Audiook Review: Touch and Go by Lisa Gardner

Touch and Go
Author: Lisa Gardner

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers
Series: Tessa Leoni (Book 2)
Publication: Dutton (February 5, 2013); Brilliance Audio (February 5, 2013)

Length: 14 hours and 29 minutes

Description: The secrets of a picture perfect family are exposed in this “tour de force” thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.

Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn’t like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…

The more Tessa learns about the Denbe family, the less she likes their chances. What might have looked like the perfect existence—a powerful CEO, his adoring wife, their angelic child—is not what it appears. Husband, wife, daughter—magazine perfect, but each hiding dark secrets…

Tessa knows more than she’d like to about families riddled with lies. What she doesn’t know is where the Denbes are and if any of them are still breathing. She’ll have to climb over unbending feds and territorial local cops to find out, and if she’s not fast, the Denbes’ chances of survival will quickly become little more than touch and go...

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Tessa Leoni series which is a part of the D. D. Warren series. When the entire Denbe family is abducted from their Back Bay townhouse, Tessa is hired by the Denbe Construction to investigate the disappearance. She isn't alone. The Boston Police in the person of D. D. Warren are also on the case but only until evidence suggests that the family was taken into New Hampshire.

The FBI is called in to try to find the family and so is a Sheriff's Department in New Hampshire. Wyatt Foster is a cop who wants to be a carpenter or a carpenter who wants to be a cop. 

The story is told from three viewpoints. Tessa and Wyatt handle the police viewpoint. Libby Denbe is also a viewpoint character. Libby is Justin Denbe's wife of eighteen years and the mother of fifteen-year-old Ashlyn. Libby is also a betrayed wife who has developed an addiction to pain pills to cover up the pain of her cheating husband. Libby still loves Justin but doesn't think she can get over his cheating,

The family is taken from their home to the wilds of New Hampshire and a finished but never occupied prison built by Justin's company. Meanwhile, the FBI, Sheriff's Department, and Tessa are trying to figure out who took the family and what they want.

Lots of secrets are exposed as Tessa and Wyatt investigate Justin's company including more than $11 million embezzled over the past sixteen years. All of Justin's trusted employees are lying about something and it is up to Tessa and Wyatt to learn the truth.

I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints. The story was really filled with tension and plot twists. 

I bought the Kindle book December 31, 2025. I got the audiobook on sale April 1, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Love You More
Author: Lisa Gardner
Series: D. D. Warren (Book 5)
Publication: Bantam (March 8, 2011)

Description: WHO DO YOU LOVE?

One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter?

AND HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO . . .

As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets. Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?

. . . TO SAVE HER?

For Tessa Leoni, the worst has not yet happened. She is walking a tightrope, with nowhere to turn, no one to trust, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training, every trick at her disposal, to do what must be done. No sacrifice is too great, no action unthinkable. A mother knows who she loves. And all others will be made to pay.

My Thoughts: This excellent thriller is the fifth book in the D. D. Warren series. It is a complex story which asks the question: who do you love? Tessa Leoni is a state trooper and the mother of six-year-old Sophie. She has married Brian who works as an engineer for an old company. He works 60 days on-60 days off. 

One day Tessa calls the police because she has shot and killed Brian and her daughter is missing. Since Tessa is concussed, has a broken cheekbone, and numerous other bruises, it looks like a case of self-defense against an abusing husband. 

D. D. Warren is given the case and works with her former lover Bobby Dodge. She has questions about the story she's been told, and the pressure is on to find the missing child. She is not convinced that the crime is what it looks like. She becomes even more convinced with the pathologist learns that Brian's body was frozen before it found its way to the kitchen. D. D. is sure that Tessa is lying about what happens. She believes that Tessa murdered both her husband and daughter. 

D. D. is also dealing with some personal issues. She has found herself pregnant and is dealing not only with the nausea and lethargy but also whether or not she wants a baby and a relationship with the baby's father. 

Flashbacks and Tessa's point-of-view sections give more about the things that D. D. cannot see and paint a whole different picture that what is apparent. 

This was an excellent, fast-paced thriller. I'm eager to read more about Tessa and more in D. D.'s series.

