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Archive for the ‘Suspense’ Category

Reviewed by Allen Holt

An earlier Connelly novel but still with all of his energy, tautness, great dialogue, and vivid description. All of his work is stay-up-and-read-one-more-chapter! Void Moon is no exception.

From the very first chapter where Cassie Black watches with regret while her lover (and soon to be father of her child) walked off to get on the elevator to the casino’s hotel rooms. She had wanted to do this job as it was to be their last and they were going to pack it up, leave the racket, and move to Tahiti while awaiting the birth of their child. Though she pleaded with him he would not have it any way so off he went.

Little did either of them know that this would be his last job? The plan seemed to be simple. He would go to the tower and rob the mark while he slept.

But sometime not long after leaving Cassie, Max came crashing through the skylight and dropped onto the dice tables. He was dead and she was devastated.

Her life then begins its descent. She is arrested for several crimes that she and Max had committed. While in prison she delivers Max’s daughter who is immediately put up for adoption.

After serving several years she is put on parole and is lucky enough to have it transferred back to California. She is also lucky enough to get a decent job selling high-priced autos at a fancy dealership. However Cassie longs for more. She wants to get enough money to move (hopefully with her daughter whom she has located) and live happily ever after. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

“Treva Williams, the only hostage to be released, sat on the curb beyond the cordoned-off area, wrapped in an EMT blanket.” This sentence is the opening line in Fever Dream and immediately captures the reader’s sympathy for Treva.

Meanwhile, Detective Eleanor Lowrey is on the phone to Daniel Rinaldi, psychologist. Rinaldi is also a trauma expert and consults with the Pittsburgh police. Detective Lowrey asks Rinaldi to come right away to the scene of a bank robbery that has gone bad. The criminals are still inside the bank but one hostage, Treva Williams, has been released. Treva is badly traumatized and Detective Lowrey is hoping that Rinaldi can perform some magic that will calm Treva and help the police in their handling of the standoff situation.

When Rinaldi arrives on the scene he is able to immediately connect with Treva and learn a little more about the situation inside the bank. Then suddenly everything explodes as shots ring out and police converge on the scene. Rinaldi promises Treva to ride to the hospital with her in the ambulance, though he is prevented from keeping that promise. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

“Jennifer, I love you.” No, this is not a love story. These four words are the last words spoken by a young FBI agent as he lay dying next to Lisa Palmer, recently widowed, single mother. At the request of the agent, Lisa had tried to reach his gun so that he would have a chance at the robbers but the gun slipped and attracted the attention of one of the robbers who immediately shot the FBI agent and held a gun to Lisa’s head. Lisa escaped death but didn’t escape the terror of living through the robbery and the fear that the robbers would somehow find her.

Although Lisa has two small children to protect, she does agree to do everything she can to cooperate with the FBI in their search for the criminals. For FBI agent Frank Morrow this case is extremely important. Morrow is facing his own death sentence and is determined to conclude the case and allow him time to spend with is family before his health problems take their final toll.

Jack Gannon, a reporter for World Press Alliance, is given the assignment and pressured to land an exclusive. Gannon’s current boss, Dolf Lisker, is nothing like Melody Lane, his former boss, who has taken a one-year leave of absence. Lisker had never worked the streets or followed a lead and had no patience whatsoever. Lisker demanded immediate results and had no patience with Gannon who had an anonymous tipster he was attempting to catch up with and obtain further information about the robbery and its purpose. Gannon feels that the robbery had been carried out by well-trained men and the purpose of the robbery was more than just a chance to grab some fast money. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Nancy Eaton

Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean receives a message from her daughter, Rachael, who works at the front desk of the Ritz-Carlton. The hotel is hosting a convention for defense attorneys. Rachael informs Theresa that someone is dead. The person murdered is Marie Corrigan, a high profile lawyer, who is not well liked by many including Theresa. Marie was known to do some unethical things to win her case including falsifying evidence.

Theresa begins an investigation and really has a very difficult job to do because any type of evidence found could belong to anyone who has checked into the room. Theresa is very thorough with what she does. She also runs different scenarios through her mind as to what could have happened to Marie. The way the killer left Marie’s body was also very strange.

It doesn’t take long for two more bodies to show up. Is someone killing defensive attorneys on a random basis or is there some kind of link between each person? Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

What an incredible book. Sebastian Rotella writes with a passion I’ve seldom seen before. This is a story you will want to keep reading because you realize some of this is based on truths and it scares the crap out of you to know that this goes on every day at the border and in our own country as well.

Valetine Rescatore is a rookie Border Patrol agent. He is a kind-hearted guy that gives money to people that he captures and knows they are going to be sent back to their homeland. He gets himself into trouble and is recruited to be an informant by Isabel Puente, a very beautiful US agent who is investigating a powerful Mexican crime family. Almost instantly Valetine has a crush on Isabel but she doesn’t acknowledge that she feels the same. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Cy Hilterman

The author makes you actually feel as though you are in the story whether it is as a cop, a fireman, a defense or prosecuting attorney, a person on trial, the witnesses of the alleged crime, or just in the presence of all of the afore mentioned. “Under Fire” is written so you can’t get lost, as some stories seem to do intentionally! You will find you are placing yourself in the capacity of a small storeowner as you discover your store is on fire and you think your son is trapped upstairs in his bedroom. What to do? The you hear amidst the smoke some crashing of something followed by lights from what turned out to be a fireman’s belt flashlight as two of them attempt to get you out while searching the rest of the building for any others that might be trapped. Are you in this story yet? You will be if not!

