"Dead Man's Grip", by Peter James

Roy Grace series book #7

I loved this story. Peter James has given us a most intense and suspenseful mystery with lots of police procedural and has teased us with little bit more into his protagonist personal life.

One raining morning Tony Revere is killed on his bike in a road traffic collision. The vehicles involved are a car with a drunk driver, an articulated lorry with a driver that is overtired and a white van who quickly fled from the scene. Tony is the grandson of New York Mafia and his family is super powerful. Upon learning the death of her son, Mrs. Revere set about plotting revenge.....mafia style. Ds Roy Grace and his team will do their best to thwart all plans and get to the villain before too many deaths.....

The plot all spools out from this tragic accident.

The author pays astounding attention to details such as locations, his characters and the depth of research, maybe a bit too much at times. The story may be over the top at time and may be a good idea to suspend disbelief for the plot to work but as soon as I personally did I found myself completely absorbed in the mystery. The suspense level as the novel progresses is brilliant especially when two of drivers involved in the crash are found tortured and murdered. When Carly Chase, the car driver begins to suspect that she is next....The narration reflects how scare she is. The writing style is quite representative of Mr. James ability to realistically portray human behaviour. Each characters are unique and well drawn.

What a page-turner, so gripping it grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go until I had finished the last sentence. “Dead Man’s Grip” is really an enjoyable book and a compelling read.

"Show Game", by Steve Anderson

Is it payback for harm done or justice rendered?

Stepping away from historical fictions Mr. Anderson gives us a new look into his creativity by thrusting us in a mind game. “Show Game” is as psychological thriller doing exactly that.

The story in a few words:

A vigilante known by the alias “Alex” takes a predatory priest, a double-dealing politician and a fraudulent philanthropist all of them transgressors captive and has ways of making them confess on camera for the entire world to witness. Alex knows what they have done and Show Game will expose them for all to see....vengeance is sweet....and the game is on. Enjoy this tale that blends intrigue and mystery.

My thoughts:

This story is fast-paced and quite thought provoking. It brings out topics quite relevant today and is said with deep feelings. I like this twisted game of confession with this vigilante taking justice into their own hands, forcing abusers into a confession while playing a game. When Owen Tanaka, an investigative reporter, determined to unmask the vigilante comes in play....undecided whether to stop this criminal mastermind or not...Definitely we are into an exciting game, one that gives us a heart-pounding ride till the very end. The imagery is vivid and will stay in mind for some time after the closing page, writing my thoughts I still picture the sequences frame by frame...This story is well said and the presentation well-done. With this new direction Mr. Anderson proves his ability to give us even difficult subjects.

Thank you Mr. Anderson

"A Lethal Question", by Mark Rubinstein

I loved this story from the moment I opened the first page “A Lethal Question” is exciting and very intense, it moves at breakneck speed, oh yes, I kept flipping the pages with turbo fingers eager for the next move.

Imagine yourself a psychologist. On a session a patient pops a loaded question at you “Ya wanna know who clipped Boris Levenko?” What would you do?

This is the same question Russian and Albanian mobsters want answered. Bill is an assuming professional but when a mob faction discovers that one of their own blabbed to Bill...he is marked for assassination. Bill is force to go on the run......and the fun commences...enjoy....

This is a well-built story, each chapter highlights a sequence in tracking and dogging as Bill and Elena are on the run. Bill met Elena while hiding at a friend’s place and unavoidably she also became a target. Living in constant fear Bill’s nightmare begins in the digital age where a hacker’s expertise anyone can be easily located...In the narration you can feel the fear, the apprehension and most of all the paranoia that set in. Every suspicious figure seemed like a potential mafia henchman. As the struggle to evade capture goes on the suspense is at its highest. Definitely this story is a version of Sopranos on steroids.

This is tale that blends the best elements of a psychological thriller and an action thriller all in one and gives us a page- turner to be entertained for hours.

I received a copy of this book from Oceanview Publishing for my thoughts: this is the way I see it