Tropical Delusions……

This book takes off like a runaway train, and all you can do is hold on for dear life as you frantically turn the pages to figure out who Mike has angered so badly! Additionally, for me, having spent several years living in the beautiful state of Maine, this series is always like a visit home for me as I read of places that I’ve visited and grown to love. 

Maine State Game Warden Mike Bowditch is driving down a dark stretch of isolated road when he drives over a homemade ‘spike strip’ which promptly flattens his tires and sends him careening over an embankment into the icy Kennebec River. Completely submerged in ice cold water, Mike somehow manages to escape the vehicle, freeing his canine companion as he does so, before the vehicle sinks beneath the ice. Fighting to get safely to land, Mike must now find a way to warm himself, before frostbite and hypothermia become irreversible.  As he works to save himself, he notices headlights and a flashlight in the distance where his Jeep left the roadway and realizes that someone has returned to be sure the trap had worked. 

Several hours beforehand, Mike had paid a visit to a family who had written to him personally to express their dissatisfaction over the Warden’s Service handling of a relative’s death, presumably in an accident, while duck hunting along the same river. While the case was long considered an accidental death and closed, the story piques Mike’s interest enough to follow up on some interviews of witnesses at the time. One such person was the deceased’s alleged lover, who Mike suspects may be behind the situation he finds himself in now. But Mike is only half right…

Told in back-and-forth snippets from Mike’s present situation to the preceding events of the same day which landed him here, this book was literally impossible for me to put down! I was sucked in from the first page and read it straight through! A fantastic read, and for those of you not familiar with this series, it is a perfect start! I can’t say enough about it!! 

Available on June 29th from your favorite bookseller!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an objective review.  Do you love to read?? Visit Netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Kate Gardner is a newly single mother, in a new town, trying to cope with a sudden divorce, and the angst of seeing her ex-husband Scott flaunt his new relationship, while she tries to pick up the pieces, keep her sanity and maintain an air of normalcy for her children.  While at her son’s soccer game, Kate sends a drone into the air on a test flight, only to have it fall, striking her in the head and knocking her to the ground. Mortified, she keeps silent as bystanders search for the drone’s owner, with her son asking to keep it, in hopes of finding the owner on video. 

The next morning, two police officers arrive, prepared to investigate the incident. Embarrassed about her lie of omission, Kate keeps quiet about the drone’s origin while they question her about yesterday’s events. As they review footage from the drone’s flight, it quickly becomes apparent that someone has been taking an unusual interest in Kate. An unrecognizable male figure in a blue cap is seen lurking in much of the footage captured.  From that point on, things just seem to escalate, and Kate fears she’s losing her mind…

First, Scott informs her that he wants custody of the children, then her vehicle is vandalized, and she loses her job. A trip to school to pick up her children leads to humiliation and the knowledge that someone is out to destroy her…but who? The stalker, or someone much closer to home? As tensions mount, Kate discovers that she has two unexpected allies – and she’ll need every bit of their help to unravel the lies and deception that surround her…

This is my second novel by Christopher Greyson, and I read it straight through in a single sitting – I just couldn’t put it down! The storyline grabs you from the start and the hits just keep on coming as the pages turn. The characters provoked a lot of emotion – some you just loved to hate, and while I has guessed at who the protagonist was, I was still stunned at as I read the last few pages. Was happy to see a nod to my other favorite Greyson character in there as well!  A riveting read, great for the beach, or a stormy day, cause you won’t want to put it down!! 

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & Greyson Media in exchange for an objective review.  Do you love to read?? Visit Netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

At first glance, I probably would have bypassed this book – I love crime fiction and police procedurals, but a serial killer on an aircraft carrier??  Then I saw the strong endorsement from one of my most favorite authors (Lee Child), so I decided to give it a try – thank goodness I did – this was an intense read!! 

Finn X is a Navy SEAL, who is catching a ride stateside from the Persian Gulf, via the USS Abraham Lincoln, after a field op gone terribly wrong.  Always a SEAL, and haunted by a mission he can’t quite recall, Finn stays vigilant, making observations about his new surroundings and the people that inhabit the ship. Quiet & ever watchful, he roams the decks, never settling in one place for too long, except when he can find small spaces to sit and draw as he watches the waves go by. 

Monica is a naval aviator, very close to obtaining her helo flight certification, a ticket to bigger and better commissions. Her one obstacle – her commanding officer, who seems to hate her. Monica is also mourning the recent loss of her roommate and friend, who was lost in a helicopter crash – an aircraft that she had declared flight ready that fateful day. 

The initial death is believed to be a suicide – an individual driven to despair who jumped overboard. After a cursory search, the carrier continues its return trip home.  Shortly thereafter, another disappearance, one that has Monica bedside herself with guilt, and Finn suspicious, as the carriers’ crew again assembles for the cursory search of a man overboard. Then yet another, with Finn quickly coming under scrutiny by the command staff of the vessel, when a human finger is found on the flight deck. 

As Finn tries to find a killer, he’s also looking inside himself for answers his recent mission, and to long ago events – events that remains elusive in his memory even today. As he struggles to remember his past, he also wonders – could he, in fact, actually be the killer he’s searching for? 

This was a neat look into life at sea of both enlisted personnel and officer, with a great who-dun-it tossed into the mix. A lot of descriptive detail was included to help the non-military reader to understand the setting, and Finn’s character was fascinating – a flawed hero with a complex past that he is still trying to uncover. I very much enjoyed this book and was super excited to learn that Finn’s story continues in the next book, of which an excerpt is included. I will absolutely be following Finn’s story as it continues! 

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an objective review.  Do you love to read?? Visit Netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Diane Connors, a trained physician and the ex-wife of Joe Quinn, has stumbled upon what could possibly be a ‘panacea’ – a treatment that could cure all ills. Equally determined to stop her is Joshua Nalam, a wealthy businessman with ties to pharmaceuticals and the President. After a daring theft of some files, Nalam has set his sights on eliminating Diane – who has no one else to turn to but Eve Duncan & Joe Quinn. 

For the past couple of years, Diane has lived on Hakali Island, with Alon, the owner of the land. Alon’s brother Kai has been missing, abducted by Nalam. In a fit of rage, Nalam claimed to have killed Kai and left his body in pieces, in the remote Montana wilderness. Diane is desperate to locate Kai’s body, and with Eve’s assistance in forensic sculpting, to bring Kai home to his brother once and for all.  

But from the start, things spiral out of control. An attempt is made on Diane’s life shortly after arriving to Joe & Eve’s hometown, with CIA Agent and close friend Catherine Ling being injured as a result. Joe & Eve’s son Michael, with his unusual psychic abilities, sees blood and darkness all around Diane. As the truth unfolds, it will take all that Joe & Eve can give, to keep Diane and themselves one step ahead of a madman wanting to silence them all…

It’s been a while since I’ve read an Eve Duncan novel, and judging by the current cast of characters, I’ve missed a few novels in the interim! Eve’s sculpting skill, as readers have come to love, is put to work again in this newest adventure, and while the storyline is somewhat predictable (it IS a series after all), the pages are full of the adventure and suspense you’ve come to expect, with a few surprises tossed in as well – all which I suspect will lead to some fascinating future storytelling! A great read – and I’ve you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard of Eve Duncan & Joe Quinn, there’s no time like the present to get to know them!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & Grand Central Publishing  in exchange for an objective review.  Do you love to read?? Visit Netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!