The Bone Hunger (Benjamin Oris #2) by Carrie Rubin

 What a fast, fun thrill ride from beginning to end -- this begs to be read in a single sitting so I did just that. No fears if you haven't read the first book in the series as I had not either and the author gives enough backstory so you will get the gist of what happened to Benjamin almost 4 years prior to the current time and place.

Everything is going good for Dr. Benjamin Oris, 2nd year orthopedic resident at Montgomery Hospital in downtown Philadelphia, PA. His baby mama and he are co-parenting an adorable son and his friends, family, and colleagues are all ready to help him meet his goals. Of course since things are really looking up for Ben, something bad has to happen -- and it does. The first severed limb of one of Ben's joint replacement patients turns up in a park and causes quite a stir. Then a second. The surgical team that Ben is lucky enough to be on is on alert and their worries intensify as their patients are threatened and their operations seem more risky. Does this freakish spate of limbs and murders have anything to do with the recent trauma experienced by some of the team who were on a humanitarian mission to Alaska when their plane crashed in the wilderness? Is there something "otherworldly" afoot? NO SPOILERS.

I loved the medical information and the great writing; it's obvious that the author knows her topic. I also enjoyed the bit of "otherworldly" that came into play. It's just detailed and grisly enough to cause some suspense and it kept me guessing with the misdirection and red herrings. I surely hope to follow this up with book #3 in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Indigo Dot Press for this e=book ARC to read, review and recommend.

 This is the second book in a series and I was not able to get a copy of the first, THE BONE CURSE, but it can be read as a standalone.

Genre - medical mystery thriller, suspense, otherworldly

Save Her Soul (Detective Josie Quinn #9) by Lisa Regan

In this 9th installment of a long-running series featuring Detective Josie Quinn, the very foundations of her life are questioned as she investigates a murder that has relevance to her teenage years.

Major flooding in Denton, Pennsylvania, has Josie and her colleague, Det. Gretchen Palmer,  out on the water in an inflatable boat doing water rescues when they spot a blue, plastic tarp wrapped around a floating body in the rushing currents. The victim is identified as Beverly Urban, a girl that Josie had gone to high school with and who had been presumed moved away decades ago. The autopsy shows a gunshot to the back of the head and the manner of death is homicide. Somehow the preserved body is remarkably intact and Beverly is wearing a letter jacket that belonged to Josie's former boyfriend and husband, Ray. It's a small town with lots of secrets. NO SPOILERS.

This was OK but far too much contrived coincidence with Josie's past. Also feel like the excessive descriptions of the flooding and details of all Josie's crazy misadventures in the water went overboard. She has the most messed up family situation and relationships and that, along with her convoluted past history, has just gotten to be almost too much. I had figured out most of the big twists and didn't find the thrills or suspense I was hoping for with this one. Might just be ready to be done with Josie and this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review. 

 

This is the 9th in a series that should be read in order.

Genre - detective, police procedural, floods, mystery, murder

We are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin

 "Tender, resilient, strong, resourceful, kind, empathetic..."

I don't think I've ever read a book similar to this one. Told from 3 different perspectives, it's an atmospheric mystery thriller with such unique characters that I am still trying to fully appreciate the whole scope of the story with admiration for the author.

It's best to go into this book without reading too many reviews as you want to allow the narrative to pull you in before revealing any of its secrets. The main plot involves a girl, Trumanell Branson, who went missing along with her father, Frank, one hot Texas night a decade ago. Neither she nor her father were ever found but foul play is suspected. Flash forward years later as Odette Tucker, now a cop in her hometown, ex-girlfriend of Trumanell's brother, Wyatt, still hasn't given up finding them or their killer. Some townspeople believe that Wyatt killed both his sister and his father, he definitely isn't completely normal, and yet Odette can't make the pieces fit. She suffered her own huge loss the night that Trumanell disappeared. And then Wyatt finds a one-eyed girl alongside the highway near his farm. Separated into three main parts each narrated by a different character, the story comes to life as the truth finally comes out. NO SPOILERS.

Very well-written, this incredible tale will linger long after you've turned the last page. Those 6 words quoted earlier describe the two female characters perfectly. This is the third book I've read by this author and will keep an eye out for more titles. Enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

 

This is a standalone and not part of any series.

Genre - mystery, psychological,  atmospheric thriller

Containment (Jake Parker #1) by Nick Thacker

 Life changed for Jacob (Jake) Parker three years ago and he's been searching for peace and solitude but even that has evaded him. He's torn from his self-imposed isolation when he gets a call from Derek Briggs, the Director of ICE, about an unusual job. Even though Jake has left his former position as a detective with the Boston PD and military service behind, Briggs wants him to solve a case outside of the normal channels. The situation involves the deaths of a married couple who apparently entered the US illegally from Canada but were detained at a facility in Vermont where they got sick and quickly expired. Briggs is concerned because whatever killed them might be a the start of a new pandemic. He engages Jake as a third-party investigator outside of the bureaucracy of the US Government to avoid speculation and panic if this is indeed something to be concerned about. Jake knows he can't handle this on his own and makes a call to an old friend, Beau Shaw, his ex-partner and asks him to help and also requests him to find another person with infectious disease expertise. Enter Dr. Eliza Mendoza, a teacher of microbiology and parasitology at Syracuse. The goal is for the team to make sure the infection that killed the couple wasn't introduced on purpose and that it is contained. Jake thinks outside the box, and they hit the ground running. But what if there is more to this than the emergence of a new killer disease? NO SPOILERS.

