Book Review: The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti

Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! It literally left me breathless. And speechless. With my jaw dropped. I definitely didn't expect that kind of outcome. I love this book!

The plot is centred around Zoe Whittaker, a young woman, a wife to a very wealthy man. From outside, her life looks like a fairytale. A modern time Cinderella. A poor girl, a middle-class worker who finds her Prince Charming and leaves her previous life to live with the rich and famous. But when you scratch the surface, you see a different picture. Zoe is not Zoe. Zoe is Hilary, a person who used to use and sell drugs, a victim of kidnapping, a witness in a human trafficking case who is in the witness protection program. A person who was raised by an adoptive mother, Evelyn, who died a couple of years ago because of cancer. With no money to bury her at the time, Zoe is full of regret not being able to do something for the mother she loved. She is also in the search of her biological mother, Carolyn, and all she has is a birth certificate with possible false information. All she has now is her husband Henry who adores her and showers her with gifts but seems a little bit possessive from time to time. But aren't all the men like that?

Book Review: Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington

Source: Won

The story starts with a teenage girl coming home brought by the police. Sophie has no memory of the previous night and has a hangover. But very soon there is news about one of her friends dead. Killed. Murdered. Making things even more strange, there are emails with photos on her phone. Photos of her friend 's body, photos of herself in the same room. Is she involved in her friends' murder?

Sophie's mother is very worried about her daughter. Karen suffers from agoraphobia and is too afraid to go outside the house. She feels that way since she was attacked by a serial rapist in her own car. Nothing is same since then.

Book Review: Environmentally Friendly by Elias Zanbaka

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

In the story, we meet Sergeant Schaefer, a former soldier. A person who decides to take a weapon in his arms and declare war, to mother nature. It is very obvious that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He has been in a psychiatric hospital for a while and he has escaped from there. He sees his enemies everywhere. Anyone is his enemy.

With a weapon in his hands, Sergeant Schaefer is a threat to the others. Surrounded by the police force, he is caught in the trap. But only one man believes him. Only one one man knows how he really feels....

Book Review: Vigilante by Kerry Wilkinson

Copy provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

How to explain the unexplainable?

A murder happens on the streets. And another one. DNA is found among other evidence. Matches a criminal who is behind the bars. There was no way he could escape. How could he commit the murders? Is he guilty for the crimes that put him in prison in the first place?

Detective Jessica Daniel works on the case. It is the most difficult case for her ever. Someone is killing the bad guys on the streets. The press calls him „Vigilante“. But murder is a murder and someone has to be guilty. The man whose DNA matches the evidence is in prison and there is no way he could escape. So how his DNA is found at the crime scene? Can two people have same DNA? There is no history of siblings for the suspected prisoner. Is someone messing with the evidence in the lab?

Book Review: The Sister by Louise Jensen

Source: Bought

The Sister is my very first book from Louise Jensen. I was hearing a lot about this book and decided to give it a try.

The story centres around Grace and her friendship with Charlie. There is Grace in the past when she arrived to live with her grandparents and meets Charlie for the very first time. Also, there is Grace in the present, who suffers from the loss of her best friend and tries to fix things right. Grace in the past has a skeleton in the closet and feels guilty about it. And Charlie is always there to make things easier for her. They even bury a little box to open up when they grow up. But year after year, Charlie becomes strange and distant. She also tries to find her biological father. But her sudden death stops her. Years later, Grace feels guilty for Charlie's death and decides to do something in her memory. Grace decides to find Charlie's father. Instead of her father, she finds her sister. A young woman who claims to be the daughter of the man who is Charlie's father. Grace welcomes her into her home and tries to find in her the sister she lost when Charlie died.

Lawless & the Flowers of Sin by William Sutton - Book Review

A Foundation for Fallen Women. A chess automaton. An impossible theft.

Reluctant inspector of vice, Lawless must take a fruitless reckoning of London's shadowy nether world. Hypocrisy, double standards: just what we expect from stuffy Victorian society.

But Lawless was not expecting the trail that his questions open up: from the erotic booksellers of Holywell Street down the darkening passageways of Haymarket bordellos to backstreet cast-offs of the high life.

When reputations are at threat, those running the show can be merciless in defending them.

Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Lawless and the Flowers of Sin is the second novel in the series, but it can definitely stand alone. It is my first book from this author, so I am not familiar with his writing style.

