en-US Tue, 08 Apr 2025 12:27:43 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 216310255 Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces to track down a ruthless killer who will do whatever it takes to keep the past buried.

Doris Grandfelt, an employee at an accounting firm, was brutally stabbed to death . . . but nobody knew exactly where the crime took place. Her body was found the next night, dumped among a dense thicket of trees along the edge of an urban park, eight miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite her twin sister Lara Grandfelt’s persistent calls to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the killer was never found.

Twenty years later, Lara has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Confronted with the possibility of her own death, she’s determined to find Doris’s killer once and for all. Finally taking matters into her own hands, she dumps the entire investigative file on every true-crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Dozens of true-crime bloggers show up looking for both new evidence and “clicks,� and Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to review anything that might be a new lead.

When one of the bloggers locates the murder weapon, Lucas and Virgil begin to uncover vital details about the killer’s identity. But what they don’t know is the killer lurks in plain sight, and with the true-crime bloggers blasting every clue online, the killer can keep one step ahead. As the nation maneuvers the detectives closer to the truth, Lucas and Virgil will find that digging up Doris’s harrowing past might just get them buried instead.]]> 391 John Sandford 0593718429 Ricki 3
Together they are called to investigate a cold case re-ignited by the victims sister's political donations to a senator. Nothing was found years ago and the case petered out. They half-heartedly look into it and are immediately beset by unrelenting/sneaky true crime podcasters that capture their every word on tape. Then they have a bright idea, use them to "help" with the investigative paperwork to keep them occupied.

Turns out the killer has been at this a while and no investigation is going to stop her. The drawback is the ending which leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions as to what the final outcome will be.]]> 4.37 2025
author: John Sandford
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves:
review:
A 3.5 for me. A big fan of Lucas and Virgil and together this could have been great but it kind of dragged a bit.

Together they are called to investigate a cold case re-ignited by the victims sister's political donations to a senator. Nothing was found years ago and the case petered out. They half-heartedly look into it and are immediately beset by unrelenting/sneaky true crime podcasters that capture their every word on tape. Then they have a bright idea, use them to "help" with the investigative paperwork to keep them occupied.

Turns out the killer has been at this a while and no investigation is going to stop her. The drawback is the ending which leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions as to what the final outcome will be.
]]> 221807196 Jason Drake was the CIA’s most lethal operative.
Now he’s a ghost—working in the shadows for the enemy.
Because if he doesn’t follow their orders, his daughter dies.

Held under the Kremlin’s thumb, Drake is forced to eliminate political targets across Europe—each kill bringing the Russian president one step closer to rebuilding the Soviet empire.

The CIA suspects something is coming.
But they don’t know who’s behind it.
And they have no idea their former agent is at the center of it all.

The Assassin’s Daughter is a taut, high-stakes thriller about control, sacrifice, and the line between duty and survival. The only thing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose� is one being forced to play for the wrong side.

This series of espionage thrillers is ready to shake you to the core and keep you reading late into the night. Auston's primary goal is to share stories that entertain, provoke, and leave you wanting more.

Are you ready to read the best thriller novel of 2025?]]> 318 Auston King Ricki 2
The Russians are leaderless and the current one coveting the presidency needs Jason to do his bidding and the only way is to find his daughter. Again more about the hunt for the daughter than actual Jason storyline. The last portion of the book, we finally see Jason in action, doing the Russian's bidding, finding his daughter and then disavowed by the US again.

Just ok.]]> 4.69
author: Auston King
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.69
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves:
review:
Not much past a 2.25. It opens with Jason having been captured by mercenaries for the Russians and he's pretty much drugged for almost half the book. Meanwhile, friends Colt & Graham from MI6 are being castigated for having caused millions in damage while helping Jason rescue his friend Sierra- who's at home dealing with PTSD from interrogations during her capture.

The Russians are leaderless and the current one coveting the presidency needs Jason to do his bidding and the only way is to find his daughter. Again more about the hunt for the daughter than actual Jason storyline. The last portion of the book, we finally see Jason in action, doing the Russian's bidding, finding his daughter and then disavowed by the US again.

Just ok.
]]> 221171301 A highly skilled man without a purpose.

A fugitive woman with powerful enemies.

A mad dash across two hundred miles of nothing.

Ronan Carver has done everything he wanted to do. He served in the Navy SEALs. He fell in love with a beautiful woman. And he successfully avenged her death.

Now he’s wandering the country, searching for a new purpose. It doesn’t take long. Carver discovers a woman named Naomi Downes hiding in the trunk of his car. She works for a US senator. And she claims to have evidence of murderous corruption.

Carver and Naomi must escape by any means necessary. Hounded by state police, private security, and bloodthirsty mercenaries, it’ll be a miracle if they make it out alive.

The hunt is on�

Fans of Jack Reacher will love this new series!


Praise for the Ronan Carver

“Good character, reminiscent of Reacher.�

“Read entire book in one evening.�

“Kept me reading well into the early morning hours.�

“I really love this character.�

“A hero with a heart.�

“BETTER THAN REACHER�

“The action just didn’t stop and I could not put it down.�

]]> 367 Thomas Fincham Ricki 2
This leads to a chase (Carver may or may not be wanted by the FBI-he's not sure) but he's not taking a chance. Treks through mud, rivers, fields etc evading cops, corrupt politicans and mercenaries leads to the obvious good guy wins conclusion.]]> 4.55
author: Thomas Fincham
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
Just average for me. Former Navy Seal Ronan Carver is driving back roads in his Camaro just avoiding life after girlfriend Anna died (not really explained beyond that), needs gas and a fix of his fuel injection line. After leaving the garage, he's stopped by nerdy Deputy Gibbs who asks to check the trunk. Little did Carver know there was something placed there in the garage.

This leads to a chase (Carver may or may not be wanted by the FBI-he's not sure) but he's not taking a chance. Treks through mud, rivers, fields etc evading cops, corrupt politicans and mercenaries leads to the obvious good guy wins conclusion.
]]> 211003787 From New York Times bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave—the hugely anticipated next installment in the fan-favorite Finlay Donovan series.

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there's not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.]]> 320 Elle Cosimano 1250337348 Ricki 3
The best part of this book is Finlay's son romping naked throughout the book while being potty trained- hilarious. The rest just ok, again lite chic lit with a body found in her nosy neighbors (Mrs. Haggerty) back yard, Finlay's ex being arrested for the murder and Finlay & Vero trying to find the real culprit.

Finlay also finally "confesses" to cop boyfriend Nick (sort-of) and he seems to be ok with her escapades. They find the killer, and of course there is a cliff hanger lead-in to the next book.

]]> 4.17 2025
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
Really only a 2.75 for me but rounded up as it's a quite light read that doesn't test the brain cells.

The best part of this book is Finlay's son romping naked throughout the book while being potty trained- hilarious. The rest just ok, again lite chic lit with a body found in her nosy neighbors (Mrs. Haggerty) back yard, Finlay's ex being arrested for the murder and Finlay & Vero trying to find the real culprit.

Finlay also finally "confesses" to cop boyfriend Nick (sort-of) and he seems to be ok with her escapades. They find the killer, and of course there is a cliff hanger lead-in to the next book.


]]> 217389746 LAPD has a name for cop killers. Dead Men Walking.

FBI Agent Dean Blackwood gave up the undercover life for a desk job, traded whiskey for coffee, and swore he’d never look back.

Until he found his best friend bleeding out.

They had just stepped off the sand, surfboards under their arms, when the gunfire erupted.

Dean ran after the shooters, instincts firing before reason. By the time he got back, Joey was on the ground, blood pooling in the surf.

But Joey was just the beginning. Someone is hunting down members of an elite LAPD unit, one by one.

The LAPD calls it a string of unsolved murders. Dean calls it a pattern.

A grieving widow begs for justice. A relentless reporter digs where she shouldn’t. The deeper Dean goes, the more bodies stack up, and the more he realizes this isn’t just another case. The truth is buried under layers of corruption, and someone is willing to kill to keep it there.

Dean tried to start over, but they shouldn’t have killed his friend.

This time, there’s no going back.

Packed with high-speed chases, mob bosses, brutal fight scenes, and explosions, Drive to Kill is perfect for fans of fast-paced action, lone wolf antiheroes, and edge-of-your-seat thrillers. This is book 1 of 8 in the Dean Blackwood FBI Mystery Thriller series.

Following extensive fan feedback, this book has been fully updated for a faster, sharper, and even more action-packed experience. Welcome to Edition 2 � February 10, 2025.]]> 370 Sam Jones Ricki 2
Typical burnout story of a good guy, this one an FBI agent but one that seems to get into/out of dangerous situations. He's been relegated to working a desk in Oregon after a situation at his last post in El Paso- which is referred to but not sufficiently explained.

His divorce, banishment by FBI are all related to "the situation" but he's here in LA to visit his son and swears he's changed. He wants more time with his son (whom he refers to as Pal-ly and not by his name?) but soon gets embroiled in another situation when his best friend is killed in a random shooting. He refuses to let it go- nor can he stop the "leprechaun" or voice in his ear constantly taunting him.

He gets the bad guy, there is family fallout and he's back on the front lines of investigations for the bureau.

