Book Review: The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Author: Holly Jackson
Publication: Delacorte Press (April 2, 2024)

Description: Lights. Camera. Lies.

Eighteen-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dredged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And—could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.

My Thoughts: Bel Price is eighteen. She's lived under the shadow of her mother's disappearance since she was two. She was the only one there when her mother was taken from their car on a quiet rural road. She must have seen the kidnapper but is too young to remember anything.

Now, her father has agreed for the family to take part in a documentary exploring the disappearance. Bel just wants it to go away. She's built her life with her father, aunt, uncle, grandfather, and beloved cousin Carter. She's also developed a fear of being abandoned and a kleptomania problem. She pushes people away before they can leave her. 

Things change abruptly when Rachel Price comes back with an outrageous story about where she has been for the past sixteen years. Now, the documentary has gone from being the Disappearance of Rachel Price to the Reappearance of Rachel Price. Bel doesn't know what to think. Rachel's story has some holes in it and Bel is determined to prove her a liar so that her life can go back to her comfortable normal. 

With the assistance of a young member of the documentary crew, Bel determines to find out the truth which isn't at all what she thought it was. 

This story was engaging and twisty and compelling. I spent most of it wondering if Bel was a reliable narrator telling us the truth. Or was she gaslighting us or being gaslighted herself. 

I bought this one January 6, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

 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. 

Beginning:

"What do you think happened to your mother?"

Friday 56:

The passenger side door opened. 

Rachel Price stepped out.

Bel froze.

A cold winter wind that only she could feel inside and out, as she came undone.

This week I am spotlighting The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson. This one was a BookBub special in January which sounded really good. Here's the description from Amazon:

Lights. Camera. Lies.   

Eighteen-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.  
 
But the case is dredged up from the past when the Price family agrees to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
 
Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And—could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . . 
 
From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.

Audiobook Review: Hades by Candice Fox

Hades
Author: Candice Fox
Narrator: Stephen Shanahan
Series: Archer & Bennett Thriller (Book 1)
Publication: Macmillan Audio (July 17, 2018)
Length: 8 hours and 8 minutes

Description: Candice Fox's Hades is the winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Novel.

Twenty years ago, two children were kidnapped and left for dead....

Homicide detective Frank Bennett has a new partner - dark, beautiful, coldly efficient Eden Archer. Frank doesn’t know what to make of her, or her brother Eric, who’s also on the police force. Their methods are... unusual. But when a graveyard full of large steel toolboxes filled with body parts is found at the bottom of Sydney harbor, unusual is the least of their worries.

For Eden and Eric, the case holds chilling links to a scarred childhood - and the murderer who raised them. For Frank, each clue brings him closer to something he’s not sure he wants to face. But true evil goes beyond the bloody handiwork of a serial killer - and no one is truly innocent....

My Thoughts: This was an extremely grim, dark thriller. It begins when some criminals bring two young children to a junkyard owned by a man known to be a problem solver. When Hades takes over, no bodies are ever found. But the two children aren't dead and Hades decides to raise them himself.

Twenty years later, Eden and Eric Archer are members of Sydney, Australia's Homicide Department. When Frank Bennett is assigned to the Homicide Department he is partnered with Eden. Their first case together involves a junkie who was rescued from the ocean and who has discovered a bunch of toolboxes filled with bodies. 

Their investigation leads to an off-the-books organ transplant scheme with a doctor who is willing to kill to get the body parts he needs. And, while Frank, Eden and Eric are trying to track down the killer, Frank learns more than he wants to know about his new partner and her brother. 

This was a story filled with morally grey characters. It is a story told with flashbacks to Eden and Eric's childhood with Hades. The mad doctor also has a point of view role. And Frank also has his point of view which seems to bind them all together. 

This is a series starter. It was engaging but now I have to go read something light and fluffy to get all of the grimness, evil people, and corrupt cops out of my brain. 

I bought this one August 12, 2021. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Brothers Hawthorne
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Narrator: Jay Ben Markson
Series: The Inheritance Games (Book 4)
Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (August 29, 2023)

Length: 13 hours and 41 minutes

Description: Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling, TikTok sensation Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.

Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.

Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson—with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather’s fortune—must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.

My Thoughts: This book entwines two separate stories and had flashbacks to the time when both Grayson and Jameson were learning from their grandfather about what their futures would be like. 

Greyson Hawthorne meets his half-sisters when they are having trouble but needs to keep the fate of their father from them while still solving their problems. Greyson finds himself feeling a lot of guilt as he gets to know his sisters.

Jameson Hawthorne is also dealing with a father problem. His has asked him to infiltrate an exclusive club and win back the estate he lost at cards. He and Avery do manage to infiltrate the club and are chosen to take part in an annual game that can bring great riches or expose great secrets. 

Both stories are engaging and filled with puzzles. Each of the young men have learning experiences that give them a different look at their lives and their futures. 

I bought this one November 11, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

Such Charming Liars
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publication: Delacorte Press (July 30, 2024)

Description: The newest mystery from the author One of Us Is Lying, the Queen of thrillers, Karen M. McManus! When mother-daughter grifters set out on their final job, the heist gets deadly and dangerously personal.