I love thrillers but especially those that are medical in nature. I'm a sucker for a good pandemic novel and I tried to hold off reading this until closer to publication date, but couldn't resist. Although this is a very quick read, easy to finish in a couple of hours, I was a bit disappointed. The premise was so interesting but the narrative got bogged down and focused more on politics and the debate about immigration than about an epidemic. Very predictable bad guys and with the requisite romance angle, I was left feeling let down and don't think I got what I came for after all. I'm not sure if I'll read another in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

 

This is the first in a new series featuring Jake Parker.

Genre -- Mystery/Thriller - vaguely medical

His & Hers by Alice Feeney

 "People rarely see themselves the way others do; we all carry broken mirrors."

This is a mystery thriller told in alternating points of view. The plot revolves around a series of murders in Blackdown where Anna Andrews grew up and where Jack Harper works and lives. Anna, a BBC correspondent and former TV anchor, has been assigned to cover the investigation and DCI Jack Harper is put in charge of it. Both of them know the victims and are quite well-acquainted with each other. Who can be believed when there are so many secrets and lies? NO SPOILERS.

You may enjoy this more if you're able to suspend disbelief and just assume that everything you read is only one version of the truth. I didn't find these characters very likable and they just seemed to do some fairly dumb things in response to events. I didn't care about any of them and rooted for no one. I had the hardest time staying focused and found it easy to get distracted by other things which prevented me from finishing this quicker. Some of the dark stuff brought up within the narrative involves sexual abuse, potential animal mutilation, alcoholism, rape, bullying -- lots of manipulative behavior and just nasty people. Although some might be surprised by the ending, I found it anticlimactic. I think the writing is actually good and this style can be a useful tool, it's just too bad that the whole premise and conclusion didn't work that well for my taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this e-book ARC to read and review.

 

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - mystery thriller

Her Final Words by Brianna Labuskes

"Just because someone isn't lying...doesn't mean they're telling the truth."

At 3:00 AM, Eliza Cook walks into the Seattle FBI office and asks for Agent Lucy Thorne. The 17-year-old girl then confesses to a murder, tells Lucy where the body is, and also gives the location of the murder weapon. Despite further interrogation, Eliza refuses to give any other information or answer the main question of motive. Eliza does, however, repeat several times the fact that she carved a psalm into the victim's skin. Agent Thorne is not willing to put this case to rest as she can't wrap her head around the fact that Eliza has murdered this boy, 12-year-old Noah Dawson. Lucy wants answers and begs the chance to travel to Knox Hollow, a small Idaho town that happens to be populated by a group known as the True Believers of Christ Church. This community is close-knit and secretive and Lucy is obsessed with finding the truth. NO SPOILERS.

What a delicious slow-burning mystery that grabbed me and kept me hooked so that I had to read it in a single sitting. The setting adds another layer to this complex story as do the characters. We don't learn that much about Lucy Thorne, but her determination to figure out what happened and why is evident with everything she says and does. She finds it very hard to trust even the local law enforcement in Knox Hollow, and the church members are even more difficult to fathom. The writing was excellent and the alternating points of view and flashbacks added another dimension to the investigation as the details and revelations were exposed. It's not so much a thriller per se, but the questions I had while reading kept mounting as did the tension as I wanted the answers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - mystery, cults, murder

The Golden Cage by Camilla Lackberg

They say nothing blinds us like love...[but] nothing blinds as much as the dream of love. Hope is a powerful drug."

An incredibly fast read that I found impossible to put down so read today in one sitting. Domestic drama fueled by revenge, this novel reminds most women that there is more than one way to get over being betrayed by a man. Not that any of us would go to the extremes that Faye Adelheim manages as she extracts vengeance on the husband who nearly destroyed her.

Faye and Jack have a lovely life in Ostermalm with their young daughter, Julienne. Though wealthy and socially popular, Faye feels that her husband is growing distant and may even be having an affair. It's even more upsetting when Jack dumps her and leaves her with nothing, despite the fact that Faye is the one who helped Jack get his successful business going in the first place. She gets mad and then she decides to get even. NO SPOILERS.

Lots of secrets, lies and way too much sex, but it was entertaining and a nice diversion from more serious literature and grisly thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - domestic drama, psychological fiction, revenge

The Hollow Ones (Blackwood Tapes #1) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

"Sometimes we are not the ones doing the summoning. Sometimes we are the ones being summoned."