Unsure about this series, mainly due to "the leprechaun voice".

]]> 4.28
author: Sam Jones
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:
The first book I've read in this series or by the author and it was about a 2.5 for me.

Typical burnout story of a good guy, this one an FBI agent but one that seems to get into/out of dangerous situations. He's been relegated to working a desk in Oregon after a situation at his last post in El Paso- which is referred to but not sufficiently explained.

His divorce, banishment by FBI are all related to "the situation" but he's here in LA to visit his son and swears he's changed. He wants more time with his son (whom he refers to as Pal-ly and not by his name?) but soon gets embroiled in another situation when his best friend is killed in a random shooting. He refuses to let it go- nor can he stop the "leprechaun" or voice in his ear constantly taunting him.

He gets the bad guy, there is family fallout and he's back on the front lines of investigations for the bureau.

Unsure about this series, mainly due to "the leprechaun voice".


]]> 223247822 Sweetwater Falls is a town full of beauty and unexpected surprises.
When a high school student is found dead in her car,
Sheriff Spenser Song is called to investigate.

It seems the life of a popular teen girl is full of hidden mysteries.
With an empty pill bottle discovered in the car, it was initially ruled a suicide.
But something strange is afoot.
Her seemingly perfect life clashes with the possibility of her taking her own life.

While searching through the teen's belongings, Spenser stumbles upon her diary.
The young girl's diary contained hints about a secret boyfriend.

Hoping to fill in the blanks from the diary, Spenser attempts to track down the girl's phone.
Unable to find it, she sends her deputy to shadow potential suspects connected to the teen.

Envy, exploitation, betrayal, and hearts that are deceptive above all things.
It seems the shades of the Falls are full of treacheries in disguise.

With every new clue unraveling in a dramatic twist, the very fabric of this once idyllic town might be changed forever. ]]> 247 Elle Gray Ricki 3
This storyline of a teen girl found dead in her car at first seems like suicide but quickly is classified as murder. The main culprit, her secret older boyfriend. It is however not that straight forward and a few surprises in the autopsy report and tox screen point at someone totally different. The doer was evident to me from the start but I don't want to give out any spoilers.

A good filler read.]]> 4.67
author: Elle Gray
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.67
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:
As a fan of Sheriff Spenser Song, it is surprising to see she won't stand up to boyfriend Ryker's father who is vile to her. She has also been up for election for quite a few books now and it's time that part of the story is over as well.

This storyline of a teen girl found dead in her car at first seems like suicide but quickly is classified as murder. The main culprit, her secret older boyfriend. It is however not that straight forward and a few surprises in the autopsy report and tox screen point at someone totally different. The doer was evident to me from the start but I don't want to give out any spoilers.

A good filler read.
]]> 214537803 Homicide Detective Kit McKittrick's latest case exposes San Diego’s seedy underbelly in this nerve-shattering tale of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose.

On a long-anticipated second date with police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves—right as things are getting steamy—Kit stumbles across the mutilated body of a local San Diego politician. The politician is loved by many of his constituents but is hated and reviled by many more. That the suspect list is long is no surprise to anyone, but exactly who ends up on it stuns Kit and her team.

As the SDPD reveal the victim’s sinister dealings, Kit and Sam are forced to navigate the lawless world of the city’s most rich and powerful citizens to find answers. But time is rapidly running out, with their sources of information dropping like flies as the killer methodically eliminates loose ends—and anyone else who stands in the way.]]> 465 Karen Rose 0593817176 Ricki 3
Meanwhile, semi-boyfriend police consultant Sam Reeves, is in on most of the interrogations and provides insight into each of the suspects. It takes a bit of time to get to the actual culprit and it was not who I thought, mainly because verifying an alibi was missed by Kit & Connor.

A solid 3.25, but a bit too long and drawn out & of course "The List" provides a lead-in to the next installment of this series- info on Kit's sister's death.]]> 4.23 2025
author: Karen Rose
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
Det Kit McKittrick and partner Connor are assigned the gruesome murder of slimy, corrupt Councilman Bruno Munro. As they delve deeper, it seems his extravagant lifestyle was totally funded by blackmail and a master list of payers is missing along with his Ferrari & Rolex! Bodies drop at a rapid pace all of them part of "the list" which has yet to be found.

Meanwhile, semi-boyfriend police consultant Sam Reeves, is in on most of the interrogations and provides insight into each of the suspects. It takes a bit of time to get to the actual culprit and it was not who I thought, mainly because verifying an alibi was missed by Kit & Connor.

A solid 3.25, but a bit too long and drawn out & of course "The List" provides a lead-in to the next installment of this series- info on Kit's sister's death.
]]> 215177041 I have one thing to do before I die.
And time is running out.

I had it all: a fantastic husband, two great kids, an exciting career. And then, at the age of forty-three, I found out I would be dead before my next birthday.

My mother also died at forty-three. I was seventeen, and she warned me that women would flock to my suddenly single father like stray cats to an overturned milk truck. They did. And one absolutely evil woman practically destroyed his life, mine, and my sister’s.

I am not letting that happen to my family.

I have three months, and I plan to spend every waking minute searching for the perfect woman to take my place as Alex’s wife, and mother to Kevin and Katie.

You’re probably thinking, she’ll never do it. Did I mention that in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Kill Someone to Get What She Wants�?

From thriller writer Marshall Karp (cocreator with James Patterson of the #1 New York Times bestselling NYPD Red series), and rich with Karp’s deft array of three-dimensional characters and his signature biting humor, Don’t Tell Me How to Die has so many twists and turns, you’d swear he wrote it with a corkscrew.]]> 336 Marshall Karp Ricki 2
Maggie & sister Lizzie lose their mother to a rare disease in their teens. Maggie gets tested regularly for the same disease and the most recent test had to be redone. She sees the "writing" on the wall and begins to prepare as did her mother for imminent death.

The flashbacks tell her teen story, along side her present one as the mayor.

The best parts were the Maggie/Lizzie conversations while the rest was just off the charts unbelieveable.]]> 4.28 2025
author: Marshall Karp
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
About a 2.5 for me, mainly due to all the flashbacks.

Maggie & sister Lizzie lose their mother to a rare disease in their teens. Maggie gets tested regularly for the same disease and the most recent test had to be redone. She sees the "writing" on the wall and begins to prepare as did her mother for imminent death.

The flashbacks tell her teen story, along side her present one as the mayor.

The best parts were the Maggie/Lizzie conversations while the rest was just off the charts unbelieveable.
]]> 199223892 From New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen comes a chilling follow-up to The Spy Coast, plunging the Martini Club into the search for a missing teen—with a startling connection to their own pasts.

When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything.

Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance.

After a teenager vanishes—and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect—she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend’s innocence. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.

As Jo grapples with two unexplained mysteries, the Martini Club races to uncover the truth behind shadowy secrets…before more lives are lost.]]> 363 Tess Gerritsen 1662515154 Ricki 3
A group of retired CIA agents (Martini Club) live in Purity, Maine , a slow town except in tourist season. There is of course the right side of the lake (pricey homes of summer residents) and the other poorer side of townies - year round residents. The Conovers come for vacation including son Ethan with his new wife & stepdaughter who goes missing.

The retirees "help" Acting Sheriff Jo whether she wants them to or not and there is a dark side to Purity but it's not the townie side and the mystery goes back decades. This group seems to gain info way before Jo and without their help it doesn't seem like she'll crack the case.

]]> 4.40 2025
author: Tess Gerritsen
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
Kind of miss Rizzoli/Iles series, last one was in 2022. Sometimes authors need/want to branch out and this series is just ok for me.

A group of retired CIA agents (Martini Club) live in Purity, Maine , a slow town except in tourist season. There is of course the right side of the lake (pricey homes of summer residents) and the other poorer side of townies - year round residents. The Conovers come for vacation including son Ethan with his new wife & stepdaughter who goes missing.

The retirees "help" Acting Sheriff Jo whether she wants them to or not and there is a dark side to Purity but it's not the townie side and the mystery goes back decades. This group seems to gain info way before Jo and without their help it doesn't seem like she'll crack the case.


]]> 221179266
For decades Southern Republic has invested heavily in Concord, building a paper mill and creating a thriving community, one where its employees live, work, and retire. Unlike countless other mills that have closed Southern Republic survived, becoming a model for the paper industry. But Southern Republic’s success is based largely on something called the Priority program, a highly unorthodox way to secretly control costs, one that provides a huge edge over its competition. Only the three owners of the company are aware of the program’s existence, but one of them, Christopher Bozin, has had a change of heart. Brent’s return to Concord, a move Bozin personally orchestrated, provides a chance at redemption that Bozin desperately wants before cancer takes his life. So a plan is set into motion—one that will not only criminally implicate Bozin’s two partners—it will also place Brent Walker right in the crosshairs of men who want him dead.

With only one course left Find and reveal the shocking secret of the list.Ěý]]> 384 Steve Berry 1538770873 Ricki 0 to-read 4.50 2025
author: Steve Berry
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 228106147 She lived life online, her final post a cry for help. But the mists of Second Beach answered only with silence.

When the body of a beloved social media star washes up on the rocky shores of Second Beach, panic spreads through the surrounding coastal community. What was once a peaceful haven is now shrouded in fear, and the locals demand answers.