For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.

Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job—at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party. And Kat has figured out a way to tag along. What Kat doesn’t know, though, is that there are two surprise guests at the dazzling Sutherland compound that weekend. The last two people she wants to run into. Liam and his father—a serial scammer who has his sights set on Ross Sutherland’s youngest daughter.

Kat and Liam are on a collision course to disaster, and when a Sutherland dies, they realize they might actually be in the killer’s crosshairs themselves. Somehow Kat and Liam are the new targets, and they can’t trust anyone—except each other

Or can they? Because if there’s one thing both Kat and Liam know, it’s how to lie. They learned from the best.

My Thoughts: This twisty YA thriller is told in alternate viewpoints from Kat and Liam. She's sixteen; he's seventeen. They were stepbrother and stepsister for forty-eight hours when his scammer father married her mother. They separated when the two children got lost in Las Vegas when they were supposed to be under Liam's father's care. They haven't seen each other for the twelve years that passed since those events in Las Vegas.

Now, they are meeting again as Kat's mother Jamie is doing one last heist for her employer Gem before she retires to a legitimate life. Liam's father Luke has scammed his way into a relationship with Annalise Sutherland, youngest daughter of a billionaire. Jamie is at the estate to steal a priceless necklace as her ticket out of her life of crime. 

Liam has only lived with his scamming father for some months, since his mother died in a car accident. He's determined to ruin any scam his father has in the works, but he isn't sure what to do about Annalise. He's even less sure when he reencounters Jamie and Kat because his actions could cause problems for the girl he thought of as his sister for a short time. 

The story is full of twists including the death of one of the other Sutherland children. He's shot to death and found with a copy of the necklace Jamie was supposed to switch for a flawless duplicate. Kat witnesses the shooting but can't identify the shooter. But he's seen her and makes two attempts on her mother's life since he believes she was the witness. 

Liam, Kat and Liam's new boyfriend Augustus Sutherland are all working to figure out what is going on. There seem to be too many necklaces and too many villains and nothing is clear about who killed Parker Sutherland. 

I enjoyed this story and really liked the young characters. 

Favorite Quote:

Because the thing about breaking points is, you don't realize you've hit yours until you're well past it. 

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

Friday Memes: In Her Sights by Katie Ruggle

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

"I'm heading to the park," Molly called as she let the screen door slam behind her. It slapped against the edge of the frame, too warped to close properly. She absently made a mental note to fix it later...along with the hundred other things that needed doing around the house.

Friday 56:

The mention of money made her head snap up, and she rushed back to where she'd dropped her backpack on the kitchen counter. Yanking out her wallet, she quickly checked inside and bit back a snarl.

"All the cash in my purse -- about eighty dollars -- and our business ATM card are missing."

This week I am spotlighting In Her Sights by Katie Ruggle which is a recent addition to my TBR mountain. It is the first in the Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunter series. I have read and enjoyed other books by this author.

Here is the description from Amazon:

He may be her greatest rival—her sworn enemy—but when they face a hidden danger neither could survive alone, he'll soon become her partner…and fiercest protector.

Bounty hunter Molly Pax fought hard for everything she has, turning the struggling family business into an unqualified success. She doesn't need complications in her life—especially not John freaking Carmondy. Six feet of pure trouble, with a cocky grin to match, John's the most cheerfully, annoyingly gorgeous frenemy Molly's ever had the pleasure of facing…and he may be her only hope of making it past these dangerous grounds alive.

John's been over the moon for Molly for years, but she's always seemed untouchable. Unreachable. Now she's looking to him for help, and he'll be damned if he lets her and her sisters down. Teaming up against nearly impossible odds, they'll fight to make it through this alive…even if it means learning to trust in a connection that burns brighter than either has ever known.

Get out your trusty handcuffs: This pulse-pounding romantic suspense contains sizzling enemies-to-lovers attraction, long-time pining, explosions and explosive chemistry between two rival bounty hunters, and a family bond that'll have you coming back for more.

Book Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

Good Girl, Bad Blood
Author: Holly Jackson
Series: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Book 2)
Publication: Delacorte Press (March 2, 2021)

Description: THE MUST-READ MULTIMILLION BESTSELLING MYSTERY SERIES • More dark secrets are exposed in this addictive, true-crime fueled sequel when Pip finds herself in another deadly case.

Pip is not a detective anymore.

With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.

But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.

The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?

My Thoughts: This story begins very soon after THE GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER. It would be beneficial but not essential to read that story first. 

Pip and Ravi Singh solved a murder case the previous year and created a podcast about it. The story uncovered a bunch of secrets in Pip's small town and almost got her killed. She has agreed with her parents not to get involved in another murder investigation for her own health and safety.

However, when a good friend's older brother goes missing and the police aren't doing anything about it, Pip feels like she has to get involved. Her investigation uncovers more secrets and tests her to the limit. She and Ravi are busy making podcasts about one of the people uncovered in the earlier investigation who is on trial as a serial rapist. But it looks like season two is going to be about the disappearance of Jamie Reynolds. 

