ARC Review: I Am the Monster Under the Bed by Emily Zinnikas

I Am the Monster Under the Bed
Author: Emily Zinnikas
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 15, 2026)

Description: TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL.

Something lives under Willa’s bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them.

When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems.

As her past pulls her back to the place where she swore she’d never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behind―and becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be.

My Thoughts: This horror novel tells the story of Willa Renfri Greene. Willa was raised in Rapture, Maine, and was an odd child. She made friends with the nightmare under her bed and refused to ever go to the basement where the people in the basement lived.

But the strangest thing in Willa's life was the time she went into the woods with six friends and was the only one to come back alive. Someone butchered her friends. She has always blamed the forest because she had forgotten to leave it meat the night they all went to party.

The rumors about Willa more or less drummed her out of town. The families of the victims all blamed Willa for the deaths. And the local sheriff also blamed Willa and released inappropriate things to the press. 

What was worst for Willa was that the incident in the woods came after she was groomed and assaulted by her high school soccer coach. She turned him in causing him to lose his job but somehow, she was the one who was blamed. 

Her only refuge was the art room and the art teacher who provided a safe place for her in her last years of high school. Willa left Rapture right after graduation with no intention to ever visit again. She changed her name and became a famous artist. 

But when the art teacher dies of breast cancer, Willa feels she has to go back if only to honor her teacher. Someone doesn't want her there and she suffers all sorts of harassment from notes to bricks through her windows. She's certain that the perpetrator of the harassment is her former soccer coach who has reinvented his life and come back to Rapture. 

But there are other potential sources of the notes and things. TV psychic Nathaniel Lennox has begun a campaign of harassment since Willa has refused to appear on his show and rehash the deaths of her friends. And reporter Joyce Kimura is also digging into Willa's past by showing up on her porch in Pennsylvania and following her to Rapture looking for a big story.

This was a creepy story. I had to keep reading to discover what was going on and whether or not Willa would survive her homecoming to Rapture. 

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

ARC Review: Blood Trail by Matt Query & Harrison Query

Blood Trail
Author: Matt Query & Harrison Query
Publication: Atria/Emily Bestler Books (April 7, 2026)

Description: A poacher-turned-game-warden is on the hunt for a bloodthirsty cult in this unnerving thriller from the authors of the “artful chiller” (Lincoln Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Wilderness Reform.

Clark Rickert was once the most prolific big game poacher throughout the Rocky Mountain west but when he lost both his son and his wife, he turned away from hunting. Now a game warden working for the very law enforcement officers that once pursued him so aggressively, Clark is overwhelmingly successful at his job.

So, when there’s a string of disappearances in rural Montana, Clark is selected to join a task force on an operation targeting a mysterious, violent cult in the area. As he works to uncover the truth, Clark begins to be plagued by visions and starts to realize that there is a deeper purpose to his assignment and the cult might up to something far more terrifying than anyone could have guessed.

From two authors who “set themselves apart with sterling prose” (Publishers Weekly), Blood Trail is an eerie and suspenseful horror novel that will sink its teeth in you.

My Thoughts: Clark Rickert is a game warden in Montana. He was a former legendary poacher who switched to the side of the law. He's recruited for a federal task force because a number of people have gone missing in his area. An ancient evil has risen again, and it is up to Clark and the task force to defeat it. 

The leader of the task force knows what the ancient evil is but doesn't tell Clark. Clark finds himself plagued with visions that make him think he's losing his mind. He suddenly has knowledge of languages and memories that aren't his in his brain. 

Clark is a stoic, phlegmatic man. He doesn't have friends but is incredibly loyal to the people around him. It seems that he has been born to be the Sentinel destined to defeat the Tormentor on this round of a game that has been going on for centuries.

This story is part techno-thriller and part horror novel. I just about abandoned it after Chapter 2 which was filled with military acronyms and innuendo of all sorts. I stayed because I was curious about what was happening. I found the writing to be incredibly florid but gradually got used to it. 

Fans of horror or techno-thrillers will find something to enjoy here. 

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

Audiobook Review: Light in Shadow by Jayne Ann Krentz

Light in Shadow
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Chloe Cannon
Series: Whispering Springs (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (May 2, 2023)
Length: 11 hours and 42 minutes

Description: Zoe Luce is a successful interior designer in the Arizona town of Whispering Springs who's developed an unusual career specialty—helping recently divorced clients redesign their homes, to help them forget the past and start anew. But Zoe knows that some things can't be covered up with a coat of paint. And when she senses that one of her clients may be hiding a dark secret, she enlists PI Ethan Truax to find the truth.