But what begins as a tragic mystery quickly spirals into something far more sinister. Beneath the surface of Washington’s sleepy beach towns lies a hidden underworld—a secretive criminal syndicate that has operated in the shadows for years.

Are they involved? Or is something even darker lurking in the mist?

As Detective Thomas Austin uncovers secret after long-buried secret, he discovers a chilling truth that’s been hiding in plain sight for decades. And the deeper Austin digs, the closer he comes to a devastating revelation that could rock the entire Pacific Northwest.

Series List (can be read in any order):
Book 1: The Bones at Point No Point
Book 2: The Shadows of Pike Place
Book 3: The Fallen of Foulweather Bluff
Book 4: The Horror at Murden Cove
Book 5: The Terror in the Emerald City
Book 6: The Drowning at Dyes Inlet
Book 7: The Nightmare at Manhattan Beach
Book 8: The Silence at Mystery Bay
Book 9: The Darkness at Deception Pass
Book 10: The Vanishing at Opal Creek
Book 11: The Secrets of Second Beach]]> 254 D.D. Black Ricki 3
The dead girl at first seems connected to a group called the Collective but as they investigate, it really is a more personal reason. She is an "influencer" who regularly posts snippets of inane info but her more recent posts hint at her real desire to be a journalist.

It takes a while to unravel the murder and seems a bit convoluted at times plus Thomas has things weighing on his mind/thoughts/dreams. About a 3.5 for me.]]> 4.62
author: D.D. Black
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.62
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves:
review:
Det Thomas Austin is asked to speak to a possible suspect regarding a body found floating near Second Beach (another jurisdiction). What seems odd is that Thomas is constantly asked to "assist" another jurisdiction in some sort of case. It's his calling and he just can't stop. That said, pregnant girlfriend Sy is giving vibes that she would like him behind a desk- it's just not him.

The dead girl at first seems connected to a group called the Collective but as they investigate, it really is a more personal reason. She is an "influencer" who regularly posts snippets of inane info but her more recent posts hint at her real desire to be a journalist.

It takes a while to unravel the murder and seems a bit convoluted at times plus Thomas has things weighing on his mind/thoughts/dreams. About a 3.5 for me.
]]> 215749267 Her bestsellers explore the wildest, strangest crimes. Now her husband has been murdered� is she a target, a victim, or is this even darker?�

NYPD Detective Declan Shaw gets the call from his lieutenant at 9:42 p.m.ĚýHow fast can you get to 211 Central Park West? The Beresford Building.

At Apartment 18A, Shaw’s partner briefs him. The woman inside called 911 to report a break-in—and the murder of her husband. She fired a round at first responders, then made a baffling demand.ĚýNobody comes in but Detective Declan Shaw.

The woman answers, covered in blood. She appears to be in shock. A body is lying dead on the floor of the luxurious living room.Ěý

Shaw walks in and spots floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with hardcover books. He recognizes the name—bestselling true-crime author Denise Morrow. When he looks closer, he sees they all show the same familiar picture on the back.Ěý

“This is you?� Shaw asks. “You’re a writer?�
�
The real question Is she also a killer?]]> 400 James Patterson 0316570001 Ricki 2
The last twist was the only surprise to me and it was a good one.]]> 4.34
author: James Patterson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.34
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves:
review:
Tried a previous collaboration book with Patterson & Barker but did not finish it. That said, I didn't like this one either. Who doesn't like twists & turns, this storyline however was one twist after another which also never really let the characters develop. There wasn't really one character to root for as they were all corrupt in some fashion. Especially unlikeable was "The Writer"- smug, condescending etc.

The last twist was the only surprise to me and it was a good one.
]]> 219323446 In the shadow of murder, secrets come to light.Holiday festivities in tiny Anderson, Montana take an unexpected turn when a welfare check becomes a murder investigation. Stone County deputy Tom Edwards discovers the frozen corpses of a local couple bound to chairs at their home in the Moonlight Mountains. The couple’s son and daughter-in-law soon go missing, the only clue a puddle of blood. A tragic bus accident and embezzled church funds add suspects and complicate motives.

Stone County Sheriff Peter Elliott and his crew are once again faced with more suspects than clues and an increasingly hostile press in their struggle to solve these murders.]]> 294 Kit Karson Ricki 2
See review by Corrine Severn dated Jan 2025 for a pretty full synopsis of the book.

It's a plodding investigation by a small town sheriff's office and a few different crimes linked together.

]]> 3.00
author: Kit Karson
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
An ok hoopla book but not a series I'd continue.

See review by Corrine Severn dated Jan 2025 for a pretty full synopsis of the book.

It's a plodding investigation by a small town sheriff's office and a few different crimes linked together.


]]> 213651068 With his lover imprisoned in a Siberian gulag, the Gray Man will stop at nothing to free her in this latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

A winter sunrise over the great plains of Russia is no cause for celebration. The temperature barely rises above zero, and the guards at Penal Colony IK22 are determined to take their misery out on the prisoners--chief among them, one Zoya Zakharova. Once a master spy for Russian foreign intelligence, then the partner and lover of the Gray Man, she has information the Kremlin wants, and they don't care what they have to do to get it.

But if they think a thousand miles of frozen wasteland and the combined power of the Russian police state is enough to protect them, they don't know the Gray Man. He's coming, and no one's safe.]]> 518 Mark Greaney 0593548191 Ricki 4
Meanwhile, Zoya is in fact alive and working in a penal colony making uniforms for the Russian army. Why she is there and not in a max security prison seems strange to her & then little by little an FSB Colonel Baronov tells her it's a trap for Court!

However, nothing and no one will deter the Gray Man once it's confirmed by intelligence that Zoya is alive. It's non-stop action for Court/Matt & Zach and unfortunate there's only one book per year!]]> 4.70 2025
author: Mark Greaney
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.70
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
Courtland Gentry- Gray Man/Violator/Six is wreaking havoc in the Balkans trying to infiltrate Russia. Although he has been told his partner/girlfriend ex Russian spy Zoya is dead, his mantra is "She's not dead" and saying it enough will make it true. Former colleagues Matt Hanley & Sierra One Zack Hightower try to convince him otherwise but he is adamant. He is getting into Russia to find her.

Meanwhile, Zoya is in fact alive and working in a penal colony making uniforms for the Russian army. Why she is there and not in a max security prison seems strange to her & then little by little an FSB Colonel Baronov tells her it's a trap for Court!

However, nothing and no one will deter the Gray Man once it's confirmed by intelligence that Zoya is alive. It's non-stop action for Court/Matt & Zach and unfortunate there's only one book per year!
]]> 228828203 A missing show dog.
A desperate teenage girl.
A detective who'd rather be anywhere else.

When Palm Beach socialite Pixie Kazarian's prized Afghan Hound disappears days before a prestigious dog show, private investigator Miami Jones reluctantly takes the case. But what starts as a simple missing pet investigation quickly becomes complicated when two more dogs vanish without a trace.

As Miami digs deeper into the world of competitive dog shows, black market breeding, and the dark underbelly of South Florida's pet industry, he discovers that someone is willing to kill to keep their secrets buried. With help from his eclectic group of friends and a temporary teenage foster daughter who sees right through his defenses, Miami races to uncover the truth before more dogs disappear � or worse.

From the glittering mansions of Palm Beach to the seedy back alleys of West Palm Beach, Miami Jones must navigate a world where nothing is quite what it seems, and everyone has something to hide.


]]> 330 A.J. Stewart Ricki 3
As he delves deeper into the show dog world, he finds info on puppy mills, dog breeding for stud fees and posh pet palaces for spa treatments & canine care. There is money in all of it and he encounters dangerous dog gangs and crooked owners.

A fast and easy read for great entertainment.]]> 4.65
author: A.J. Stewart
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:
Miami Jones and his partner are hired by a Palm Beach socialite (Pixie) to find her missing prize winning show dog. As he digs deeper, he finds two other dog-napped show dogs neither as prize winning as Pixie's but still missing.

As he delves deeper into the show dog world, he finds info on puppy mills, dog breeding for stud fees and posh pet palaces for spa treatments & canine care. There is money in all of it and he encounters dangerous dog gangs and crooked owners.

A fast and easy read for great entertainment.
]]> 211180780 Propelled on a cross-country chase, devoted parents become desperate fugitives in a heart-racing novel of suspense by the author of Family Money and All He Has Left.

Thirteen years ago, Cole and Lisa Shipley were fostering an infant with hopes of adopting her. Overnight everything was turned upside down, when the child’s mother bled to death on their front doorstep. Her last He’s coming here…for her! Save her. Afraid, bewildered, and with a baby in their arms, they fled. The longer they hid, the guiltier they looked.

Now in a small Colorado town under assumed identities, they’ve been seemingly safe. But when a tip exposes them and Cole is framed for another murder, they take it on the run again, barreling across the western US—this time with a confused and resistant teenage girl awakening to a terrifying new reality. In the rearview is the relentless FBI agent who has never given up the hunt. And he’s not the only one.