I bought this one March 2, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner

Still See You Everywhere
Author: Lisa Gardner
Series: Frankie Elkin (Book 3)
Publication: Grand Central Publishing (March 12, 2024)

Description: In this “frightening, full of twists, and completely satisfying" thriller from a New York Times bestselling author, three women: a kidnapped young girl, a serial killer on death row, and a recovering alcoholic, are on a terrifying trajectory to save a life before the clock runs out (Karin Slaughter).

Missing persons expert and nomadic loner Frankie Elkin travels the country searching for the lost ones the rest of the world has forgotten. Her specialty, cold cases that typically end in tragedy. But this one could be different. Kaylee Pierson, “The Beautiful Butcher,” confessed from the start to enticing 18 men home before slitting their throats.

As the clock winds down to her death, Pierson has finally received a lead on her baby sister, abducted years ago. Kaylee’s dying wish: to know Leilani is safe and sound. Frankie is eager to possibly rescue a teenage girl, even if it involves flying to a remote atoll in the Pacific, where a charming tycoon is constructing an eco-resort—and possibly holding Leilani against her will. But now Frankie is trapped on an island with a dozen strangers and numerous deadly deceptions.

As the danger mounts, Frankie faces her toughest challenge with no chance of rescue, no hope of escape, and a massive storm rolling in…

My Thoughts: Frankie Elkin's next case takes her to an empty atoll south of Hawaii in search of the sister of a woman on death row who proudly acknowledges that she murdered eighteen men and fed their remains to her pigs. Kaylee Pierson, the Beautiful Butcher, wants Frankie to find her younger sister before she dies. Her only clue is a note indicating that Leilani is with Kaylee's abusive ex-boyfriend.

Sanders MacManus is a tech billionaire turned property developer. He is also Kaylee's ex. He's developing an atoll he owns into an eco-friendly resort. Frankie gets a job as a general go-fer on the atoll and begins her investigations. 

The project is being plagued by accidents but the crew - a bunch of introverts and misfits - are still trying to complete the project. Mac is scheduled to arrive with his ward Leilani which will give Frankie a chance to assess the situation. After some previous bad cases, Frankie needs a win and rescuing Leilani would certainly qualify. 

Things are not as they seem. A major storm hits the atoll, the Beautiful Butcher escapes from prison leaving her lawyer who happens to be Frankie's contact beaten near to death making the atoll her destination, and Leilani is not the victim she appears to be. 

As Frankie deals with the weather and the twists and turns and betrayals on the island, she isn't sure who she can trust in this action-packed thriller. Frankie is an intriguing character who is an alcoholic with an obsessive need to find the lost. She has little regard for her own safety as she tries to make things right. 

I bought this one July 8, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Missing by E. A. Jackson

Missing
Author: E. A. Jackson
Publication: Atria/Emily Bestler Books (March 17, 2026)

Description: In this unputdownable crime thriller for fans of Tana French, a detective returns to a thirty-year-old case—an infamous disappearance in London—that has haunted her entire career and now may jeopardize her future.

In August 1990, London is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave when baby Bella Carpenter is snatched through the open window of her hotel room. Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the high-profile case and, knowing that it could make or break her career, is determined to find Bella.

When a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station with a baby who appears to be Bella, and whom Nell claims she found on a bench, it seems that the mystery is solved. Her family, the police, and the press are overjoyed at her return. But DI Allen isn’t convinced, something about Nell’s story doesn’t ring true. As much as she wants to continue, however, now that the baby is safe, she’s ordered to close the investigation.

Thirty years later, Nell Beatty is found dead. Now a superintendent, Allen has never really gotten over her doubts about the Carpenter case and can’t resist doing a little digging on her own time, eager to find out what happened to Nell, and her involvement in the baby’s disappearance all those years ago. But will her efforts uncover something darker than she could have ever imagined? And what is she risking as she tries once and for all to reveal the truth?

My Thoughts: Detective Inspector Martha Allen is assigned the case of a baby disappearing from a hotel room. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have come to London for a short vacation along with their six-month old daughter Bella. It's 1990 and this is a high-profile case. It is also a baffling one. Allen is already dealing with institutional prejudice against women and the early stages of a pregnancy. 

As Allen interviews the hotel staff and hotel guests, she comes to the conclusion that the husband somehow did away with his infant daughter. However, there is no proof to be uncovered. She can't convince her colleagues of her conclusions either. 