Working together, they solve the mystery . . . and barely escape with their lives. But Ethan's exquisite detection skills are starting to backfire on Zoe: she never wanted to let him find out about her former life; she never wanted to reveal her powerful, inexplicable gift for sensing the history hidden within a house's walls; she never wanted him to know that "Zoe Luce" doesn't really exist. She never wanted to fall in love with him.

Now, no matter how much she resists, Ethan may be her only hope—because the people she's been running from have found her. And just when Zoe dares to dream of a normal life and a future with the man she loves, her own past starts to shadow her every step—and threatens to take her back into a nightmare.

My Thoughts: Zoe Luce is a woman with secrets. She has set herself up as an interior designer in Whispering Springs with a specialty in working with newly divorced people who want to remake their homes. However, Zoe runs into a problem with her latest client. Her talent for feeling a room leads her to believe that her client has killed the wife he claimed ran off and left him. 

Zoe hires PI Ethan Truax because he is the cheaper of two PI firms in town. Ethan is rebuilding his life after a bankruptcy in Los Angeles and the costs of this third divorce. He takes the job of checking out Zoe's client believing that she wants a background check on him as a potential dating partner. He doesn't expect to find out that the client murdered his wife. Nor does he expect the client to attempt to murder Zoe when she sets Ethan on him. 

Besides being psychic and able to enter a room to know that violence occurred there, Zoe is on the run from a family that committed her to a mental institution when she made scenes after her husband was murdered accusing another family member of the crime. She's escaped the mental institution but needs to stay hidden for another couple of months before she can confront her suspected killer at the annual board meeting. But someone has sent her a blackmail note indicating that they know where she is. 

Now, Ethan and Zoe are on the track of a blackmailer who might also be a killer.

This is classic Jayne Ann Krentz with engaging characters, a fast-paced plot, snappy dialog, and a realistic romance. This one was first published in 2002.

I bought this one at Chirp August 18, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey

Burning Water
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Traci Odom
Series: Diana Tregarde Investigation (Book 1)
Publication: Tantor Audio (August 20, 2019)
Length: 10 hours and 35 minutes

Description: Dallas Police Detective Mark Valdez isn't just any cop, he's a psychic who knows that the cattle mutilations and torture murders he's been investigating are somehow tied together. He also knows that his meager psychic abilities aren't enough to identify the killers, much less stop them.

Luckily, Mark has an ace up his sleeve: an attractive young romance novelist who happens to be a practicing witch. And not just any witch, either - Diana Tregarde is a Guardian, charged with protecting the Earth and all its creatures.

Using modern science and ancient magics, Diana and Mark discover that they are tailing no ordinary serial killer but the awakened avatar of an Aztec god. Tezcatlipoca and his four beautiful handmaidens are preparing for a great sacrifice that will transform North America into a new Aztec realm.

Diana isn't sure her powers are strong enough to take on those of a risen Aztec god, but she has no choice. As a Guardian, she is sworn to protect mankind, even at the cost of her own life. Luckily, she does not stand alone. Mark Valdez is more than just a cop. And Tezcatlipoca is not the only Aztec god walking in the world.

My Thoughts: The first book in the Diana Tregarde Investigations series introduces romance writer/practicing witch Diana Tregarde. 

When Dallas Police Detective Mark Valdez runs across crimes with a paranormal twist, he knows who to call. Mark met Diana in college when she saved him from a miscast spell he and his buddies tried one evening after drinking just a little too much. After that, he worked with her when she handled some other paranormal crimes. 

Mark is a medium, but Diana put a shield on him when she last saw him to protect him. Which is lucky for him, since this new growing evil is looking for people just like him for his growing army. Diana is called in as a consultant for the Dallas Police. The two of them begin trying to track down the evil doer by doing lots of research to find out the evil one's magical tradition. 

Turns out Mark's childhood friend Robert has gotten in way over his head with the occult. In exchange for fame and fortune, he has become the old god's avatar and future sacrifice. Unfortunate, his wife who Mark has fallen in love with, is also slated to be a less-than-willing sacrifice too. 

The story is filled with a lot and action and danger as Mark and Diana need to find a way to battle an ancient god looking to find a foothold in the modern world. 

