Review of Silenced by Allison Brennan

Rating - 4

 A number of known prostitutes--with scores of high profile clients--are turning up dead all over D.C. Is this the work of a depraved killer? Or the result of an inside job? Lucy's investigation will take her into an underground network of prostitutes, the chambers of the country's most powerful players, and her own dark past to confront an unknown enemy who's always one step ahead of her. With the help of her P.I. boyfriend Sean Rogan, Lucy must find and protect the only witness who can identify the killer and end the conspiracy, but can the witness be trusted? Lucy will risk everything to expose the truth and ensure justice is served, even if that means putting herself in the line of fire ... (Desc. from Amazon)

The Lucy Kincaid series is my favorite of Brennan's numerous series. The characters of Lucy and Sean are nuanced and finely drawn. Each book in the series explores their characters more deeply. As a writer, Brennan is a master of complex plot twists. Once started, her books are hard to put down.

Review of The Final Cut by Catherine Coulter, J. T. Ellison

Rating: 4

 Scotland Yard’s new chief inspector Nicholas Drummond is on the first flight to New York when he learns his colleague, Elaine York, the "“minder of the Crown Jewels for the “Jewel of the Lion” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was found murdered. Then the centerpiece of the exhibit, the infamous Koh-i-Noor Diamond, is stolen from the Queen Mother’s crown. Drummond, American-born but raised in the UK, is a dark, dangerous, fast-rising star in the Yard who never backs down. And this case is no exception. Working with FBI special-agent Michaela "Mike" Caine, they determine that the thief is an international art thief known as "The Fox". The Fox will stop at nothing to deliver the Koh-i-Noor to the man who believes in its deadly prophecy. (Desc. from Amazon).

I haven't read anything by Catherine Coulter for many years. After reading Final Cut, I realize I've been missing out! Taut suspense, action, and great characters combine to form a highly entertaining read.

Review of Headed for Trouble by Suzanne Brockmann

Rating - 3 1/2 

Headed for Trouble is a compilation of short stories featuring many of the characters from previous Troubleshooters stories. Brockmann includes a timeline showing where each story fits within the list of Troubleshooter novels. It's a fun book to read if you've been a Troubleshooter fan all along. It catches you up on the lives of some of your favorite Troubleshooter characters, after the novel in which they first appeared.

Review of Midnight Secrets by Ella Grace

Rating - 3
ARC - On sale 4/30/2013

On a hot southern night, a family is shattered. Three daughters—Savannah, Samantha, and Sabrina Wilde—go on with their lives as they bear the memory of the murder-suicide that killed their parents. For years, they have stayed away from Midnight, Alabama. Now, a prosecutor, Savannah is the first one back when a case in Nashville leads her to seek shelter in the once grand Wilde mansion.  While she's home, Savannah decides to start going through the mansion, preparing it for sale. When she finds some old letters left by her father, she begins to realize that her parents' death wasn't what it seemed. As she starts asking questions, she realizes that her life is in danger. Zach Tanner, once the town’s bad boy and her first lover, is now the new police chief. Working together to solve the mystery, Zach and Savannah realize that the chemistry they had as teenagers is still there.

 

This was an entertaining, romantic, suspenseful book. I thorougly enjoyed reading it and I look forward to reading the next books in this series.

Review of If I Should Die by Allison Brennan

Rating - 4

While helping their friends stop malicious vandals targeting their new resort, aspiring FBI agent Lucy Kincaid and her P.I. boyfriend, Sean Rogan, stumble upon a dead body, which then disappears, leading them into the middle of a violent conspiracy.

Romantic suspense is one of my favorite genres and I enjoy reading Brennan's stories about the Rogan and Kincaid families. They sre suspenseful, romantic and fast-paced. What's not to like?

Review of Kiss Me, Kill Me by Allison Brennan

Rating - 4

Sean Rogan, a private investigator and Lucy Kincaide are investigating a missing girl case. FBI agent Suzanne Madeaux, working with the NYPD, is investigating a serial killer case, dubbed the "Cinderella Killer" because the murderer takes one shoe from each victim. Soon, Sean and Lucy meet up with Suzanne when they realize that the missing girl was somehow involved with the most recent victim. Sean, Lucy and Suzanne realize that they must learn to trust each other if they are going to solve the case before there's another victim.

