Tropical Delusions……

Former boxer Joe Lattimore is homeless and desperately trying to find a job to support his wife and daughter, when an offer comes out of the blue. Participate in an illegal fight and earn some money. Desperate to move his family to safer territory, Joe agrees to the fight, and inadvertently kills his opponent. Now, with the unexpected death being held over his head, Joe is essentially blackmailed into a home robbery, or else the tape of the fight will be given to the authorities. As Joe enters the home he’s been instructed to rob, he instead finds a dead woman. Fearing the worst, he runs, and is caught in the headlights of an approaching vehicle. Realizing he’s been set up, Joe attempts to flee, but is arrested almost immediately. 

Former MMA fighter-turned-lawyer Robin Lockwood is working on some cases when she gets a call regarding Joe, who’s now been arrested for the murder of sitting Judge Anthony Carasco’s wife Elizabeth.  Known to Robin from her fighting days, she agrees to meet with Joe, and listens to his story. Something about the story sounds too cut and dry, and believing in Joe’s innocence, she agrees to take his case. At Joe’s arraignment, Elizabeth’s mother approaches Robin, telling her that she believes her son-in-law, the Judge, orchestrated Elizabeth’s death. 

As Robin and her co-counsel Amanda slowly unravel the mess that has been created to cover up a murder, it becomes apparent that much more is at play, and the deceptions go deeper than anyone might think. Meanwhile, Luis Ortega, the son of the now deceased opponent Joe faced in his illegal fight has come to town masquerading as a reporter and is looking to find his own answers as to who or what is responsible for his father’s death…as the players pile up and the body count rises, can Robin get to heart of the matter and free Joe Lattimore?

Robin Lockwood is a fantastic character – she just gets better in every book she stars in!  This is one of those books that sucks you right in and before you know it the final page is turned and several hours have gone by – pick a rainy day to read it because you won’t want to put it down! A complex, suspenseful legal thriller from a master!! 

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

This was the first book I’ve ever read by Peter Swanson, and it won’t be my last! Oh my goodness, this was a wild ride, for sure!! 

Abigail Baskin is engaged to be married to wealthy financier Bruce Lamb. Raised of hard-working parents of modest means, Abby tells herself that she’s not marrying ‘simple, in a good way’ Bruce Lamb for his money, but she acknowledges contentment with the life she’ll be able to lead going forward. As she’s discovered, Bruce is very generous, even financing her bachelorette party weekend at a vineyard in Northern California, where she happens to meet “Scottie”.

Scottie is attending his own party, a “still a bachelor” party that his friend has thrown, and he and Abigail meet by chance and make small talk late into the evening.  While Scottie’s questions of Abby are quite pointed, she figures she’ll never see him again, and answers them, as she reminisces a bit, giving readers a glimpse into her past. With plenty of wine on board, she makes an ill-fated decision to sleep with Scottie, who terms it ‘one last fling, before the ring’. Ashamed of herself, and fearful Bruce will somehow know, she returns home to New England, determined to put it behind her, thankful that she’ll never see Scottie again. 

Then with life back to normal, and wedding plans in their final stages, Abby sees Scottie in a local coffee shoppe. With her nerves on edge after the sighting, Bruce and Abby marry in a small ceremony, and after the reception, the pictures, and dinner, as they’re walking to their room for the night, Abby sees a shadow, and the flare of a cigarette…

The next day, they head for their honeymoon on a quaint island off the coast of Maine in Casco Bay. Chosen by Bruce for its quaintness, with no televisions, no internet, no phones, very little electricity, and only accessible by plane or boat, Heart Pond Island is a refreshing visit into the past. But shortly after they settle in, Scottie shows up at the resort as well. Then Abby meets another newlywed, Jill whom she bods with, only to have Jill confide in her a story similar to Abby’s own, and her ex is coincidentally also on the island….

To relate any more would be tossing up spoilers, but this book grabs you like a runaway train as it’s racing down the tracks, and even though you think you know what’s coming, you just can’t tear yourself away! I read it in its entirety in one sitting and am still sitting here a bit shell-shocked at the ending. While Abby wasn’t particularly likeable as a character at the books start, by books end, she kind of became my hero!  Definitely well worth the read!! 

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

Matt Pine, NYU student & brother to a convicted murderer, is playing his weekly chess game with Reggie, his homeless but clearly educated friend, when his dorm RA finds him and tells him that federal agents are looking for him. Mystified, Matt returns to the dorm to learn that his entire family, on vacation on Mexico, have been found dead presumably due to a gas leak per Mexican officials. However, the FBI, who’ve been investigating his father’s workplace, aren’t so sure. 

Struggling to keep it together, Matt flies to Mexico at the instruction of FBI Agent Keller to sign for and retrieve his family’s remains. Upon his arrival, there’s no sign of the consular officer that was supposed to meet him, so Matt buys a ride to Tulum to claim his family – and runs into more than a little trouble while he’s there, including a near miss with someone intent on doing him harm. Shaken, Matt has to deal with a very unfriendly cop at the Tulum Police Department, before a timely intervention orchestrated by Agent Keller. 

Meanwhile, stateside, Agent Keller finally gets her first look at the police photos of the Pine family’s death, and after careful scrutiny, realizes that the scene was staged. But who would want to kill the Pine family – and why? 

Told in before and after timelines, with subtle clues weaved in around the seemingly innocuous events of day to day family life, this book takes off in a hurry and will keep you turning pages deep into the night as you struggle to put all of the pieces together. This was a fantastic read, and I could not put it down!! I was completely hooked!! I highly recommend!! 

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

Mercy Carr & her retired military K-9 Elvis return for their best adventure yet, as Mercy unwittingly gains an old missing persons’ case to look into. Many years ago, Mercy’s ‘Grandpa Red’, then the local Sheriff, was killed by a man bent on revenge after his wife left him.  His then partner, now on his own deathbed, asks to see Mercy, and gifts her with the files of a case he was never able to solve, imploring Mercy to “find her”. He is referring to the young Bethie Kilgore, who disappeared along with her abusive husband, with no trace of the couple ever found, aside from a postcard sent from Vegas all those years ago.  

Meanwhile, Vermont Game Warden Troy Warner stops by Mercy’s home to notify her that her grandfather’s killer, George Rucker, has escaped from prison and disappeared, and they have good reason to believe that Mercy’s grandmother may be in danger. And if that’s not enough, Mercy receives a visit from a young soldier, Wesley Hallett, who claims that Elvis was once his military service dog, and he seems determined to have him back. 

As Mercy begins to dig into the old case files, she her grandmother are injured in an unexpected attack, and an intruder attempts to steal the old case files from Mercy’s home, thwarted only by Elvis’ quick response. Now Mercy must put aside her fears of losing Elvis, and her personal differences with Troy, as he and the lovable Susie Bear, his search-and-rescue K-9, work to  keep her grandmother out of harms’ way, and try to discover the fate of a woman who has been missing for over 20 years…

This is the third book in the Mercy & Elvis series and all I can say is that I LOVE them! Set in the beautiful northeastern state of Vermont, the story – the whole series – is fast paced and engaging, the protagonists, both 2 legged and 4, are loveable, relatable and flawed, and you’ll be flipping pages well into the night like I was!  Great, GREAT series!!  

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