Old Bones (Nora Kelly #1), by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to the Grand Central Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 20th, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: #1 bestselling authors Preston & Child bring  the true story of the ill-fated Donner Party to new life in a thrilling blend of archaeology, history, murder, and suspense.

Nora Kelly, a young curator with the Santa Fe Institute of Archeology is approached by historian Clive Benton with a once-in-a-lifetime proposal: to lead a team in search of the so-called “Lost Camp” of the tragic Donner Party. This was a group of pioneers who earned a terrible place in American history when they became snowbound in the California mountains in 1847, their fate unknown, until the first skeletonized survivors stumbled out of the wilderness, raving about starvation, murder, and cannibalism. 

Benton tells Kelly he has stumbled upon an amazing find: the long-sought diary of one of the victims, which has an enigmatic description of the Lost Camp. Nora agrees to lead an expedition to locate and excavate it—-to reveal its long-buried secrets.

Once in the mountains, however, they learn that discovering the camp is only the first step in a mounting journey of fear. For as they uncover old bones, they expose the real truth of what happened, one that is far more shocking and bizarre than mere cannibalism. And when those ancient horrors lead to present day violence on a grand scale, rookie FBI agent, Corrie Swanson is assigned the case…only to find that her first investigation might very well be her last.

The bad news for fans of Aloysius Pendergast, is that he doesn’t make an appearance in Old Bones until the epilogue. The good news is that while I personally deeply missed him, Preston & Child have taken one of my favorite secondary characters in the Pendergast series, and given her wings.

Nora was actually the main character in Thunderhead (1999). As the Pendergast series took off, she became a strong supporting character, featuring predominantly in the Diogenes trilogy. If after waiting for a year for a new book by the authors, I couldn’t have this feature my Pendergast, I couldn’t have asked for a better person to take the reins. 

Joining Nora is another Pendergast supporting character, Corrie Swanson, who having been mentored by Pendergast, is now making her solo debut as an FBI agent. Both Nora and Corrie are strong-willed women, so to say they initially bump heads is putting it mildly. Nora is much more established and comfortable in her career, whereas Corrie is eager to prove herself and as a result, doesn’t always play well with others. I liked the way their relationship developed and by the end of the book they turned into quite a formidable team. I’m hoping Corrie makes more appearances in future books because they make quite a dynamic pairing.

The storyline itself is fascinating and vintage Preston and Child. Taking the historical tragedy of the Donner Party, and blending it with a modern-day sinister conspiracy was sheer genius. While it was obvious after only a few chapters in, that the shadowy organization behind grave robbings and killings were interested in a particular member of the doomed pioneers, I was in the dark until the last part of the book as to the question of why. Likewise, I was completely surprised regarding the unmasking of the villains who Nora and Corrie come into personal contact with. Once the big reveal came though, I had one of those “Aha!” moments because everything came together and made sense.

The only reason why I’m not giving this 5 stars is because as enjoyable as the characters and the blending of history with a contemporary conspiracy thriller were, there was a certain multi-layered complexity that are always a big part of the Pendergast books, that was missing here. Also, I’m usually literally chewing my nails while devouring a Pendergast tale but here, while I definitely had an avid interest in what was going on, I wasn’t quite so desperate about it. That said, Old Bones is a fun and entertaining introduction to this new series, and I’m looking forward to more (hopefully after a new Pendergast novel comes out though!) For those of you who haven’t read the Pendergast series, but are getting tired of my ravings about it, this is an excellent place to begin your introduction into the wonderfully weird, creepy, mysterious, always intriguing and exciting world of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child! 

 

 

 

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The Nanny, by Gilly Macmillan ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 19th, 2019

400 Pages

Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew conjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explore the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind. 

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…

In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much that you’d rather hear the lie.

Given these last two books I’ve read, I seem to be on a nanny kick lately. But, let me assure you The Nanny is as different as can be from The Turn of the Key. It’s a slow burn of a story and I’d call it more psychological suspense than thriller, but that doesn’t make it any less of a page turner. Gilly Macmillan’s writing is very detailed and visual, and throughout the story I felt as though I was there at Lake Hall and the village. The chapters moved seamlessly between two time periods and multiple POVs, which isn’t always easy to pull off without taking away from the storyline, but the author effortlessly accomplishes this.

