas Hill Country. Party of Liars is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Best of All Worlds, by Kenneth Oppel

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Title: Best of All Worlds   
Author: Kenneth Oppel         
Genre: Thriller, sci-fi  
Rating: 2.5

Xavier Oaks doesn’t particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad’s pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it’s only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only… one morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It’s like it’s been lifted and placed… somewhere else.

When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there’s no one else around…

Until, three years later, another family arrives.

Is there any escape? Is there a reason they are stuck where they are? Different people have different answers — and those different answers inexorably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

This was mediocre at best. The author’s political/personal bias was glaringly on display…most white people are apparently evil in his mind, not to mention narrow-minded, backwards, and prone to conspiracy theories. (As are Americans in general, apparently.) There honestly didn’t seem much point to this, and all the characters were one-dimensional. Decidedly not thrilling.

Kenneth Oppel is from Canada. Best of All Worlds is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Scholastic in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Summer That Changed Everything, by Brenda Novak

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Title: The Summer That Changed Everything  
Author: Brenda Novak         
Genre: Romance    
Rating: 3 out of 5

She returned to prove her father’s innocence, but there’s no telling what she’ll find…

It’s been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair saw her father. Fifteen long years since she sat in a courtroom and watched him sentenced to life in prison. He murdered three victims—all people she knew—which ruined her life at just seventeen. But now she’s back in Virginia to talk to him, wondering if there’s more to the story of what happened that fateful night.

An old flame, Ford Wagner, makes his own return to North Hampton Beach, fleeing a marriage that seems destined for divorce. He’s wary of Lucy and her digging into the past, but the more time they spend together, the closer they get and the more he finds himself reconsidering the truth behind the death of their mutual friend that summer. Problem is, there are plenty of those in this small coastal town who would prefer things stay quiet…

This was kind of a mediocre read to me. The characters felt very superficial with no depth to them at all. And the “mystery” of who the real killers were wasn’t much of a mystery at all, considering the rather heavy-handed handling of some of the people in town. No surprises in this read at all, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

Brenda Novak is a bestselling author. The Summer that Changed Everything is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)