Blue Moon Mystery Saloon

The Devil's Triangle

Book 4, A Brit in the FBI Thrillers by Catherine Coulter & J.T. Ellison, Gallery Books, March 2017.

* An e-galley was provided by Gallery Books and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

The Devil's Triangle by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison, the fourth book in the BRIT IN THE FBI THRILLER series, is an action-packed story full of heartless villains, bright and creative FBI agents, and a master thief who is trying to save Washington, DC from a manmade weather catastrophe. The story begins in early 16th century France as Leonardo Da Vinci lies dying. His protege/lover is helping Da Vinci arrange folios of his artwork. Da Vinci demands that the folio with the lightening bolt be destroyed, as it could lead to the destruction of mankind.

The story continues in present day Venice. Master thief Kitsune (aka the Fox) delivers what's believed to be the original staff of Moses to clients who are paying her ten million euros to steal it from the Topkapi Palace Museum in Turkey. As she waits to hand over the staff, she overhears voices in another room talking about the creation of a sand tsunami that would damage Beijing. The buyers order Kitsune killed, but she escapes and then sees a TV report about a deadly sandstorm bearing down on Beijing. When she gets back to her home in Capri, she discovers her husband has been kidnapped. She calls FBI Special Agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela Caine to ask for their help and tells them about the strange conversation she overheard. Thus begins Nicholas' and Mike's race to find Kitsune's husband and prevent future manmade catastrophic weather around the world.

Pros: 1. It's an energy-filled, engaging page-turner that never seems to lag, thanks to carefully chosen words to convey a deep sense of urgency throughout the book. 2. The villains are fully drawn and portrayed as brilliant but deeply disturbed. They only care for each other and for ultimate world power. 3. The narrative is fresh and not repetitive, and conversations are believable. 4. The descriptions of settings are fairly vivid and not overly done.

Cons: The main characters, Nicholas and Mike, are not very well developed. Maybe they've been better described in earlier books, but that doesn't help a reader new to the series, as I am. I had to gather the little info regarding their relationship, work roles, and personalities from bits and pieces scattered throughout the book.

Overall: THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE is an engrossing page-turner that would appeal to suspense and thriller lovers everywhere.

If You Like This, You Might Like: Other BRIT IN THE FBI THRILLERS by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison, LUCY KINCAID NOVELS by Allison Brennan, DECKER/LAZARUS NOVELS by Faye Kellerman, BUCHANAN/FBI SERIES by Julie Garwood, TRACERS SERIES by Laura Griffin, TAYLOR JACKSON NOVELS by J.T. Ellison, FORGOTTEN FILES and THE MORGANS OF NASHVILLE series by Mary Burton

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Her Every Fear

A Novel by Peter Swanson, William Morrow, January 2017

* An e-galley was provided by William Morrow and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

HER EVERY FEAR by Peter Swanson is a riveting and suspenseful mystery which may make you suspicious of everyone you meet. Set in both Boston and London, it weaves the lives of the main characters into a web of anxiety, fear and distrust. The story takes place over a few days and starts out in Kate Priddy's point of view (POV), adding other characters' POVs as it goes along.

Kate has just arrived in Boston to spend six months experiencing life in a new place and taking design classes. She's agreed to a house switch with her second cousin, Corbin Dell, who she's never met, as he's been transferred to London for the six months. Kate has been anxiety ridden since she was a little girl but now has PTSD from a horrific attack by her ex-boyfriend five years ago. As she walks down the hallway toward her cousin's condo door, she encounters a girl who pounds on a neighbor's door. That girl believes something bad has happened to her friend. Later on, Kate finds out that the neighbor, Audrey Marshall, was killed. Then strange things start happening to Kate in her cousin's condo--slight changes to things around her, cat left inside when she knows she let it out into the hallway--enough to where she questions her sanity. This makes the reader wonder if Kate is an unreliable narrator or if something odd is really going on.

Corbin Dell first visited London as a student. Though he was a bit of a loner, he began dating a bartender at a local pub. He didn't really gel with the other American students but partied with them on occasion. He left town when his studies ended, with a big secret and a regret that follows him daily. Corbin arrives in London to work his six months at about the same time that Kate arrives in Boston. He emails her to thank her for the switch in homes and the detailed info she left him about the neighborhood. He also sends an email to Audrey, even though he knows she won't answer him.