The story details the investigation to try to find Jamie and uses all of today's social media to try to help find him. It also details the way Pip changes as she buries herself in another investigation. I enjoyed the investigation. I liked the relationship between Pip and her friends. 

This was a hard story to put down until I found out whether Jamie was located and why he went missing. 

Favorite Quote:

"Shouting? Really?" Pip said, really shouting now. "That's what we're focusing on? A serial rapist walked free today. Jamie has been missing for six whole days and might be dead. Oh, but the real problem is that I'm shouting!" 

"Calm down. please," he said.

"I can't! I can't calm down anymore! Why should I?"

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

Friday Memes: Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

You think you'd know what a killer sounds like.

That their lies would have a different texture, some barely perceptible shift. A voice that thickens, grows sharp and uneven as the truth slips beneath the jagged edges. You'd think that, wouldn't you? Everyone thinks they'd know, if it came down to it. But Pip hadn't.

Friday 56:

Pip straightened and crossed her arms. "Missing person," she said. "Jamie Reynolds from Fairview. Case number four nine zero zero--"

"Yeah, I saw the report," Hawkins interrupted. "What about it?"

"Why aren't you doing anything about it?"

This week I am spotlighting Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson. This is the sequel to a book a read a while ago. It was a Kindle Daily Deal in December, and I scooped it up.

Here's the description from Amazon:

THE MUST-READ MULTIMILLION BESTSELLING MYSTERY SERIES • More dark secrets are exposed in this addictive, true-crime fueled sequel when Pip finds herself in another deadly case.

Pip is not a detective anymore.

With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.

But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.

The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?

Audiobook Review: A Purple Place for Dying by John D. MacDonald

A Purple Place for Dying
Author: John D. MacDonald
Narrator: Robert Petkoff
Series: Travis McGee (Book 3)
Publication: Audible Studios (March 13, 2012)
Length: 6 hours and 14 minutes

Description: Travis McGee’s taking his retirement in installments while he’s still young enough to enjoy it. But sooner or later, his money runs out and he has to work. This time McGee’s lured out West to a strangely secretive meeting with a woman in trouble, in a place whose beauty hides some ugly, dangerous secrets.

Mona is in love with a poor, young college professor and married to a wealthy man whom she is convinced is stealing from her trust fund. So she does what any self-respecting girl would do: She hires someone to steal her money back so she can run away with the love of her life.

Travis isn’t sure he wants to help out until he sees Mona getting shot and killed out on the cliffs near her cabin. Now he’s a lead suspect in a plot to help her escape, and to clear his name, he needs to get to the bottom of things. But the murders just keep mounting, and for Travis, even working with Mona’s husband doesn’t seem to help matters. Will he be able to uncover the complex plot in time to save his own skin?

My Thoughts: When his money gets into the reserve, Travis McGee sets aside his retirement and goes looking for a lucrative job. This time he has headed out West to work for a woman named Mona who is convinced that her husband has stolen the money she inherited from her father. She needs money because she wants to run away with a college professor.

McGee is ready to say no since he doesn't like Mona and doesn't know what he can do that lawyers and accountants aren't already doing. But things change when Mona is shot and killed while standing next to Travis. By the time Travis walks down to the nearest phone and calls the sheriff a couple of hours have gone by. When he returns to the isolated cabin there is no body and no indication that anything happened. The police are skeptical especially since a couple looking like Mona and her college professor got on a plane for points South just the day before.

Travis knows what he saw and begins his own investigation. The college professor's sister is on his side since she can't believe that her brother would have run off without talking to her and he certainly wouldn't have run off without his insulin and supplies. 

Travis also convinces Mona's husband that things are not like they look at first glance. The husband has his own assortment of possible enemies and also has the Feds looking into his business practices which are decidedly shifty. Travis agrees to work for the husband because he likes him more than he liked Mona.

This was an engaging historical mystery filled with attitudes that sort of made me cringe while listening to the audiobook. Husbands using physical punishment on their wives wouldn't be acceptable these days and were likely illegal then too. Travis's attitudes to women would not make a desirable partner these days for most women. Not that he is looking for any relationship deeper than a sidewalk puddle after a summer rain. He's proud to be a beach bum and take his retirement in chunks while he is young enough to enjoy it. But when problems need an unconventional, maybe even illegal, solution, no one is better than Travis McGee.

I added this one on March 29, 2021. I think it was an Audible Plus title. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: High Stakes by Dick Francis

High Stakes
Author: Dick Francis
Narrator: Geoffrey Howard
Publication: Canelo USA (May 2, 2019); Blackstone Audio (December 15, 1999)
Length: 308 p.; 5 hours and 47 minutes

Description: Steven Scott may have been a successful, wealthy inventor with no experience in horse racing, yet with the inspired guidance of his trainer, Jody Leeds, and the prowess of a beautiful black hurdler named Energise, he has brought home several wins.

But his winning streak is about to come to a fast end when he discovers trouble in his own stables: trouble that could bring about his own termination if he doesn’t watch his step.

