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Archive for the ‘Suspense’ Category

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 »

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

Reviewed by Julie Moderson

Karin Schaeffer thought she had already defeated evil but there was more. Karin thought her new life was perfect. She had a toddler son and a wonderful husband who adored her and his family. They were so supportive.

Three long years ago while Karin was a detective, her family was murdered and she learned to love again and was so happy. Suddenly evil comes back into her life. Her husband Mac’s parents are found murdered for no apparent reason. Mac’s younger brother is charged with their murder and Mac disappears for months and is presumed dead. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Vickie Dailey

This book is fantastic. It is filled with great plot twists. As we learn from the author in the Note: This book was written 20 years ago as his first novel (remained unpublished until now) and he resisted updating the book to today’s time. This may be why the book is filled with such energy.

The story revolves around Laura (former model) and champion basketball player David. While eloping to Australia, David tragically drowns. Laura is heartbroken and cannot stop thinking about David.
For reasons not even known to herself, she starts delving into David’s life to try and make sense of his death. Unfortunately, this stirs up the past and people start dying. With the help of her sister Gloria and several others. Luara starts to put the pieces together.

Enter Mark Sneidman – new all-star basketball player that plays remarkably like David. Gloria’s new boyfriend Stan (David’s brother) and a Boston Celtics game, one person decides the truth from the past must be told.

The author offers several likely murder suspects – with a climactic end. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Caryn St. Clair

Christmas Mourning, Maron’s sixteenth Deborah Knotts mystery, opens with both Deborah and her new husband Dwight at the local high school for career day. What would normally be a light-hearted day for the students as well as the participants has a cloud over it. The day before, one of the school’s most promising students was involved in a serious car accident and before the school day is over, they learn that Mallory Johnson has died of her injuries. For the community, it’s a hard pill to swallow as this is the eighth young person in the county to die from a car accident and the third from this school alone in the past few months. For Mallory’s family the death is just one more in a long string of grief-filled events. And things get worse for everyone when the accident report comes in and that this was no simple accident. Where the investigation leads has the community and especially Mallory’s family on edge. For Deborah the news is even worse. The investigation leads right to her own family.

For readers who have been following this series all along, this is a truly splendid entry in the long running series. There is a mystery, and it is very cleverly played out. But in many ways, this book is about Deborah’s large family, the community’s complex inter-relationships and just what it’s like living in a tight knit community where virtually everyone is related to everyone else if not by blood, then by marriage. There are many characters from previous books besides Deborah’s family who pop up through out the book. For Maron fans, Christmas Mourning will be a comfortable visit back to Colleton County. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Karin Schaeffer has endured a lot of tragedy in her life. Her husband and little girl were both murdered and the killer stalked Karin but that is in her past and she hopes to leave the danger and sorrow behind her. She is now married to Mac MacLeary, a former police officer, who helped her get through the horrible time when the maniac that killed her family was trying to kill her.

Mac and Karin have a little boy, Ben. Karin’s mother lives nearby and life now seems to be normal, happy and secure. Then Mac receives a phone call that his parents have been murdered. Not only does the family have to face the tragedy of the death of Mac’s parents but Mac’s brother is charged with the murder. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Cy Hilterman

A story occurring mostly in the Bahama Islands that shows how powerful a corporation can be due to illegal transactions, mostly drug related. There are no qualms in this illicit business that lead to murder, sex, terrorism, and easily tearing families and individual lives apart. It makes corporation leaders non-trusting of almost all of those they deal with as well as their spouses and/or girlfriends and boyfriends, fiancés, and many times even their own selves!

Rico Salazar was caught in a storm in an area of the Bahama Islands that was very remote with no populated islands nearby. He thought that it would be a perfect place to set up his business. His problem were the few people that lived on this mostly deserted island, so he had to scare them into moving away by any method he could devise. Salazar was good at conniving so it took little time to make this island into his own private drug manufacturing home, knowing he could control the entire area around the island due to the many shoals that made entrance almost impossible. If someone ventured into the area they would disappear and never be seen or heard of again.

Madeleine Nesbitt and her parents were having a delightful cruise in their boat until they strayed too close to Salazar’s island and, as with all others, they were trapped and killed. Maddy was fortunate to escape by hiding under water for some time until the killers had left her for dead. It was such an awful ordeal for her to watch her parents so harshly killed. She decided then and there that she would get revenge some how, some day. She laid out some elaborate plans by changing her name and appearance and eventually working for the man himself and those he dealt with in his huge drug trade. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewed by Teri Davis

Scott Sterling is a washed-up detective barely surviving. He manages to live by living cheaply in Thailand above a bar and giving scuba lessons to tourists. He doesn’t think much about returning to the states in that he enjoys this lifestyle. He was introduced to this area as an ex-CIA operative in Vietnam. He has found that his former skills and training are perfect for being a private detective in Bangkok, Thailand.

Kylie Winters wants to hire Scott to investigate her father’s death many years ago. Supposedly, her father’s death was considered to be a suicide, but with the disappearance of bearer bonds worth millions and his gorgeous lover, Kylie wants answers to many questions. She is convinced that Jiab, the lover, killed her father for the bonds. . She wants this woman found and will pay by the day. Since Scott is in need of money, he agrees to take this investigation.

The adventure has intrigue, twists, and turns. The characters are believable and the investigation is written is such a manner that is realistic. This is a fast-paced, high-adventure novel. The references to the former events in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand are accurate and pull the reader into the history of this region.

Most people understand that chic books are for females favoring those in their late teens and early twenties. Like this specific genre, PERMANENT DAMAGE is for Vietnam vets who even today daydream about the beauty of Thailand’s women. In blunt terms, this is a guy novel for Vietnam veterans. Yes, it can be read by those outside of this specific description, but it is obvious that there is a targeted readership. Read the rest of this entry »