Alan Cherney has lived in the condo building for about a year. He moved in with his heiress girlfriend, but since she's left him, he has to move out again within the month. He has been obsessed with Audrey for a long while, almost to the point of being a stalker.

Henry Wood was the life of the party in London. Every person he met was a friend, and the other American students tended to gravitate toward him. Corbin saw him around school, but didn't really interact with Henry until near the end of their studies in London. Though they parted under unusual circumstances, they renewed their acquaintance back in the USA and became bosom buddies. Eventually they parted ways and Corbin moved on with his life. But he still remembers Henry, and apparently, Henry has never forgotten Corbin.

All the characters have strengths and weaknesses, and no two are alike. By using the various POVs, the author reveals a bit of each character's personality and the reason behind their current actions. I'm giving the book 4.5 stars because with every new POV, I had to figure out where it began in the timeline of Kate's experiences. The pace of the novel would've benefitted from giving the time, day and city at the beginning of each change in POV.

Even though I felt that the killer was inferred before the final traumatic scene, the interplay between the characters and the intensity of the plot kept me captivated throughout the story. The author is a master in writing suspense and creating tense scenes, and readers will be engrossed in this novel to the very end.

If You Liked This, You May Also Like: THE KIND WORTH KILLING and THE GIRL WITH A CLOCK FOR A HEART by Peter Swanson, EVERYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BE by Windy Mejia, I SEE YOU by Clare Mackintosh, THE DRY by Jane Harper, THE SLEEPWALKER by Chris Bohjalian View all my reviews

The Kept Woman

Will Trent Series, Book 8, by Karin Slaughter, William Morrow, September 2016.

*An e-galley was provided by William Morrow/HarperCollins and Edelweiss for an honest review. 

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THE KEPT WOMAN , by Karin Slaughter, is the eighth book in her police procedural, Will Trent series and is filled with all kinds of twists and turns pivotal to good thrillers. In this intriguing story, Will and his Georgia Bureau of Investigation colleagues work with the Atlanta Police Department to solve the murder of a crooked ex-cop. The owner of the scene's abandoned building is a well-known sports figure who Will was unable to prove guilty in a recently closed case. The murder investigation turns personal when Will's estranged wife, Angie Polaski's, blood is found at the scene and their intertwined past and current troubles bubble to the surface, endangering his professional life and his relationship with medical examiner, Sara Linton.

I have to admit I've never read this author's work before, but I won't miss her future books. I was immediately pulled into the story and had no trouble understanding the pertinent backstory between all the main characters. I also found the characters realistic, each with flaws and interesting backgrounds.

Will is a physically and emotionally wounded man who has overcome his horrible upbringing with gentleness, routine and hard work to succeed in life. Angie is a crazy ex-cop, PI, and overall survivor from a childhood filled with all kinds of abuse. She flits in and out of Will's life creating havoc wherever she lands. She enjoys messing with Sara by breaking into her home and moving things about, sometimes leaving disturbing messages. Angie wants them to know that she'll always be around clinging to Will and directing anger towards Sara. Sara has weathered some difficult events of her own (though not as horrendous as Will and Angie) and suffers from self-doubts and confusion, both about herself and her relationship with Will. Even the less major characters are fleshed out with unique and complex lives.

Though the story is told in several points of view, the majority is through the eyes of Will, Angie and Sara. Keeping up with the POV changes was relatively easy, particularly since the different POVs were easily distinguished with spacing or chapters breaking them up.

I really enjoyed the author's use of humor to get the reader throughout the book. A scene in the dead ex-cop's house caused me to laugh out loud, and some of the characters' thoughts were very witty. But make no mistake, this is definitely a gritty police procedural and thriller, with all the gore and dirty primal survival techniques found in the lives of shady, abusive people.

The only thing keeping me from giving the novel five stars is the ending. I hate loose ends and though one major storyline is fleshed out, another important one is left hanging. Probably to kick off the next work in the series?

I would recommend THE KEPT WOMAN to anyone who likes police procedurals with a smattering of humor, stories of comeuppance, and mysteries with great twists and turns.

NOTE : The rather frank discussions of physical and sexual abuse within the story may not be suitable for anyone younger than 9th or 10th grades.