My Thoughts: Steven Scott finds himself in danger when he realizes that his racehorse trainer has been systematically cheating him. However, firing his trainer at the racecourse and his trainer's popularity, makes him the villain of the piece.

When he further realizes that his trainer has substituted another horse for his, he plans and epic con to get his horse back and get the trainer his comeuppance. Steven, who is a very successful inventor and engineer, is assisted in his quest by his new girlfriend, his workshop assistant, and a wealthy banker in his quest. 

I really enjoyed this mystery which was written in 1975. I had read it years ago but it was just as exciting and engaging as when I first read it. I liked Geoffrey Howard's narration. 

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

ARC Review: I Did It for You by Amy Engel

I Did It for You
Author: Amy Engel
Publication: Dutton (July 25, 2023)

Description: A twisty thriller from the beloved author of The Familiar Dark, in which a woman returns to the town where her sister was murdered and finds a presumed copycat on the loose

It’s been fourteen years since Greer Dunning’s older sister, Eliza, was murdered, and Greer’s family has never been the same. And now there’s been a similar killing in Greer’s small Kansas hometown. A copycat, according to the authorities, but Greer is convinced there is more to the story. That Eliza’s murderer had help all those years ago.

So Greer returns home after more than a decade away, desperate to answer the questions that have haunted her for years. And in her drive to uncover the truth, she forms a bond with the unlikeliest of allies. One that puts her in grave danger, as almost everyone in her small town becomes a suspect.

At once a riveting mystery and a deep exploration of guilt, loss, and the ways in which a violent murder transforms both the family of the victim and the family of the killer, I Did It For You will keep readers captivated through the very last page.

My Thoughts: Greer Dunning's older sister Eliza and her boyfriend were murdered when Greer as fourteen. Even though the killer was quickly caught, the nightmare hasn't ended even fourteen years later. Her family fell apart with her dad taking to drinking and her mother to cleaning and neither seemed to have time for Greer. 

Greer had some support from her best friends Cassie and Ryan but she still left her small Kansas hometown as soon as she graduated high school. She has made a sort of shallow life for herself in Chicago where she works as a middle school guidance counselor.

When she hears that another teenage couple has been killed in the same way Eliza and her boyfriend were, Greer decides that she has to go home and face up to all that she lost. She can't believe that these new killings aren't related to the previous ones despite the killer having been executed in prison. Greer always felt there was more to the story and that the killer didn't work alone. 

Her friends are there to support her. In fact, Cassie never left and Ryan is back home after a divorce. But Greer ends up teaming up with Dean who was the older brother of the young man who was convicted of murdering her sister and her sister's boyfriend. Dean has questions and his own share of guilt about the way things turned out during the first trial. As the two investigate, they gradually unearth secrets in the town and buried in Greer's memory. 

This was an excellent thriller with a twisty plot. It was also an in-depth depiction of the grief and guilt that surrounds this sort of tragedy. I found it very moving. 

Favorite Quote:

"Here's what I do," she said. "Every day I look around and tell myself to find three things, just three, to be thankful for. They can't be anything too far off, no being thankful for Christmas in June. They've gotta be something near, something you can touch. But it doesn't matter how small they are or how stupid the might sound to someone else. Even on my worst days, I can always find three."

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

ARC Review: Dead Man's Wake by Paul Doiron

Dead Man's Wake
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: Mike Bowditch Mysteries (Book 14)
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 27, 2023)

Description: Game Warden Mike Bowditch's engagement party is interrupted by the discovery of a gruesome double murder in this new thriller from Edgar Award-winning author Paul Doiron.

On the evening of their engagement party, Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacey Stevens witness what seems to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash on a darkened lake. When they arrive at the scene, their spotlight reveals a gruesome sight: a severed arm floating just beneath the surface. As day breaks, the warden dive team recovers not one but two naked corpses: a dismembered man and the married woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike begins to suspect the swimmers' deaths were not a senseless accident but a coldly calculated murder.

Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the mysterious boater. Suspects abound on the lake, nicknamed "Golden Pond,” including the violent biker husband of the murdered woman who may have taken vengeance on his wife and her paramour; a strange woman who claims to have witnessed the crash, but then changes her story; a very aggressive realtor and his wife who were determined to catch trespassers; and the lake’s earnest young constable whose eagerness to help may hide darker motives.

Alone among his fellow officers, Mike starts to sense the involvement of a trained marksman, smarter and more dangerous than any enemy he has ever faced before. As Mike and Stacey get closer to identifying the killer, their own lives are suddenly on the line as they confront a lethal killer who plans to silence them forever. The finale is a tour de force of drama and suspense.

My Thoughts: This is the fourteenth Mike Bowditch mystery, but the first that I have read. Mike and his fiancé Stacey are celebrating their engagement with her parents and his stepfather and wife when they hear a crash out on the lake. Since his future father-in-law is a retired warden and he currently works as a Warden Investigator for the State of Maine, they borrow his stepfather's pleasure barge to go out onto the lake and see what happened.