Then three or four days later, after Allen's hope is lost, a young woman named Nell Beatty walks into the police station carrying a baby who appears to be the missing baby Bella. Nell claims to have found her on a park bench and, recognizing her from the many photos, brings her in. Intense questioning ensues but she holds to her story. When she is dismissed, Nell disappears. Her address, phone number and employer are all bogus.

The Carpenters seem overjoyed to be reunited with their daughter and the case is closed. But Allen is left with questions that never quite go away despite a successful career as a police officer.

Then in 2020, Nell Beatty's body is found on a park bench and all of Allen's earlier questions resurface. The investigation into Nell's death involves looking back at that older kidnapping case and trying to learn what happened to Nell in the years in between.

This was an engaging thriller. I enjoyed watching Allen's career trajectory. I was intrigued with the way a case could haunt a woman's life and career. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Wordhunter by Stella Sands

Wordhunter
Author: Stella Sands
Publication: Harper Paperbacks (August 6, 2024)

Description: An utterly original and compulsively readable detective story about a woman who uses her uncanny ability to analyze words and speech patterns to help solve crimes.

Tattooed, pierced, and a bit of a mess, Maggie Moore is a surprising genius when it comes to words, a savant able to solve any linguistic puzzle. The top student in her forensic linguistics class, she’s tapped by local police to use her skills to decipher harrowing notes left by a stalker-turned-rapist—and succeeds brilliantly.

But when the daughter of a local mayor is abducted, Maggie isn’t sure she’s the right person to help the police solve the crime. Given what happened to her best childhood friend, Maggie just might be too close to this one.

Yet she knows the authorities in this rural south-Central Florida town cannot crack the case without her special skill. Along with her new best friend, a detective Jackson, Maggie begins to analyze the texts, emails, and verbal tics of various suspects . . . and comes to a disturbing conclusion that will rock this small community.

My Thoughts: Maggie Moore is a graduate student in linguistics. She is also tattooed, pierced, and drinks too much. She is also something a genius with words. Her stress release is diagramming sentences from favorite works of literature. 

Maggie is brought to the attention of the police by one of her professors who thinks she can help find a stalker turned rapist. Maggie is given the text messages that he sent to the victim which she manages to interpret to lead the police to the stalker. The chief of police who is just days from retirement is pleased. However, Deputy Jackson is much more skeptical. 

Then a child is kidnapped, and the chief of police wants to call her in again. Maggie is most reluctant because the case brings up the disappearance of the best friend she has never stopped looking for. 

Meanwhile, Maggie is trying to get through her final semester of college. She's been handpicked by a popular professor to be his teaching assistant and finds herself polishing his grant proposals and book proposals and even writing papers for him. When her success begins to outshine his, he turns on her, rapes her, and accuses her of plagiarism. His accusations though false can derail Maggie's potential career with the FBI and prevent her acceptance into any doctoral program. 

This was an engaging mystery with a unique and intriguing main character. 

Favorite Quote:

Anyone whose middle name is part of his identity is either a serial killer or planning to become one. For sure, that included most of the men in Florida.

I bought this one January 6, 2025, when it was a BookBub deal for $1.99. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: White King by Juan Gomez-Jurado

White King
Author: Juan Gomez-Jurado
Series: Antonia Scott (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 11, 2025)

Description: Antonia Scott returns in the explosive climax in this sequel to the international bestselling book and streaming series, Red Queen.

Antonia Scott has an unusually gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. She’s the lynchpin of a top-secret project, Red Queen, created to work across borders and behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes, those that are beyond the skills of the regular police forces.

But the Red Queen project is under attack on all fronts. Across Europe, its agents are murdering each other and cases from the past, long believed resolved, are rearing their deadly heads again. At the center of it is the mysterious Mr. White, who has been weaving a web around Antonia for a very long time. He is as smart and capable as her but, unlike her, he's a psychotic killer who has isolated Antonia Scott. Jon Gutierrez, Antonia’s protector and the only person she trusts, has been kidnapped. Antonia’s husband has been killed and her remaining family is in hiding. With Jon’s life at stake, Mr. White gives her a seemingly innocuous challenge: solve three crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. The only way to keep Jon alive is to play Mr. White’s game, but can even Antonia win a game when she can only see part of the board?