As for the characters, for the most part, they’re not particularly likable and some are downright evil, but they’re well-developed which makes them intriguing. The entire time I was reading I didn’t know who to trust, which further added to the mystery and suspense. 

While the dramatic ending was a bit rushed and I was left with a few questions, overall I feel The Nanny definitely lives up to its pre-publication hype. Gilly Macmillan has taken the familiar theme of a dysfunctional family being torn apart by secrets and lies, and given it an original and entertaining spin. This is the first book I’ve read by her but it certainly won’t be my last.

 

 

The Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 5th, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all the modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unraveling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke up the household with booming music, or turned off the lights at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around except for the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But she’s not guilty—at least of murder. Which means someone else is.

Turn of the Key is bestselling author Ruth Ware’s imaginative modern day adaptation of the Henry James classic Turn of the Screw, and trust me. It’s just as creepy, disturbing, and suspenseful. As Rowan relates her tale through a series of letters to her lawyer, it’s a slow burn until about halfway into the book and then the pace really picks up. This isn’t a criticism though, because as Rowan is an unreliable narrator I was constantly guessing as to what really happened and happily, the supporting characters are just as mysterious and intriguing as Rowan. There were many twists and turns that I never saw coming, which kept me mesmerized and turning the pages. The only reason I’m not giving this a full 5 stars is because I thought the ending was too rushed and left some loose ends. Otherwise, I highly recommend this contemporary gothic suspense to both fans of Ruth Ware and readers who haven’t tried her yet. And, I just have to say that I’m going to be truly disappointed if this isn’t adapted into a movie!

 

 

Slash, by Hunter Shea ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: October 10th, 2019

288 Pages

Synopsis: Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that might reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith.

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskill Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.

For the last couple of years I’ve come to rely on Hunter Shea for good, old-fashioned, fun, gory, horror and with Slash I was not disappointed. Shea put his expected unique twist on the familiar slasher trope and turned it into a one-sitting page-turner. Despite the book being under 300 pages, the characters are pretty well-developed, as is the plot. And there’s a fantastic twist regarding The Wraith in the last third of the book which I didn’t see coming at all. As with all his books, Slash doesn’t have a happily-ever-after ending, but with this being my third book by him, I wasn’t expecting one.

If you’re a horror fan and haven’t tried Hunter Shea, I highly recommend him. His books don’t require any deep thinking, they’re just pure entertainment. As for Slash, its publishing date of October 10th makes it a perfect Halloween read.

The Lady Rogue, by Jennifer Bennett ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Historical Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Vlad the Impaler, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 3rd, 2019

384 Pages

Synopsis: The Last Magician meets A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in this thrilling tale filled with magic and set in the mysterious Carpathian Mountains where a girl must hunt down Vlad the Impaler’s cursed ring in order to save her father.

Some legends never die…

Traveling with her treasure-hunting father has always been a dream for Theodora. She’s read every book in his library, has an impressive knowledge of the world’s most sought-after relics, and has all the ambition in the world. What she doesn’t have is her father’s permission. That honor goes to her father’s nineteen-year-old protégé—and once-upon-a-time love of Theodora’s life—Huck Gallagher, while Theodora is left alone to sit in her hotel in Istanbul. 

Until Huck arrives from an expedition without her father and enlists Theodora’s help in rescuing him. Armed with her father’s travel journal, the reluctant duo learns that her father had been digging up information on a legendary and magical ring that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler—more widely known as Dracula—and that it just might be the key to finding him.

Journeying into Romania, Theodora and Huck embark on a captivating adventure through Gothic villages and dark castles in the misty Carpathian Mountains to recover the notorious ring. But they aren’t the only ones who are searching for it. A secretive and dangerous occult society with a powerful link to Vlad the Impaler himself is hunting for it too. And they will go to any lengths—including murder—in order to possess it.  

The Lady Rogue is the first book I’ve read by Jenn Bennett, but I knew as soon as I saw the gorgeous cover and read the premise that I had to get my greedy hands on it!

While it was a lot fluffier than I expected, it was a fun read which I found somewhat reminiscent of Romancing the Stone. The pacing was a little uneven at times with a few sections making me want to cheat and skim over them, but other than that, everything worked. The banter between Theodora and Huck had me laughing out loud several times, and I loved the chemistry between the two of them. The storyline with its sinister society, coded journals, and wonderful train rides through early 1900s Romania kept me turning the pages. And while the mystery itself was a trifle predictable, everything else was just so much darn fun that I didn’t care. The ending ties everything up neatly but I’m hoping this isn’t the last we see of Theodora Decker and Huck Gallagher. I think this could be the beginning of a fun and exciting series. 