They were dismayed to find a severed arm. Calling in reinforcements including a cadaver dog who can scent bodies under water, they discover not one but two bodies. The man is the husband of the owner of the small island near where the accident happened, and the woman is the wife of the leader of a local motorcycle gang. Autopsies show that both were murdered and Mike is on the case along with the local police. 

Mike's task is to find the boat that hit the man and then left the scene of the crime. Between on over-eager lake constable and a witness who keeps changing her story, Mike has a lot to investigate. 

This story was entertaining. I enjoyed getting to meet Mike. I liked the setting of the story which is the lake the movie On Golden Pond was based on. I liked the information about law enforcement in Maine. 

Favorite Quote:

"There's always another emergency coming around the bend. People will continue to commit crimes or get lost in the woods. More boats will crash or overturn in rapids. And we'll need to shift our resources to deal with the new crisis. Sometimes I think working in law enforcement is like sailing a leaky boat. You can bail and bail, but there will always be more water coming in."

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

ARC Review: A Killer's Game by Isabella Maldonado

A Killer's Game
Author: Isabella Maldonado
Series: Daniela Vega (Book 1)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (June 1, 2023)

Description: An FBI agent with a background in cryptography. A brilliant game maker bent on revenge. A deadly battle of wits and wills. An ingenious thriller from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

FBI agent and former military codebreaker Daniela “Dani” Vega witnesses a murder on a Manhattan sidewalk. The victim is chief of staff for a powerful New York senator. The assassin turned informant is Gustavo Toro. His code: hit the target and don’t ask questions. When Dani suspects a complex conspiracy, the only way to take down the mastermind is from the inside, forcing her to partner with Toro. Together they must infiltrate the inner circle at a remote facility.

Except it’s a trap. For all of them.

Locked in a subterranean labyrinth and held captive by an unseen host, Dani, Toro, and others must fight for their lives. Now Dani must stay undercover, unravel a bizarre conspiracy, and survive lethal puzzles. But will Toro be friend or foe? Because in this killer’s game, everything is real: the paranoia, the desperation, and the body count. And only one person can make it out alive.

My Thoughts: A KILLER'S GAME was an action-packed thriller starring Danielle Vega, a former Army Ranger turned FBI Agent. The case begins with the death of a Senator's Chief of Staff and ends in a former missile silo. 

Vega sees a man kill the Chief of Staff and chases him. He eludes her. When a friend of the Chief of Staff comes with a letter he was to bring to the FBI if anything happened to his friend, the case becomes more complex. From a band of hired killers run by a former Army Colonel to a tech billionaire with a grudge to a corrupt Senator, the story is packed with a variety of characters. 

Vega herself seems too good to be true. She's an elite soldier; she's a master strategist with the ability to solve all sorts of puzzles. She's also only been with the FBI for a matter of months. Yet she's the one for is assigned to go undercover with to find evidence to arrest the Senator. 

If the reader is ready to suspend belief, the story was engaging and it certainly was packed with action. Fans of thrillers will enjoy it. 

Favorite Quote:

Before leaving the Army, Vega had served in their most elite combat unit, where she had smashed through closed doors, glass ceilings, and preconceived notions. Wu had no doubt she was more than qualified for this assignment. Her only challenge would be dealing with Toto, whose loyalty was only to himself. 

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

ARC Review: Identity by Nora Roberts

Identity
Author: Nora Roberts
Publication: St. Martin's Press (May 23, 2023)

Description: The #1 New York Times-bestselling author's terrifying new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.

Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party―attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who'd been chatting her up at the bar―her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. "Luke" is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn't his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan's nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother's home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn't flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn't forgotten the one who got away.

My Thoughts: Morgan Albright had a childhood as an army brat constantly moving to follow her father's career. Now she wants roots and thinks she's found them in Baltimore. She has two jobs and a mortgage on a home she has big plans for. She shares that home with her best friend Nina. 

When she meets Luke at the bar where she bartends, she begins a relationship with him. She doesn't know that he's targeted her to be his next victim in a plan for identity theft and murder. Unfortunately, it is Nina who is murdered by being home sick when Luke comes to retrieve the device he's installed on Morgan's computer. 

Morgan needs to deal with her best friend's death while trying to untangle all the financial chaos Luke left in his wake. He's maxed her credit cards, taken out new cards in her name and maxed those too, taken out a home equity loan, and borrowed money from a loan shark. 

Morgan feels that her only choice is to move to Vermont with her mother and grandmother and build her life anew. There she finds a new close relationship with her mother and grandmother, a job she loves at a resort bar, and a new relationship with Miles Jameson whose family own the resort.

But Luke hasn't forgotten her. He blames her for the way his luck has turned bad since he wanted to murder her and failed. And he's coming for her.

This was an excellent story filled with great family relationships, a slow-burn romance, and the chills that come with being stalked by a serial killer. 

Favorite Quote:

"How do you feel about camping?"

"I feel humanity's progressed through work, innovation, necessity, and luck since there were cave dwellers or pioneers, and I respect their efforts, and value those efforts toward indoor plumbing, thermal windows, sturdy mattresses, and broadband. I don't see a reason to choose to ignore those innovations and sleep in a tent."

"That would be a no to camping."