My Thoughts: This is the third in the Antonia Scott series of thrillers. Antonia has an unusual mind. She has a spooky ability to put clues together to solve crimes. She also has a nemesis in Mr. White who is determined to beat her and prove his superiority.

The book starts with Antonia's partner Jon being kidnapped and then found with bombs wired into his spine. Antonia and Jon have to solve three murders with very short timeframes or Mr. White will detonate the bombs.

As they are rushing to solve the crimes - one a 4-year-old cold case and one not committed until they are on the scene - Antonia is putting clues together that lead her to the big picture; the picture that started for her when her home was broken into, her husband was fatally shot, and she was also shot. 

The key to this twisty thriller is Antonia who doesn't know how to relate to people and relies on Jon to humanize her. Fans of the twisty will enjoy this one. I don't recommend starting with it though. Start with RED QUEEN and continue to BLACK WOLF before winding things up with this one. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Mercy's Chase by Jess Lourey

Mercy's Chase
Author: Jess Lourey
Series: Salem's Cipher (Book 2)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (March 26, 2024)

Description: A genius FBI code breaker unravels the mysteries of one of history’s most monumental puzzles in a propulsive thriller by Jess Lourey, the Edgar Award–nominated author of Salem’s Cipher.

Working for the FBI, cryptanalyst and agoraphobe Salem Wiley vows never to return to the conspiratorial underworld her mother revealed to her. Until fieldwork draws Salem to an Ireland farm where a curious discovery has been unearthed: a near-perfect replica of Stonehenge in miniature—except for one extra stone engraved with the word mercy.

When seven-year-old Mercy Mayfair, a child in Salem’s family’s care, is kidnapped, Salem knows it’s more than an unsettling coincidence. Mercy’s centuries-old lineage holds the key to understanding the greatest Neolithic mystery of the ages. A dangerously patriarchal society, just as ancient, will kill to solve it.

As Salem follows a serpentine trail of clues and ciphers, the clock is ticking and her fears are escalating. Because the only way to save Mercy is for Salem to crack the unbreakable code of Stonehenge first.

My Thoughts: Salem Wiley finds herself working for the FBI in London in this sequel to SALEM'S CIPHER. She's still an agoraphobe who would much rather be at home in Minneapolis working on her potentially ground-breaking computer program. And she does not want to be in the Underground which has furthered the bad relationship she's had with her mother since her father died when she was twelve. 

However, there is an up-coming climate conference that the new President Hayes will be attending, and the FBI is concerned with the various threats made to assassinate her. Investigating one threat leads to Ireland and the discovery of a small, buried copy of Stonehenge which Salem sees as a feminist symbol and a possible code. 

When her young friend Mercy is kidnapped by the evil Order that wants to keep things in the hands of the patriarchy, Mercy finds herself swept into solving a cipher that has eluded both the Underground and the Order for centuries if she wants to save Mercy's life. 

Mercy knows that the Order is watching, and she doesn't know who she can trust, but she knows she needs to find the answer. She's swept way out of her comfort zone as she travels to Stonehenge, other henges in Scotland, sea caves and the Queen's Robing Room at the House of Parliament as she struggles to solve the code in time.

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller. I liked the intrigue. I liked the various sites Salem visits. I liked the historical details. 

I bought this one May 6, 2024, when it was a Kindle Daily Deal. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Mercy's Chase by Jess Lourey

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 was hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

"She was a witch, a'course."

Salem's head snapped up so fast that loose curls tumbled over her eyes. " Excuse me?"

Friday 56:

She planned on hobbling through the house to find him, but she heard voices when she stepped inside the front door. Maybe he had come in for lunch?

This week I am spotlighting Mercy's Chase by Jess Lourey. This thriller is a recent addition to my TBR pile and the sequel to Salem's Cipher which I read recently and really enjoyed. Here's the description from Amazon:

A genius FBI code breaker unravels the mysteries of one of history’s most monumental puzzles in a propulsive thriller by Jess Lourey, the Edgar Award–nominated author of Salem’s Cipher.

Working for the FBI, cryptanalyst and agoraphobe Salem Wiley vows never to return to the conspiratorial underworld her mother revealed to her. Until fieldwork draws Salem to an Ireland farm where a curious discovery has been unearthed: a near-perfect replica of Stonehenge in miniature—except for one extra stone engraved with the word mercy.