I enjoyed all of the different mythologies that were part of this story from Cherokee to Aztec. I liked Diana who was determined to save the world and her friends. I liked that she was forced to count pennies since her paranormal gig was not a paying one and her gig as a romance author didn't make her rich. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.

Book & Audio Review: Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker

Sinister Magic
Author: Lindsay Buroker
Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
Series: Death Before Dragons (Book 1)
Publication: Self Published (February 28, 2020); Lindsay Buroker (May 13, 2020)
Length: 250 p.; 9 hours and 35 minutes

Description: I’m Val Thorvald, and I’m an assassin.

When magical bad guys hurt people, I take care of them. Permanently.

This doesn’t make me popular with the rest of the magical community—as you can tell from the numerous break-ins and assassination attempts I’ve endured over the years. But thanks to my half-elven blood, a powerful sword named Chopper, and a telepathic tiger with an attitude, I’ve always been able to handle my problems with aplomb. Maybe some cursing and swearing, too, but definitely aplomb.

That changes when my boss is afflicted with a mysterious disease, a government agent starts investigating me, and a godforsaken dragon shows up in the middle of my latest job.

I’ve taken down vampires, zombies, and ogres, but dragons are way, way more powerful. And it doesn’t look like this one is going to like me.

Worse than that, he wants to use his magic to compel me to do his bidding, as if I’m some weak-minded minion.

That’s not going to happen. I’d die before being some dragon’s slave.

But if I can’t figure out a way to avoid him, save my boss, and get rid of the government spook, I’m screwed. Or dead. Or screwed and dead. And that’s never comfortable.

My Thoughts: This beginning to a new urban fantasy series stars Val Thorvald, a half-elven assassin, who rids the Earth of law-breaking supernatural criminals. She runs afoul of a dragon who has come to Earth to capture those criminals and bring them back to their own dimension to face the Dragon Court and be rehabilitated.

When her boss is stricken with a magical form of cancer, Val needs to track down the Dark Elf who made the potion and find a cure before it is too late. However, with her boss away, a new young officer is in charge of the division who really wants to shut the division down and convict both Val and her boss of financial malfeasance. 

Val finds herself trying to elude the cops, find Dark Elves who were an unknown species to her, and keep out of the way of the dragon who wants her to become his bait to capture criminals. Luckily, she has some allies including a part-dwarf who makes magical garden statuary and a snarky tiger who comes from another dimension when she calls for aide. And she has her weapons including a magical sword and a gun that fires magical bullets. 

I really enjoyed this series beginning. Val is a great character who is dealing with a difficult job and who seems to have developed asthma from the stress of it. She has deliberately distanced herself from her young daughter and her mother in order to keep them safe but regrets what she sees as the necessity to be so alone. 

I enjoyed the narration by Vivienne Leheny. I look forward to reading more in this series. 

Favorite Quote:

"And try to keep them distracted. Keep saying arrogant things."

Zav looked over his shoulder, pinning me with his glare. "I do not take orders from law-breaking mongrels who do not acknowledge the supremacy of dragons."

"Yeah, say stuff like that." I gave him a sarcastic thumbs up. "You're a natural."

I bought this one February 5, 2021. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Desperation in Death by J. D. Robb

Desperation in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 55)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 6, 2022)

Description: The #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a gripping new thriller that pits homicide detective Eve Dallas against a conspiracy of exploitation and evil...

New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two―but they’d been equally desperate.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.

Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking―and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear--because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.

My Thoughts: When Dallas is called in because the body of a thirteen-year-old is found impaled with a splintered stake, Eve has questions. Some things just don't add up. Why was the beautifully groomed child left in the park? Why does the blood on her clothes lead to another thirteen-year-old who's missing?

As Eve searches for the missing child and begins to discover facts that lead her to believe that someone is kidnapping and grooming children for the sex trade. Naturally, this brings back horrible memories from Eve's own childhood. But she has Mira and Roarke to support her as she investigates.

This was very much a police procedural as Eve and her team, with Roarke's techy help, gradually find information and put it together getting closer and closer to the villains. Woven in among all the police procedural elements are the strong emotions that Eve goes through as she sees so many parallels with her own past.

This was an excellent, fast-paced story filled with great characters. 

Favorite Quote:

She knew the expression was "finding a needle in a haystack," but that was bogus. Who the hell would put a needed in a haystack? Plus, she wasn't exactly sure what a haystack was, exactly.

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