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

ARC Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Warrior Girl Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Publication: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (May 2, 2023)

Description: #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.

Sometimes, the truth shouldn't stay buried.

My Thoughts: Perry Firekeeper-Birch has a summer filled with growth in this second mystery steeped in Anishinaabe culture by Angeline Boulley.

Perry is the laidback twin and, while her sister Pauline is looking forward to a summer internship program, she's looking forward to hanging around and fishing. But a bear in the road and too much speed cause a car accident and her Aunt Daunis demands that Perry take part in the internship too as a cost for getting the car repaired.

Perry is assigned to intern with Cooper Turtle who runs the tribal museum and finds herself cleaning glass cases. She spends her lunch break trying to find a new job. But she soon becomes fascinated with the museum and with Cooper's efforts to bring Native bones and artifacts back to the tribe from the universities and museums that are holding them for study.

Perry's main complaint is that Cooper is working to slowly. She wants her ancestors back home immediately. But repatriation isn't the only thing on Perry's mind. Native women are disappearing, and it doesn't seem like law enforcement on or off the reservation is doing enough to try to find them.

Perry's overenthusiasm costs her job with Cooper and causes her internship to be switched to another department. In fact, she seems to move to a new department each week as her bosses keep moving her around. On Fridays, the interns are all gathered together for team building and other activities. Perry becomes part of the team that includes her school friend Shense Jackson, a 16-year-old single mother, her childhood friend Lucas, and new-boy-in town Erik. They name themselves Team Misfit Toys.

There's a lot going on in this mystery which includes a murder and a heist of bones gathered by a local non-Native landowner and an encounter with the man who is kidnapping native women in their area. I found the whole story fascinating and compelling. I couldn't put the story down and, when I did have to do other things, I was still thinking about the events of the story. I highly recommend this book. I've already ordered my Keeper copy.

Favorite Quote:

I stare at random tourists and wonder how they would react to their ancestors being stolen for research. I'm guessing they would see it as sacrilege. So why were my relatives fair game?

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

ARC Review: Downfall by Mark Rubenstein

Downfall
Author: Mark Rubernstein
Publication: Oceanview Publishing (April 4, 2023)

Description: First, his doppelganger is killed—then it’s his father. Rick Shepherd is being stalked by a murderer.

When Rick Shepherd, a physician, approaches his office on a busy Manhattan street, he finds police cars, an ambulance, and crime scene technicians. He soon learns a passerby was shot three times in the back, murdered at the front door to Rick’s office.

Later that evening while watching the local news, Rick and his fiancee, Jackie, see a photo of the victim—to their horror, the deceased looks identical to Rick.

Two nights later, while making a house call in a Brooklyn apartment building, Rick’s 64-year-old father is shot and killed in the exact same way. Detectives Art Nager and Liz Callaghan are assigned the case, and they launch an investigation. There are no clues leading to the perpetrator.

Even more ominously, someone has been calling Rick and Jackie’s apartment and hanging up. Whoever is targeting Rick must have murdered his father, and they now have Rick in their crosshairs. Nager and Callaghan seem to be making no progress with their investigation. Rick’s quest for the truth draws him into a labyrinth of secrets, past tragedies, and the agonizing pain of lives shattered by a single event. Can he make it out before he meets the same fate as his father?

My Thoughts: This multi-viewpoint mystery centers around the death of a 64-year-old doctor who was making a house call. It also includes the death of a man outside a doctor's office. Both methods of murder - three shots in the back - are the same. 

Dr. Rick Shepherd and his fiancée are watching TV when they see a picture of the man who was shot outside Rick's office and are dismayed to learn that he looked very much like Rick. When Rick's father is killed the same way, Rick feels that there has to be a connection. He's wondering is someone is also targeting him. He's had a high frequency of hang-up calls on his phone lately.

Detectives Art Nager and Liz Callaghan have the case of the death of Rick's father and are busy looking into his life to find out who wanted him dead. They are also building a relationship with each other despite their trainer/trainee relationship and complicated pasts. 

The killer also has a viewpoint as we see him planning his kills and learn something about his past. 

This was a pretty introspective mystery with all the characters spending a lot of time reflecting on their past experiences. Fans of the introspective will be the best audience for this one. 

Favorite Quote:

Only a few days ago, Rick could never have imagined his father being murdered while he wonders if he's in some maniac's crosshairs.

When is murder part of anyone's life?

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

ARC Review: Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen

Blind Spots
Author: Thomas Mullen
Publication: Minotaur Books (April 4, 2023)

Description: Seven years ago, everyone in the world went blind in a matter of months. Technology helped people adjust to the new normal, creating a device that approximates vision, downloading visual data directly to people’s brains. But what happens when someone finds a way to hack it and change what people see?

Homicide detective Mark Owens has been on the force since before The Blinding. When a scientist is murdered, and the only witness insists the killer was blacked out of her vision, Owens doesn’t believe her―until a similar murder happens in front of him. With suspects ranging from tech billionaires to anti-modernity cultists―and with the bodies piling up―Owens must conduct an investigation in which he can’t even trust his own eyes.