When seven-year-old Mercy Mayfair, a child in Salem’s family’s care, is kidnapped, Salem knows it’s more than an unsettling coincidence. Mercy’s centuries-old lineage holds the key to understanding the greatest Neolithic mystery of the ages. A dangerously patriarchal society, just as ancient, will kill to solve it.

As Salem follows a serpentine trail of clues and ciphers, the clock is ticking and her fears are escalating. Because the only way to save Mercy is for Salem to crack the unbreakable code of Stonehenge first.

Book Review: Salem's Cipher by Jess Lourey

Salem's Cipher
Author: Jess Lourey
Series: Salem's Cipher (Book 2)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (March 26, 2024)

Description: A brilliant code breaker shatters a centuries-old conspiracy and unravels her own family secrets in an addictive and heart-pounding thriller by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.

Salem Wiley is a genius cryptanalyst. She’s also a loner who prefers a safe and familiar path. Until her mother disappears in the wake of a brutal murder, leaving behind a cryptic warning of threats to come. Forced out of her safe zone, Salem embarks with her best friend, Bel, on a dangerous quest that reaches back centuries into America’s hidden history.

Drawn into a labyrinth of messages encrypted by Emily Dickinson and hidden in the legendary Beale Cipher, Salem discovers her mother’s double life—and the truth. An ancient and ruthless society is hell-bent on ruling the world, and only a select group of hunted women stands in its way.

Now Salem must follow a cross-country trail of clues in a desperate bid to unravel the conspiracy, which threatens not only the present but the very course of history.

My Thoughts: Salem Wiley and her best friend Bel Odegaard are pulled out of their normal lives when their mothers are attacked and kidnapped. Salem is a genius cryptanalyst, and Bel works for the Chicago Police Department. 

They find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy which has been going on for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. The Hermitage has as its goal the subjugation of women and the Underground is fighting them at every opportunity. 

With the strong possibility that Senator Gina Hayes will be elected the female United States President, the Hermitage is upping it game by trying to kill leaders in the Underground. They have set two different assassins on the case and have plans to assassinate Hayes before the election. 

Salem, who hasn't left the Twin Cities and is agoraphobic, has to put aside her fears is she's going to solve the ciphers, save whichever of their mothers is still alive, and bring down the Hermitage before they can complete their plans. 

This was a fascinating story with lots of codebreaking. Salem and Bel visit many historical sites on their way to solving a 200-year-old mystery. I liked the flashbacks to Salem's past which help explain her behaviors. 

Fans of The DaVinci Code and other sories about codebreaking wrapped around a fast-paced thriller will enjoy this story. 

Favorite Quote:

"No one is safe if one woman is unsafe. No one. You young kids. You think you don't have to fight for anything. You think it's always been this way. But we fight, us old ladies."

I bought this one May 6, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Reaping by Jess Lourey

The Reaping
Author: Jess Lourey
Series: Steinbeck and Reed (Book 2)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (September 3, 2024)

Description: By-the-book forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck and rogue BCA agent Van Reed must catch a cold-case killer who’s returned to abduct a small town’s children one by one in this heart-stopping novel from the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

In 1998 an Alku, Minnesota, family of five was brutally murdered in their sleep. The event shook the insulated community but, without any solid leads, was relegated to the cold case files, where it moldered for twenty-five years. Until today.

Agent Harry Steinbeck hoped never to return to the northland, a place that holds terrible memories of his sister’s abduction. But when a recent homicide is connected to Alku’s unsolved mass murder, he and cold case agent Evangeline Reed have no choice but to investigate.

The case grows impossibly darker as, one by one, the children of Alku begin disappearing. And Harry and Van can’t shake the sensation that someone is watching every move they make.

As an elusive killer’s trail leads to a truth more sinister than either imagined, Harry knows there’s only one way to crack this case: he must finally face the secrets of his own past―even if doing so will cost him everything.

My Thoughts: When BCA agents Harry Steinbeck and Van Reed are called to Northern Minnesota to look into a case that mirrors a cold case from twenty-five years earlier, Harry feats that he will have to reopen terrible events from the past. 

A gruesome murder has taken place in the small, isolated town of Alku. It mirrors the deaths of a man, woman, and their three children which took place in Alku twenty-five years earlier. First the victims are shot with a shotgun and then their heads are crushed.

