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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Ready Or Not in Books

Sep 26, 2021  
Ready Or Not
Ready Or Not
Alex Lake | 2021 | Crime, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a deliciously creepy and gripping read made all the better as it's partly set in my neck of the woods!

A serial killer is on the loose murdering people at random and the police have no leads whatsoever. Tom and Alice are happily married with a beautiful baby girl but the cracks begin to show; they are exhausted by a lack of sleep, bruising begins to appear on their baby and Alice starts writing about the serial killer. As Alice becomes more embroiled in her story, it appears the killer has her in his sights.

Written from different perspectives and with timelines from the past which smoothly lead into the present, this is a fast paced and thrilling read where the tension builds and builds right until the end. Each and every character is strong and adds something to the story.

I have read some of Alex Lake's previous books and have enjoyed each and every one of them and I will certainly be looking out for the next.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK / HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
The Twenty (Major Crimes, Book 2)
The Twenty (Major Crimes, Book 2)
Sam Holland | 2023 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A definite 5 star read for me and one of my books of 2023 so far ... an absolute cracker!!

I read a lot of crime and psychological thrillers and the odd horror book and it takes a lot to get me going but Sam Holland most definitely got me going with The Twenty. Oh my word!! Why? I hear you ask.

Excellent and interesting characters ... check.
Excellent serial killer ... check.
Gripping story line ... check.
Fast pace ... check.
Twists and turns ... check.
Gruesome scenes that give you the chills ... check.
Tension and suspense in spades ... check.

What more is there to be said? Oh yes, this might be book 2 but don't let that put you off, it can easily be read as a standalone but I would strongly suggest you read book 1, The Echo Man, it's also a cracker!!

Highly recommended to those of you who enjoy a dark, gritty and grisly crime thriller ... you won't go far wrong with Sam Holland and I must thank HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of the brilliant The Twenty.

I can't wait to see what comes next.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Dec 17, 2021  
Cover reveal alert! Check out the awesome cover for PERFECT PAYBACK, a mystery/thriller/suspense, by Bill Briscoe! (This book sounds amazing!)

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/12/cover-reveal-perfect-payback-pepperman.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
When Jim and Laura Pepperman find a musty German Olympic jacket and an old journal in their attic, they stumble onto a gripping pre-World War II story of a cousin Jim knows nothing about.

After a career-ending injury forces Hans Pepperman to lose his spot on the 1936 Olympic boxing team, he trades his athletic aspirations for a degree in mechanical engineering and secures his dream job working for the famous Willy Messerschmitt. Tasked to solve the stalling issues of the BF109 fighter plane engine, Hans finds himself smack in the middle of the Abwher Intelligence Service’s radar. Pro-Germany but anti-Nazi, he reluctantly agrees to help flush out the spy leaking secret information on the BF109 engine to foreign agencies . . . and finds himself a suspect of espionage and murder. Unsure who to trust, he must unravel the tangle of lies he’s caught in before he falls prey to the Nazi agenda slowly and stealthily taking over the country he loves.
     
The Road (The Spread #4)
The Road (The Spread #4)
Iain Rob Wright | 2021 | Horror, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, once again, Iain has excelled with this the fourth in the series of The Spread.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting back into this gripping story and finding out what hazards are set to befall the survivors and who Iain is going to dispatch next and how! It wasn't long before I was hooked.

The Road is absolutely teeming with heart-in-the-mouth moments; the fungus isn't the only enemy as our survivors find out to their cost. The story moves on at pace and is full of tension and numerous scenes of peril that had me holding my breath at times. The characters, both good and bad, are excellent and no one feels like they have been just dropped in to fill the story.

I can't wait for book 5 to see what comes next but I am sure it won't be plain sailing or all sweetness and light but I guess I will just have to wait ... impatiently!!

My thanks must go to Iain for accepting me into his "street team" and for providing me with a copy in return for comments and an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
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ClareR (5906 KP) rated Katastrophe in Books

Dec 6, 2022  
Katastrophe
Katastrophe
Graham Hurley | 2022 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I can’t even begin to describe the storyline of this gripping novel set in the final stages of the Second World War. There is so much going on at what must have been a very chaotic point in the war. Stalingrad has been lost to the Russians, Germany is in retreat, and Werner Nehman has been taken captive. The Russians have decided that he is to take a message to Goebbels.

Katastrophe has a dark, menacing atmosphere - logical, really. This is war.
There are a number of overlapping stories, but I never confused them or the characters - that’s a mark of a good book, I always think.

It’s an excellent blend of fact and fiction, and the huge amounts of research that must have gone into this, results in a book that is both fascinating and hard to read (the torture scenes are pretty gruesome).

Despite the horrors of war, I thoroughly enjoyed this - and it was only after reading it that I discovered it was the seventh in a series. I’d better add them to the teetering tbr, then!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this. Another book I would have otherwise missed out on!
  
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2022 |
6
6.5 (2 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Apparently (according to Google) the most expensive show ever made - with a price tag of £800m - this is something I had heard described as LOTR fan-fic.

Which I can kinda see.

The money is definitely all there on the screen, with wide sweeping shots that remind the viewer of the Peter Jackson films, but I do have to say I did find this to be a little bit on the slow side; only really picking up any sense of urgency on the home stretch at around about episode 6 (of 8).

And, yes, I know what some will say - Tolkien himself spent pages on pages describing countryside - but it doesn't really make for a gripping narrative.

Anyway, this is set centuries before the LoTR, taking its cues from The Silmarillion, and portrays a very different take on Galadriel than that shown by Cate Blanchett, alongside some old friends and (in particular) foes.

Whether it's worth a watch or not depends on your patience for the slow bits, and your interest in the world it inhabits. For me, it just about swung in favour.