Category: Thriller

#FuturisticFriday Review and Giveaway: The Mirror Thief

May 10, 2016 Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary, Thriller 9 ★★★★

#FuturisticFriday Review and Giveaway: The Mirror ThiefTitle: The Mirror Thief
Author: Martin Seay
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:four-stars

Summary: This was a big, bold, beautiful story with inspiring writing and an enthralling plot.

“The core story is set in Venice in the sixteenth century, when the famed makers of Venetian glass were perfecting one of the old world’s most wondrous inventions: the mirror. The Venetian mirrors were state of the art technology, and subject to industrial espionage…for any of the development team to leave the island was a crime punishable by death. One man, however—a world-weary war hero with nothing to lose—has a scheme he thinks will allow him to outwit the city’s terrifying enforcers of the edict, the ominous Council of Ten . . . Meanwhile, in two other Venices—Venice Beach, California, circa 1958, and the Venice casino in Las Vegas, circa today—two other schemers launch similarly dangerous plans to get away with a secret . . .  All three stories will weave together”, connected both thematically and by direct interaction or inspiration of each character by the others. (source) Read more »

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Review: Hotel Moscow

June 25, 2015 Fiction, Historical Fiction, Review, Thriller 11 ★★★★

Review: Hotel MoscowTitle: Hotel Moscow
Author: Talia Carner
Source: TLC Book Tours
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:four-stars

Summary: This book was more thriller than I expected, but both the thriller and historical fiction elements were very well executed.

When Brooke Fielding volunteers her business knowledge to help Russian female entrepreneurs after the fall of communism, she knows her visit will be complicated by the fact that her parents are Russian Jewish holocaust survivors. What she doesn’t know is how dangerous the trip will turn out to be. Despite her parents’ past, Brooke becomes deeply involved with the women she’s trying to help. Mafia members and corrupt officials employ brutal tactics in their attempt to acquire the newly privatized businesses owned by the women Brooke hopes to help. And only Brooke has the financial knowledge and connections needed to discover who is behind the violent takeovers. Read more »

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Review: Disclaimer

June 11, 2015 Fiction, Thriller 22 ★★★★★

Review: DisclaimerTitle: Disclaimer
Author: Renée Knight
Source: from publisher for review, TLC Book Tours
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:five-stars

Summary: With a fast pace, lots of twists and turns, plus fascinating moral questions, this was a book I couldn’t put down!

“Finding a mysterious novel at her bedside plunges documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft into a living nightmare. Though ostensibly fiction,The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the terrible day Catherine became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew–and that person is dead. Now that the past is catching up with her, Catherine’s world is falling apart. Her only hope is to confront what really happened on that awful day even if the shocking truth might destroy her.” (source) Read more »

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Love is Red

May 20, 2015 Fantasy, Fiction, Thriller 11 ★★★★

Love is RedTitle: Love Is Red
Author: Sophie Jaff
Source: TLC Book Tours
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:four-stars

Summary: This was a book that really shouldn’t have worked for me, but I loved the writing and I can’t get the story out of my head.

After centuries of dormancy, the Sickle Man has been awakened. His sole purpose is to hunt down Katherine Emerson, a woman with a dark destiny, but first he must gather the emotions of other victims. As his brutal crimes terrorize the women of Manhattan, Katherine must decide how much she trusts the two new men in her life. Although one is dark and brooding (of course!) and one is kind and handsome, it’s not clear what they are each hiding from her. Read more »

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Books With Interesting Female Protagonists in Mini-Reviews

March 16, 2015 Fiction, Historical Fiction, Review, Romance, Thriller, Women's Fiction 8 ★★★

Books With Interesting Female Protagonists in Mini-ReviewsTitle: A Small Indiscretion
Author: Jan Ellison
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:three-stars

The main character of A Small Indiscretion is interesting in that she’s unlikeable, which seems to be the buzzword for female characters these days. Unfortunately, while I do want to see a diversity of both male and female characters, I don’t care if they’re unlikeable or not. What I want is for them to be understandable. Unlike Grace in Unbecoming, Annie has no explanatory backstory or clear motives driving her actions. This made her decisions, especially the ones I disagreed with or found stupid or selfish, hard to put up with. This book’s saving grace was that it did make me curious. As much as I wanted to shake Annie and ask her what she thought she was doing, I wanted to find out her whole story even more. It wasn’t my favorite read though and if you’re looking for an unlikeable or just different female protagonist, I think there are better books you could start with.