Odessa Hardwicke is a rookie FBI agent who ends up killing her partner when they attend a crime scene. She can't forget what she saw at the moment of Walt Leppo's death: "a mist, looking like a ripple of heat mirage, rose from Leppo's twisted form" leaving behind an odor of solder. Odessa can't bring herself to tell anyone about that when she's taken off duty and put on leave. Confined to desk duty while being investigated, she's tasked with busywork and assigned to clear out the office of a retired FBI agent in New York. As she clears out Earl Solomon's meager belongings, she finds some odd things that cause her to track down the agent who's recently had a stroke and is hospitalized. Their meeting leads Odessa to an enigma, John Blackwood, who is an occult detective. Centuries old, he is on a mission to save the world from evil spirits known as the "Hollow Ones." In an epic that covers a man's quest to bridge the schism between science and magic in 1582 London, to 1962 in the Mississippi Delta, to present day New York and New Jersey, the mission is simple -- to stop the foul entities from wreaking mass destruction and havoc. NO SPOILERS

What a thrill ride from start to finish! I was a bit nervous after reading some of the reviews that suggest the book is somehow similar to another classic author's or a different popular series (that I have also read), but I disagree. I found it quite absorbing and I couldn't stop until I finished it over a couple of hours. The whole time I was reading, I could see the movie version and I can't wait to read the next installment in what looks like a new series by this talented duo. I've read other books by Del Toro and Hogan, and enjoyed them as well. I think your reaction to this will depend on several factors, including your mood and your desire to read this genre. I found it a welcome change of pace and a definitely outside of my usual fare.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

This is the first in a new series that I plan to read in order.

Genre - supernatural, occult, magic, evil spirits

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

This mystery/crime fiction novel was fast-paced, absorbing and very timely. Even though the topic of rape will always be divisive because of its "he said, she said" nature, and despite it being a common subject of many recent books, this had a different feel to it right from the beginning. I was hooked immediately.

Rachel Krall is a well-known journalist who has made it big hosting true crime podcasts. She's even had a bit of success helping to find justice in a couple of previous episodes. This time she's traveled to Neapolis, NC, to cover a rape trial. A star athlete, a possible future Olympic-level swimmer named Scott Blair, has been accused by Kelly Moore, a 16-year-old local high-school girl. During season three of  Rachel's "Guilty or Not Guilty" podcast, she plans to attend each day of the trial, interview and investigate, and record her observations nightly for her vast audience. Upon arrival, however, Rachel is confronted with a very strange request in the form of a note left on her car windshield. The message is from Hannah, the younger sister of Jenny Stills, who died over 25 years ago in this small town. Hannah believes that her sister did not drown accidentally in the ocean but was murdered. Rachel is trying to concentrate on all of the hoopla surrounding the rape trial, but is drawn into Hannah's story and becomes convinced that there are some big questions about what really happened to Jenny. As the testimony in the trial comes to a close and the verdict is reached, will Rachel also be able to help Hannah find the answers she needs? NO SPOILERS.

Dare I wish that there will be a follow-up to this book with perhaps future podcast seasons featuring Rachel Krall? I really enjoyed how the author relayed the courtroom aspect and how the character of Rachel tried to remain objective in her reporting despite strong feelings about what she was hearing. Even though at times I found it hard to believe how Rachel insinuated herself into many of the situations and got people to give her pertinent information, I just went with it and tried not to over-analyze and nitpick. I want to know more Rachel personally, and I do hope to "hear" more of her podcast!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend. I did read THE ESCAPE ROOM by this author and plan to look for future titles.

This is a standalone and not part of any series -- yet?

Genre - mystery, crime, rape, murder, trial

Down a Dark Road (Kate Burkholder #9) by Linda Castillo

It was a pleasure to return to this series in this 9th installment as I have read and enjoyed the previous titles that feature Chief Kate Burkholder of the Painters Mill Police. Formerly Amish, Kate is in a unique position to deal with crimes in her Ohio town as it is populated by Amish.

Joseph King, convicted of murdering his wife a year earlier, escapes from the custody of the Mansfield Correctional Institution, a maximum security state prison about 100 miles from Painters Mill. When she's notified of Joseph's breach of security, Kate doesn't really believe that he will come to Painters Mill even though his children still live there with relatives. The news about Joseph brings back a lot of Kate's childhood memories as they were close as children and she just can't believe how he had changed into a drug abusing, alcoholic, abusive criminal. Turns out she may be the only one who still has any faith left in him as he tells Kate that he did not kill his wife. She can't leave it alone and this novel deals with Kate's personal mission to find out the truth.

Not really a good choice to read as a standalone, this book furthers our knowledge of Kate's personal history as a young girl growing up Amish. This peek into that community and the details are part of what makes this series unique and what keeps me hooked. I recommend this popular series for that reason even though the outcome of this plot line was easy to predict -- I'd say it's really more about characterization than any kind of suspense crime thriller.

Thank you to Minotaur/St. Martin's Press for this book ARC to read and review.

This is the ninth in a series that should be read, from the beginning, in order.

Genre - police procedural, Amish