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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 (6192 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.
  
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Lindsay (1812 KP) created a post

Mar 17, 2026  
Mystery readers, get ready: the shadows are deepening.

International bestselling author Lauren Carr is thrilled to reveal the cover for her upcoming novel, Shadows of the Missing (Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, Book 5), releasing May 5, 2026.

Tagline: In the shadows of the missing, the truth lies buried.
Synopsis (short version for sharing):
Helen Clarke-Matheson thought she had left her painful past behind, building a new life with Chris. But when her sister arrives with a shocking DNA test, Helen’s world unravels. The father who abandoned them and the mother who wandered away… may not have been what they seemed.
Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad are pulled into a deeply personal investigation spanning decades of buried secrets, conflicting stories, and the lingering shadow of murder. As the team peels back layers of deception, they must confront long-hidden crimes and the specter of betrayal. Can they uncover the truth and bring closure to Helen and her family, or will some shadows never lift?

Packed with Lauren Carr’s signature twists, heart, humor, and four-legged mischief, Shadows of the Missing is a gripping continuation of the beloved Chris Matheson series.
     
Shadow & Crown (Royal & Piper #1)
Shadow & Crown (Royal & Piper #1)
E.L. Tenenbaum | 2023 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
SHADOW & CROWN is the first book in the Royal & Piper series. We meet Quirin and Cal, two people in the Southlands of the kingdom; a place neither of them actually belong.

Told from three different perspectives, you get a completely rounded story and yet still full of intrigue. I don't know what the full story of Quirin yet (although I can guess the reasons) but he has been paying for his actions for a long time. Cal has so many doubts about her ability to be queen, especially when people's first comments are about her looks. I loved seeing her grow and become more confident in who she is. As for Evalena, well, the less said about her the better!

This story was gripping, keeping me in my seat until I had finished it. And that ending definitely left me wanting to continue their stories. Absolutely wonderful and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 24, 2024