The plot is set in Victorian London, in 1863. Inspector Campbell Lawless goes into the world of the people that we see every day, but we don't notice them at all. Beggars, street musicians, ladies in brothels, erotic booksellers, each one of them walks among us, but we don't see them. Or we choose not to see. But these people are alive and have stories to tell. Stories of their hard lives, destroyed dreams, broken wings.

Sonata of the Dead by Conrad Williams-Book Review

It's four months on from the events of Dust and Desire... Joel Sorrell has recovered from the injuries he sustained in his fight with The Four-Year-Old. A body has been found, sealed into the dead space behind a false wall in a flat in Muswell Hill. Beheaded and surrounded by bloodstained pages of typewritten text, it is the third such murder committed by a killer known as The Hack. And it may be linked to his daughter's disappearance.

Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Conrad Williams is a brand new author to me, and when I started reading his book, I didn't know what to expect. This is his second book in the series but definitely can stand alone.

Book Review: Guilt Trip: The Mystery (Lauren Beck #2) by Donna Huston Murray

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Beck is back! This time with a family issue to solve. A cancer survivor with no place to live, Lauren sets up on her brother's farm together with his family. And then, her brother's wife, Karen, survives a tragedy. Her brother has committed a suicide. But Karen knows her brother well, and she knows that he would never ever do that. So she asks Lauren to help.

Together with Karen's other brother, Lauren goes to the funeral. She makes up a cover story, just to make sure that she can sneak into the lion's den and find out what really happened. Something isn't right here. Why would someone who recently got married and expects the first child commit a suicide? Even if all the evidence says the obvious, Lauren is not satisfied. Something fishy is going on here!

Book Review: What Doesn't Kill You, The Mystery (A Lauren Beck Crime Novel #1) by Donna Huston Murray

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Beck is finally cancer free. But her friend and supporter during chemotherapy didn't have that luck. Corrinne dies from cancer. Corrinne's daughter blames Lauren for her mother's death. She accuses her of mixing up the drugs in order causing euthanasia, just to stop her suffering. Even worse, she kicks her out from her house.

In the very same time, strange things start to happen. Someone is stealing Lauren's identity. No more money on her credit cards, canceled payments, unknown debts, Lauren never did anything of this. She suspects Corrine's daughter but is no sure about anything. And Corrinne's death, what if someone is responsible for her death?

Lauren is a former police officer, now works as a private investigator. With her identity stolen and no place to live, she has to swallow her pride and count on the people who aren't her best friends. But most of it, she has to find out what really happened to her friend. She knows she didn't do anything, but what if someone did? This time, she has to use her investigation skills and save people's lives, including her own. 'Cause someone is after her!

Review: The Virgin of the Wind Rose by Glen Craney

While investigating the murder of an American missionary in Ethiopia, rookie State Department lawyer Jaqueline Quartermane becomes obsessed with a magical word square found inside an underground church guarding the tomb of the biblical Adam. Drawn into a web of esoteric intrigue, she and a roguish antiquities thief named Elymas must race an elusive and taunting mastermind to find the one relic needed to resurrect Solomon's Temple. A trail of cabalistic clues leads them to the catacombs of Rome, the crypt below Chartres Cathedral, a Masonic shaft in Nova Scotia, a Portuguese shipwreck off Sumatra, and the caverns under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Intertwined with this modern mystery-thriller, a parallel duel is waged: The year is 1452. One of the most secretive societies in history, Portugal's Order of Christ, is led by a reclusive visionary, Prince Henry the Navigator. He and his medieval version of NASA merged with the CIA scheme to foil their archenemies, the Inquisitor Torquemada and Queen Isabella of Castile, who plan to bring back Christ for the Last Judgment by ridding the world of Jews, heretics, and unbelievers. Separated by half a millennium, two conspiracies to usher in the Tribulations promised by the Book of Revelation dovetail in this fast-paced thriller to expose the world's most explosive secret: The true identity of Christopher Columbus and the explorer's connection to those now trying to spark the End of Days.

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Well, it's been a while since I've read that big book. Seriously, it took me three weeks to finish it. But, believe me, it was worth. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who loves old-school mysteries.

Let me tell you something about the plot. One story runs in the present , one goes back in time when the year is 1452. The story in the present, follows Jaqueline Quartermane, Jaq to her friends, who works for the State Department. She is engaged to Paul who works in Ethiopia and dies on a mission. But when Jaq goes to pick up his body as his fiance, she finds very strange things going on. The investigation of his death takes her on a journey that no one can ever imagine, something that can shake the whole world as we know it. And some people might not like it. The origin of Christianity, the discovery of America, do we know the real story behind the facts that are written in history books? Can we trust the bible itself?