 

 

 

The Furies, by Katie Lowe ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Boarding Schools, Mystery, Supernatural Fiction, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Release Date: October 8th, 2019

368 Pages

Synopsis: This page-turning, harrowing debut is the story of a girl trying to fit in, whose obsessive new friends and desperation to belong leads her to places she’d never imagined…dark, dangerous, and possibly even violent.

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on her boarding school’s property, dressed in white, and posed on a swing, with no known cause of death. What happened to her? And what do her friends know? To find out is is necessary to go back to the beginning.

The school is Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl’s boarding school, located in a sleepy coastal town with a long-buried grim history of  17 century witch trials. A new student, Violet, joins the school, and soon finds herself invited to become the fourth member of an advanced study group, led by the alluring and mysterious art teacher Annabel.

Annabel does her best to convince the girls that her classes aren’t related to ancient rites and rituals, and that they are just mythology. But the more she tries to warn the girls off topic, the more the girls start to believe magic is real and that they have the power to harness it.

Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this addictive new world. But when she comes to find out about the disappearance of a former member of the society, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled in her newfound friendships.  

Was it suicide, or a foul play more sinister? How far will these young girls go to protect one another…or destroy one another?

You can probably tell from the synopsis that the plot isn’t the most original one out there, but I still found The Furies a fun, creepy read. For those of you who are fans of the 1996 movie The Craft, this is sort of a less campy version of that. Unsurprisingly there’s loads of angst and anger, and when you set that in all girl’s boarding school and mix in witchcraft, well, let’s just say there’s plenty of explosive supernatural shenanigans that ensue! My biggest issue was that I found the author’s writing a bit too florid, but it wasn’t really enough to spoil my enjoyment. I will definitely be on the lookout for any of Katie Lowe’s future books.

 

 

 

 

 

The Escape Room, by Megan Goldin ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Corporate Greed, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 30, 2019

352 Pages

Synopsis: Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are ruthlessly ambitious high flyers working in the lucrative world of Wall Street finance where deception and intimidation thrive. Getting rich is all that matters, and they’ll do anything to reach the top.

When they are ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, dark secrets of their team begin to be laid bare.

The biggest mystery to solve in this lethal game: What happened to Sarah Hall? Once a young shining star—now “gone but not forgotten”.

This is no longer a game.

They’re fighting for their lives.

The Escape Room doesn’t score high on the believability scale, but it’s so much fun that most readers won’t care. I know so-called Escape Rooms where groups of people have to work together in order to get out have become very popular, but I find just thinking about them to be claustrophobic. Imagine then an escape room turning out to be a locked elevator. Cue anxiety! Then add in co-workers who already aren’t the nicest people. Put them in a situation like this and it makes Survivor look like a relaxing vacation retreat. 

The story is told in multiple povs, but rather then slowing the plot down, it made it that much more interesting. Trapped in the stifling elevator on the 70th floor over the course of several days, you get to know these four pretty well as they attempt to escape and to find out who is behind their imprisonment and why. The characters except for Sarah, are pretty vile, but they’re the type that you love to hate. The ending is satisfying and wraps everything up which I appreciated.

To sum things up, The Escape Room won’t win any prestigious literary awards, but it’s a thoroughly entertaining page-turner that is perfect for this time of year, and it’s one I highly recommend!

The Chain, by Adrian McKinty ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

I’d like to thank Mulholland Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 9, 2019

368 Pages

Synopsis: 

Victim.

Survivor.

Abductor.

Criminal.

You will become each one.

Your phone rings. A stranger has kidnapped your child. To free them you must abduct someone else’s child. Your child will be released when your victim’s parents kidnap another child. If any of these things don’t happen your child will be killed. You are now part of the chain.