Every frightening mile brings a family closer to the truth about that fateful night thirteen years ago. And to a killer who’s determined to finish what he started.]]> 236 Chad Zunker 1662516096 Ricki 3
Of course, they are accused of the mother's murder. Years later, living in a small town, they need to access funds stashed in the Cayman's for Jade's surgery and they are discovered-both by the FBI and the real killer.

On the run again, will they be able to save their daughter and themselves? Will they stand and fight? A complicated tale but an ok read,]]> 4.18 2025
author: Chad Zunker
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:
A couple (Cole & Lisa) were to adopt a foster child when the mother changes her mind. The night before having to surrender Jade, there is a pounding at the door and the mother, covered in blood tells them to flee and protect the baby.

Of course, they are accused of the mother's murder. Years later, living in a small town, they need to access funds stashed in the Cayman's for Jade's surgery and they are discovered-both by the FBI and the real killer.

On the run again, will they be able to save their daughter and themselves? Will they stand and fight? A complicated tale but an ok read,
]]> 214629681 A mother and daughter in hiding are threatened by more than secrets and lies in a twisting novel of paranoia, revenge, and psychological suspense by bestselling author Douglas Corleone.

For two years, Kati Dawes and her teenage daughter, Zoe, have lived off the grid in Hawaii, hiding from a past Kati must forget as if her life depends on it. New names. Anonymous online presence. So far, safe. Until Kati’s fiancé, attorney Eddie Akana, disappears along a popular hiking trail in a Maui national park. Now all eyes are on Kati. Exposure can make a woman with so many secrets very paranoid.

Eddie’s law partner, Noah Walker, is doing everything he can to protect his new client from the press that’s hovering like a vulture and the authorities whose suspicions about Kati—and the disappearance—are rising. Then suddenly, Zoe goes missing as well. Kati will risk anything to find her. But the worst is still to come. Because Kati’s not the only one with secrets. And buried among them is a twist she never saw coming.]]> 250 Douglas Corleone 166252207X Ricki 2
A tale of an abused women & her daughter fleeing not just from the husband but from possibly being accused of killing the mother-in-law. They live off the grid, she meets a new guy who is then also murdered. It looks like she may be accused of his murder as well and tries to find out what really happened.

The past and the present come together, the results are twisted and unpleasant and the outcome a surprise. Yet, the killer gets away- no justice here.]]> 3.46
author: Douglas Corleone
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.46
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:
Go with review by Michael dated 3-4-25. Got this as a First Read from Kindle and was disappointed.

A tale of an abused women & her daughter fleeing not just from the husband but from possibly being accused of killing the mother-in-law. They live off the grid, she meets a new guy who is then also murdered. It looks like she may be accused of his murder as well and tries to find out what really happened.

The past and the present come together, the results are twisted and unpleasant and the outcome a surprise. Yet, the killer gets away- no justice here.
]]> 221544394
Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?]]> 448 Karin Slaughter 0063336774 Ricki 0 to-read 4.12 2025
author: Karin Slaughter
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214175156 #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown returns with a sexy thriller where an unruly detective and an ­­­­ambitious tv show producer work against the clock to prevent another young woman from disappearing before the next blood moon—while trying to resist the attraction between them.

Detective John Bowie is one misstep away from being fired from the Auclair Police Department in coastal Louisiana. Recently divorced and slightly heavy-handed with his liquor, Bowie does all that he can to cope with the actions taken (or not taken) during the investigation of Crissy Mellin, a teenage girl who disappeared more than three years prior. But now, Crisis Point, a long-running true crime television series, is soon to air an episode documenting the unsolved Mellin case. Bowie has been instructed by his unscrupulous boss to keep to himself his grievances and criticisms over the mishandling of the investigation.

Beth Collins, a senior producer on Crisis Point, knows what classifies as a great story and when there’s something more to be told. After working on the show for seven years researching, fact checking, and editing dozens of episodes, Collins is convinced that Crissy Mellin’s disappearance was not an isolated incident. A string of disappearances of teenage girls in nearby areas have only one thing in common: They took place on the night of a blood moon. In a last-ditch effort to find out the truth, Beth leaves New York City for Louisiana to enlist Detective Bowie in helping her figure out what happened to Crissy and find the true culprit before he acts on the next blood moon—in four days� time.

At the risk of their jobs and lives, Bowie and Collins band together to identify and capture a canny perpetrator, while fighting an irresistible spark between them that threatens to upend everything.]]> 448 Sandra Brown 1538742985 Ricki 2
Det John Bowie (Booie like the knife, not like David Bowie- something explained more than once) is working for corrupt boss Barker who blocked the investigation into a missing teen Crissy Mellin, which also ended in the suicide of her accused killer under Barker's watch.

The case is now the subject of a investigative true crime TV show and a producer of the show Beth Collins comes to town with questions she feels need answering before the show airs. Both John & Beth aren't satisfied with the answers at hand, reinvestigate and find numerology, astrology, blood moons are all involved.

The book seems to rehash the same info quite a bit, and the theme of corrupt/bad bosses plagues both John & Beth.


]]> 3.95
author: Sandra Brown
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.95
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:
Just mediocre for me. A romantic suspense without much suspense and the romance was more explicit than romantic..

Det John Bowie (Booie like the knife, not like David Bowie- something explained more than once) is working for corrupt boss Barker who blocked the investigation into a missing teen Crissy Mellin, which also ended in the suicide of her accused killer under Barker's watch.

The case is now the subject of a investigative true crime TV show and a producer of the show Beth Collins comes to town with questions she feels need answering before the show airs. Both John & Beth aren't satisfied with the answers at hand, reinvestigate and find numerology, astrology, blood moons are all involved.

The book seems to rehash the same info quite a bit, and the theme of corrupt/bad bosses plagues both John & Beth.



]]> 220260951 This time it’s personal�

Twelve months ago, maverick Government Officer Sam Taylor was shot and left for dead while investigating a black-market organization. Now his shooter, a mysterious and beautiful agent, has been found dead in Amsterdam.

Sent back to identify the body, Sam is reunited with old acquaintances. He’s then introduced to lead of the investigation, Interpol agent Karl Vogt, a man with his own agenda. But as the group enter the mortuary, they find the body has vanished�

Back at the station Sam begins to receive mysterious messages which turn the investigation on it’s head.

Knowing how much is riding on the case, Sam heads into the Dutch countryside where he meets an unexpected ally. And when Sam discovers there is a mole working inside the force, he agrees to help take them down.

But when national security is on the line, who can he really trust?
]]> 10 Ben Baldwin Ricki 2
After recovering, he's asked to come back to Amsterdam, as his assailant has been found dead and he's to formerly identify her. This leads to an investigation into smuggling of all kinds by a group called the Nile, an Interpol agent Vogt and the friends in the Amsterdam police he was assisting during his last visit. However, everytime there is a lead, the Nile seems to be ahead of them (thus the thinking there is a mole in the police).

It was easy for me to quickly figure out the mole, not sure why it took the brains of the investigation til the end of the book to do so. It was an ok read, a kindle filler between my favorite releases. Since this is by a British author, get used to "s" substitued for "z" such as organisation- it kind of messes with my enjoyment of the read.]]> 4.34 2024
author: Ben Baldwin
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
Sam Taylor , part of a British repatriation unit was shot in Amsterdam during a raid he was participating in. The female assailant who shot him gets away.

After recovering, he's asked to come back to Amsterdam, as his assailant has been found dead and he's to formerly identify her. This leads to an investigation into smuggling of all kinds by a group called the Nile, an Interpol agent Vogt and the friends in the Amsterdam police he was assisting during his last visit. However, everytime there is a lead, the Nile seems to be ahead of them (thus the thinking there is a mole in the police).

It was easy for me to quickly figure out the mole, not sure why it took the brains of the investigation til the end of the book to do so. It was an ok read, a kindle filler between my favorite releases. Since this is by a British author, get used to "s" substitued for "z" such as organisation- it kind of messes with my enjoyment of the read.
]]> 214175230 From celebrated New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry comes the latest installment in his wildly popular Cotton Malone series --- an adventure that takes Cotton to Italy and Tuscany to solve a five hundred year old mystery.
Ěý
Cotton Malone is on the hunt for a forgotten 16th century Pledge of Christ â€� a sworn promise made by Pope Julius II that evidences a monetary debt owed by the Vatican, still valid after five centuries, now worth in the trillions of dollars. ĚýBut collecting that debt centers around what happened to the famed Medici of Florence â€� a family that history says died out, without heirs, centuries ago.Ěý Two more things also hang in the balance. ĚýWho will become the next prime minister of Italy, and who will be the next pope. ĚýFinding answers to all three proves difficult until Cotton realizes that everything hinges on when, and if, the Medici return.]]> 403 Steve Berry 1538770563 Ricki 4
Ex Magellan Billet agent Cotton, often does favors for his former boss and when Stephanie calls, he always seems to say yes. Seems he needs the intrigue and adrenaline rush. This time, she asks him to check into a situation with a Vatican Cardinal Richter who's been accused of bribery. When Cotton finds the money & it seemingly confirms the accusation, it seems a bit too convenient.

As he digs deeper, he's targeted by an assassin tied to the Vatican who is trying to prevent a lost heir to the Medici family from getting proof of his ancestry for political purposes. There are quite a number of characters and an involved storyline but a good read.

