Category: Mystery/Suspense

A Five Star Family Betrayal Review

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Disclaimer: *This book was read and reviewed as a personal library loan. The links provided are simply to assist my readers and I do not receive monetary compensation for any purchases made through links.*

Piper Boone meets a mysterious knight in shining armor, Tucker Landry, when he risks his life to save hers in a tragic shoot out.

This seemingly random catastrophe isn’t really random at all. Piper was the target because of her family business, Boone Industries.

Piper is still reeling from the loss of her daughter over a decade ago and remaining in her massive family beach house, unable to find her footing in life. Tucker Landry has managed to break past that wall in Piper and call forth a new, brave Piper. But Tucker has past demons of his own.

As Piper pushes for answers for her family’s odd past and current bad luck of murder after murder, can she figure out who is behind the cause of the “family curse” before she becomes a victim herself?

Time is running out as a hurricane presses upon the Boone family private island, Curlew.

Wow. Just wow! The twists and turns in this plot kept me guessing what could possibly be next! And the twistedness of the members of this “perfect family” is downright disturbing.

Carrie Stuart Parks once again writes a fantastic five star page turning mystery thriller for adult readers only.

When Death Draws Near: A Five Star Review

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Disclaimer: *This book was read and reviewed as a personal library loan. The links provided are simply to assist my readers and I do not receive monetary compensation for any purchases made through links.*

After being hard pressed to find some work, Gwen Marcy finds herself in the small town of Pineville to help catch a serial rapist.

But from the very beginning something about this town, about the people, is so very off.

Before Gwen knows it, she is steered away from her original purpose for being in Pineville and drawn into the politicals of this small town. Her next assignment: to infiltrate a snake handling religious group to expose illegal activity.

Gwen is advised that she can trust no one. She knows the recent uptick in body count and this religious group are connected; however, her theories and concerns fall on deaf ears of local law enforcement.

Can Gwen uncover the truth, convince the right people to believe her before she turns into a victim herself?

Carrie Stuart Parks once again takes us on a thrilling race against time. This entire series is an addictive page turner that I highly recommend! I’ve given When Death Draws Near, book number three in the Gwen Marcey series, a 5/5 star rating.

Carrie Stuart Parks is a very gifted novelist, who has such a remarkable ability to suck a reader into the thrilling storylines. I devour page after page seeking the resolutions for the victims as well as Gwen Marcey.

Not many people can appreciate dark humor with a hint of snark, but Carrie does this well!

As a reader, I also find myself wanting to be a forensic artist! Thank you, Carrie, for such a well developed character and such thrilling and suspenseful storylines.

4.5 Star Christian Thriller Review

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Disclaimer: *This book was read and reviewed as a personal library loan only. The links provided are simply to assist my readers and I do not receive monetary compensation for any purchases made through links.*

Gwen Marcy is still on the rebound from her cancer fight and almost losing her life to a psycho killer several months prior. As she struggles to try to get back on her feet with her career as a forensic artist and continues to raise her teenage daughter, she is suddenly thrown into a crime scene practically in her backyard when her dog brings her a skull. A human skull.

And there are more victims. And one has lived to tell about it.

The striking resemblance of the victims to Gwen’s daughter is uncanny and a nightmare to come.

Can Gwen keep her daughter safe, but also help solve the mystery of who is terrorizing and murdering these young victims?

It comes as no surprise that I tore through this book just like I did with the first one, A Cry From The Dust.

Carrie Stuart Parks has done such a fantastic job of creating a character in Gwen Marcy, who is so relatable and absolutely hilarious. I don’t smile/laugh in many stories (at least that I notice), but the humor is catchy with an edge of snark and helps balance out the seriousness and emotional aspects of the murders.

Literally, the only thing that stopped me from a 5 star rating was the “gore” details. While I’m sure a real life murder can be absolutely unimaginably gory, I found that even with me being a nurse I cringed at some details in this story.

I give this book a 4.5 star review. I absolutely love Carrie Stuart Parks’ writing style in the first person as well as her humor found in Gwen. She also write from experience of working as a forensic artist, adding to the validity of her storytelling. I’m literally itching to pick up the third book from the library!

The Bones Will Speak by Carrie Stuart Parks published by Thomas Nelson on August 11, 2015.

