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Category: Mystery & Thrillers

Review: The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

[ 4 ] December 2, 2011

Reviewed by Marcus Hammond

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian is an effectively complex novel that mixes psychology and the supernatural to create an original, atmospheric thriller that keeps the reader guessing.

As the novel opens, Chip Linton faces the difficult situation of safely landing a passenger jet in a lake after the engines are destroyed by a flock of geese. His attempt fails and thirty-nine passengers die, as the plane is ripped apart. Chip is cleared of any fault, but is left with severe guilt and PTSD. In order to begin healing from the ordeal, Chip, his wife, Emily, and their twin girls, Hallie and Garnet, move from their formerly comfortable lives in the city to a smaller, out of the way town. As the Lintons attempt to settle into their new lives they are surrounded by mystery and conspiracy. Their new home may be haunted and the residents that have welcomed them may have deeper, stranger motivations behind their welcoming nature.

The Lintons are welcomed into the town by a group of women who believe in the magical and healing properties of plant life. The women, who are all named after different plants, begin to take interest in the Lintons and try to acclimate the family into their close-knit group.

As the intentions of the herbalists to incorporate Emily, Hallie, and Garnet into their cult become more and more persistent, Chip’s PTSD becomes a bigger problem. The subsequent drama provides the reader with page after page of hair-raising paranoia, supernaturally creepy visions, and murderous deception.

Chris Bohjalian employs a blend of narration perspectives throughout the novel to add to its creep-out factor. While the majority of the thriller is told in a third person omniscient perspective, Chip’s narration is portrayed through a second person perspective. This change in perspective allows the reader to experience, first hand, the disturbed mentality that Chip progressively succumbs to during his family’s encounters with the unusual and deceptive herbalists.

With Bohjalian’s unique writing style and his ability to twist the plot into a unique and sufficiently creepy thriller, The Night Strangers is best read with a light on.

Rating: 4/5

After obtaining a Masters in Liberal Arts and Literature Marcus has dedicated most of his time to teaching English Composition for a community college in the Midwest. In his down time, he spends time avidly reading an eclectic selection of books and doing freelance writing whenever he gets the chance. He lives in Kansas with his wife.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Crown. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Cross Currents by John Shors

[ 4 ] December 1, 2011

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

In late December 2004, a tsunami hit the small, crescent-shaped island of Ko Phi Phi in Thailand. The ocean claimed approximately ⅓ of the locals and tourists that were present on the island that day. It was a moment in history that soon faded from memory, but John Shors has immortalized it in his 5th novel, Cross Currents.

Cross Currents introduces readers to a small cast of unforgettable and lovable characters, which include: Lek and Sarai, the struggling resort owners of Rainbow Resort, their three children, and Sarai’s mother, Yai; Patch, an American who is wanted by the Thailand police; and Patch’s brother, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Brooke, who have come to the island to convince Patch to turn himself in.

Lek and Sarai treat Patch as if he is a member of their own family; Patch helps Lek, who has a bad hip, to fix and maintain the humble Rainbow Resort. Patch, though a criminal (wanted for buying drugs and assaulting a police official), is a sympathetic character who will keep readers turning pages rapidly to find out the resolution of his plight. I was drawn to each and every character that Shors crafted in this novel.

Prior to reading this novel, I was unfamiliar with John Shors’ novels. His vivid and breathtaking descriptions of both people and locations, heartfelt characters, and compelling story line and subplots have convinced me that I absolutely must read everything he wrote before this one, and everything that comes next.

Cross Currents is a novel that I feel everyone should read; you will become educated about a new way of life and through these characters, you will learn how people can surprise even those who know them best of all in unexpected ways. Even though I figured out well in advance how certain events would play out, I shed quite a few tears, so make sure you have tissues nearby.

Rating: 5/5

Check out our review of John Shors’ Dragon House

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Berkley/NAL. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Betrayal of Trust by J.A. Jance

[ 3 ] November 28, 2011

Reviewed by Krista Castner

Sometimes it’s nice to pick up a new book in a long-running series and know you’re going to have a chance to get caught up with old friends. Betrayal of Trust, the 20th installment in the J.P. Beaumont detective series by J.A. Jance, is one of those kinds of books.

JP Beaumont, or “Beau” as his friends call him, is partnered with his wife Mel Soames on a politically sensitive case involving Washington State’s Governor. The Governor specifically requests Beau to work on this case because they went to high school together. Beau and Mel have to try to track down the source of a snuff film before more victims are caught up in the murder drama.

