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?

Blog Tour and Review: Scared to Death by Rachel Amphlett

Hi, guys.

Today is my stop of the blog tour of the fast-paced crime thriller Scared to Death by the amazing author Rachel Amphlett. I hope you'll enjoy my review and this thrilling serial killers' novel. Don't forget to visit all the blog stops and read all the amazing stuff about this book.

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

From the very beginning, the author throws you into a very scary situation. Two people, husband and wife, parents, are in the search of their kidnapped daughter after they paid the ransom. Only to find their daughter's lifeless body. A couple of hours later, while giving the statement in the police station, the father of the kidnapped girl collapses and dies from heart attack. The mother loses her daughter and her husband in a very same day.

Book Review: The Secret by Katerina Diamond

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

A triple murder in a brothel. Two female prostitutes and one male client. The bodies look horrible. One of the women has been tortured. Someone needed an information. But one of the women is not there. The third prostitute somehow has managed to escape. She is an undercover police officer. Her name is DS Bridget Reid.

Back in the police station, DS Imogen Grey is working on the case. A police officer with a lousy personal life and skeletons in the closet. Imogen has grown up with a single mother and no knowledge of her father. Her mother has a psychological disorder and never allows anyone to help her. Also never talks about her past.

But what happens when the buried past comes after you in the present?

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.

Blood Lines (D.I. Kim Stone #5) by Angela Marsons - Book Review

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

Here we are! Book number five and still not enough! How does she do it?

Blood Lines is the fifth book in the DI Kim Stone series. And Angela Marsons did it again! I still can't get enough of her books. With every book next in the row, the author makes me more and more addictive to her writing. I absolutely love her books.

This time, Kim Stone's arch enemy is back. Alex Thorne is in prison, but she still feels like the puppet master and has a plan: to destroy Kim Stone. She plays with human minds, she knows which buttons to push. Anything to get what she needs.

Kim and Bryant have a tough case to solve. A woman has been killed, probably a robbery went wrong. But everything is there, every piece of jewellery, every single pound in the wallet. Who wanted the murder to look like a robbery?

But when a young girl, a local drug addict, is killed the same way, Kim knows that these two cases are connected. Nothing connects the two victims, except the way they were killed. Are these killings work of a serial killer?

In the very same time, Kim's private life turns upside down. Her mother has been in a mental hospital for years since she killed Kim's little brother. Now, Kim receives a note that her mother is going to be released. Her behaviour has been very much improved since Kim started to send her letters full of forgiveness. But Kim hasn't sent a single piece of paper. What the hell is going on?

Wow! If I have to explain this book with one word, it would be WOW! If I have to explain this book with three words, they would be OH MY GOD! I can't stop reading till finishing it! It is fifth in the series and I still can't get enough of it. I have no idea where the author finds the inspiration and the energy for so many books for such a short time, but she is amazing. Angela Marsons definitely knows her job and knows how to keep your hair stand on the neck till the very last page.

What to say more?

READ THE BOOK! I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT!

My opinion: 5 / 5.

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!

Blog Tour and Book Review: Strangers by Paul Finch

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

Hi, guys. Today is my stop for the blog tour of the gripping read written by Paul Finch. Strangers is one hell of a read, full of adrenaline and I believe that there isn't even a single page that doesn't make the hair on your neck stand.

PC Lucy Clayburn has to live with the skeletons in her closet. Four years ago, a convicted murderer escaped while handcuffed to her. She almost got killed then and the entire operation failed. But Lucy loves being a copper and since then she desperately tries to prove to herself and others that she is a good cop.

And the opportunity arrives....

A man has been killed. Alone, in the woods, mutilated. The police connect the case with some previous cases where other men were killed and also mutilated. Everything points to a serial killer.

But what if the serial killer is a woman?

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.

Book Review: Fear Dreams by J.A.Schneider

Liddy Barron, an artist, was injured in a hit-and-run accident that left her with recurring nightmares, partial amnesia, and an increasing obsession in the disappearance of a coed named Sasha Perry. Was Sasha murdered? Insecure and nervous, Liddy's turmoil grows as she begins seeing ghostly images. Her husband Paul tries to help but suspects it's just her imagination...while intuitive Detective Kerri Blasco, also obsessed with young Sasha's disappearance, senses that Liddy may have a key to solving the case, and tries to unravel the shocking truth of what really haunts her.

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

Have you ever feared your own dreams?

Liddy Barron is afraid to sleep, afraid to work, afraid to walk in the public. Ever since her car accident a couple of months ago, her life is changed. With no memory of the night of the accident, she starts to see weird things. Works as an artist and suddenly the word HELP appears on her paintings. The main problem is when she is out in public, she sees a young woman walking towards her. Nothing unusual, you'll say, but the young woman is missing! And Liddy sees some things on her that no one else knows about. Is she losing her mind or some distant memory comes out on the surface?

Do you believe in ghosts?

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....

Book Review: Blood Ties (Tales of the Notorious Hudson Family #4) by Julie Shaw

Family is not always a place of safety.  Kathleen was just eight years old when her mother was tragically killed in a car accident.  And when her father remarries it is to the bitter and resentful Irene who has two children of her own and no space in her heart for another.  Irene goes out of her way to make Kathleen's life as miserable as possible and will stop at nothing to get her out of their lives... When Kathleen is sixteen, a shocking incident rocks the family, and life takes a darker turn.  Among this darkness, Kathleen finds a glimmer of hope in an older man, but Irene is ruthless in her mission to destroy her.  Can Kathleen find happiness or is she destined for tragedy?

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

I know that this isn't a crime or thriller book as I usually read, but the story of modern Cinderella intrigued me and I decided to give it a try. Being a motherless daughter by myself , I've found some connection with the main character, but that is where the similarity ends. The plot is set in Bradford Yorkshire in the sixties of the last century and centers around one working class family. Kathleen is a young woman, girl, just turning sixteen years old, who has lost her mother as a child. Her father remarries a couple of years later, and the new stepmother has two children by herself. But this family's life is far away from a happy fairytale. The stepmother is like Cinderella's evil stepmother, and her children act just like Cinderella's stepsisters. Kathleen works part-time in her father's pub and there she meets a man. A regular customer, a young widower who has lost his wife too early in life. The pain from the loss connects these two people., but they have to fight for their love. Terry is older than her and already a widower and she is still a minor. Love works in mysterious ways.

Another Kind of Review: My New Kindle Case

Hello.

This time, I am not going to write a book review. I decided to share my thoughts about my new kindle cover. This is not a sponsored review. I bought this cover from Amazon.com.

I bought my kindle keyboard 3G in 2012. Then I bought a cover or a case if you prefer, to protect it. This is how it looks like after four years of keeping safe my kindle and being dragged every day to my workplace in my purse. It served well. And it was time for retirement.