Alex Trout Thriller, book #10
Redemption Thriller, book #22
Mr. Mefford’s stories never disappoint, he creates nail-biting scenarios which keeps us guessing from the opening pages and does not let go till we reach the closing chapter. Following Alex and her team to the crime scenes and through the evidences you feel as you are part of the investigation along with them.
In a few words:
“A serial killer dubbed the Rose killer is on the loose. The killer leaves a rose at the crime scene. There are similarities to the murders occurring across the nation. Is it the actions of the same killer or is there a copycat? Alex needs to find the killer before he strikes again….meanwhile on the Homefront things are falling apart….”
Further thoughts:
Stirring, gripping, “At Every Turn” is an edge of your seat, fast-paced and well written drama very hard to put down and one that leaves something in the air for next time….of course all played out by a cast of well-defined characters. Two suspenseful threads: one an exciting investigation and the other a suspenseful family saga.
I join the readers in saying: this is a “didn’t see that coming” thriller. What a great addition to the series. Well-done.
Book #1, in the Agent Hank Rawlings Series of FBI Thrillers
In a few words what we are getting into reading “Drained”
“A known serial killer is once again taking lives in Chicago. Bodies drained of blood are being strewn across the city. “
Sounds macabre, indeed it was.
Although this is your regular, fast-paced, crime fiction it also has its own interesting elements. I love how the story takes the catch me if you can approach and plays a tight cat and mouse game from start to finish. The story moves along at the steady pace, not particularly gore filled but enough to make you cringe at times. Oh yes, I kept turning pages and fast so wanting to know how long it would take Hank Rawlings, the protagonist, before he was able to put the squeeze on the serial killer. The action is play by play and very detailed. Some may say too much action spelled out can be tedious, I agree to some degree but it helps us to understand the good guys, the arrogance of the bad guy and the lifestyle of the victims.
For a FBI thriller, it was a very easy read with lots of exciting scenarios, several twists and turns not a dull moment throughout most of all we find a great set of characters to keep track of. The author’s ability to twist fear drives the story and makes it engaging. Well-done
Set in the city of London in 1850–This tale is about a girl born into abject poverty in the Seven Dials and became a prostitute in order to survive. Aloise is not only clever but also resourceful, at great cost, by enlisting as emigrant on a ship bound for New Zealand she managed to create a niche for herself. This is her story….
Eloise is the narrator and tells her story in a Cockney slang, a language spoken at the times from those living in the slums of London. Reading a language I am not familiar with was slightly intimidating and I missed a lot by skipping through some of the passage, no way I wanted to be tied down to a dictionary. However, I understand this to be part of the character and of the time.
The plot is divided in three sections, each following Eloise’s journey. First part: her time on the dangerous and violent streets of the Seven Dials, the second part: finally free of the filth of London, Eloise tells how she spent her time during the crossing towards the New Colonies and finally the third part tells us how she managed to survive once she reached the shore. In whole her journey was interesting and it eventually pulled me in. What chaotic life she led with men using and abusing her… what a sad existence. She couldn’t even escape this in the new world….
Beautifully written in the first person, this historical fiction is an inspiring tale of survival.
“A Lady in the Making” was on my TBR for a very long time, today as I post my thoughts I see that it is no longer available at most big online stores. A shame.
Journey and Passage
This book is a collection of short stories dealing with the journey and passage that we will take at the end of our time. There is no escape and when our time comes we will go….
11 well-written stories of different genres, some you zip through in no time and other you take a leisurely stroll through their scenarios. All have death in common but before death there is life. Mr. Trust words are not macabre they simply send you on an emotional journey. The stories range from mystery, suspense, social issues, etc.…… with fear, anger, defeat, laughter and tears we are taken on a moving passage along with the characters.
Although I am not usually a fan of short stories, here I make exception. From start to finish there are no dull moments, each scenario is captivating and exciting. The plots although short are detailed and based in the real world with characters that deal with facts of life in all their frailties.
Mr. Trust is an excellent storyteller, his 195 pages “Lightning in the Clouds” is worthwhile reading.
This is a heart ranching story of the 28 girls living in a hut with their teacher Miss E. in Weihsien Civilian Assembly Center, a Japanese prison in Northern China, during WW11. 13 year old Gwen, one of them, is the narrator and gives us the grim realities of prison life. By 1945, she had been interned for 2 years and a half along with other children who were enrolled at a boarding school in Chefoo when the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China.
Although the story is meant for young readers as an adult I found it well told, compelling and very much engaging. We do not see much fiction set during this time and even less being told through the eyes a young teenager. Gwen’s story is based on true accounts.
As the narrative unfolds in the present tense and the condition in the camp is detailed enough but in a tone considerably softened for the ears of a young audience, we live the horrors of beatings, starvation and lack of everything. By the end we are left to our imagination to what happened to Gwen’s fate with the arrival of the American troops. This story leaves several threads hanging, quite disappointing not to know.
The other characters in this tragic story are Miss E., the Japanese guards, a kindly Japanese officer, Lu, a Chinese laborer and some of Gwen’s friends give us heart rending moments.
“The Taste of Rain” is the sort of book that will engage as well as inform young adults and grown-ups as well.
I received this ARC from Orca Book Publisher via the First Reviewer Program for my thoughts
A Victor Lessard Thriller book #1
This is cleverly weaved and thought-provoking story will send shivers down your spine within its few first pages. This tale is set in francophone Montreal and because Victor Lessard is the kind of series that makes you addicted, incredibly so. I am warning you will be hooked from the start. I was, I simply devoured this book!
“Never Forget” is a difficult investigation with multiple bifurcations in a snowy Montreal, "sloché" and icy that begins for Detective Sergeant Victor Lessard and his teammate, the voluminous and strong Jacinthe, ten days before Christmas.
The opening scene hits hard….
“He is the murderer. No, it's her. Finally, it must be him. Oh boy!...I don’t know anymore”
The book is written with finesse. As the bodies are falling, my frustration at not finding who the killer is also rising at the same pace as those of the characters who are investigating, so I need to find out and continue reading, and read and read till the conclusion….what a page-turner.
Martin Michaud does not go without a dead hand. In less than 100 chapters, in less than 700 pages he manages to evoke the Middle Ages and his refined tortures with a crime weapon poetically named "the fork of the heretic", makes live and die Lortie , a poor fellow, "perfect scapegoat, a former victim of the MK-ULTRA program, fragile and psychologically unstable, he flies over contemporary history with the assassination of JFK and its hypothetical plots. The author also offers his detective sergeant a suspicious story whose son twists up to catch the CIA and the FLQ. These sidebars will resonate for Quebecois and those who were around in the 60’s and 70’s.
“Never Forget is well written, action packed, fast paced and very suspenseful, the plot leaves no respite until the denouement. We find with pleasure characters that become more complex as we read on…
We are definitely in good hands with this book. I simply loved this murder investigation and the police procedural that went with it.
I receive this ARC from the publisher DunDurn Press via NetGalleys for my thoughts.