Fatal Frost

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*Disclosure: this book was a personal purchase.

Fatal Frost by Nancy Mehl was published by Bethany House Publishers.

U.S. Marshall Mercy Brennan gets swept away on a mission by her ex-boyfriend, U.S. Marshall Mark St. Laurent, after an encountered with Mercy’s estranged father.

Mercy later finds out that her protection is the mission put forth by her boss: to be protected by her ex-boyfriend as well as her best friend law enforcement officer, Tally, from deadly gang members and a cartel.

Stranded in a remote location with no contact to anyone and the enemy closing in, it becomes clear…

Quote from Nancy Mehl’s book Fatal Frost.

I rated this book 4/5 stars as I had a hard time getting into this story, but it is very good! I promise if you can hang through some of the lag time, you’ll be glad you read it. I can’t wait to read the next two in the Defenders of Justice series.

Nancy Mehl does a fantastic job of pulling you into the life of another person. This book was done well from a law enforcement’s point of view.

No Place To Hide: Review

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Lynette Eason Hidden Identity Series Book 3
Image: No Place To Hide by Lynette Eason.
This book was reviewed as a personal loan from my local library.

No Place To Hide by Lynette Eason

Publisher: Revell

Series: Hidden Identity

ISBN: 9780800722104

Jackie Sellers is on a mission to help and rescue her childhood crush, Ian Lockwood, who is wanted nationally in connections with a terrorist threat.

Surely they have the wrong guy. Jackie is determined to help Ian clear his name. Come to find out, Jackie isn’t the only looking for him. Jackie and Ian race against time and capture by the FBI and the bad guys.

Together can they clear Ian’s name and prevent a national catastrophe?

Lynette Eason grabs your interest with intense action from page one and has you turning page after page to see what could possibly happen next.

Quote from Lynette Eason’s No Place To Hide.

I gave this one 4/5 stars because I didn’t devour this one as much as I have others. I was disappointed that this is where the series cuts off! I could definitely use more stories of surrounding characters. Operation Refuge needs to continue, please!

Still definitely a must-read as the third book of this series, Hidden Identity.

If you enjoy stories that are fast-paced and on the run, then this is a great series for you! She is by far on my top five suspense author favorites!

Lynette Eason is on Instagram and you can find her website here.

A Book Review: Mind Games by Nancy Mehl

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*Note that this review was written based on a personal book purchase.

Book review: Mind Games by Nancy Mehl

Kaely Quinn is a gifted profiler with the FBI. A gifted profiler who uses unusual techniques to catch the bad guys, the monsters. Although she couldn’t save the victims from the monster in her life, her very own father, she is determined to prevent murders of innocent victims one profile at a time. 

Kaely comes from very unusual family circumstances. How could she not know her father was a serial killer? Now, someone believes she did know. And they are out to get revenge on Kaely, threatening her very life as penance.

As Kaely grapples with her past issues as well as her unique job to bring serial killers to justice, can she come to terms with God? Can God heal her? Can God bring her out of her own darkness and into light and healing?

Time is running out for innocent people and for Kaely. “‘Something’s coming, Kaely, I don’t know what it is, but I feel it. Don’t you?’” 

“A shiver ran down her spine. She turned off the lights and stood in the dark, trying to shake away a sense of danger. Something lurking in the shadows. Something with eyes trained directly on her.”

Quote from Mind Games by Nancy Mehl

Mind Games was written by Nancy Mehl, a Christian fiction author of more than thirty books. In this hair-raising, page-turning suspense novel, Nancy Mehl takes your mind into an imagination roller coaster. I find the main character, Kaely Quinn to be strangely engaging and intriguingly mysterious. You cannot help but to turn just one more page to find out more about her. 

If ever there was a book version of a ride-along, this is one of them. Nancy Mehl drags your imagination into the story as if you are in the conference room with Kaely discussing the case alongside her. 

I personally rate this book high on a rating list based on the following:

  1. I could NOT put this book down!
  2. The author’s ability to write in such a way to make you feel like you are watching the story unfold before your very eyes. 

Here’s the short of it:

Genre: Christian fiction, suspense, for adults only

One-line review: In this hair-raising, page-turning suspense novel, Nancy Mehl takes your mind into an imagination roller coaster.

Initial gut-reaction: I could not put this one down!