]]> 3.96 2025
author: Steve Berry
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
Always enjoy Cotton Malone books, a combo of a historical mystery & current thriller.

Ex Magellan Billet agent Cotton, often does favors for his former boss and when Stephanie calls, he always seems to say yes. Seems he needs the intrigue and adrenaline rush. This time, she asks him to check into a situation with a Vatican Cardinal Richter who's been accused of bribery. When Cotton finds the money & it seemingly confirms the accusation, it seems a bit too convenient.

As he digs deeper, he's targeted by an assassin tied to the Vatican who is trying to prevent a lost heir to the Medici family from getting proof of his ancestry for political purposes. There are quite a number of characters and an involved storyline but a good read.


]]> 213870630 Dear Reader,

Just when you think you’re safe from the past, it finds you. It’s as true in life as it is in fiction, and it’s been a favorite theme of mine from my earliest novels, including these two classic novels, The Shadow of Time and Gypsy Wind, now gathered in one volume with a gorgeous new cover and title. Mara Wilcox and Becca Peters both tried to leave danger behind them. And both thought they’d succeeded . . . until now.

After four long years, Mara has come to accept losing Shane in a tragic bombing overseas. Inexplicably, he’s back, mad as hell that she didn’t wait for him, and determined to claim his daughter. But Mara isn’t the only one shocked by his return, and someone will do whatever it takes to make sure there are no new beginnings.
Ěý
Ever since the scandal that almost destroyed her family horse farm, Becca has tried to keep her feelings for Brig Chambers reined in. His accusations already cost her so much. Yet there’s as much desire between them as there is distrust—enough to blind them both to an enemy that’s never gone away.

I loved revisiting these stories, and hope you’ll join me in rediscovering them.]]> 512 Lisa Jackson 1420156918 Ricki 1
Just an old rehash, cute kid, nasty sister-in-law etc.

Read the first of the two -Shadow of Time- and passed on the second.]]> 3.36
author: Lisa Jackson
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.36
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
This is a reprint of two 1984 books combined into one. It is mostly romance- boy meets girl/instant attraction/ boy dies/girl gets pregnant,marries someone else, he dies and first boy comes back.

Just an old rehash, cute kid, nasty sister-in-law etc.

Read the first of the two -Shadow of Time- and passed on the second.
]]> 195791066 Dez Limerick, a man of many skills and a murky past, faces the impossible—a skilled, deadly opponent who anticipates his every move.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick ("Dez" to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. He was trained as a "gatekeeper"—he can open any door, keep it open as long as necessary, and control who does—and does not—go through. Now retired from his previous life, Dez still tries to keep his skills up to date.

Knocking around the country, picking up the occasional gig as a guitarist, Dez is contacted by a friend in urgent need of his musical skills. At his behest, Dez flies to the East Coast to a gig at the brand new massive complex, the Liberty Center. But he's barely landed before he finds himself in the midst of a terrorist attack, a group has taken over the whole center and thousands of hostage lives are in danger. With the semi-willing help of a talented thief, Dez takes on the impossible task of outfighting and outwitting a literal army. But that's just the beginning, as Dez learns he was actually lured there under false pretenses, by someone who knows more about Dez, his past and his skills than any living person should.]]> 387 James Byrne 1250319781 Ricki 3
Turns out this "terror" attack is more than it seems- it's a cover to assassinate a list of seemingly unconnected people and of course it's Dez who notices it first. A couple of old enemies (now paid mercenaries for Thiago group) are behind the killings but it's Dez who finds the clues for the FBI as to the motive.

The storyline also usually contains a beautiful woman (in this case a thief) who helps him throughout. Although a fan of Dez and the story is good, it's hard to get past his way of speaking and the word -me after most of his sentences.]]> 4.32
author: James Byrne
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
Retired gatekeeper Dez now plays guitar gigs and is asked to sub in a band in the new convention center in Newark, NJ. As he is scouting the venue, the place is taken/locked down by Russian terrorists. As a gatekeeper he can get in/out of anywhere be it physical or virtual locks and proceeds to dismantle the terror cell from the inside while helping the authorities outside (the FBI).

Turns out this "terror" attack is more than it seems- it's a cover to assassinate a list of seemingly unconnected people and of course it's Dez who notices it first. A couple of old enemies (now paid mercenaries for Thiago group) are behind the killings but it's Dez who finds the clues for the FBI as to the motive.

The storyline also usually contains a beautiful woman (in this case a thief) who helps him throughout. Although a fan of Dez and the story is good, it's hard to get past his way of speaking and the word -me after most of his sentences.
]]> 221508547 #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly introduces a new cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina island.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly introduces a new cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina island.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell has been “exiled� to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island, after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor—a Jane Doe identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the shady past of an island bigwig.

Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex-colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as “Nightshade.� Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

Propulsive and atmospheric, Nightshade launches a brand new character into the Connelly universe, and proves without question that Michael Connelly is “the undisputed master of the modern crime novel� (Real Book Spy).]]> 352 Michael Connelly 0316588482 Ricki 0 to-read 4.11 2025
author: Michael Connelly
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211894916 An extreme game of hide-and-seek turns deadly in this riveting new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger

When the real game begins, who will make it to the count of 10?

Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.

Enter Adele, a single mother with a fierce determination to protect her children at all costs. When she begins the game, she unwittingly enters a twisted web of deception and intrigue. Can she maneuver through the treacherous storm and the relentless competition and get home to her family? In a ruthless battle for survival where the stakes are higher than ever, the blurry line between the virtual and the real proves that the only person we can trust is ourselves.]]> 384 Lisa Unger 0778333361 Ricki 1
Seems I am consistently intrigued by the premise of Ms Unger's books but once I get into reading, it's a disappointment. Two storylines, divorced Mom, Adele is talked into competing in a survival show by her son. As the prize money would be life-changing, she enters and is drawn into this bizarre Hide/Seek show where the member owners of the company are all completely creepy.

Second storyline- Adele's ex has been on the run for embezzlement for 5 years leaving her to contend with the nasty repercussions.

Each is depressing, all the characters unlikeable and the Hide/Seek on an island is kind of a horror/thriller and it's easy to figure who the stalker is. While it was obvious one of the kids was in touch with his loser Dad, he does get his in the end.]]> 3.16 2025
author: Lisa Unger
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2025
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:
Go with review from Delany date 9/15/24.

Seems I am consistently intrigued by the premise of Ms Unger's books but once I get into reading, it's a disappointment. Two storylines, divorced Mom, Adele is talked into competing in a survival show by her son. As the prize money would be life-changing, she enters and is drawn into this bizarre Hide/Seek show where the member owners of the company are all completely creepy.

Second storyline- Adele's ex has been on the run for embezzlement for 5 years leaving her to contend with the nasty repercussions.

Each is depressing, all the characters unlikeable and the Hide/Seek on an island is kind of a horror/thriller and it's easy to figure who the stalker is. While it was obvious one of the kids was in touch with his loser Dad, he does get his in the end.
]]> 213870442 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box.]]> 358 C.J. Box 0593851064 Ricki 5
Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski has left daughter Kestrel with Joe's wife while he heads back to the mountains with a couple of falcons to get back his hunting skills all in order to track down the man (Axel Soledad) who killed his wife Liv. Nate's friend & fellow falconer Geronimo Jones hunts him down after his family is also attacked by Axel and together they follow clues to Axel's whereabouts-of course both of them heading to the same area where Joe is searching for the missing men.- Battle Mountain.

Seems there's a big reason Axel is in the area and none of it good. Once again, a battle ensues on the mountain and Joe/Nate & Geronimo are front and center.]]> 4.51
author: C.J. Box
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves:
review:
Wyoming Game Warden, Joe Pickett is tasked by re-elected Gov Rulon to "find" his son-in-law (whom he sent to a friend for some outdoor toughening up) since he spends most of his time working from his home office. Now he's helping an elk hunting guide & both he and the guide go "missing" after only a few days.

Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski has left daughter Kestrel with Joe's wife while he heads back to the mountains with a couple of falcons to get back his hunting skills all in order to track down the man (Axel Soledad) who killed his wife Liv. Nate's friend & fellow falconer Geronimo Jones hunts him down after his family is also attacked by Axel and together they follow clues to Axel's whereabouts-of course both of them heading to the same area where Joe is searching for the missing men.- Battle Mountain.

Seems there's a big reason Axel is in the area and none of it good. Once again, a battle ensues on the mountain and Joe/Nate & Geronimo are front and center.
]]> 211004916 No greater friend. No deadlier enemy.

Evan Smoak is a highly trained former government assassin who has survived for years by keeping his circle to a few trusted confidants and a strict code he calls "The Ten Commandments." But when Evan suddenly finds himself at odds with his oldest friend, all the rules he lives by shatter--and the consequences are murderous.

Tommy Stojack might be Evan's best friend in the world. He's a gifted gunsmith who has created much of Evan's own weapons and combat gear. But now, he has apparently crossed one of Evan's hardest lines and their argument explodes into open warfare. Now Evan has no choice but to track and face down his only friend.

In the meantime, Tommy has left town in order to honor his own promise to help a dead friend's son. While Tommy is fighting to save the son with everything he's got, Evan arrives with vengeance in mind.

