Stolen in Death (#62) by J.D. Robb

 In the 62nd installment of this series, Eve Dallas faces a closed circle mystery that forces her to navigate the moral gray areas of Roarke's history. 

Billionaire Nathan Barrister is found dead in his home office, apparently killed by a blow to his head during the robbery of a secret vault hidden by his father that had just recently been discovered by the family during home renovations. Inside are priceless art and jewelry stolen from museums and private collections around the world, some from decades ago. According to the Barristers, Nathan had been trying to return the items to clear his father's name. One set of items is missing, a specific collection of emeralds. And guess who recognizes some of the treasures in the vault as pieces he once stole during his youth? Yes, Roarke realizes that this thief is also a shadow from his past. 

Eve's challenge is to face the moral ambiguity that requires her to decide whether to blindly perform her duty as a cop or act more carefully because of her loyalty to her husband. It was fun to have the couple face a nemesis from their past. As always, the author keeps coming up with unique plots that keep the series fresh and still very interesting. I always love hearing about the other characters in their close circle and how each functions as part of a friend and work unit to handle whatever case is up at the moment. In addition, the details about this futuristic New York and the lives and times of the people is also entertaining. I'll definitely keep reading these books as it is one series I want to keep up with.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The missed opportunity for a full cast recording always surprises me although the narrator, Susan Ericksen, puts out a good effort in performing all the voices of the characters. She's voiced the entire series thus far and has kept a fairly faithful repetition of all the variations in tone and accent for the main characters. Listening always makes the experience of the story much more immersive and I enjoyed it. I'm also stymied that this series hasn't been picked up for adaptation on television or the big screen. But, I can always hope!

This is the 62nd book in the series. I've only missed a couple installments along the way. Definitely best to start from the beginning with the "in death" series.

 Genre and tags: revenge, past mistakes, murder, stolen art and jewelry, police procedural, future setting

 

Tag, You’re It by Kerry Wilkinson

 

Don’t trust anyone…

This is a survivor thriller that could provide the blueprint for that type of reality show. Contestants are vetted and gathered to compete for prizes. The selected men and women perform challenges and complete their tasks to earn money. The players then use a voting system where others are dismissed from the game.

The game is based on the concept of someone being randomly assigned as “it.” That person is supposed to “tag” another contestant so that at the end of the day, they won’t be eliminated. The assignment is given to them that morning and might be something as simple as getting another to remove their shoes. 

At the outset, Jessie is the main featured player and the reader follows her through the contest as she navigates the challenges, forms alliances, makes friends, and votes all while trying to stay in the game to the end so she can win all the money. At least that’s what we are led to believe, that it’s just that reality show thing. But there’s more going on and some of those in the game have secrets. They really aren’t just there for the money.

The concept was good, but the execution somehow was just not that exciting and the narrative got bogged down with a lot of repetition and goings on between the contestants. The alliances and deals and backstabbing weren’t really very compelling as I really wasn’t invested in any of them. Even the main character, Jessie, doesn’t give reliability vibes and I didn’t like her much. I really am not a huge fan of this reality show trope, but at least this didn’t involve hunting and killing each other though there is a death. It had potential but it never got there. It really lacked a lot of the tension and high stakes deadly game in an isolated mansion idea and it really didn’t thrill like I’d hoped. 

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

Blog Tour Stop 2-3-2025

Genre - survivor reality show, murder, secrets and lies, alliance, hidden motives

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

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

 Fast and fun high-stakes, unhinged revenge plot you won’t be able to put down.

Middle aged Debbie Mullen is a high IQ MIT dropout whose life is basically suburban drudgery in a house where her eldest teen daughter will barely speak with her and everyone else seems to be hiding things from her. She’s always trying to help out both of her girls and her meek but sweet husband, Cooper. Then Debbie has had it and starts taking action after her sudden job loss, Cooper’s mess at work after a failed attempt at gaining a partnership, and when her daughters experience issues at school. Using that brilliant mind to orchestrate a series of ruthless, calculated punishments, Debbie dismantles the lives of those who underestimated her, proving that her quiet exterior masked a dangerous woman who just won’t let things go anymore. 

This is a nice psychological pivot for the author that focuses on satisfaction, karma, and revenge rather than on shocking twists and turns that often seemed way there. Debbie is an efficient antihero who is doing some bad things but you will cheer for her nonetheless. She’s just trying to solve problems for her family and she does so with chilling precision. Definitely not typical domestic suspense and I really enjoyed it.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The production featured a full cast of excellent narrators that enhanced my delight in the immersive experience. The voices of Julie Whelan (Debbie), Scott Brick (Cooper Mullen), and January LaVoy (Harley) fit the characters perfectly and all performed so well in their roles. They were believable and exhibited great dramatic flair. These are some of my favorite narrators for audio books and I highly recommend this format. 