This 2nd book in the Lucy Kincaide case is suspenseful with plenty of action and romance. It was hard to put down. Recommended for lovers of the romantic suspense genre.

Review of Broken by Karin Slaughter

Rating - 4

When Special Agent Will Trent arrives in Grant County, he finds a police department determined to protect its own and far too many unanswered questions about a prisoner’s death. He doesn’t understand why Officer Lena Adams is hiding secrets from him. He doesn’t understand her role in the death of Grant County’s popular police chief. He doesn’t understand why that man’s widow, Dr.Sara Linton, needs him now more than ever to help her crack this case.

While the police force investigates the murder of a young woman pulled from a frigid lake, Trent investigates the police force, putting pressure on Adams just when she’s already about to crack. Caught between two complicated and determined women, trying to understand Linton’s passionate distrust of Adams, the facts surrounding Chief Tolliver’s death, and the complexities of this insular town, Trent will unleash a case filled with explosive secrets—and encounter a thin blue line that could be murderous if crossed.

Karin Slaughter is one of my favorite suspense authors. Her characters are well-drawn and there are lots of twists and turns to her plots. Many of her novels are part of a series and the characters in the novels often show up in other series. Each book offers a little more back-story of the main characters, which helps the reader understand the characters better. If you are a reader of suspense novels, pick up Karin Slaughter.

Review of The Evil Inside by Heather Graham

Rating - 4

For as long as it has stood overlooking New England’s jagged coastline, Lexington House has been the witness to madness…and murder. But in recent years the inexplicable malice that once tormented so many has lain as silent as its victims. Until now… A member of the nation’s foremost paranormal forensic team, Jenna Duffy has made a career out of investigating the inexplicable. Yet nothing could prepare her for the string of slayings once again plaguing Lexington House – or for the chief suspect, a boy barely old enough to drive, much less kill. With the young man’s life on the line, Jenna must team up with attorney Samuel Hill to pinpoint who – or what – is taking the lives of those who get too close to the past. But everything they learn brings them closer to the forces of evil stalking this tortured ground.

(Retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Jun 2011)

This is the 4th book in the Krewe of Hunters series. They are great romantic suspense novels with a touch of the paranormal. This one takes place in Salem, MA during halloween. Halloween in Salem is the perfect setting for this tale of serial killers, bloody, gory crime scenes and the ghosts who help solve the crime. This is a great series and look forward to #5.

Review of Sacred Evil by Heather Graham

Rating - 4

The details of the crime scene are no coincidence. The body—a promising starlet—has been battered, bloodied and then discarded between two of Manhattan's oldest graveyards.

One look and Detective Jude Crosby recognizes the tableau:
A re–creation of Jack the Ripper's gruesome work. But he also sees something beyond the actions of a mere copycat. Something more dangerous…and unexplainable.
As the city seethes with suspicion, Jude calls on Whitney Tremont, a member of the country's preeminent paranormal investigating team, to put the speculation to rest. Yet when Whitney and Jude delve deeper, what they discover is more shocking than either could have predicted, and twice as sinister…(retrieved from Amazon.com).
While an enjoyable read, this 3rd book in the Krewe of Hunters series gets bogged down by the amount of historical information provided about Jack the Ripper. It's still very suspenseful and keeps you guessing until the very end of the book. (Krewe of Hunters, Bk. 3).

Review of Phantom Evil by Heather Graham

Rating - 4

Jackson Crow, a former member of the government's Behavioral Sciences Unit in Washington, D.C., leads a covert group investigating a reputedly haunted New Orleans house. When Regina Holloway, the wife of a popular Louisiana state senator takes a fatal fall from the balcony of the couple's French Quarter mansion, her death is officially ruled a suicide, but could ghosts have been involved? Angela Hawkins, a Virginia police officer with the ability to detect paranormal activity, partners with Jackson professionally and romantically as she assists his team in discovering the truth behind Regina's death. (PW, Amazon.com)

Graham writes taught romantic suspense novels, often with a paranormal theme. This one doesn't disappoint. I listened to this one and the reader put me off a bit, but the story was good enough to keep going. (Bk. 1, Krewe of Hunters series).

Review of Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Rating - 4.5

Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case.But where is their six-year-old daughter? (Amazon).