But as deadly as the former Orphan X is, there is an even more dangerous threat about to arrive on the scene. The only question left is will any of them get out alive.]]> 464 Gregg Hurwitz 1250871743 Ricki 4
There is not a real phone call in this one asking for help but more of a personal need to face his best and nearly only friend -gunsmith/armorer Tommy Stojack, however Evan does help a grieving family.

Evan is convinced Tommy supplied the villain "The Wolf" he was up against in the last book and therefore, he needs to be rid of Tommy and find a new armorer. He ends up facing off with Tommy a number of times but the "ending" of Tommy is always put off & he helps him instead . Tommy it seems is being hunted by Janus -someone he has supplied with arms and who has sent "The Four Horsemen" after him. Tommy is also trying to help a deceased friends' son Hick with "a problem". Evan ends up mired in both and the end is a sad and unsatisfying one.

There is a lot of reminiscing by Evan into his Orphan training and how it applies to the Tommy situation- so a bit of back and forth at the most inopportune times. He's at odds with his "ward" Joey and neither Mia nor Peter appear in this book and I miss the characters.]]> 4.22 2025
author: Gregg Hurwitz
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves:
review:
Only a 3.5 for me but rounded higher since I am a big fan of Evan Smoak-aka Nowhere Man.

There is not a real phone call in this one asking for help but more of a personal need to face his best and nearly only friend -gunsmith/armorer Tommy Stojack, however Evan does help a grieving family.

Evan is convinced Tommy supplied the villain "The Wolf" he was up against in the last book and therefore, he needs to be rid of Tommy and find a new armorer. He ends up facing off with Tommy a number of times but the "ending" of Tommy is always put off & he helps him instead . Tommy it seems is being hunted by Janus -someone he has supplied with arms and who has sent "The Four Horsemen" after him. Tommy is also trying to help a deceased friends' son Hick with "a problem". Evan ends up mired in both and the end is a sad and unsatisfying one.

There is a lot of reminiscing by Evan into his Orphan training and how it applies to the Tommy situation- so a bit of back and forth at the most inopportune times. He's at odds with his "ward" Joey and neither Mia nor Peter appear in this book and I miss the characters.
]]> 214339565 In the latest pulse-pounding thriller from Edgar and Barry Award finalist Mike Lawson, beloved Washington DC “troubleshooter� Joe DeMarco finds himself assigned an impossible case: help take down the President of the United States.

Brandon Cartwright was a rich guy worth a couple billion bucks—inherited, of course—meaning he hadn’t worked a day in his life. But he sure knew how to party, and the people he rubbed shoulders with were all sorts of rich and famous: politicians and movie stars and British royalty and Russian oligarchs. So when Brendan Cartwright is executed in his own home, the cops quickly conclude that he was most likely killed by one or more of the rich, powerful people he partied with.

But when John Mahoney, the former Speaker of the House, emerges from a clandestine meeting with the head of the National Archives, he learns there’s evidence suggesting that the President of the United States was somehow involved with Cartwright’s death. Mahoney needs someone who can investigate from the shadows—enter Joe DeMarco, Mahoney's fixer.

DeMarco is no stranger to hunting down some of the very worst people Washington D.C. has to offer. In fact, he’s made a career of it. But as evidence continues to point towards the President, DeMarco is faced with an impossible situation: investigating a man who is quite literally untouchable.]]> 320 Mike Lawson 0802164455 Ricki 4
Of course he calls his go-to fixer Joe DeMarco to get evidence to prove what is very slim information but the more he digs, the more he finds. With the assistance of friend, ex DIA agent Emma, they find more than they bargained for but what will Mahoney do with the info?

The storyline is plucked from the recent Epstein headlines and totally believable.]]> 4.26 2025
author: Mike Lawson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
Former Majority Speaker Mahoney is contacted by the head of the National Archives with information about the recent death of Billionaire Brandon Cartwright. The inference is that the President & his national security advisor are involved.

Of course he calls his go-to fixer Joe DeMarco to get evidence to prove what is very slim information but the more he digs, the more he finds. With the assistance of friend, ex DIA agent Emma, they find more than they bargained for but what will Mahoney do with the info?

The storyline is plucked from the recent Epstein headlines and totally believable.
]]> 199743735
On the cusp of forty, Justine Bailen, better known as Jo, works for an all-female detective agency based in Tucson, Arizona. While staking out a cheating spouse, she learns that her long-estranged best friend from childhood, Rose, is missing, and that Rose’s mother wants to hire Jo to find her. This case is all kinds of wrong for Jo, but she has no choice but to head back to her hometown, an hour north and a world away from Tucson.

Back in Delphi, she learns that her high school boyfriend, Tyler—who is probably part of the reason her friendship with Rose went south—is the cop assigned to the case. It doesn’t take long for Jo to realize that he’s all mixed up in it, too. To have any hope of learning the truth about Rose’s disappearance, Jo must finally face the demons she thought she’d escaped.]]> 304 Sydney Graves 0063379996 Ricki 1 3.34
author: Sydney Graves
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.34
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
See review by Darla from Oct 2, 2024. As she stated, it was a struggle to get thru and comparisons to the great Sue Grafton -exaggerated!
]]> 221003115
Suspecting foul play, Logan flies across the country, searching for relatives of the deceased along with other faces from his past who he feels may hold the keys to unraveling the truth. But the former Navy SEAL runs into trouble at every turn. He quickly learns that the man’s death is just the tip of the iceberg, and that the body count will continue to rise if he can’t track down those responsible.]]> 361 Matthew Rief Ricki 3
Terrorism is back (it may never have left) and coming for Logan, his family and comrades but he will do anything to stop them.

A good adventure, a solid 3.25 - 3.5.]]> 4.69
author: Matthew Rief
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.69
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:
While watching the news, Logan sees that a body has washed ashore near the keys. Unfortunately it's a face he knows and brings him back to a seal op from 12 years ago. After checking in at the ME's office, there's a note only he can decipher and leads him on a trek to warn his other brothers-in-arms that were a part of the same op. He takes Angie's plane and heads out, for some he's in time to deliver the warning for others not.

Terrorism is back (it may never have left) and coming for Logan, his family and comrades but he will do anything to stop them.

A good adventure, a solid 3.25 - 3.5.
]]> 213870686 Dynamic forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies return in New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black’s latest riveting Locard Institute thriller, as they solve a deadly mystery unfolding in the shadow of a celebrated rock star.

The two crime experts are enlisted by legendary rock star Billy Diamond to find his missing daughter. A level-headed student at Yale, Devon left six months earlier with her boyfriend, Carlos, for a career development retreatĚýin Nevada. Her calls and notes became less frequent until they stopped. Billy wanted to give his daughter space—but after learning Carlos' body was found a few miles upstream from the ranch, he needs answers.
Ěý
Rachael and Ellie hatch a plan—as Ellie goes undercover, Rachael will work with Billy to find out about Devon. But Rachael has a second agenda, to find out why Billy seems so familiar with her late sister Isis, whose little boy Rachael is raising. The music idol is hiding something, but what?Ěý

The southwest ranch is full of surprises. ĚýDevon is not only alive but thriving, and no one mentions Carlos.ĚýThe attendees follow their leader, Galen, with slavish devotion, and their daily mind-body exercises stretch from brain-numbing to downright treacherous. ĚýIf Galen is behind some nefarious scheme, how does it relate to the rock star and his daughter?

To answer those questions, Rachael will also have to Who was her sister Isis, really? The answers will draw Ellie and Rachael deeper into danger. In Billy’s world and in Galen's,Ěýthe living, the missing, and the dead all have secrets.
Ěý]]> 320 Lisa Black 1496749685 Ricki 1 3.62
author: Lisa Black
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
For some reason, I keep trying to get into this series but it fails to capture my interest. First, the characters are so blah and second this storyline is about a cult. This seems to be a theme this year in thrillers and I just couldn't read another one- so I abandoned it about a third into the book.
]]> 214175243 NYPD Detective Michael Bennett will stop at nothing to protect family: his wife, his kids—and his fellow officers—in the latest psychological thriller from bestselling author James Patterson.

At every death scene, Bennett says a prayer over the victim.
But recently, too many of the departed have been fellow cops.
“I want you to look at these deaths on special assignment,� NYPD Inspector Celeste Cantor says. “Report only to me.�
Bennett excels as a solo investigator. But he’s chasing a killer who feeds on isolation� and paranoia.]]> 384 James Patterson 0316403687 Ricki 4
At the same time, drug dealers are being eliminated which is what his sometime partner Tilling is looking into. Both investigations converge as the killer/assassin is finally cornered and the person directing the killings is brought to justice.

A quick easy read.]]> 4.14 2025
author: James Patterson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves:
review:
Michael is tasked with looking into a number of deaths of retired cops by the Inspector Celeste Cantor as a favor as it seems suspicious that there are so many accidental deaths. He's also asked to keep it under the radar but he does need help.

At the same time, drug dealers are being eliminated which is what his sometime partner Tilling is looking into. Both investigations converge as the killer/assassin is finally cornered and the person directing the killings is brought to justice.

A quick easy read.
]]> 211004117 The first book in a blockbuster new series from USA Today bestseller, Ward Larsen!

