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Archive for the ‘Thriller’ Category

Reviewed by Allen Hott

One of my favorite authors in a somewhat earlier story about Joe Pickett, the Game Warden who works mostly at the beck and call of Spencer Rulon, governor of Wyoming. Pickett is a top game warden but he has some bad habits in that he either gets involved in some very serious crimes while he patrols his territory or he inadvertently destroys the equipment that the state gives him to use. His involvement in crimes is not that he commits them but that he somehow manages to stumble onto some of the strangest types of crimes that can be imagined. And they always in one fashion or another happen while he is doing his normal game warden job. And the equipment gets damaged because invariably he is chasing down some criminal or he is being shot at by some miscreant that Joe has determined to be a bad guy!

This story begins when several hunters are found murdered in the area that Joe is covering. Not only have the hunters been shot but they are left hanging from several tree limbs in a position that mimics how a hunter would possibly hang a dead animal that he has killed. Not only are they hung but they have had their throats slit and they have been disemboweled much like a hunter would do prior to taking his kill home to eat. It definitely appears that someone is sending out word to hunters that they will be treated as they treat their kills. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

Los Angeles Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis works with Doctor Alex Freeman on this really unusual case. Dr. Freeman is a noted psychologist and is often a main character in Jonathan Kellerman’s mysteries. In this one both he and Milo have their hands full as they try to determine exactly what all is going on at Windsor Prep, a noted prep school in Los Angeles that numbers among its attendees the son of the L.A. Chief of Police.

A part time teacher and tutor at the prestigious school has been found dead in her bathtub completely buried in dry ice. The question is why the dry ice and who would have killed her. Before Milo and Alex get there however a DVD was found in her effects and turned into the police department. The DVD is of Elise Freeman, the dead woman, speaking to the camera and she tells about three faculty members at Windsor. Supposedly these three have been sexually making her life miserable for the past two years. She claims they have been forcing her into brutal sex and sexually harassing in many other ways. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

If you are like most Sidney Sheldon fans you have missed the excitement of opening a new book by Sheldon. Well now his style of writing is alive again because Tilly Bagshawe is writing using his style and co-writing with the deceased author. I thought that was odd too but it gets so much better; it is almost like Sheldon is alive and writing again.

Sidney Sheldon’s The Tides of Memory is the fasted paced book ever. Does the past follow you or does it just sneak up and bite you in the ass. Something terrible happens to Toni and Billy – an accident and it was a terrible secret they both tried to forget but it gnawed away at them and finally it broke free. When the truth was known it destroyed lives, marriages, and families and even some of the British government. This is an amazing book and I wish that it would have kept going but there was nothing left to tell so all good things do come to an end. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Elizabeth Sheehan

Joe Hunter is an ex-soldier and former member of a secret force called Arrowsake. He’s left the force after nearly being killed and he still has some painful wounds. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

“A Cancer”, that is your purpose in the world.

When Fumihiro Kuki was eleven years old and living in present day Japan, his wealthy father told him that he was to carry on the family tradition and to become “a cancer”. “I created you to be a cancer on the world.” A cancer would be someone who attaches themselves to others as a parasite draining the life for their own personal gain. How would you react to this declaration?

For Fumihiro Kuki, being born into a wealthy family allowed him to receive extra tutoring to that he would excel in school. With no knowledge or evidence of his mother, his father chooses to be distant and unlovable. Doesn’t money solve the problem of not being loved?

Living in this house with Fumihiro and his father are many servants and a young girl who is also in his class. Kaori attends school with Fumihiro and becomes his best friend and love of his life. Why is she living with them? It also seems that she is motherless. What is her connection to the family?

Evil and the Mask is about Fumihiro while he lives at home with his father and how he adjusts to life. After being cursed, Fumihiro enjoys his growing friendship with Kaori but begins to feel revengeful towards his father and this curse placed upon him. When opportunity for revenge occurs, he makes a well-planned decision that changes his life and his character. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

A Case of Redemption is Adam Mitzner’s 2nd book and all I have to say is his first book was fantastic and now his second book is incredible. He keeps on getting better with each book so what will his 3rd book bring?