Review: No Turning Back by Tracy Buchanan

You’d kill to protect your child – wouldn’t you? When radio presenter Anna Graves and her baby are attacked on the beach by a crazed teenager, Anna reacts instinctively to protect her daughter. But her life falls apart when the schoolboy dies from his injuries. The police believe Anna’s story until the autopsy results reveal something more sinister. A frenzied media attack sends Anna into a spiral of self-doubt. Her precarious mental state is further threatened when she receives a chilling message from someone claiming to be the ‘Ophelia Killer’, responsible for a series of murders twenty years ago. Is Anna as innocent as she claims? And is murder forgivable, if committed to save your child’s life…?

I have to say it! This is one of the best psychological thrillers I've read lately!It literally left me with my mouth open. I started reading with no big expectations, but the story grabbed my attention and I finished it within one day.

Blog Tour: The Irish Inheritance by M.J.Lee-Book Review

June 8, 1921. Ireland. A British Officer is shot dead on a remote hillside south of Dublin. November 22, 2015. United Kingdom. Former police detective, Jayne Sinclair, now working as a genealogical investigator, receives a phone call from an adopted American billionaire asking her to discover the identity of his real father. How are the two events linked? Jayne Sinclair has only three clues to help her: a photocopied birth certificate, a stolen book and an old photograph. And it soon becomes apparent somebody else is on the trail of the mystery. A killer who will stop at nothing to prevent Jayne discovering the secret hidden in the past The Irish Inheritance takes us through the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Irish War of Independence, combining a search for the truth of the past with all the tension of a modern-day thriller. It is the first in a series of novels featuring Jayne Sinclair, genealogical detective.

Copy provided by Neverland Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Hi, guys.

Today is my stop of the blog tour for M.J.Lee's new book. This is my third book from this author and quite different from the other two. It has mystery, it has a history in it, but also genealogy, a search for one man's ancestors. Perfect read for history lovers.

Book Review: The Girl Who Walked in the Shadows by Marnie Riches

Europe is in the grip of an extreme Arctic blast and at the mercy of a killer, who leaves no trace. His weapons of choice are razor-sharp icicles. This is Jack Frost. Now a fully qualified criminologist, Georgina McKenzie is called upon by the Dutch police to profile this cunning and brutal murderer. Are they looking for a hit man or a frenzied serial-killer? Could there be a link to a cold missing persons’ case that George had worked with Chief Inspector Paul van den Bergen – two abducted toddlers he could never quite give up on? The hunt for Jack Frost sparks a dangerous, heart-rending journey through the toughest neighbourhoods in Europe, where refugees and Roma gypsies scratch a living on the edge of society. Walking into the dark, violent world of a trans-national trafficking ring, can George outrun death to shed light on two terrible mysteries?

Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, I have to admit! This girl who walked in the shadows really got under my skin. This is the third book of the series and I can't get enough of them. Georgina and Paul are such a dynamic duo in private life and on the crime scene, I absolutely love them with all their ons and offs.But, let me tell you something about the story....

See How They Run by Tom Bale-Book Review

How far would you go to save your family? In the dead of night, new parents Alice and Harry French are plunged into their worst nightmare when they wake to find masked men in their bedroom. Men ruthless enough to threaten their baby daughter, Evie. This is no burglary gone wrong. The intruders know who they’re looking for – a man called Edward Renshaw. And they are prepared to kill to get to him. When the men leave empty handed, little do Alice and Harry realise that their nightmare is just beginning. Is it a case of mistaken identity? Who is Renshaw? And what is he hiding? One thing is clear – they already know too much.

Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Your home is a sacred place. It is your sanctuary where you feel safe and loved. It is your harbor. And what to do when someone destroys that?

Harry and Alice have a perfect home. Lovely house in a quiet neighborhood., perfect for raising their little baby girl. But then, one night, an intruder is in the house. Intruders.

The invaders in their home do unimaginable and horrible things to them. And for what? They are looking for some man Renshaw who supposedly lives there or hides. But Harry and Alice don't know such a person. Not even among their neighbors.

Valentina by S.E.Lynes-Book Review

When Glasgow journalist Shona McGilvery moves with her partner Mikey and their baby to an idyllic cottage in rural Scotland, they believe that all that lies ahead of them is happiness. But with Mikey working offshore, the frightening isolation of the Aberdeenshire countryside begins to drive her insane... That is, until she is rescued by a new friendship with the enchanting Valentina. She has the perfect home, the perfect man, and a charismatic new best friend – or does she? As her fairytale life begins to unravel, the deep dark wood becomes the least of her fears... A hauntingly intelligent, addictive psychological thriller from debut author S. E. Lynes.

Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What do people do when they get lonely? They stick to the closest person to them, no matter what kind of person is that.

Shona thinks she has everything. She works as a journalist, has the most amazing boyfriend in the world, lovely little daughter, enough money to live a normal, but not comfort life. She has a perfect family. And when Mikey suggests that they should move to the coast so he would be able to work on an oil platform, she agrees. There is perfect little cottage to live in. But with Mikey two weeks at home and two weeks on the platform, Shona becomes lonely. She tries to make some new friends but not everyone is friendly there. And then she meets Valentina. An Australian woman who has a son same age as her daughter. And they connect immediately. Valentina is a person very much alike her in the spirit. Someone to cheer her up when she feels miserable, to help her when she needs a friend. A person that she can trust, or at least she thinks so.

The Silent Dead by Tetsuya Honda-Book Review

When a body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and tied up with twine is discovered near the bushes near a quiet suburban Tokyo neighborhood, Lt. Reiko Himekawa and her squad take the case. The victim was slaughtered brutally---his wounds are bizarre, and no one can figure out the "what" or the "why" of this crime. At age twenty-nine, Reiko Himekawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Homicide Division is young to have been made lieutenant, particularly because she lacks any kind of political or family connections. Despite barriers created by age, gender, and lack of connections, she is mentally tough, oblivious to danger, and has an impressive ability to solve crimes. Reiko makes a discovery that leads the police to uncover eleven other bodies, all wrapped in the same sort of plastic. Few of the bodies are identifiable, but the ones that are have no connection to each other. The only possible clue is a long shot lead to a website spoken only in whispers on the Internet, something on the dark web known as "Strawberry Night." But while she is hunting the killer, the killer is hunting her... and she may very well have been marked as the next victim.

Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am a person who is always open and willing to try new things. I am always willing to read about different cultures and different surroundings. So when Titan Book offered Japanese thriller for reviewing, I said YES. Got very excited when I started reading and the excitement kept me to the very last page.

The main character here is Reiko, a young female detective in the Tokio Police Department, probably the youngest in her team. Many of the police officers, mostly men, have a problem when a woman is in charge and do not count to ten before they express their opinion. Reiko is not just an ordinary police officer, she graduated as the best in the class and she is really smart. But being a woman in Japanese culture is not an easy thing at all. She has to face her parents, especially her mother who does everything she can to find her a suitable husband and sees her as a failure in the marriage department. She has to face her past and try to forget an attack that no woman should face ever in her life. A rape is bad enough for the victim herself, no need for the judgment of the society that sees her as damaged.

Book Review: Daddy Dearest by Paul Southern

An estranged father’s weekend with his beloved five-year-old daughter turns into a nightmare when she gets into the lift of a city centre tower block and goes down without him. She vanishes without a trace. It sets off a race against time, and a nationwide manhunt, to find her. As the police investigation closes in, suspicion falls on those closest to her - with devastating consequences. Daddy Dearest is a terrifying story of love, obsession, and psychological meltdown. 'My daughter has always had a thing about lifts. There’s something about the thrill of pressing a button and seeing the lift doors close which excites her imagination. It terrifies me. Every time she walks in, I imagine it’s the last time I’ll see her. What if she hits the button before I get there? What if the lift doors close and I can’t get her out? It drives me nuts. There are eight floors in the Sears building, nine if you count the basement, and the lift is fast: more like a fairground ride, really. It does top to bottom in twelve seconds. I’ve timed it. Taking the stairs, I’ve done it in forty-two. That leaves a gap of thirty seconds. You’d be surprised what can happen in that time. I was.'

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

When I started this book, I had very different expectations. But, must say, Daddy Dearest is very different from every other thriller I've read. It is so complex and so painfully real, there were moments when I didn't know should I cry or laugh. Let me tell you something about the plot:

The main character is a man who is living in a flat. He is just an ordinary man, something very grumpy, sometimes very ironic. He describes himself as „not necessarily misanthropic by nature“. He hates people but wants to be loved by them in the same time. He finds his neighbors annoying and avoids too much contact with any of them.

The Madam by Jaime Raven: Blog Tour + Review + Extract

Women always uncover the truth . . . Three years and eleven months. That's how long Lizzie Wells has been banged up inside Holloway prison, serving time for a crime she didn’t commit. Six months. That's how long it’s taken Lizzie to fall in love with her fellow inmate, Scar. Now they are both finally free and, together, they are about to embark on a vengeful search to find those who framed Lizzie . . . and to make them pay. THE BUSINESS MAN. THE COPPER. THE MADAM.

Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Today is my stop of the blog tour of The Madam by Jaime Raven and must say it is my pleasure to review this book. It is the first book that comes from the writing pen of this author, and I hope it won't be the last. He has created a real female vigilante, a character that had to grow up and fight for herself too early in life.

Lizzie has spent last four years in prison for a murder she claims she never committed. She used to work as an escort and her customer has been murdered. His blood has been splattered all over her body and that was enough for the police to make her guilty. To make things worse, her little son dies of meningitis while she is serving her time in prison. But her time behind the bars is over. She comes out as a free woman and she doesn't wanna just settle down and enjoy the freedom. She wants justice! She wants the people responsible for her stitch-up! But can she prove her innocence?

Book Review: Play Dead by Angela Marsons

The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen. The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess. Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime. Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next? As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …? The latest utterly addictive thriller from the No.1 bestseller Angela Marsons.

ARC Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I can't even believe this. Angela Marsons showed up on writer's stage last year and published four books in a row, with each one of them getting better and better. Every time when I think that I know her writing style, she surprises me in the most inconvenient ways. My jaw literally hurts me because of dropping so many times.

This is the fourth book in Detective Kim Stone Series. This time, she and her team go to a body farm, a place where dead bodies are being studied for murder investigation purposes. There suppose to be seven bodies there are studied in different environments. But there is a problem. There is one more body, a body that isn't there like the rest of them. A body that wasn't there yesterday.

The body belongs to a young woman. She is beaten to death and her mouth is full of ground. No sexual violence, no robbery, just strange marks along the legs and torso.

A couple of days later, another body appears on the body farm. Beaten to death, mouth full of dirt, strange marks on the legs. Only, this time, the young woman is still alive.

Kim and her team have full hands job to do. A serial killer is lurking young women. What is the connection between them, and why leaving them at that particular place? And that noisy reporter Tracy is always there, always ready for her top story no matter how many bodies she has to walk over. Also, people who work on the body farm have their own secrets, their own reasons why they are there. Everyone is a suspect.

In every book, we see a little bit from Kim's personal life. Having very difficult childhood, she has built a wall around her and she is not letting anyone in. She doesn't drop the guard and very few people can climb that wall and meet the real Kim. There are people in her life who love her, but it is hard for her to show her love back. Because that is Kim Stone!

This time, we see more of Tracy as a character. She has one image of herself to show to the outside world, and another one locked inside her home. She has reasons for that, and both her and Kim have something in common here. They are true opposites, but both are good examples of how we judge people without trying to walk in their shoes for a while.

I love the introduction of Dr. A, a kick-ass forensic archaeologist who swears in multiple languages, who comes originally from Macedonia, with a complicated name shortened to just „Dr. A“. She looks pretty familiar to me and would love to see more of her in next books.

What to say more? I am out of words in English, maybe I should use some Macedonian superlatives. My jaw dropped so many times, I stopped counting. There are not enough words or phrases for recommending this book. I read it in one evening, I started and couldn't stop until finishing at 01.00 AM. Totally recommended!

My opinion: 5 / 5.

City of Shadows by M.J.Lee: Blog Tour + Review

Hello, friends, fellow bloggers, and avid readers! Today is my stop of the blog tour of the book City of Shadows by M.J.Lee. It is the second book in the series and I am sure you'll enjoy it.

A family of four is found murdered in the heart of one of the new Art Deco estates in the city. It’s a brutal crime, committed without mercy. Under questioning, a suspect confesses, but Danilov is not convinced of his guilt. When the accused is murdered on the steps of the police station, he investigates to clear the man’s name, diving deep into the dark heart of Shanghai, uncovering the greed and jealousy, triads and police corruption that lurks in the City of Shadows. This is the second book in the Danilov series. The first, Death in Shanghai, is also available from Carina.

Copy provided by Neverland Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review.

An entire family is dead. Slaughtered. A husband and wife, two little children. Someone entered into their home and killed them in the most brutal way. The killers shot some of the victims, cut the throat of the others. But nothing is taken. The jewelry, the money, the papers, it is all there, not even touched.

Soon after the murders happen, a person has been arrested. He confesses the crime. But Inspector Danilov isn't confident about it. The man is obviously beaten by the police officers and the confession doesn't hold water at all. Something fishy is going on here.