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

Genre and tags: psychological suspense, domestic drama, revenge, murder, karma, secrets

Make It Out Alive (Quinn & Costa #7) by Allison Brennan

 High stakes thriller 

Detective Kate Quinn and FBI Agent Matt Costa go undercover at a Florida resort to bait a serial killer targeting newlyweds in this 7th installment of the series. After the prime suspect is arrested, the investigation seems closed until Kara and Matt, who have stayed behind for a little romantic time together, are abducted by the killer's secret partner. Trapped in a lethal, twisted escape room scenario at an abandoned cannery, the pair must use every skill they possess to survive while their team races to find them before they succumb. 

This has elements of a survival type thriller along with being a police procedural with lots of action that almost seemed almost too much at times with the main characters in the booby trapped cannery testing limits of cleverness and physical endurance. It got quite repetitive after awhile. The narrative shifts between points and view and time. The pacing made it easy to read and I finished in a single sitting. 

This is the first book in the series that I have read so I am not familiar with the characters or the team. My introduction to the various members at this point means that I have no idea about their backstories or history together. I assume the relationship between Matt and Kara is sort of new and might affect the team dynamics down the road since they work together. Definitely the character development took a backseat to all the action and escape activities from the cannery to the farmhouse to the chase to capture scenes at the end. I'm not sure if it would be worth my time to go back to the beginning of this series, or if I should just more forward with future installments. It did keep me interested with the plot elements despite what felt like over the top physical tests along with the investigation aspects. I wouldn't have minded all of that endurance and game stuff being shortened.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Suzanne T. Fortin, did an OK job of reading but a full cast or even a dual narrator set up would have helped distinguish the characters who all basically sounded the exact same. It didn't provide the immersive experience I enjoy while listening as I read because of the single voice performance.

This is the 7th book in a series featuring these characters but I have only read this one. It seems that I should have started from the beginning and read in order.

Genre - police, FBI, serial killer, escape room theme, murder, games, team 

The Garbage Man by Tessa Pacelli

 Clever trash concept but absurd techno-superhero world saving scenarios.

Kayla Mousavi, A Harvard grad with a poker habit, finds herself employed at General Recycling -- a company using specialized bacteria to solve the world's trash crisis. Almost immediately after going to work in the cloistered GR work world, she is invited to visit one of the staff perks, "Resilusio," a VR metaverse powered by data illegally mined from garbage. After a shocking experience while also learning how addictive Resilusio is, she goes on the run to expose a corporate conspiracy that will destroy lives and human existence. 

This speculative thriller starts with a clever premise -- trash-powered VR and predatory data mining -- but fails in its execution. The book leans far too heavily on Kayla's escape scenarios that are completely unrealistic given the physical toll they would take on her human body. Plus, the author seems fixated on Kayla and her refusal of food which further makes all of those unbelievable feats impossible. I got really fed up with all of the cloak and dagger sneaking in and out of places with supposedly high security that obviously wasn't good enough to keep one person out. Between the logic gaps and the protagonist's Teflon durability, the tension vanishes. It was so predictable and I really disliked Kayla's annoying inner voice self pep talks and her character. The other characters, especially all the villains, were forgettable and convenient with so many improbable rescues. It was an interesting writing concept that prioritizes frantic action over its own intellectual promise. If you took out all the wonder woman action, the poker, and the spy stuff, this might actually have been a decent novel and it's why I raised a 2.5 to a 3 star rating. 

This brings me to the audio book that I listened to while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Caitlin Davies, was not able to maintain any distinctiveness between the all the different male and female characters, many who should have had global accents. All the men sounded the exact same. Her voice was unsuitable for this large a cast and I didn't enjoy listening to her. I didn't like the female protagonist in the book, so I don't know that I can say that this narrator's voice matched her essence. The whole thing felt like Kayla was talking to herself, which she did a lot of anyway in the book. I had to stop and restart the audio book because I just didn't feel immersed in the experience.

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

Genre - speculative fiction , VR metaverse, poker, spies, conspiracy, corporate villains, ruin the world as we know it

Very Slowly All at Once by Lauren Schott

 Domestic thriller about a couple who are drowning in debt until they start receiving mysterious checks in the mail.

Mack and Hailey Evans have everything that looks like the American Dream. She has a high powered career as a divorce attorney and he is a popular professor at a local college. They have two lovely little girls and a brand new lakefront home in an exclusive Cleveland neighborhood. But, behind the scenes, the foundation of their house is cracking, Mack is put on leave following accusations of a scandal involving his students, and Hailey is struggling to get money from a wealthy client. In addition, Mack now has to pay for his mother’s nursing home care. 

