Inherit the Dead by Lee Child and others...

Fast and fun with multiple bestselling authors taking the reins with each new chapter! This is an entertaining and quick summer read for a great cause - Safe Horizon! The narrative blends seamlessly with lots of action and introspection as Perry Christo, a disgraced former NYPD detective turned Private Investigator tries to find a missing daughter for his very wealthy client. Julia Drusilla claims that her estranged daughter is coming into inheritance from a trust on her 21st birthday -- but only if she signs the papers on that day! Problems mount during his search, however, as he dashes to and fro from NYC to the Hamptons and back again. SOME ONE, maybe EVERY one, is lying to him. Who is Angelina Loki - devil or angel? Can Perry figure out what's going on before it's too late?! Ebook provided by Touchstone and Edelweiss.

A Tap on The Window by Linwood Barclay

3.0 out of 5 stars - Lesson: Do NOT pick up a hitchhiker! Everyone knows those moments in movies where you scream -- "Don't go in the basement!" or "Don't leave with that sketchy looking guy in the bar!" In this case, we all know it's taking a huge chance to pick up anyone on the side of the road no matter how forlorn or wet or desperate they look. Cal Weaver knows that too. But, when the teenaged and rain-soaked Claire mentions that she knew his dead son, Scott, the game was on. This thriller started out so great and I was totally engaged wondering where Barclay was going to take me this time. I've read all of his previous books, and he writes the "average family man on the hunt for justice" so well. I was sorry when events transpired that were predicable and reminded me of other books he's written. The suspense deteriorated and the body count rose -- though I should have expected it because it always happens in a Linwood Barclay novel. The mystery is not that engaging after all and was a bit of a let down -- all THAT for THIS??? I was disappointed with the main characters -- none of whom were without some serious flaws and a very high level of violence. Barclay has always been one of those authors whose books I automatically put on my TBR list, but I hope his next one is fresh and original. If you're a fan, however, you won't want to miss this one. It was entertaining and perfect for a summer read at the beach, on a plane or train, or on the back porch!   ARC from Amazon Vine

Always Watching by Chevy Stevens

3.0 out of 5 stars "You can sometimes leave the past, but you can never escape.", June 2, 2013

This third novel by Chevy Stevens was the least thrilling of them all. In this book, Dr. Nadine Lavoie, the psychiatrist who treated the women in the previous novels, Still Missing and Never Knowing, is facing her own personal demons.

When called to treat a suicidal patient at St. Adrian's Hospital on Vancouver Island where she has recently taken a position as an adult psychiatrist, Nadine is forced to confront her own memories of living in a cult-like commune with her brother and mother when she was almost 13 years old. As she delves into the woman's history and recent life events, Nadine has flashbacks that lead her thoughts back to the charismatic and dangerous leader of that group, Aaron Quinn, and his brother, Joseph. What happened to Nadine while she resided there so many years ago? At first she is unable to recall details about life at the commune by the Jordan River, but slowly the suppressed memories return and Nadine becomes embroiled in her investigation and attempts to bring Aaron Quinn to justice for what he had done to her and others there.

Nadine has other issues, one being that her daughter, Lisa, is a drug addict living somewhere on the streets of Vancouver. She's a widow as well, and spends many lonely hours looking in dark alleyways and flophouses for a trace of her daughter.

The story line is a bit uneven with memories erupting here and there in the course of the narrative. I never really felt the menace or experienced the suspense or dread one usually feels in a novel that is supposed to be a thriller. Nadine pursues her one track effort to expose the cult and tries to find others who know about what happened there years ago.

This was not a heart pounding, intense read, but more a slowly evolving and predictable reveal of Nadine's experience that occasionally requires quite a suspension of disbelief at the decisions she makes. It is quick and pleasurable entertainment.

The three novels don't need to be read in order though they have one recurring character in Dr. Nadine Lavoie. Still Missing is my favorite of the three. This is a review of an ARC from Amazon Vine.