You figure more firemen arrive when you hear some sirens. You make it out of the building, as does your son who does have injuries from the smoke and fire. You watch feeling helpless as your own store burns. Then, as fast as your concern was on your store and your son, you are arrested for burning down your own store. It’s a nightmare you want to be awakened from never to return. But a fireman has been shot during the attempt to fight the fire and he was killed.

Sarah Lynch had formerly been a prosecutor. Her uncle, Buddy Clancy, was a defense attorney that used many different types of moods and words in his defense. When Buddy was asked to defend Amina Diallo, the owner of the ruined store, he contacted Sarah and talked her into helping in the defense despite the fact that Sarah had been a prosecutor. Amina’s son, Malick, had been injured in the fire but he also was one of the suspects because of his proximity during the fire. Sarah had mixed emotions since some time ago she had lost one of her best friends who was a fireman in a fire. Now she was to defend a woman charged with killing another fireman. Sarah also knew other firemen and policemen very well, which also made her job more difficult. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Chris Phillips

Puttlitz is knowledgeable and technically well grounded. His experience and expertise shine throughout the book. Details are deep, well researched and are revealed through the events of the plot. The reader knows the needed information as soon as the characters do. The mystery begins promptly in the first chapter and remains unveiled even as the death toll mounts and finding the stolen nuclear materials becomes more and more difficult.

Special Agent Jeb Foster has been on multiple missions. He is a capable leader with a team of experts to call upon for information. However, the mystery begins when he and his love interest encounter odd problems. A foiled carjacking and ominous threats on his girl friend set the intrigue while Jeb catches up with the thieves. He spends his energy concentrating on the mission but how does he balance a growing love interest on the team while putting up with an annoying new team member? Also, Jeb finds him still missing his former team partner, Marco, who was killed in the line of duty.

Jeb is assigned to investigate and retrieve radioactive “dirty” bomb ready materials stolen from the former Soviet Union countries. There are more people involved and many with poor or bad reputations and connections. Darla is the original love interest, but plays only a small part. Max is the long term Team member who obtains data, analyzes it and condenses it for Jeb to use. Kaj is the unknown quantity who is obnoxious, rude and constantly annoying everyone. Sorina is the newest person, totally unknown to Jeb before being assigned to the team for this mission. The other players die off almost as quickly as they appear in the storyline. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewd by Nancy Eaton

Come and Find Me is a very different kind of book to read. It reminded me of a combination suspense/science fiction story.

The author really did a great job with the technology aspect of Come and Find Me. I loved the idea of the avatars and how Diana used Nadia for virtual meetings with clients. This really places this thriller in today’s world.

Diana Banks, a former computer hacker, lost her husband, Daniel, in a mountain climbing accident. His cries for help still haunt her and she suffers panic attacks. She very rarely leaves the house which is equipped with the latest security available. The only thing she will do is open the door for the UPS deliveryman or a visit from her sister Ashley. She and Daniel’s best friend run an Internet security company. It is convenient for her because she does the work from her home. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Allen Hott

Lincoln Rhyme, the hero of The Burning Wire, is a quadriplegic that is noted worldwide as a forensic criminologist. He basically works out of his home/lab and is assisted by Thom (his caretaker), Amelia Sachs (a NYPD detective and his live-in girlfriend), and in this book by Ron Pulaski another detective who is in training.

As hard as some of the happenings seem to be to believe in today’s world it is all entirely possible. He is able to converse by phone and computer and uses the detectives as his eyes in the field. They have been trained by him to go over a crime scene thoroughly picking up every “trace” that is on site.

Most of the story takes place in New York City where something is causing problems with the major provider of electricity to not only the city but much of the northeastern United States. Not only has the interruption occurred but because of it one man died and others were injured. The “accident” involved a cable that was sticking out of one of the substations. As a transit bus pulled up to pick up passengers a tremendous arc popped and not only killed the one boarding passenger but it also burned the bus pretty severely and injured some of the occupants. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

For people who morn the loss of Sidney Sheldon’s deliciously indulgent fiction, Tilly Bagshawe’s new series may be the next best thing. Though the cover and titling of the book is a bit confusing, the After the Darkness title by Tilly Bagshawe is her first attempt at updating the books originally written by Sheldon. Done with the blessing of Sheldon’s heirs, Bagshawe has taken the title of a Sheldon book and crafted a tale set in current times to match the story originally published under the title. Confusing? Yes. Does it work? Definitely!

Grace Brookstein’s life was the envy of all who knew her. She was beautiful, generous and married to one of the wealthiest men in the world. But she was also terribly naïve and that single fault nearly cost her everything. When her husband’s boat was found empty in the middle of a storm off the Cape, she hoped for the best. But when his body washed ashore days later she thought her life had ended. When the hedge fund Lenny Brookstein ran collapsed and she was left holding the bag, Grace Brookstein’s world came crashing down. While in prison Grace had time to sort things out and plan her revenge on those who had not only abandoned her but quite possibly set her up to take the fall.

While the book is not exactly a romance, there are certainly romantic moments and a little bit of sex in it. It’s not a mystery as such but there are several puzzles for readers to work out. While not a work of “literary fiction,” it is surely great escapism reading. Read the rest of this entry »