Then, a check from a company called Sunshine Enterprises arrives. Mack deposits it, convinced it was sent from his estranged con man father. Then more checks arrive and the amounts get bigger. Pretty soon the couple has cashed enough to fall into a clever trap set by their anonymous benefactor who now starts demanding a return on the investment. Will Hailey and Mack commit increasingly illegal and violent acts to pay off this debt?

I’m usually a bit wary of domestic thrillers because they are so predictable but this one kept me hooked. The psychological threat of ruin and exposure is grounded in real world anxiety with that feat of the couple losing everything. Now Mack and Hailey aren’t the most likable pair. They have many flaws and they make some terrible choices that made them hard to root for at times. Eventually I had to hope for the best for them in escaping this certain collapse. The tension builds slowly with each event as everything just builds up forcing a breakdown as they are pushed to their very limits. 

The narrative shifts between points of view of the couple and an unknown party but even so it is hard to guess the revelations and motivations. The conclusion was a little anticlimactic, but worked.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Andrew J. Andersen, had an engaging voice but I was sorry there wasn’t a female counterpart for Hailey. The two main characters had equal parts so it would seem fitting. He did an OK job trying to keep all of the different voices distinct along with some accents. I always enjoy a book more when I can listen and read at the same time.

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

Genre and tags: debut domestic thriller, psychological, money trap, blackmail, family life

Just Checking Scores by Marisa Burke

 A compelling and emotional read that reflects how the author overcame public and personal betrayal and humiliation because of he actions of her husband.

Marisa Burke was a longtime news anchor at WNEP-TV in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The book explores the devastating fallout after her then-husband, Mark Kandel, a well-respected educator with a doctorate degree, was arrested for a series of predatory crimes involve teenaged boys. Burke provides a raw look at the impossible position she and her daughters were put in as well as how these charges affected her professional life. 

Marisa’s account focuses on her resilience and reclamation after these devastating revelations and how she tried to protect her daughters from the fallout. The crimes of her husband are not discussed in any depth, but suffice to say that he definitely went way over any lines of decency. Not only did he try to engage these boys in illicit acts, he bought them gifts, exchanged photographs, and served them alcohol. Meanwhile, he was draining marital accounts, lost his job and lied about having another, and siphoned off family resources to use for his proclivities. 

It was an emotional read and one can’t help but think that the punishment (federal prison) did not fit the crime. Not only were the lives of Mark’s family totally impacted, but also the lives of those teen boys he pursued. The author blames herself for missing or ignoring many red flags that her husband displayed, but also questions how she could have known his sexuality issues when the dated and married because of how he portrayed himself. So he was also a con man with some serious skills. Marisa was able to overcome her trauma over the years but it was difficult and painful. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book and the narrator, Nikki Zakocs, did an excellent job handling the topics with sensitivity and appropriate dramatic flair. The production definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book. 

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

Genre and tags: non fiction, husband sex offender, marriage and family, local news on air talent

Such a Clever Girl by Darby Kane

 What a convoluted mess of a story that tried to be a mystery but ended up making me shake my head. I wanted to like it much more than I did, so even rating it 2.5 stars, I can’t level it up.

First of all, the premise: Aubrey Tanner returns 15 years after she, and her entire family, seemingly vanished from their family home. A meal on the table and a few bloodstains provide no answers for the police. In addition, a fire burnt down the family bookstore. Even the family patriarch, Xavier Tanner, who lived close by in his mansion can offer no help. The missing family’s house is left as is to rot. The years go by and Xavier succumbs to a heart attack. Soon after he dies, his will summons three women from town who each hold secrets about that day and the family. Everyone is gathered to hear the disposition of the Tanner assets. But what does Aubrey want?  Over the next few days, Marni, Stella, and Hanna realize that they are going to have to reveal the truth or risk losing everything. 

There was so much going on in this novel and so many characters to keep track of, not to mention trying to keep relationships and all their secrets and lies straight. I didn’t like any of the people in this entire book, not one. And don’t get me started on Aubrey. After a long drawn out sort of overly dramatic series of events and excruciatingly slow reveals, the long awaited answers didn’t give much of a payoff. I just didn’t like this one, unfortunately. 

I listened to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. It definitely helped to be able to distinguish the characters as the book is told from multiple points of view. The production had 4 female narrators with 3 of them doing a decent job of trying to sound distinct. All were overly melodramatic. I could not stand the voice of whichever of the 4 voiced the character of Aubrey. The rolling pitch and tone put me over the edge and I wish I could confirm her name so I can avoid her in the future. In any event, this recording was not enough to enhance my enjoyment of this book.

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

Genre and tags: domestic thriller, drama, murder, sexual assault, affairs, secrets and lies, wealthy famly