I really liked this book. The plot is compex; the story is told in two voices...Tessa's and D.D.'s. The two points of view allow the reader to know more than the characters' at certain points. It is very suspenseful and difficult to stop reading. Highly recommended.

Review of The Summons by John Grisham

Rating - 3

When Ray Atlee receives a summons from his dying father, Judge Reuben Atlee, he immediately flies back home to Mississippi. When rhe arrives, he finds his father dead in his chair in his home office. Judge Atlee had been in the final stages  of cancer and in severe pain, so Ray felt a mixture of grief and relief. His brother, Forrest, has been summoned also, so Ray decides to wait until he calls the coroner and the authorities, so Forrest can say goodbye in private. While Ray waits for his brother to arrive, he looks in a cabinet behind the sofa for some paper to write on and discovers a number of identical boxes. He opens one of the boxes and discovers it's full of money. After going through the rest of the boxes, he finds a total of $3 million. Ray is stunned. Where did this money come from? Why was it hidden? Who else knows it's there? Ray decides he can't just leave it there, so he moves all of the boxes to another location and decides not to tell anyone about the money until he knows more about it, not even his brother. Thus starts a journey of discovery for Ray. Along the way, he will learn more about his father and brother, will be followed and have his life threatened numerous times.
Parts of this book are very suspenseful and it is very fast-paced. There is a suspenseful build-up to the end, but nothing really happens. I felt let-down when I finished it.

Review of Eve by Iris Johansen

Rating - 4

Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor. She analyzes bones and pieces them together to try and identify dead people. It's her mission in life. She lost her child, Bonnie, years ago and Eve constantly hopes that one day she will find out what happened to Bonnie even as she brings other people's children home using her talent. Her good friend, Catherine Ling, now comes to Eve with some information which might actually help Eve finally find out what happened to Bonnie.
Eve is the first in a 3 book series about Eve, Quinn and Bonnie. Much of the book is flashback to Eve's youth and the birth of Bonnie. Simultaneously, there is a race to find the person who not only may be Bonnie's killer but someone who has close ties to Eve's youth. There are parts of the book that seem to drag, especially the flashbacks, but the information is new to reader's of the Eve Duncan series and the search for the killer is extememly suspenseful and fast-paced.

Review of Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson

Rating = 4

 
The murder of Julia "Jules" Farentino's father creates a bond with her younger half-sister, Shaylee Stillman. That bond is tested years later when 17-year-old Shaylee is shipped off to Blue Rock Academy, an Oregon school in the middle of nowhere for at-risk teens. Shaylee hates the school and believes there is a big problem there - people are dying. Shaylee secretly contacts Jules and begs to come home. Jules, worried about Shay's allegations, takes a teaching position at Blue Rock to rescue Shay. She discovers Cooper Trent, her ex-boyfriend, working there as an undercover PI looking into the murders.  Jules and Cooper work together to find the person(s) committing the murders. They are getting close, when a blizzard hits the area. Cooper, Jules and Shaylee are trapped at Blue Rock with a killer determined to kill them all.

Although this is not as well-written as some of Jackson's books (too many coincidences, shallow characterization), it's very suspenseful. The ending is a surprise, and it's a breathless ride to get there!!

Review: Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen

Rating - 4

Catherine Ling is a top operative in the CIA, having been recruited as a child from the streets of Hong Kong. Almost 10 years ago, her 2 year old son was kidnapped by a Russian terrorist bent on seeking revenge on Catherine. Over the years, Rakovac has kept Luke alive, taunting Catherine about his whereabouts. Catherine finally has enough information to track Rakovac and find her son. She asks Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor, to do an age progression on a photo of Luke when he was 2 years old so she knows what he looks like now. Eve finds herself being drawn further into the search for Luke, and soon Eve and her partner, Joe, have put their lives on the line to help Catherine find her son and stop Rakovac before he not only kills Luke but unleashes a series of terrorist attacks on major cities in the world.

I've read the Eve Duncan series from the beginning, mostly because I'm fascinated by her work as a forensic sculptor. Some titles have been more interesting than others, but "Chasing the Night" is one of the best. After a slow start setting the stage and introducing the major characters, the story takes off at a furious pace, leaving readers breathless and unable to put the book down until the very last page. AND, the final paragraph opens the door to something that readers of the Eve Duncan series have been waiting for a long time.