Usually Seattle is the beloved backdrop in the Beaumont series, but this book takes place primarily in Washington’s capital city, Olympia, and in the outlying rural communities near Olympia. I have to admit that I miss the Seattle setting. But I understand that authors sometimes need to do things to keep characters evolving and stories fresh. Olympia isn’t a bad setting, it’s just not Seattle.

Beau and Mel work as partners on the state’s Special Homicide Investigative Team (S.H.I.T.) There are many references to how much they get razzed because of team’s acronym. (I found this a bit childish and soon grew weary of the reference.) Initially the Governor, Marsha Longmire, discovers what appears to be a snuff film on her step-grandchild’s cell phone and requests an investigation. But the case soon becomes much more complicated as Mel and Beau try to solve the crime before the news hits the press.

Betrayal of Trust tackles teenage poverty, cyber-bullying, teen suicide, and issues of acceptance and inclusion in blended families. That is a lot of territory to cover in the book’s 344 pages, but Jance covered the ground in her usual fast-paced story telling style that kept me interested throughout. Beau and Mel work well together. Mel uses all the latest technology to keep her side of the investigation moving along. Beau, in spite of his bad knees, keeps his side of the investigation moving with more old-fashioned police leg work.

In the midst of the investigation Beau receives a personal email from someone claiming to be a long-lost relative, who may hold the key to his father’s identity. Beau is ambivalent about pursuing any sort of a family reunion. I’ll leave the outcome of this plotline to the readers. If you’re a long time J.P. Beaumont fan like I am, I think you’ll be pleased with how things turn out.

Yes, Beau is starting to show his age. But that’s part of the charm of this series. Beau isn’t a super hero. He’s a normal guy doing the right thing day-in and day-out. In today’s sometime frenetic pace, it’s nice to be able to rely on Beau to get the job done. JA Jance has given us another fun installment in the J.P. Beaumont series.

Rating: 4/5

Krista lives just outside the urban sprawl of Portland, Oregon. Lamentably, her work as a technical writer and business analyst often interferes with her reading which is a true passion.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The White Devil by Justin Evans

[ 3 ] November 21, 2011

Reviewed by Nina Longfield

Set at the exclusive English boarding school of Harrow, The White Devil by Justin Evans is part coming-of-age tale and part ghost story and Gothic suspense. The story begins with young American near-do-well Andrew Taylor’s entry into Harrow as an exchange student. This is Andrew’s last chance to clean up his act or be disinherited, or so his father threatens.

Andrew Taylor’s arrival at Harrow turns dismal with the sudden death of the first person to befriend him at the school. The death is followed by more illnesses and suddenly Andrew is seen by his classmates as the culprit. And Andrew isn’t so sure he’s not responsible as he keeps seeing a pale, white haired boy who seems to be a portent to misfortune.

Unable to seek his father’s guidance, Andrew turns to his dormitory housemaster, Piers Fawkes, for help when he fears he is loosing his mind. Fawkes has his own issues that include bouts of drunkenness, indifference, and pathos. Andrew and Fawkes work together to weave the story of Harrow’s past meshing out a 200-year old mystery, which possibly involves one of Harrow’s most infamous alums, Lord George Gordon Byron.

Justin Evans skillfully pulls together a contemporary story interwoven with historical facts. Despite its slow beginning, The White Devil is a novel worth the reading effort. The first few chapters tend to drag a bit and I didn’t like the characters or the setting, at first. However, Evans seems to understand mystery and he builds his story with increasing tension and suspense.

With a coroner’s explanation to an apparently mysterious death, the story picks up speed. The mystery deepened with hints of horror as Byron’s sordid past becomes entangled with the present-day story. By the end of The White Devil, I grew to like the characters and even felt sympathy for their personal struggles. Whether read for the coming-of-age angle or the Gothic horror, The White Devil is a story of substance with lingering appeal.

Rating: 4.5/5

Nina Longfield is a writer living in Oregon’s fertile wine country. When she is not reading or writing in her spare time, Nina enjoys hiking in the hills surrounding her cabin.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Harper. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

[ 3 ] November 21, 2011

Reviewed by Claudia Robinson

“Top 5 Signs You Have Alzheimer’s: 5 – You ask your grandson to take you to the junior prom 4 – Your right hand doesn’t know what your left has done 3 – Girl Scouts come over and force you to decorate flower pots with them 2 – You keep discovering new rooms in your house And the No. 1 sign you have Alzheimer’s is…It’s somehow slipped your mind. “

They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Dr. Jennifer White is suffering from dementia, lost in the furry, forgetful haze fogged mind maze of Alzheimer’s. Jennifer, along with her caretaker, her handsome son Mark and her opinionated, beautiful daughter, must keep a journal to remind herself of what she has done each day and how the disease is affecting her and others. Photos and Post-it notes on appliances and mirrors serve as sole guidance and mementos of a life and its daily functions that Jennifer is finding harder and harder to remember.

