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: 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.

Cover Reveal: Perfect Remains by Helen Fields

Hi. today is the D-Day. Perfect covers for a perfect book. And yes, there are two covers. I simply love them both and wanted to share them both. And I can't wait to read the book.

Let me introduce Helen Fields' debut crime thriller, PERFECT REMAINS.

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?

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 Family Man by T.J.Lebbon - Cover Reveal

Today I have the pleasure to take part in the cover reveal for T.J.Lebbon’s new book ‘The Family Man’, which is coming out on 11-th of August. And now, without any further ado, here’s the cover for The Family Man and the blurb:

Just imagine!

It’s a normal day. You’re out with a friend, having a chat, enjoying the sunshine. And then you have an idea. You follow it, take a risk.

Everything changes.

You make one mistake, and you’ve put everyone you love in danger.

What do you do?

The new novel by TJ Lebbon looks at just that – how one wrong decision upturns your entire life, with terrifyingly brutal consequences. This summer, get ready to run.

You take ONE risk. Now, those you love must pay …

Dom Turner is a dependable husband, a loving father. A man you can rely on. But it only takes one day to destroy a seemingly perfect life.

Emma thought she could trust her husband, Dom. She thought he would always look after her and their daughter Daisy….

Then one reckless act ends in two innocent deaths – and Dom’s family becomes the target of a terrifying enemy.
There’s nowhere to hide. They’re on the run for their lives. And if Dom makes one more wrong move, he won’t have a family left to protect.

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.

Blog Tour + Review: The Missing by C.L.Taylor

You love your family. They make you feel safe. You trust them. Or do you…? When fifteen-year-old Billy Wilkinson goes missing in the middle of the night, his mother, Claire Wilkinson, blames herself. She's not the only one. There isn't a single member of Billy's family that doesn't feel guilty. But the Wilkinson’s are so used to keeping secrets from one another that it isn't until six months later, after an appeal for information goes horribly wrong, that the truth begins to surface. Claire is sure of two things – that Billy is still alive and that her friends and family had nothing to do with his disappearance. A mother's instinct is never wrong. Or is it?

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

Hello, guys. Today is my stop on the great Cally Taylor's blog tour for her super gripping psychological thriller The Missing. My first book from this amazing author was a chick-lit story Heaven Can Wait, which I absolutely adored and proudly own, and I was very surprised when she went into another so different genre. But she managed well. The Lie, The Accident, and now The Missing, they are all among the best on the bookshelves. I must say that I was a little bit skeptical about this book, but when I started reading, I was the one missing from the rest of the world.

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: Chapter 1 of Dodgers by Bill Beverly

‘A dazzling crime novel that’s equal parts coming-of-age tale à la Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and travelogue à la Kerouac.’ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

‘Propulsive, brutally honest and yet unexpectedly tender, Dodgers is one of the best debuts I've read. I was absolutely gripped by the voice, the world of East and his brother, and surprised at nearly every turn. I audibly gasped at the end.' ATTICA LOCKE, author of Black Water Rising and Pleasantville

‘One of the greatest literary crime novels you will read in your lifetime’ DONALD RAY POLLOCK

For fans of THE WIRE, GEORGE PELECANOS, and CLOCKERS, Dodgers announces the arrival of an exceptional new talent. This gripping literary thriller, with an ensemble cast, fuses a moving, coming of age story with a meditation on the very nature of belonging.

When fifteen-year-old East, a low-level lookout for a Los Angeles drug organization, loses his watch-house in a police raid, his boss recruits him for a very different job: a road trip – straight down the middle of white, rural America – to assassinate a judge in Wisconsin.

Having no choice, East and a crew of untested boys – including his inscrutable, trigger-happy younger brother, Ty – leave the only home they’ve ever known. Setting off in a nondescript blue van, with a roll of cash, a map and a gun they shouldn’t have, this amateur crew embark on a life-changing odyssey into the unknown.

Along the way, the country surprises East. The blood on his hands isn’t the blood he expects. And he reaches places where only he can decide which way to go – or which person to become.

An intense, dangerous thriller delivered with a poignancy that will break your heart, Dodgers is the American road trip for our times. From the mean streets of south LA to the hinterlands of the American Midwest, the pared down, a raw prose of Beverly’s incredible debut will keep you spellbound, shocked and thrilled to the very last page.

‘Dark, edgy and riveting and, for all that, deeply, humanly serious, Dodgers is white knuckles for the mind.’  Robert Olen Butler   'A wickedly good amalgam of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Clockers that stands firmly on its own as a remarkable debut. A harrowing road trip into the heart of America that will shock you, move you, and leave you marveling at its desolate poetry.'  Richard Lange

I

THE BOXES

  The Boxes was all the boys knew; it was the only place. 

  In the street one car moved, between the whole vehicles and skeletal remains, creeping over paper and glass. 

  The boys stood guard. They watched light fill between the black houses separated only barely, like a row of loose teeth. Half the night they had been there: Fin taught that you did not make a boy stand yard all night. Half was right. To change in the middle kept them on their toes, Fin said. It kept them awake. It made them like men.