Dan Sorensen was a high powered attorney for a very large law firm in New York City and then the unimaginable happened and he stepped off the grid. He has been unheard from for over a year when he is approached by a beautiful, sexy young attorney to try a case of a lifetime. This case seems to be just the case to get Dan back into the courtroom that he loves but will it help him to clear the pain that has hung over him for over a year? Who is this sexy young lawyer who makes Dan remember he isn’t dead. Nina is her name and she wants to help a young man she believes is innocent. Nina has some of her own ghosts like an ex-boyfriend that is married. Nina is still in love with him but she is trying to get over it. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

Jim Satterfield writes a book that you will not be able to put down so don’t start at night. It is sort of a love story, a thrilling mystery, and a who dun it, all in a weird twisted way that just works for Satterfield.

Lee Shelby robs a drug dealer, Tom Tucker, of his drugs and cash – not just a small amount but five kilos of Peruvian flake and seventy-five thousand dollars in cash. He did not do this because he wants the cash or the drugs but he wants to get his girl, Laura back. Laura is In the clutches of Tom Tucker a middle aged drug dealer, who has several police officers protecting him so they turn a blind eye at his dealings. Tucker has Laura so hooked on drugs that she will do anything for the drugs, and that is just where he wants her. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

For those who read Vince Flynn and are aware of Mitch Rapp, the CIA trained weapon, who has been in many of Rapp’s books here, is the opportunity to see how it all began. Who really is Mitch Rapp and how did he ever get started in his avocation of routing out America’s enemies and disposing of them?

American Assassin tells how Irene Kennedy and Thomas Stansfield found Rapp. It then tells in detail how they put Rapp and several others under the tutelage of Stan Hurley so they can rebuild a secret super group of operatives who do Uncle Sam’s dirty work without getting any blame placed against the CIA or other intelligence groups. Kennedy, Stansfield, and Hurley began or at least furthered their careers in the CIA but they are now need to work outside the boundaries and go where others are not supposed to go and do things that others are not supposed to do. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

With a descriptive picture of a casino/bank robbery in Atlantic City, Roger Hobbs begins his story of Ghostman. He really paints an engaging, exciting picture of the robbery. And for those who do not know, large casinos in the United States actually operate as banks for the Treasury. They receive shipments of cash via armored trucks and the cash is packaged in much the same way as when banks receive. The stacks of money are packed a certain way and they not only have a packet of explosive ink and a GPS but they are armed with an additional explosive charge that after a certain period of time will detonate and destroy the currency.

This way the Federal government can write off the cash as paper destroyed and not actually destroy the currency that would be added to the federal debt. Thus robberies of casino deliveries much like those of bank deliveries must be very carefully planned and executed.

In this instance two gentlemen having been given all the background information on the shipment by Marcus Hayes who is one of the top drug-dealing gangsters in the U.S. Hayes has an organization that was made up of drug dealers and also top of the line bank robbers. These robbers each have their own skill. Some are wheelmen, some are shooters, and a select few are Ghostmen. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Ghostman introduces one of the most unusual characters to appear in the mystery/thriller genre in years. As the shadow behind the scenes for criminals, the Ghostman is virtually invisible to the world. He lives off the grid, has multiple identities, keeps on the move and in nearly impossible to contact. The voice of the narrator, Jake Weber, is perfect for the character. His deep voice reading the story with very little expression really got across the “ghost” persona of the main character. He’s there, but as a reader, you just can’t quite get a hold of him. It seems as though he’s hollow inside almost souless.

As the book opens, Ghostman receives an email from the one person he will answer and so the story begins. A casino heist has gone seriously wrong and the boss wants Ghostman to find the missing crew and most importantly to find the money. There is a 48 hour time frame to find the cash before it literally explodes. Read the rest of this entry »