Some days are better than others. There are wardrobe malfunctions in the supermarket, shoeless adventures in the pouring rain. There are blackouts and their subsequent come-tos in strange places filled with strange faces. On other days, Jennifer’s sharp wit and sly demeanor resurface from the quagmire, and a solid, obstinate lucidity replaces the mental maelstrom. There are violent days, mood swings and hostility. There are endless hours of reliving painful memories, clarity resurfacing old wounds, fresh mourning, fresh anguish, relived each time like the first. Paranoia and suspicion are equal opportunity, no one is immune; and then, there is also the small issue of murder.

When Jennifer’s churlish best friend and neighbor, Amanda, is found dead in her home, with her fingers surgically removed, there is only one person the authorities believe can be responsible. When another neighbor claims to have heard the women arguing the week before, and Jennifer suddenly produces a likely weapon, it seems like a closed case. Or is it? How can the authorities get to the truth when even Jennifer is no longer sure of what that is? Alternately written from Jennifer’s addled perspective, snippets of the past and present are mangled and gnarled together, until one and the other are barely recognizable. Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante is seductively haunting and brilliant.

Presented in such a manner that the reader is forced to experience Jennifer’s mental decline, her anger and frustration and the anguish of those who love her, Turn of Mind delivers a passionate, poignant, heartbreaking story of a woman’s tormented descent in to a mind no longer able to discern day from night, right from wrong, pleasure from pain.

Expressive, smart and full of twists and turns, including an ending no one will ever see coming, Turn of Mind combines an uncannily concise and formidable view in to the world of Alzhiemer’s and a brutal murder, producing an intensely riveting tale of love, family and the ends and means to which some are willing to go to hold on to it all. Truly exquisite from beginning to end.

Rating: 5/5

Claudia lives on beautiful Cape Cod with her husband and two children.

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by Atlantic Monthly Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Blog Tour: The Baker’s Wife by Erin Healy

[ 8 ] November 8, 2011

Please welcome Erin Healy, author of The Baker’s Wife who is touring the blogosphere with LitFuse Publicity!

Reviewed by Christen Krumm

Audrey Bofinger is a pastor’s wife with a special gift. She can feel other’s pain. After a scandalous lie regarding the Bofinger’s son and deacon Jack Mansfield’s daughter, the Bofingers are all but barred from the church. Now they own a bakery serving coffee and baking bread.

Early one very foggy morning as Audrey and her son are driving to the bakery, their car hits something. After further inspection they realize that it is the Vespa belonging to none other than the deacon’s wife that got them kicked out of church. There is blood everywhere, but no one can find the body. Of course, Jack pins the blame on Audrey and makes it his mission to make sure she goes down for the crime. Thinking the case is going nowhere, Jack spins out of control and decides to take matters into his own hands. He takes the Bofingers and a handful of other customers hostage at their bakery, hoping to force a confession. Audrey wants nothing more than to help Jack find his wife and thus begins the race against time to find her before it is too late.

The Baker’s Wife will leave you breathless! Erin Healy’s way with words is amazing. She will put you right in the middle of the crime scene. You will actually be able to smell the bread that is baking in the Bofinger’s bakery (hence the fact that your mouth will water and have you running to your kitchen to bake a loaf of your own!) The story is a fast paced, edge of your seat mystery that will have you staying up late into the night guessing until the last page! A great book for any mystery lover!

Rating: 5/5

Christen graduated from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith with a BA in English. She’s a coffee drinking stay at home mom by day and a freelance writer/editor by night. She currently resides in Arkansas with her husband and daughter and welcomed a son in August.

Contest

Let the flour fly! Beginning October 24th, Erin’s celebrating the release of her latest page turner, The Baker’s Wife, with an outstanding KitchenAid baking prize package giveaway that includes a brand new KitchenAid Mixer, cook books, and all you need to whip up some fabulous bread or sweets! Then and on November 10th she’ll be wrapping up the release of The Baker’s Wife with an Author Book Chat Party on Facebook! Don’t miss a minute of the fun!