In the wilds of Siberia, a top-secret Russian fighter goes missing on a test flight. The Russian Air Force begins a search, oblivious to their they are looking in the wrong spot. The pilot, Colonel Maxim Primakov, has crash landed during an attempted defection.

The new chief of CIA clandestine operations, David Slaton, wants desperately to find him, but only one man is in a position to reach Primakov—Tru Miller, a rookie operator. Slaton plots a rescue deep inside Russia, not realizing that he will have to outfox the one other man who knows the truth. Victor Dubonin is a general in Russian intelligence. His search for Primakov is deeply personal—and if he doesn’t succeed it will cost him his life.

Soon a small group of Americans, including its top female test pilot, Kai Drake, find themselves hunted in the wilds of Russia. Their survival will depend on one thing—just how resourceful and lethal they can be.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 352 Ward Larsen 1250343526 Ricki 3
This book also introduces Tru Miller, a rookie agent in China getting samples at a waste disposal company- how gross! He's suddenly contacted and sent to Russia as fast as he can get there to "find" a Russian test pilot that was defecting with a new test airplane and landed in remote Siberia and tasked to do so before they are both found by the Russians.

It's his job to get out the defector, and David's to send help to extract them both. The storyline is a bit different than David's ex-Mossad sniper/assassin previous series (which based on this initial book, I like better.) ]]> 4.45
author: Ward Larsen
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
It's been three years since we left David in Idaho with his family. This new series just drops in on him, living in Virginia with his family and now director of special ops under his former boss Anna Sorenson.

This book also introduces Tru Miller, a rookie agent in China getting samples at a waste disposal company- how gross! He's suddenly contacted and sent to Russia as fast as he can get there to "find" a Russian test pilot that was defecting with a new test airplane and landed in remote Siberia and tasked to do so before they are both found by the Russians.

It's his job to get out the defector, and David's to send help to extract them both. The storyline is a bit different than David's ex-Mossad sniper/assassin previous series (which based on this initial book, I like better.)
]]> 32320001
From Florida to Chicago, Lima to the Amazon rainforest, Angel of Death is a fast paced thriller that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the very last page.

Read all 5 Debt Collector Books

The Debt Collector
Debt Collector: Vengeance
Debt Collector: Reborn
Debt Collector: Hard to Kill
Debt Collector: Angel of Death]]> 379 Jon Mills Ricki 2
Although being hunted by FBI Agent Baker, he travels there on his own passport and she's hot on his trail. Her only way of getting info is threatening people with incarceration etc and it's just how you would expect the FBI to behave.

He heads deep into the Amazon with a guide to the cult which turns out to be violent in the extreme. Once again, Jack saves Agent Baker (for the second time) and Danielle against huge odds but ends up arrested by her.

Not a fan of cult storylines so only a 2.5 for me.]]> 4.52
author: Jon Mills
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.52
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
I read this series in-between new releases and wasn't a fan of this one. Jack is again hired "off the books" to "help" find a missing 24 year old Danielle that is in some sort of cult and last heard from in Peru.

Although being hunted by FBI Agent Baker, he travels there on his own passport and she's hot on his trail. Her only way of getting info is threatening people with incarceration etc and it's just how you would expect the FBI to behave.

He heads deep into the Amazon with a guide to the cult which turns out to be violent in the extreme. Once again, Jack saves Agent Baker (for the second time) and Danielle against huge odds but ends up arrested by her.

Not a fan of cult storylines so only a 2.5 for me.
]]> 218155596 An electrifying new series featuring Irene Rivers (code Wolverine), the unforgettable FBI Director from New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap’s blockbuster, award-winning Jonathan Grave thrillers. Fans of action-packed page-turners by Catherine Coulter, Patricia Cornwell, and Tess Gerritsen are in for a treat, as Irene escapes the treacherous power games of Washington—only to face a new and equally deadly enemy in a rural West Virginia town . . .

She thought she and her loved ones would be safe here. The lovely farm nestled in the heart of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle looks like the perfect refuge from the backstabbing maelstrom of DC politics. But this seemingly peaceful new home is anything but safe for former FBI director Rivers and her children.Ěý
Ěý
Troubles begin when Irene’s 12-year-old nephew finds a dead body in a cave on the property. Grim evidence points to a long-ago murder and cover-up.Ěý Powerful forces will do anything—including kill again—to protect their interests. Soon Irene’s family is the target of the kinds of threats and intimidation she’s seen before from major crime syndicates . . . but this time, the enemy determined to tear them down is homegrown.
Ěý
Then comes the attack she most fears. With everything she cares about at risk and an impossible deadline looming, Irene knows she won’t get any help from the local police force. And she’s burned too many bridges in Washington to get help from the FBI. This time, Irene Rivers is on her own.
Ěý
Packed with nail-biting suspense, gripping drama, and searing intrigue, Burned Bridges takes readers into a compelling world of unseen dangers and unexpected heroes.
Ěý]]> 320 John Gilstrap 1496753615 Ricki 0 to-read 4.63
author: John Gilstrap
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.63
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203657593
Jack Widow lives by simple rules: keep moving, live and let live. But there’s one more rule—don’t cross him, and he won’t cross you.

Deep in the Ozarks, the forgotten town of Iron Crossing harbors deadly secrets. Once a thriving railroad hub, now it’s controlled by the Brock family—a ruthless clan who’ll do anything to protect their criminal empire.

When a chance encounter with the Brocks turns violent, Nora Sutton—a young mother—and her daughters become targets. But when Jack Widow steps in to defend them, he starts a war with a family whose grip on the town is ironclad.

Outnumbered, outgunned, and facing impossible odds, Widow is the only one willing to cross the line. He won’t back down. Not ever.]]> 482 Scott Blade Ricki 3
All this done but the son of the local crime boss that seems to get away with everything (isn't that normal for kids that never had to work on their own to get ahead?)

Jack also meets Nora & her two super cutey little girls and it's really the first time in decades he would consider ending his nomadic treks.

Only three stars for me due to the brutality which I was convinced Jack wouldn't survive.]]> 4.66
author: Scott Blade
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.66
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
I look forward to the new Jack Widow releases like I used to for the Reacher series. This one however was exceedingly brutal with dog fighting/cage fighting, missing people, corrupt cops and more.

All this done but the son of the local crime boss that seems to get away with everything (isn't that normal for kids that never had to work on their own to get ahead?)

Jack also meets Nora & her two super cutey little girls and it's really the first time in decades he would consider ending his nomadic treks.

Only three stars for me due to the brutality which I was convinced Jack wouldn't survive.
]]> 222452733 Douglas Pratt Ricki 3
No sooner does he arrive than a dead woman is found in the water. His dept is short-handed, he doesn't know anyone's skill level but needs to find this killer since he believes it's not going to be one & done. The pressure is on, the Mayor is on his case but dealing with mayoral politics is not fun.

The investigation is plodding, no real development or hint of the killer, and bam they find him. It was just ok for me and I prefer the Chase Gordan series.]]> 4.65
author: Douglas Pratt
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
We encountered Jay Delp in the Chase Gordan series as his go to friend/ marine sniper/detective when he needed backup. Jay has now moved from Florida to his Mississippi home town, going from Detective to Chief of Police in order to help his brother deal with his father's increasing dementia.

No sooner does he arrive than a dead woman is found in the water. His dept is short-handed, he doesn't know anyone's skill level but needs to find this killer since he believes it's not going to be one & done. The pressure is on, the Mayor is on his case but dealing with mayoral politics is not fun.

The investigation is plodding, no real development or hint of the killer, and bam they find him. It was just ok for me and I prefer the Chase Gordan series.
]]> 222517432
Things quickly go south on the Mother Continent. And Logan and Angelina will both need to bring their A games and have a deck of aces up their sleeves if they’re going to get out of the mess alive.

Dodging Bullets is an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat adventure novella. Two worlds collide in the chance encounter that started it all and set the foundation for the bestselling Florida Keys Adventure Series.

This isn’t your typical meet cute.]]> 73 Matthew Rief Ricki 2 4.57
author: Matthew Rief
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
Kind of a cheesy short story/filler. Gives us the background of how Logan met wife Ange. Approx 70 pages and not necessary to the storyline of others in the series.
]]> 222139807 #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner returns with the 4th installment in her bestselling Frankie Elkin series, in which Frankie is called to Tucson, Arizona, to find a missing Afghan refugee, whose friend suspects she is in grave danger, before it is too late.

A young mother haunted by war, determined to make a fresh start. But sometimes, the sins of the past aren't so easy to escape.

Recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband seems unconcerned. Sabera's closest friend, however, is convinced Sabera would never willingly leave her three‑year old daughter. At her insistence, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search through the broiling streets of Tucson. Just in time for a video of the young mother to surface—showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder.

Frankie quickly realizes there's much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. The father Isaad is a brilliant mathematician, Sabera a gifted linguist, and their little girl Zahra—she has an uncanny ability to remember anything she sees. Which given everything that has happened during the girl's short life, may be a terrible curse. When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra's life, Frankie realizes she must quickly crack the code of this family's horrific past.

Someone is coming for the Ahmadis. And violence is clearly an option. When everything is on the line, how far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Frankie is about to find out.]]> 416 Lisa Gardner 1538765101 Ricki 0 to-read 4.52 2025
author: Lisa Gardner
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212995906 From the New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire, a breakneck thriller that marries the dynastic opulence of Succession with the tense and disorienting spy craft of The Americans.