Thomas Mullen, the acclaimed author of Darktown and The Last Town on Earth, delivers an unputdownable crime novel about one man's search for truth in a world of surveillance and disinformation that’s all too recognizable.

My Thoughts: In a dystopic future seven years after all the humans on Earth went blind, Homicide Detective Mark Owen is trying to solve the murder of a scientist. Technology has created Vidders which allow those who can afford the devices to see.  But the only witness to the crime insists the killer was blacked out of her vision. Something that is supposed to be impossible.

As Mark deals with this mystery, he is also being called to testify before the Truth Committee which is looking into the events of The Blinding and how the police reacted when they were the first to get the new Vidders. 

Mark doesn't see the point of the whole commission. He believes that he and his fellow officers did the best they could under horrible circumstances. He's also still dealing with the apparent suicide of his wife who was a visual artist. 

This story had intriguing worldbuilding along with an engaging mystery. I liked the characters and was swept along trying to solve the mystery.

Favorite Quote:

The reality, he likes to say, is that organizations are comprised of people, and people are deeply flawed. That's it, end of conspiracy theory. You want a perfect government or perfect company, staff it with perfect people. Best of luck finding them.

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

ARC Review: Bones Under the Ice by Mary Ann Miller

Bones Under the Ice
Author: Mary Ann Miller
Series: Jhonni Laurent (Book 1)
Publication: Oceanview Publishing (March 21, 2023)

Description: Jhonni Laurent is the first female sheriff of Field’ s Crossing, Indiana— and now she has her first murder case

Two days after a blizzard hits Field’ s Crossing, Indiana, Sheriff Jhonni Laurent discovers the frozen body of a high school senior under a fifteen-foot pile of snow and ice. Murder is rare in farm country, and this death marks the beginning of Jhonni’ s first homicide case.

Just as the investigation gets underway, Jhonni’ s opponent for sheriff from four years ago wages a bitter reelection battle to oust her. Then, Jhonni finds another body, and further complications arise when a century-old feud between two families reaches its breaking point.

Soon, a slew of newspaper articles causes the Indiana State Election Board to doubt her credibility. Jhonni must fight to maintain her reputation, keep the small farming community together, and find the murderer at large— all while demons from her own past threaten to crush her. Can she find the killer and mend her battered spirit before it’ s too late?

My Thoughts: This first-in-a-series thriller introduces Sheriff Jhonni Laurent who works in Field's Crossing, Indiana. After 15 years in the department and four years as sheriff, she is now faced with her first murder investigation.

Eighteen-year-old Stephanie Gattison was found buried under piles of snow left by a blizzard. At first, the assumption is that she got lost during the blizzard and died of hypothermia. However, two dents on her head soon lead to the conclusion that someone hit her and left her to die. 

Stephanie was an ambitious high school senior who worked two part-time jobs. She worked for the city scanning documents and for the local hardware store. She has a boyfriend named Dylan Martin and had recently had an argument at work with Theo Tillman. Both are potential suspects since she saw both of them the afternoon of the storm at the local water tower. 

The Martins and Tillmans had a long-standing feud. Both families farmed but the Martins were frugal and successful while the Tillmans were lazy and deeply in debt. Laurent is afraid that her investigation will acerbate tensions between the two families. 

Tensions are already high enough in town. Laurent is up for reelection in just a few weeks and her defeated opponent works as one of her deputies and is running again with the strong support of the local newspaper which is more known for vendettas than serious news. Laurent is also dealing with a letter she's recently received from the daughter she gave up for adoption thirty years earlier. 

Then the local banker is found dead in a suspicious accident and Laurent has another murder to solve.

I enjoyed this story. I liked Laurent as she deals with all the stresses in her life. I thought the plot was well done and the characters very realistic. I recommend it for all mystery fans. 

Favorite Quote:

"Then there's the alien theory." She pulled her mouse pad toward her and looked at her reelection opponent. "He thinks Vern saw an alien ship land at the water tower and thought Stephanie was an alien and shot her."

"You gotta give him credit for imagination," Greene said. "What are you going to do next?"

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

ARC Review: Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado

Red Queen
Author: Juan Gomez-Jurado
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 14, 2023)

Description: Introducing Antonia Scott―the most compelling and original detective since Lisbeth Salander―in Juan Gómez-Jurado's Red Queen, the #1 international award-winning bestseller & thriller that has taken the world by storm.

Antonia Scott―the daughter of a British diplomat and a Spanish mother―has a gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. But after a personal trauma, she's refused to continue her work or even leave her apartment.

Jon Gutierrez, a police officer in Bilbao―disgraced, suspended, and about to face criminal charges―is offered a chance to salvage his career by a secretive organization that works in the shadows to direct criminal investigations of a highly sensitive nature. All he has to do is succeed where many others have failed: Convince a recalcitrant Antonia to come out of her self-imposed retirement, protecting her and helping her investigate a new, terrifying case.