One grand prize winner will receive:

Empire Red 4.5 QT Ultra Power KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Black & White Kitschy Apron

Black Silicone Oven Mitt

Black OXO Rolling Pin

Wilton 9X5 loaf pan

At My Grandmother’s Knee Cookbook by Faye Porter

Second Helpings with Johnnie Gabriel Cookbook

The Baker’s Wife by Erin Healy

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 9th. Winner will be announced at The Baker’s Wife Author Book Chat Facebok Party. Erin will be wrapping up the The Baker’s Wife celebration with a book club chat and giving away a bunch of “sweet treats”! So grab your copy of The Baker’s Wife (it’s okay if you don’t have one yet- you might win one!) and join Erin on the evening of November 10th for a book chat, some “baking” trivia and lots of “sweet” giveaways (books, and Amazon, iTunes & Starbucks gift certificates)!

Enter via E-mail Enter via FacebookEnter via Twitter

Don’t miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends. Hope to see you on the 10th!

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by Thomas Nelson. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd

[ 8 ] November 7, 2011

Reviewed by Caleb Shadis

A Bitter Truth is the third in the Bess Crawford Mysteries. I was introduced to Bess briefly in the book A Lonely Death, which is part of the Ian Rutledge Mysteries and focuses on the police inspector of the same name. Both series take place primarily in England during or after WWI.

Bess is a battlefield nurse. Coming home on leave for Christmas, she finds a woman huddled on her doorstep, trying to find protection from the cold winter wind. Bess invites her in to spend the night. Her guest, Lydia, slowly tells her story over the next day and a half. She invites/begs Bess to travel back home with her to help her face her husband and his family. Bess reluctantly agrees and finds much more than she bargained for.

After spending an interesting couple of days with the family (who’ve all gathered to bury Lydia’s brother-in-law), Bess is getting ready to leave when one of the house guests is found murdered. Not only does this prevent Bess from going home to see her family for Christmas, she’s even become a suspect!

Overall, I enjoyed A Bitter Truth and would happily read more in the series. It is well written and gives a good feel for the times. Large parts actually felt a lot like an Agatha Christie novel, though there is plenty of story outside the mystery. The only downside was that the ending felt a little rushed but not to the point of ruining the book. If you like cozies, you’ll enjoy A Bitter Truth. Worth the time.

Rating: 3.5/5

Check out Caleb’s review of A Lonely Death

Caleb is a software engineer and amature woodworker living in southern Minnesota. He has more hobbies than he has time or money for, and enjoys his quiet time reading.

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by William Morrow. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Angel by Nicole “Coco” Marrow and Laura Hayden

[ 4 ] November 5, 2011

Reviewed by Melanie Kline

AMAZING is a one word summary of Angel by Nicole “Coco” Marrow and Laura Hayden.

A woman wakes up just before her plane crash lands on the Hudson River; she has no time to figure out what is going on. She acts on gut instinct and endangers herself even further when she swims toward the sinking wreckage to rescue a baby – the only other survivor of the crash.

She should be thrilled to have survived and proud of herself for the daring rescue, but she realizes that she has no idea who she is. She does not remember where she lived, worked or any other detail of her life. Instead, she is dubbed “Angel of the Hudson” by the media and sits in the hospital day after day waiting for a friend or family member to show up and tell her who she is. What she does figure out is that she can somehow hear the thoughts of any man who gets close to her and she then begins transforming into the “woman of his dreams”.

Reporter Dante Kearns just happened to be there when the plane went down and jumped into the water without thinking about the story to rescue “Angel” and the baby. He belives “Angel” when she tells him that she can hear men’s thoughts, and they become friends when they figure out that he is somehow the only male she cannot “hear”.

The two investigate her previous life and try to piece together why she was on the plane and why no one has come forward to claim her. Surely she had at least one friend or relative. The airline determines her name is Angela Sands by cross checking the passenger list, but this is all they have to go on.

Eventually, the two solve the mystery of Angela’s identity only to realize that she was running from a husband that was trying to kill her.

I was unsure about Angel when I first picked up the book and read one of the authors’ bios. This is the first book by Coco - an actress, TV personality and wife of rapper Ice-T – and that made me think that the story was not going to work out too well. However, I have never been so impressed. I was hooked from the first page and just couldn’t put it down. Angel has something for everyone: mystery, thriller, romance, suspense. You you name it – it’s there!

Rating: 5/5

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Forge Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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