Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier ~ A Dark, Twisty Tale #PsychologicalThriller #AudiobookReview @JenniferHillier

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Mystery, Psychological, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Author: Jennifer Hillier

Performed by January LaVoy

Released on Audible: June 2018 by Macmillan Audio

Category: Psychological, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Audiobook, Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who’s been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

Fourteen years ago the community of Sweetbay was rocked when sixteen year old Angela Wong went missing, never to be seen again. Now all these years later her remains have been discovered near her best friend, Georgina (Geo) Shaw’s childhood home where Geo’s father still lives. Geo and Angela, along with Kaiser Brody, now a Detective with the Seattle PD, were as close as friends could be in high school. Until Calvin James came on the scene. His presence changed, not only the dynamics of the trio but also their lives. What Geo carries with her from then on will affect her for years to come with devastating consequences.

Continue reading →

7May2020

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Swamp Ghosts (Riverbend Book 1) by @MarciaMeara #Suspense with some #Romance

Posted in Book Review, Romance, Suspense, Throwback Thursday by Cathy

Swamp Ghosts was the first book I read by Marcia Meara and I’ve enjoyed every one since. It was published in 2014 and is a romantic suspense novel, with the emphasis on suspense.

My Thoughts

Maggie Devlin, after a horrendous and violent marriage, has been happily single for the last eight years. She owns and skippers an eco tour boat, the Undine, taking tourists out on the St John’s River and into the Florida swamps, to check out the varied plant and animal life. Along with the boat, her father left her a battered old truck and his heavily mortgaged house. The business is virtually bankrupt and that’s why, when local photographer, Gunnar Wolfe, shows up at the quay one day wanting to hire Maggie as his guide, against her better judgement, she accepts.

Continue reading →

4May2020

Missing You by Harlan Coben ~ Will Kat Get A Second Chance? #CrimeFiction #Thriller #Suspense

Posted in Book Review, Crime, Fiction, Murder, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Author: Harlan Coben

Published: April 2014 by Orion

Category: Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.

Two devastating events that happened around the same time, eighteen years previously, had a powerful effect on NYPD Detective Kat Donovan. Her father was murdered and her fiancé broke off their relationship without explanation. She hasn’t had another relationship since that meant anything to her. Kat’s friend Stacy bought her a subscription for a dating website, something she knew Kat would never do on her own. Feeling slightly obligated Kat trawls through the profiles and is stunned to see a picture of her ex fiancé on one of the profiles. Eventually, feeling she has nothing to lose, Kat makes contact.

Continue reading →

1May2020

Storm Witch (The Spellworker Chronicles #2) by @AlysWestYork #UrbanFantasy #Witchcraft #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Folklore, Magic, Romance, Scotland, Suspense, Urban Fantasy by Cathy

Author: Alys West

Published: April 2020 by Fabrian Books

Category: Urban Fantasy, Witchcraft, Earth Magic, Romance, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Although not a spellworker herself, magic had always been part of Jenna’s life, guiding and nurturing her childhood. Her mother, Nina was a member of The Order of Spellworkers and Druids, enforcing the laws of the magical community. But six winter solstices ago Nina was murdered. Six winter solstices ago the other members of The Order died or disappeared. And six winter solstices ago Jenna banished magic from her life, fleeing back home to Orkney.

Jenna Henderson, duty manager in charge of tourism at Maeshowe burial chamber, one of the Neolithic wonders of Orkney, was about to have a meeting with Dr Winston Grant, an archeologist working on a dig on the island…and, initially unbeknownst to her, also a druid. Jenna was distraught when evidence of a magic ritual was discovered in the burial chamber along with pages from a book written by her late mother Nina, that went missing the day she was found drowned.

Continue reading →

24Apr2020

When You See Me by Lisa Gardner ~ A Thrilling and Tense #PoliceProcedural #Thriller @LisaGardnerBks #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary, Crime, FBI Procedural, Mystery, Police Procedural, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Author: Lisa Gardner

Published: January 2020 by Penguin Random House

Category: Police Procedural, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy and Sergeant Detective DD Warren have built a task force to follow the digital bread crumbs left behind by deceased serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. And when a disturbing piece of evidence comes to light, they decide to bring in Flora Dane who has personal experience of being imprisoned by Ness.

When You See Me is a combination of two series and brings together Detective D.D. Warren, Flora Dane and FBI Agent Kimberly Quincy in a thrilling and tense ride with three strong, interesting and totally different female characters. Computer geek Keith, who has a passion for true crime and a tentative relationship with Flora, also joins the team. Several chapters from an as yet unnamed character whose suffering is slowly revealed are interspersed throughout the narrative.

Continue reading →

21Apr2020

The Mountain In My Shoe by Louise Beech ~ Suspenseful #Psychological #Drama @LouiseWriter #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Drama, Psychological, Suspense by Cathy

Author: Louise Beech

Published: September 2016 by Orenda Books

Category: Drama, Family, Psycological, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A missing boy. A missing book. A missing husband. A woman who must find them all to find herself. On the night Bernadette finally has the courage to tell her domineering husband that she’s leaving, he doesn’t come home. Neither does Conor, the little boy she’s befriended for the past five years. Also missing is his lifebook, the only thing that holds the answers. With the help of Conor’s foster mum, Bernadette must face her own past, her husband’s secrets and a future she never dared imagine in order to find them all.

After several years of moving from one foster home to another, ten year old Conor has been settled with his latest foster mother, Anne, for five years. Both are very happy with the arrangement. His birth mother is unable to care for him but won’t agree to an adoption hence the foster care. Despite what he has been through in his short life, Conor has proved to be quite adaptable although he does understandably have issues. One of his passions is art, at which he excels. The other is Mohammed Ali, whom he hero-worships.

Continue reading →

16Apr2020

#ThrowbackThursday ~ The Axeman’s Jazz by Ray Celestin #Historical #CrimeFiction Based on True Events #Mystery #Thriller

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

This week’s Throwback Thursday is The Axeman’s Jazz, the first of a series of historical crime fiction, based on fact. I listened to the audio which was released in January 2015.

My Thoughts

Continue reading →

2Apr2020

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Low Country Punch by Boo Walker #CrimeFiction #Thriller

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Suspense, Thriller, Throwback Thursday by Cathy

Throwback Thursday this week features Low Country Punch, an audiobook I listened to in 2015, narrated by RC Bray.

My Thoughts

TA Reddick is a Federal Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Miami. He and his partner are working an undercover drug ring and just getting ready to meet for a cocaine exchange in a multi storey garage. When they meet the two sellers TA recognises them as Diego and Robert Vasquez. Robert is a cop and a good friend of TA’s who had saved his life the year before. In the ensuing shoot out, Robert is killed and TA’s partner is injured. Diego Vasquez escapes.

Continue reading →

31Mar2020

The Boy From The Woods ~ Now A Man with a Mysterious Past #CrimeFiction from @HarlanCoben #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Crime, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller by Cathy

Author: Harlan Coben

Narrated by Steven Weber

Released on Audible: March 2020

Category: Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Audiobook, Book Review

Thirty years ago, a child was found in the New Jersey backwoods.

He had been living a feral existence, with no memory of how he got there or even who he is. Everyone just calls him Wilde.

Now a former soldier and security expert, he lives off the grid, shunned by the community – until they need him.