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Hazel (2934 KP) rated One Eye Open in Books

Jul 12, 2020  
One Eye Open
One Eye Open
Paul Finch | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have made it no secret that I am a fan of Paul Finch ... how could you not be with characters from his previous books like DS Mark "Heck" Heckenburg and PC Lucy Clayborn? Well here we have another memorable character ... DS Lynda Hagan.

This is a stand-alone book which follows the investigation into a seemingly straight forward car crash involving an ex-Formula 1 driver (Wade) and his wife Harriet (Harri) but it is anything but and we are soon taken on a non-stop ride full of action, suspense and intrigue involving gangs, grasses/snitches and one relentless and determined copper.

Told from Lynda's perspective in the present and Wade's timeline from the weeks leading up to the crash, with a great plot and a break-neck pace with twists and breath-holding moments, this is a great crime thriller. I wonder if there are going to more books featuring DS Hagan, I would quite like to get to know her a bit more because I think we only scratched the surface in this and I think there is more to her than meets the eye! If so, I will be the first in the queue.

Thank you to Orion Publishing Group via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
Private Berlin (Private #5)
Private Berlin (Private #5)
9
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
121 of 200
Book
Private Berlin ( Private book 5)
By James Patterson

Private, the world's most respected investigation firm, has branches around the world, each staffed with the smartest, fastest, and most advanced agents, who have cutting-edge forensic tools that not even the most powerful governments possess.

At Private Berlin, agent Chris Schneider has disappeared. Chris had taken a secretive personal leave and hadn't spoken to anyone from the office in days. The Private team retraces his footsteps to the cases he was investigating before his disappearance: a billionaire suspected of cheating on his wife, a world-famous soccer player accused of throwing games, and the owner of a seedy nightclub. They were the last people to see Chris--and they're all suspects. And someone is lying.

The Private team is led to an abandoned Nazi slaughterhouse where all hope vanishes. As Private digs further into Chris's past, a terrifying history is revealed, and they begin to suspect that someone very dangerous and very depraved is responsible for Chris's disappearance. And he's not finished in Berlin. PRIVATE BERLIN has more twists, action, and deception than any other James Patterson thriller ever.


This was my favourite in this series so far! I loved it so much suspense and guessing I really enjoy catching up with Jack too! Highly recommend this series.
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Ransom (1996) in Movies

Jul 14, 2020 (Updated Jul 14, 2020)  
Ransom (1996)
Ransom (1996)
1996 | Action, Drama, Mystery
This Is Your Ransom
Ransom- is a great thriller. Full of suspense, drama, action, crime and thrills.

The plot: Through a life of hard work, airline owner Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) has amassed a great deal of wealth. When a group of criminals want a piece of his cash, they kidnap his son (Brawley Nolte) for a $2 million ransom. Encouraged by his wife (Rene Russo) and an FBI agent (Delroy Lindo), Tom prepares to pay the money, but the ransom drop goes awry. Enraged, Tom decides to turn the tables on the kidnappers by making the ransom a bounty on their heads -- which he announces on national television.

The original story came from a 1954 episode of The United States Steel Hour titled "Fearful Decision". In 1956, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume into the feature film Ransom!, starring Glenn Ford, Donna Reed, and Leslie Nielsen. The film was also influenced by Ed McBain's police procedural novel King's Ransom.

Also it has a great surporting cast: Rene Russo, Gary Sinise, Brawley Nolte, Delroy Lindo, Liev Schreiber, Evan Handler, Donnie Wahlberg, and Lili Taylor. Gibson. Ron Howard does it again.

Its a great thriller and a must watch film, it will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very end of the film.
  
Phantom Outlaw at Wolf Creek
Phantom Outlaw at Wolf Creek
Sigmund Brouwer | 1990 | Children, Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Danger on a Montana Ranch
Ricky Kidd is on a month long vacation with his friends Mike and Ralphy at Mike’s uncle and aunt’s ranch in Montana. When he arrives, he hears the legend of a bank robbery that happened decades ago and the phantom of the outlaw that still haunts the nearby canyon. Or is it a legend? Mike and his visiting cousin, Sarah, insist on investigating, and Ricky sees evidence with his own eyes that the legend might be true. Can Ricky uncover the truth of what is going on?

This is another wonderful book in a favorite middle grade mystery series. The characters are sharp and provide some wonderful laughs. Sometimes their antics slow down the mystery in the first half of the book, but parts of the plot are being worked in to the fun, and the second half pays off the questions wonderfully. The suspense at the end is great, and the way Ricky works everything out is perfect. These books were written for the Christian market, and they work Ricky’s faith in organically without ever once preaching. The books are a bit dated now since they were originally released in the 1990’s, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. It might take a bit to track down this mystery, but it is worth it.
  
Mother, Mother
Mother, Mother
Koren Zailckas | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Joint review with Sylvia Crabtree.

Well this isn't our usual book at all, we usually stick to romance, but when mum won it in the Goodreads First Reads/Giveaways we thought we'd give it a try. And surprisingly, we liked it.

We think it was the suspense, wondering what had happened that night at dinner that caused Violet to be sent to the mental hospital. Had she really been that out of it that she couldn't remember hurting her brother? And if so, why couldn't anyone else remember? And what of Rose, the eldest, how did she fit into the story?

Trying to piece together what had happened to lead up to that night by seeing viewpoints of the youngest child, William, and the middle child, Violet: one who doesn't get on with their mum and one who does anything for a bit of motherly affection.