If You Like This Book, You May Like: Other books in the WILL TRENT SERIES by Karin Slaughter, TRACERS SERIES by Laura Griffin, MORGANS OF NASHVILLE and TEXAS RANGERS series by Mary Burton, FBI THRILLER BOOKS by Catherine Coulter, LUCY KINCAID NOVELS by Allison Brennan, DARKNESS by Karen Robards

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Insidious

An FBI THRILLER (Book 20) by Catherine Coulter, Pocket Books, August 2016

* An e-galley was provided by Gallery Books and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

Insidious by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

INSIDIOUS, the 20th book in Catherine Coulter's FBI THRILLER SERIES, is a decent followup to NEMESIS, the previous book in the series, but didn't knock my socks off. In this book, married FBI Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock investigate the attempted murder of 86-year-old powerful, wealthy society icon Venus Rasmussen in D.C., while Special Agent Cam Wittier flies to L.A. to help catch the Starlet Slasher.

Having known Savich his whole life, as she and his mother were best friends,Venus contacts Savich for help in discovering who is trying to poison her. The only people eating with her the three times Venus got sick were her son and a grandson, but loyal household staff can't be ruled out. Savich and Sherlock don't want to accuse family without hard evidence, but it appears that someone close to Venus wishes her dead. The two FBI agents must work quickly to find the culprit and prevent Venus's murder.

While Savich and Sherlock rush to keep Venus alive, Cam Whittier is in L.A. heading the investigation into the Starlet Slasher serial killings. A multi-municipal task force works around the clock to prevent more Hollywood starlets' deaths. Since the killer takes each woman's cellphone and computer or tablet, primary resources frequently used to help investigations, the task force lacks the immediate info to establish a connection between the murders. Cam has two resources that prove invaluable to get the info they need. Her parents, well-known actors who live down the street from one of the murder sites, know the ins and outs of the Hollywood scene and share their knowledge with the task force. Also, Cam runs into a friend from high school who is pursuing acting and who went to auditions with a few of the victims. The race is on to find the murderer before any more starlets are killed.

I've only read two other books in the author's FBI THRILLER SERIES, and the set up in this book is similar--two concurrent but distinct investigations linked by using staff from the FBI office. In this book, I didn't get a good image of Savich and Sherlock, but I guess after 19 books, fans would know the characters inside and out. Cam's background and motivations were more fully developed, so I felt I knew her better. And her investigation was much more interesting.

Though I enjoyed the plot and end of both investigations, they didn't seem to have much tension or subplots. And I felt as if I was getting two short stories instead of one compelling mystery book. So I give this book 3.5 stars. It's not a bad read, but if you're wanting to read a character-driven, tension-filled thriller, look somewhere else.

If You Like This, You Might Like: TRACERS SERIES by Laura Griffin, FORGOTTEN FILES and THE MORGANS OF NASHVILLE series by Mary Burton, MAX REVERE NOVELS by Allison Brennan, ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by Megan Miranda, GOOD AS GONE by Amy Gentry, WITH MALICE by Eileen Cook

The American Girl

A Novel by Kate Horsley, William Morrow/HarpersCollin, August 2016.

* An e-galley was provided by William Morrow/HarpersCollin and Edelweiss for an honest review.

The American Girl by Kate Horsley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

THE AMERICAN GIRL by Kate Horsley is a psychological thriller set in France in the present day. American exchange student Quinn Perkins is spending a summer in St. Roch hoping to become fluent in French. At the beginning of the story, she is in the local hospital trying to remember what happened to her. Reports state she was running out of the woods, barefoot and in a torn white dress, trying to flag down a motorist. Instead, she was run down and left her for dead. She has no memory of her life before the accident, and the psychologist gives her a videocam to record whatever thoughts come to her in hopes she will remember what happened.

Molly Swift is a Boston reporter who is just one of many descending into St. Roch to discover what has happened to Quinn and her missing host family, the Blavettes: Emilie, the weird ex-schoolteacher mother; Emilie's daughter, sullen teenager Noemie; and, Emilie's son, Raphael, a handsome, irresistable Sorbonne student. Molly gets close to Quinn by saying she's Quinn's aunt. And since Quinn's family hasn't bothered to visit her in the hospital, Molly hopes she can find the truth about what happened to the American student and the Blavettes before her ruse is discovered.