I started reading this about 7:00 p.m. yesterday and finished it about 2 1/2 hours later. I almost had an accident because I didn’t want to stop reading to take a pee break! Ahem. That’s probably a bit TMI. Anyway, it’s a little over two months until the publication date for The Chain and it’s already receiving a multitude of accolades from A list authors like Stephen King, Tana French, Don Winslow, Dennis Lehane, Alafair Burke, and Meg Gardiner. And for the most part the hype is well-deserved. I’m going to get my criticism out of the way first. Just by reading the synopsis you can probably guess that this isn’t the most believable of stories. The events that happen and the way characters react just wouldn’t happen in real life. But this is one of those books that you just have to let go of any expectation of plausibility and enjoy the ride. Speaking of the characters, they’re a little two-dimensional, in part because this is a plot driven story and I was unable to connect with any of them, but ultimately this wasn’t enough to spoil my enjoyment. 

The plot is a non-stop roller coaster ride filled with nail-biting anxiety. The action begins on the very first page and never once lets up. The Chain is coming out July 9th which is great timing because it really is the quintessential beach/vacation read. I highly recommend this to fans of twisty thrillers. I’m now waiting to see if this is optioned by Hollywood.

 

 

The Forbidden Door (Jane Hawk #4), by Dean Koontz ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

480 Pages

Synopsis: “We’re rewriting the play, and the play is this country, the world, the future. We break Jane’s heart, we’ll also break her will.”

She was one of the FBI’s top agents, until she became the nation’s most-wanted fugitive. Now Jane Hawk may be all that’s left between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society’s terrifying mind-control technology. She couldn’t save her husband, or the others whose lives have been destroyed, but equipped with superior tactical and survival skills—and the fury born of a broken heart and a hunger for justice—Jane has struck major blows against the insidious cabal.

But Jane’s enemies are about to hit back hard. If their best operatives can’t outrun her, they mean to bring her running to them, using her five-year-old son as bait. Jane knows there’s no underestimating their capabilities, but she must battle her way back across the country to the remote shelter where her boy is safely hidden…for now.

 As she moves resolutely forward, new threats begin to emerge: a growing number of brain-altered victims driven hopelessly, violently insane. With the madness spreading like a virus, the war between Jane and her enemies will become a fight for all their lives—against  the lethal terror unleashed from behind the forbidden door.

The Forbidden Door is Dean Koontz’s 4th Jane Hawk book and is another perfect addition to this exciting series that shows no sign of slowing down. I think I’ve mentioned this in my reviews of the first three books that one of the biggest strengths of this series is the characters. I have become so invested in what happens to Jane, her precocious son, and the others on her team, that I find myself holding my breath as they face danger after danger. And the villains are so despicable and evil, that I want them to all die as slowly and painfully as possible.

There’s not much more I can say that I haven’t already said in my other reviews except that in my opinion the Jane Hawk series is some of Dean Koontz’s best work in years! The Forbidden Door ends in another nail biting cliffhanger, so I’m eagerly anticipating The Night Window which is coming out in May. 

Blog Tour ~ Too Far Gone (Lucy Kincaid #14), by Allison Brennan ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Police Procedural, Suspense

Thanks to St. Martin’s for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now 

496 Pages 

Synopsis: Things finally seem to be going well for FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid. She’s just finished training for Hostage Rescue, her husband’s relationship with his son is back on track, and her tense relationship with her boss, Rachel Vaughn, has become much more bearable.That is, until her first hostage case throws everything off track.

When a man who appears under the influence and mentally unstable holds a group of people hostage and dies in a shootout with the FBI, Lucy is assigned to investigate what happened. His descent doesn’t make any sense—he was an upstanding citizen a year ago and only started declining after a series of blackouts and strange occurrences. Even his autopsy seems suspicious, and the body has been cremated without the proper approval. As Lucy investigates, she realizes that this story may be more complicated than she thinks, and her own life might be in danger.

You know a series is good when you’re fourteen books in and still loving it. What starts a standard hostage situation quickly turns into something much more complex involving corporate corruption, greed, manipulation and cover-ups. Add to that a bit of family drama, and you have an intriguing and compelling read. Too Far Gone is an excellent addition to the Lucy Kincaid series, but if you haven’t read the previous books, it can also be read as a standalone. I highly recommend this for readers who enjoy intense suspenseful mysteries, and interesting and relatable characters.

About the Author: Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels. Most recently she was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by the International Thriller Writers and is a two-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award by Kiss of Death. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in Northern California with her husband, five kids, and assorted pets. Visit her website at:

http://www.allisonbrennan.com