The case is a macabre, ritualistic murder―a teen-aged boy from a wealthy family whose body was found without a drop of blood left in it. But the murder is just the start. A high-ranking executive and daughter of one of the richest men in Spain is kidnapped, a crime which is tied to the previous murder. Behind them both is a hidden mastermind with even more sinister plans. And the only person with a chance to see the connections, solve the crimes and successfully match wits with the killer before tragedy strikes again...is Antonia Scott.

My Thoughts: Two unique detectives take on a difficult case. Jon Guiterrez is a disgraced cop. He was filmed planting drugs in a pimp's car and now faces potential criminal charges. He's approached by a man who calls himself Mentor who will make everything go away if he just does one small favor for him.

Antonia Scott has a gifted forensic mind, but a personal tragedy caused a mental breakdown. Now all she does is spend nights in hospital with her comatose husband and days in her empty apartment. Jon has to convince her to take a case assigned by Mentor.

The body of a young boy has been found drained of blood and posed in his parents' house in an exclusive and very secure neighborhood of Madrid. He had been kidnapped and a demand was made to his mother who runs one of Europe's largest banks. When the demand wasn't met, the boy was killed. There is a lot of pressure to cover up the crime.

Then the daughter of the world's richest man is kidnapped, and another demand is sent to her father. Her father isn't going to meet the demand which leaves Antonia and Jon just a few days to find and rescue her. But the regular police don't want to cooperate since they are led by a real glory hound who sees solving the case as the road to fame and promotion he desperately wants.

Not only are Jon and Antonia avoiding notice from the villains, but they have to avoid the police too. Antonia's keen observation skills and unconventional mind help them discover clues that the police don't. But the villain has a new plan in mind: kidnap Antonia's four-year-old son. 

I enjoyed this story which was translated from the Spanish and is the start of a trilogy very popular in Spain. The characters of Jon and Antonia were very complex and nuanced. The mystery was both gritty and involved. I'm looking forward to reading more about these two unconventional detectives. 

Favorite Quote:

I'll catch whoever did this to you, she tells the boy in the photo.

As these words take shape in her mind, she immediately regrets them. But there's no way she can go back on them now. That's the problem with promising things to the dead.

It's harder to apologize when you fail. 

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

ARC Review: What Have We Done by Alex Finlay

What Have We Done
Author: Alex Finlay
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 7, 2023)

Description: A stay-at-home mom with a past.
A has-been rock star with a habit.
A reality TV producer with a debt.
Three disparate lives.
One deadly secret.

Twenty five years ago, Jenna, Donnie, and Nico were the best of friends, having forged a bond through the abuse and neglect they endured as residents of Savior House, a group home for parentless teens. When the home was shut down―after the disappearance of several kids―the three were split up.

Though the trauma of their childhood has never left them, each went on to live accomplished―if troubled―lives. They haven’t seen one another since they were teens but now are reunited for a single haunting reason: someone is trying to kill them.

To survive, the group will have to revisit the nightmares of their childhoods and confront their shared past―a past that holds the secret to why someone wants them dead.

It’s a reunion none of them asked for . . . or wanted. But it may be the only way to save all their lives.

What Have We Done is both an edge-of-your seat thriller and a gut-wrenching coming-of-age story. And it cements Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in thrillers today.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this thriller which brings together people who spent time in Savior House as parentless teens twenty-five years earlier. After the home was closed in part due to the disappearance of the director, the teens were split up to live their own lives.

Jenna found herself in Savior House after the death of her parents in a car accident. She wasn't their long when she was plucked out by a representative of The Corporation and trained to be an assassin. She's left that life behind, married, and is the stepmother to two girls. But then she gets called in to do one last assassination. Only she finds that her supposed target is another one of the kids from Savior House who has become a tech billionaire. After purposely missing the shot, she finds herself the target of killers who want to kill her to clear up loose ends. 

Donnie is a has-been rock star with a drug and alcohol habit who is performing with the remnants of his old band on a cruise ship. He is attacked and thrown off the ship but is picked up by a fishing boat and rescued. His manager makes a deal with a writer for a tell-all book which forces Donnie to look back on those years spent at Savior House even though he doesn't want them to be any part of his story. 

Nico is a television producer for a reality show set in the West Virginia coal mines. He has a major gambling habit and is deep in debt to some criminals. When one of the stars in the show asks to meet him on the set, deep in a coal mine, he is ambushed and left for dead after an explosion happens. He is rescued in the nick of time and wants to find out who set him up. 

The story switches between these viewpoints and the viewpoints of the twin assassins who were sent to kill them all and who have already killed another of the kids who was now a federal judge - the Honorable Robert Benjamin Wood.

The three survivors all meet at the judge's funeral and begin to compare notes. They need to find out who wants them dead if they are ever to have their own lives again. The plot was twisty. Flashbacks from each viewpoint tell more about their lives a Savior House and expose the secret they are all hiding. 

This was an excellent story filled with characters I cared about.

Favorite Quote:

"I said I was done with all this," Jenna tells her. "They said I was free and they wouldn't--"

"That's above my pay grade."

"Please, I can't."

The woman shakes her head. "You'd better. For Simon, Willow, and Tallulah's sake."

The woman steps past her and calmly disappears. 

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