We found ourselves being drawn into the story the more we read and we cant say we were expecting what happened to Rose.

Josephine, the mum, came across as crazy at times and we felt sorry for her children. She could be so cruel to them at timesif they did something she didn't agree with.

Like we mentioned previously this was not our usual read but we have to admit it was a nice change from the norm.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jul 8, 2021  
On my blog today, author Lisa Harris stops by to share her playlist she listens to while writing. There's a spotlight on her Christian suspense novel THE CHASE. Be sure to enter the giveaway to win both books in her US Marshals series, a bookish notepad, and bookish notes stickers!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/07/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-chase-us.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
US Marshal Madison James may not be sure who shot her three months ago, but she does know one thing--it's time to get back out into the field. When her partner, Jonas Quinn, receives a message that a federal warrant just came in on a man connected to a string of bank robberies, Madison jumps at the chance to get back to work. What she and Jonas find is a bank robbery in progress that's gone wrong--and things are about to get worse.

For these bank robbers, it's never been just about the money. It's about taking risks and adrenaline rushes -- and getting caught is not part of the game. When the suspects escape, Madison and Jonas must hunt them down and bring them to justice before someone else--someone close to them--gets hurt . . . or worse.

From Seattle to the San Juan Islands, bestselling author Lisa Harris takes you on a nonstop chase where feelings are complicated, and failure isn't an option.
     
After She's Gone
After She's Gone
Camilla Grebe | 2017 | Crime
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonists in this book would be Malin and Jake, and the book is told mainly from their perspectives. Malin is a police officer, who grew up in an isolated town called Ormberg, and is back with her colleagues, to investigate a murder, that happened years ago. Jake is a teenage schoolboy, who loves dressing up in woman’s clothes, and by accident, gets hold of Hanne’s diary. I really liked most of the characters in this book, and I loved to read their personal and intriguing stories. I really liked the way Camilla Grebe shared the story of not only the main but supporting characters as well.

The narrative of this book was interesting, but it lacked suspense and excitement. Especially, the investigation part. Sometimes the chapters really dragged, particularly Malin’s parts. Her parts lacked intrigue, and her thoughts became quite repetitive after a while. I really enjoyed Jake’s parts, his secret life, his thoughts and snippets from Hanne’s diary, held this book together. The topics discussed were dementia and how the person feels while having it, bullying, sexual confusion, refugee situation from native’s perspectives, and many more.

The setting of this book is cold, gloomy, quite claustrophobic and depressing. The plot is set in the middle of forests full of snow, so it is perfect for winter lovers.
  
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ClareR (5542 KP) rated Haverscroft in Books

Sep 6, 2020  
Haverscroft
Haverscroft
S. A. Harris | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This has been described as a ghost/ horror story, but I think it was more of a suspense. Coupled with an unreliable main character, the reader is never sure that what is happening IS actually happening.

Kate Keeling moves to Haverscroft with her twins and her husband, in the hope that she can rescue her marriage from mistakes that have been made. Kate also seems to be recovering from a breakdown - and this, I think, is a major piece of information in unlocking what is happening to her.

Timelines seem to be a bit fluid, whether this was intended or not, it did make it confusing. This may have been a device to portray Kate’s mental health, but to be honest, I’m not sure.

There is something definitely not quite right about the house: noises, things moving, lightbulbs breaking, figures moving out of the corner of your eye that aren’t there when you look. More interesting is how Kate and her husbands (Matt) marriage deteriorates over the course of the book, and the reason why (which I won’t go in to, because spoilers!).

There are what appears to be a lot of editing issues: words missed out or misspelt, and wonky timelines (but I’m really not sure whether this was intended), but I still enjoyed reading it.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book.
  
Amongst the Chaos
Amongst the Chaos
Samatha Harris | 2020 | Contemporary, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amongst the Chaos is a standalone (I think) but could be part of a series. (I hope it is part of a series and I want to more about these guys.) It is also the first book by this author I have read but it won't be the last.

The character building in this book is second to none. It was obvious what was going on between Asher and Chloe but the tense expectation about killed me! It was definitely a case of when and not if. Grayson was a brilliant character who supported Chloe in all ways but wasn't afraid to show his emotions. This was sometimes detrimental to his own cause but he owned it.

Paige and Dom are two brilliant supporting characters, the same as the rest of the 'brothers'. And just because he irritated me, I'd love to know more about Gabe!

This was a great, page-turning story that kept my attention from the very beginning with excellent scene-setting and amazing characters and full of suspense and steam. I loved every moment of this and have no hesitation in recommending it.

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

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
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AJaneClark (3962 KP) rated The Surgeon (Rizzoli & Isles, #1) in Books

Oct 2, 2019 (Updated Nov 24, 2019)  
The Surgeon (Rizzoli & Isles, #1)
The Surgeon (Rizzoli & Isles, #1)
Tess Gerritsen | 2001 | Crime, Thriller
8
7.9 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
Rizzoli no isles
In Boston, there’s a killer on the loose. A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on his victims before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician - a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them.
But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and partner Jane Rizzoli begin there investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful medic with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and attempted murder but shot her attacker dead. Now she is being targeted by this new killer who appears to know all about her past, her work at the Pilgrim Medical Center and where she lives. The man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her...
Gerritsen, has a way of writing that draws you in and keeps hold of you until the story comes to a natural close. It’s not drawn out in any of sense of the word, just long enough to hold the suspense. With some gruesome details dotted throughout, and an account of sexism is the homicide unit of Boston PD, it’s a great introduction to Rizzoli.