Alku is not a welcoming place. Settled by Finns who escaped Finland ahead of a mob who wanted them dead, the town is insular in the extreme. Their only source of income is the nursing home for felons that they run in a school/sanitorium that has had many purposes over the years. Since one of the inmates was convicted of similar crimes, he becomes Harry and Van's first suspect. However, his physical disabilities make it impossible to be the perpetrator. 

As Van and Harry look into the cold case, they find that there were a series of other suspicious events that happened at the same time. Two hikers attacked by bears and the disappearance of a local resident all happened within days of the murder. 

Now, children are disappearing and Van and Harry wonder if it connects somehow with those old murders. 

This was an interesting mystery. I especially like that both of the main characters have issues from their pasts that need dealing with. Harry's guilt over the disappearance of his younger sister - also twenty-five years ago - has driven his life choices ever since that day. Now, he has to confront them and the mother he blames for his sister's disappearance.

I liked the setting which is my hometown - Duluth, Minnesota - even though the author takes some liberties with the geography. 

Favorite Quote:

"My mom can be...overbearing. She's always been that way. Don't take it personally. Oh, and the estate she lives in is huge."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown

Hello, Darkness
Author: Sandra Brown
Publication: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (October 7, 2003)

Description: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seeing Red comes Hello, Darkness, a brilliant, fast-paced tale about a woman haunted by her past and caught in a nightmare that threatens to destroy her future.

For Paris Gibson, her popular late-night radio show is both an escape and her one real contact with the outside world. To her loyal listeners, she is a wise and trusted friend who not only takes their requests but listens to their problems and occasionally dispenses advice.

Paris’s world of isolation is shattered when one listener—a man who identifies himself only as “Valentino”—tells her that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris's on-air advice. Now he intends to exact his revenge: first he plans to kill the girl—then he will come after Paris.

Joined by the Austin police department, Paris plunges into a race against time in an effort to find Valentino before he can carry out his threat. To her dismay, she finds that she must now work with crime psychologist Dean Malloy, a man with whom she shares a history. His presence arouses old passions, forcing Paris to confront painful memories that she had come to Austin to forget.

As the clock ticks down and Valentino’s threats come closer to becoming reality, Paris finds herself forced to deal with a killer who may not be a stranger at all.

Tense and compelling right up to the chilling climax, Hello, Darkness is suspense at its very best, by the author USA TODAY dubbed “a masterful storyteller, carefully crafting tales that keep readers on the edge of their seats.”

My Thoughts: Hello, Darkness was an engaging and exciting thriller which stars Paris Gibson and Dean Malloy. Paris is a former television reporter who became a radio personality while she was caring for her fiancé who was gravely injured in a car accident. He was mostly brain dead for the seven years she cared for him. He has recently passed away. 

Dean Malloy was Paris's fiancé's best friend since their college days. After the accident, they lost track of each other primarily because Paris wanted it that way. Dean has been busy with his career as a psychologist and police officer. He has also been co-parenting with his ex-wife. Now his wife has remarried, and Dean has become the primary caretaker for his seventeen-year-old son Devin. He has also recently moved to Austin and taken his son with him. Devin isn't happy about the move and is rebelling and hanging out with unsuitable friends. 

When Paris receives a threatening phone call while she is at work, she calls the police and goes to the police with a cassette of the call. She fears that the caller is not just venting but is really threatening the life of someone. The police sergeant calls in the new lieutenant who turns out to be Malloy. Now they are forced to confront each other and work together if they want to save the life of the missing woman. 

There are lots of possibilities for the unknown caller including a sex addict, an ex-con, and still others. The story, published in 2003, talks about teenagers who are connecting for sex over the internet which also includes Dean's son Devin on the edge of that. It is also told from multiple viewpoints including that of the sex addict. The story didn't feel dated despite its age. 

I liked that Paris and Dean were able to resolve their differences which were caused by guilt over their actions in the past. I thought the tension built nicely in the story. I'll admit that I was surprised by the villain of the story despite forming a poor opinion of him during the course of the story. 

Favorite Quote:

Eventually Toni Armstrong raised her head and spoke directly to Dean. "Sometimes I think Brad actually believes his lies. It's as if he's living in a fantasy world where there are no consequences for his actions. He can do as he pleases without fear of getting caught or paying a penalty."

I bought this one August 18, 2009. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

Up until six minutes to sign-off, it had been a routine shift.