Read more »

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Unbecoming

February 16, 2015 Fiction, Review, Thriller, Women's Fiction 20 ★★★★

UnbecomingTitle: Unbecoming
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:four-stars

Summary: A fascinating story which stars a complex, relatable female character and has a satisfying, slow buildup of  tension.

At Julie’s job restoring jewelry and knick-knacks, nothing is what it seems – including Julie. In fact, her name is actually Grace and she’s not from California as she claims. Instead she’s from the small town whose newspaper she checks every night, waiting to hear that two young men who went to jail for a crime Grace planned have been paroled. Once they are, she knows it’s just a matter of time until they come for her. What she doesn’t know is whether or not they’ve forgiven her betrayal. Read more »

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YA in Mini-Reviews

December 26, 2014 Dystopian, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Review, Thriller, Young Adult 4 ★★★★★

YA in Mini-ReviewsTitle: Mortal Heart
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:five-stars

20522640Like the previous two books in this series, I loved Mortal Heart. The premise of assassin nuns was obviously awesome from the very beginning and the writing is beautiful, but what I think makes these books so perfect is the world building and character growth. As in the previous two books, the main character has lived through some difficult times and isn’t quite comfortable with who she is. She’s also questioning her faith, particularly her role serving the god of death. As Kelley points out in her review at Oh, The Books!, part of the reason this series is successful is because the author makes you feel for the main character. I also particularly love that at the end of every book the author has managed to surprise me with new information about the mythology of the world she’s created. Seeing this wonderfully creative mythology intersect with the main character getting a happy ending is something I’ve found enjoyable and heart-warming in each of her books. They always leave me smiling. Thanks to Christina at You Book Me All Night Long for the giveaway of this great book!
Read more »

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The Missing Place

October 27, 2014 Fiction, Review, Thriller, Women's Fiction 10 ★★★★★

The Missing PlaceTitle: The Missing Place
Author: Sophie Littlefield
Source: NetGalley
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:five-stars

Summary: The plot and characters in this book felt fresh and new. I loved the raw emotions and difficult moral questions the author brought vividly to life.

“Twenty-year-old Taylor Jarvis and Paul Carroll go missing in Weir, North Dakota, where they have been working on rigs owned by Oasis Energy. The mothers of the two boys come to Weir to find out what happened to their sons and form an uneasy alliance. Shay Jarvis, a 41-year-old single [mother], has more grit than resources; for wealthy suburban housewife Colleen Carroll, the opposite is true. Overtaxed by worry, exhaustion, and fear, they question each other’s methods and motivations – but there is no one else to help, and they must learn to work together if they are to have any chance of breaking through the barriers put up by their sons’ employer, the indifference of an overtaxed police department, and a town of strangers with their own secrets against [the] backdrop of a modern day gold rush.” (slightly modified from here)
Read more »

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The Silent Sister

October 18, 2014 Fiction, Review, Thriller, Women's Fiction 9 ★★★

The Silent SisterTitle: The Silent Sister
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Source: NetGalley
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:three-stars

Summary: This was a fun, fast-paced read, but the mystery was a bit predictable and the I didn’t find the characters emotionally engaging.

Riley and her older brother grew up in a family shocked by their sister Lisa’s death. Riley has always been told Lisa committed suicide, but when her father dies twenty years later, she finds hints in his belongings suggesting that Lisa might still be alive. As she digs deeper, the secrets she discover will challenge everything she thought she knew about her family. Read more »

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Soundbite Sunday – Lock In

September 14, 2014 Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller 8 ★★★★★

Soundbite Sunday – Lock InTitle: Lock In
Author: John Scalzi
Source: from publisher for review
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:five-stars

Summary: This was a fun, fast-paced thriller which explored interesting ethical dilemmas and fascinating new paths science might take.

Lock In occurs in a not-too-distant future in the aftermath of devastating virus. Most people who get the virus either die or survive with only flu-like symptoms, but some small percentage actually have their brain rewired by the virus. Most of them become “locked in”, still alive but unable to control their bodies. Technological advances allow those who are locked in to control robot-like personal transports or  to borrow the bodies of “integrators”, people whose brains were rewired by the virus in a different way. When new FBI agent Chris Shane discovers a man apparently murdered by an integrator, he must determine if anyone else was using the integrator’s body and whether someone is using integrators’ abilities to get away with an even greater crime. Read more »

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