I've had some difficulty in how to rate this story. I started with 4.5 stars because, on the one hand, the narrative is well-written and definitely amps up the tension. However, the constant back and forth between time frames is confusing. At the beginning of almost every chapter, I had to flick back through the book to remember where I was in the timeline. I felt like I needed a complicated series of arrows, loops and stars on a whiteboard calendar to figure out where I should be in the story. And then there was the too-long length of some chapters. After a while I felt compelled to forget about 75 pages and read the last 50 pages. Once I was assured that the ending was worth pursuing, I went back and read the 75 pages I skipped.

My final deciding factor was the heavy use of cigarette smoking by every character in the book. Not that cigarette smoking, itself, should be a reason for decrease in rating. But I feel that the overuse of this habit in the book was basically filler for the actual story. Lots of space was used up in the narrative by people lighting, inhaling, and fiddling with cigarettes (and some weed). Plus, I couldn't help feeling disgusted by the idea that the characters constantly stunk of cigarettes--their breath, their bodies and their surroundings. The overuse of cigarette smoking did nothing for the story. Instead, I think it hindered the psychological buildup to the twist at the end of the book.

Overall, I think the author has a good writing style with strong characters. She is worth watching, and I will definitely read her future books. But with the timeline all over the place and the filler-ish use of smoking, I can give THE AMERICAN GIRL only 3 stars.

If You Like This, You Might Like: GONE GIRL and SHARP OBJECTS by Gillian Flynn, MORGANS OF NASHVILLE and TEXAS RANGERS series by Mary Burton, FBI THRILLER BOOKS by Catherine Coulter, LUCY KINCAID NOVELS by Allison Brennan, DARKNESS by Karen Robards




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Darkness

A Thriller by Karen Robards, Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, March 2016.

** An e-copy was provided by Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc. and Edelweiss for an honest review.

 

Darkness by Karen Robards
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

At first I wasn't sure I'd like DARKNESS . I really, really didn't like the first few pages and hesitated reading any further. But I'm glad I did. That first scene helped me feel like I was a player within the story and made me more invested in the outcome. And, if I hadn't persevered, I would have missed a gripping and fast-paced thriller that kept me up half the night reading.

The story revolves around the unlikely partnership of James 'Cal' Callahan, a 34-year-old former member of the Air Force Special Operations Command, and Dr. Gina Sullivan, a 28-year-old ornithologist and assistant professor of environmental studies at Stanford, and their efforts to safely escape Alaska's Attu Island in the Bering Sea.

Cal is a private contractor on assignment for the CIA/U.S. government, escorting a rogue, former CIA, computer hacker back to the U.S. The hacker has discovered intelligence info on how a foreign entity caused a plane to crash near Denver a year before. On the way home from Kazakhstan, their plane is blown up over the Bering Sea, with Cal being the sole survivor.

Gina is one of twelve scientists spending their Thanksgiving holiday conducting studies on pollution hazards to Attu Island, which was abandoned by U.S. and Japanese troops after WWII. While sitting in a motorized rubber boat watching a pair of rare white-tailed eagles soar away from her, and gauging how much time she has to get out of an approaching winter storm, she spots a low-flying plane moving erratically across the sky. The plane explodes and she desperately searches for survivors. On spotting Cal, she helps him into the boat, and they battle the choppy water and heavy snowstorm to get to some kind of shelter on shore. Thus begins a tense partnership to remain alive on a snow ravished island teeming with murder-minded terrorists.

He is wary of her survivalist abilities and wonders if she's part of the group that blew up his plane. She's worried about his need to stay off the grid and thinks he's going to get her murdered. With such a rocky start, they find it hard to trust one another, but they utilize their complementary skills to stay alive and to get back to the mainland.

The story picks up speed just a few pages in and continues at a rapid pace through to the end. The two main characters are three dimensional with flaws, prejudices and self-doubts. They also are smart and confident whenever their special knowledge is needed. The setting is almost a character in itself, as description of the landscape and interesting facts of what happened to Attu Island after WWII are scattered throughout the book. With an exciting, fast-paced plot, the narrative flows along seamlessly while Cal and Gina look for a way to escape their human predators and get off the island.

If you like your books exciting, full of intrigue and with a dash of history, DARKNESS is the story for you. Clear off your schedule, because you'll want to read this smart thriller all the way to the end in one sitting.

If You Like This, You Might Like: DR. CHARLOTTE STONE SERIES by Karen Robards, TEXAS RANGERS and MORGANS OF NASHVILLE SERIES by Mary Burton, TRACERS NOVELS by Laura Griffin, EVE DUNCAN SERIES by Iris Johansen