Friday 56:

Before he had even process all this, his father was on his feet, and he was on the receiving end of a backhanded smack that caught him hard across the mouth and split his lip.

This week I am spotlighting Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown. This book has been on my Kindle since August 18, 2009. Here's the description from Amazon:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seeing Red comes Hello, Darkness, a brilliant, fast-paced tale about a woman haunted by her past and caught in a nightmare that threatens to destroy her future.

For Paris Gibson, her popular late-night radio show is both an escape and her one real contact with the outside world. To her loyal listeners, she is a wise and trusted friend who not only takes their requests but listens to their problems and occasionally dispenses advice.

Paris’s world of isolation is shattered when one listener—a man who identifies himself only as “Valentino”—tells her that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris's on-air advice. Now he intends to exact his revenge: first he plans to kill the girl—then he will come after Paris.

Joined by the Austin police department, Paris plunges into a race against time in an effort to find Valentino before he can carry out his threat. To her dismay, she finds that she must now work with crime psychologist Dean Malloy, a man with whom she shares a history. His presence arouses old passions, forcing Paris to confront painful memories that she had come to Austin to forget.

As the clock ticks down and Valentino’s threats come closer to becoming reality, Paris finds herself forced to deal with a killer who may not be a stranger at all.

Tense and compelling right up to the chilling climax, Hello, Darkness is suspense at its very best, by the author USA TODAY dubbed “a masterful storyteller, carefully crafting tales that keep readers on the edge of their seats.”

Book Review: The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey

The Taken Ones
Author: Jess Lourey
Series: Steinbeck and Reed (Book 1)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (September 19, 2023)

Description: Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

Summer 1980: Despite the local superstition that the Bendy Man haunts the woods, three girls go into a Minnesota forest. Only one comes out, dead silent, her memory gone. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.

Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide―a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. They’re both desperate to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.

As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood―and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.

My Thoughts: Cold Case detective Van Reed of the BCA finds danger and begins to come to terms with her own very troubled past when she is assigned to look into the case of two young girls who go missing in Leech Lake, Minnesota, on a sunny summer day in 1980. 

The case gets more complicated when the body of a woman buried alive is found in a secluded part of Minneapolis in the summer of 2022 and she proves to be one of the girls not seen since 1980. Van, who was a former member of the Minneapolis Police Department before joining the BCA, is forced to work with a detective who was instrumental in freezing her out of the MPD. He also has a connection to the Leech Lake case which he isn't eager to share.

Van works with forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck who is her polar opposite. He is meticulous in his methods and personal appearance; she's prone to hunches and lives surrounded by garbage. However, the two play off each other well and have some hidden similarities which come out in the story.

As Van investigates those witnesses who are still alive and retraces the crime, she suffers flashbacks of her own childhood when she was raised in a cult run by an obsessive patriarch. She only got out when the cult's leader was arrested and jailed for tax evasion. Van began having prophetic visions while still in the cult. They have sometimes helped her with her police work, but they have also led her to vigilantism where she has killed people she wasn't able to bring to justice through the legal system.

This was an interesting mystery with intriguing characters including a very creepy villain. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. I liked seeing a new relationship beginning for Van and Harry. 

Favorite Quote:

I jerked my head to the side, sending sleep-ratted hair into my face, trying to erase the image of the terrified infant. At least it hadn't been as bad as the nightmare it had displaced, I'd give it that. Of course, like Bart used to say, that was like winning the tallest leprechaun award.

Better bad is still bad, kid.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

July 1980

Leech Lake, Minnesota

The sun smiled violently overhead, causing the tar beneath Rue's blue-striped Adidas to glisten and pulse. 

Friday 56:

Rue Larsen sat in her car studying her bungalow. Like most houses in her pocket of southeast Nokomis, hers was a single-story box, a style popular in the 1950s.

This week I am spotlighting The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey. This thriller was on sale for $2.49 which was the first draw. The bigger draw was that it is set in my home state of Minnesota. I also just added the sequel to my review stack and thought I should read this one sooner rather than later. 

Here is the description from Amazon:

Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

Summer 1980: Despite the local superstition that the Bendy Man haunts the woods, three girls go into a Minnesota forest. Only one comes out, dead silent, her memory gone. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.

Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide―a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. They’re both desperate to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.

As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood―and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.