Paul Brightman is a man on the run, living under an assumed name in a small New England town with a million-dollar bounty on his head. When his security is breached, Paul is forced to flee into the New Hampshire wilderness to evade Russian operatives who can seemingly predict his every move.

Six years ago, Paul was a rising star on Wall Street who fell in love with a beautiful photographer named Tatyana—unaware that her father was a Russian oligarch and the object of considerable interest from several US intelligence agencies. Now, to save his own life, Paul must unravel a decades-old conspiracy that extends to the highest reaches of the government.

Rivaling the classic spy novels of the Cold War, The Oligarch’s Daughter is a breakneck thriller built for the frightening world we live in now.]]> 447 Joseph Finder 0063396025 Ricki 3
Now, after five years of relative peace, he's been discovered. On the run, he finally discovers why he's being hunted . It's a combination spy, financial crimes novel.

I preferred the Nick Heller series and wish for another.]]> 4.17 2025
author: Joseph Finder
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves:
review:
This was just an ok read for me because the storyline was constantly switching from present to past- it was distracting. Paul Brightman former financial analyst has been in hiding in a small New England town, building boats as Grant Anderson for 5 years. He met and married Tatyana, a Russian Oligarch's daughter and got entangled in his "business", decided to "help" the FBI and went into hiding since the FBI couldn't/wouldn't protect him.

Now, after five years of relative peace, he's been discovered. On the run, he finally discovers why he's being hunted . It's a combination spy, financial crimes novel.

I preferred the Nick Heller series and wish for another.
]]> 220161570 “No one does suspense better.� —Stephen King

Ambitious young police officer Philomena McCarthy, the daughter of London’s most notorious mob boss, returns in the latest propulsive thriller by author Michael Robotham.

Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds to become a young officer with the Metropolitan Police because her father and her uncles are notorious London gangsters.

On patrol one night, Philomena finds a barefoot child, covered in blood, who says she can’t wake her mother. Meanwhile, three miles away, a London jeweler has a bomb strapped to his chest in his ransacked store and millions are missing.

These two events collide and threaten Philomena’s career, her new marriage, and her life. In too deep, and falling further, Phil must decide who she can trust—her family or her colleagues—and on what side of the thin blue line she wants to live.]]> 368 Michael Robotham 1668031027 Ricki 0 to-read 4.54
author: Michael Robotham
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.54
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199393130 From USA Today bestselling and Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author Alison Gaylin comes a slick, riveting, and all too frighteningly plausible tale of psychological suspense where a single mother is desperate to protect her family as they become targets of a group of violent conspiracy theorists.

Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car sidled up beside them, the young men inside it behaving erratically. The Russos� car went off the road, and Justin didn’t survive the accident.

Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after returning to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and vandalizing the store. They are obsessed with a young adult novel tiled The Prophesy, which was published 20 years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced the book predicted a plague, and social media posts link it to Satanism. People are sure it heralds the apocalypse. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on its author...Meg.

As the threats turn more violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin's death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save herself and Lily, she must get to the root of the lies fueling these people to come after them—and find a way to face them head on.]]> 325 Alison Gaylin 006327518X Ricki 3
Meg & Jason are taking daughter Lily to college when they are followed by a Mazda full of skinheads. They are threatening, chasing, filming them until suddenly they are off the road in a deadly accident.

The story shifts to three months later, they feel they are being watched. Meg's father says they are "wolves" and Meg always thought he was crazy, now not so much. Both Meg & Lily find info independently and when they confide in each other, they finally figure it out. Meg's Dad was so right.

Their family is in the sights of some kind of cult based on her father's music and a book Meg wrote as a teenager. Their friends are not who they thought.

Not being a fan of cult storylines, I just wanted to get through this.]]> 3.49 2025
author: Alison Gaylin
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves:
review:
This is at most a 2.75 for me but rounded up as I am a fan of Alison Gaylin.

Meg & Jason are taking daughter Lily to college when they are followed by a Mazda full of skinheads. They are threatening, chasing, filming them until suddenly they are off the road in a deadly accident.

The story shifts to three months later, they feel they are being watched. Meg's father says they are "wolves" and Meg always thought he was crazy, now not so much. Both Meg & Lily find info independently and when they confide in each other, they finally figure it out. Meg's Dad was so right.

Their family is in the sights of some kind of cult based on her father's music and a book Meg wrote as a teenager. Their friends are not who they thought.

Not being a fan of cult storylines, I just wanted to get through this.
]]> 221179145
Lately, Julia Pritzker is beginning to think she’s cursed. She’s lost her adoptive parents, then her husband is murdered. When she realizes that her horoscope essentially foretold his death, she begins to spiral. She fears her fate is written in the stars, not held in her own hands.

Then a letter arrives out of the blue, informing her that she has inherited a Tuscan villa and vineyard - but her benefactor is a total stranger named Emilia Rossi. Julia has no information about her biological family, so she wonders if Rossi could be a blood relative. Bewildered, she heads to Tuscany for answers.

There, Julia is horrified to discover that Rossi was a paranoid recluse with delusions of grandeur, who believed herself to be a descendent of Duchess Caterina Sforza, a legendary Renaissance ruler. Julia is stunned by her uncanny resemblance to Rossi and even to Caterina, then she unearths eerie parallels between them, including an obsession with astrology.

Before long, Julia suspects she’s being followed, and strange things begin to happen. Not even a chance meeting with a handsome Florentine can ease her disturbed mind. When events turn deadly, she breaks with reality.

Julia’s harrowing struggle becomes a search for her identity, a race to save her sanity, and ultimately, a question of her very survival.]]> 400 Lisa Scottoline 1538769999 Ricki 0 to-read 3.72
author: Lisa Scottoline
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004897 Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying—and commercial—series debut.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer’s identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families…before it’s too late?

With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon’s Head Cases is a triumph.]]> 341 John McMahon 1250348293 Ricki 3
There's a new case, serial killers even one thought previously dead are being killed-if the FBI can't take out the trash, this new serial killer will. Gardner & his group of experts crisscross from Florida/Texas and LA and back tracking slim clues left behind on the bodies like a puzzle. Puzzles is Gardner's specialty as an analytical genius. While tracking this killer, he needs to keep his mother, daughter & ex-wife safe from being targets. The reasons for the killings is fueled by rage and retaliation and comes back to the FBI itself.

My first book by this author and it was an ok read, just a bit distracting moving from one area of the country to another.

]]> 4.01 2025
author: John McMahon
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
New Patterns & Recognitions FBI unit (aka Head Cases) is comprised of rejects from other depts in the FBI, prominent among them Gardner Camden who has an eidetic memory. He is there for having turned in his wife & her boss for financial fraud.

There's a new case, serial killers even one thought previously dead are being killed-if the FBI can't take out the trash, this new serial killer will. Gardner & his group of experts crisscross from Florida/Texas and LA and back tracking slim clues left behind on the bodies like a puzzle. Puzzles is Gardner's specialty as an analytical genius. While tracking this killer, he needs to keep his mother, daughter & ex-wife safe from being targets. The reasons for the killings is fueled by rage and retaliation and comes back to the FBI itself.

My first book by this author and it was an ok read, just a bit distracting moving from one area of the country to another.


]]> 217223453 Highly acclaimedĚýNew York TimesĚýbestseller Laura Lippman returns with an irresistible mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a former private investigator and middle-aged widow whose vacation on a Parisian river cruise turns into a deadly international mystery…that only she can solve.Ěý

Mrs. Blossom is not the kind of woman to play the lottery. She is practical, a devoted grandmother, and has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when Mrs. Blossom finds a winning ticket in a parking lot, everything changes...including Mrs. Blossom. She is determined to see the world that sometimes feels as if it’s passing her by.

But when Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who’s sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed.

She also didn’t expect Allan to be found, dead, twenty-four hours later in Paris, a city he wasn’t supposed to be in.

Now Mrs. Blossom doesn’t know who to trust on board the ship, especially when a new, mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He claims that Allan was involved in the transport of a stolen, precious piece of art, and he’s convinced that Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan’s murder.

Mrs. Blossom’s questions only increase as the cruise sails down the Seine. Why does it feel like she is being followed? Who was Allan, and why was he killed? Most alarmingly, why do these mysterious men keep flirting with her?

What follows is a charming one-of-a-kind mystery from one ofĚýTime magazine’s “essential crime writers of the last 100 years.â€� The perfect combination of cozy and thrilling, this novel and the delightful Mrs. Blossom are sure to be unforgettable.]]> 272 Laura Lippman 0062998102 Ricki 0 to-read 3.67 2025
author: Laura Lippman
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212806926 Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis become embroiled in an all-out race against time to find a twisted assassin in this riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense� (Los Angeles Times).

Los Angeles is a city of stars, a city of strivers and wannabes. Not everyone can shine bright, but they’ll burn themselves up for a glimpse of the high life. LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis knows it all too The best dreamers often make the worst monsters.

The body of an aspiring actress has been found—and she’d been drugged. The main suspect is a stunt double with the ego of an action star. He’s more brawn than brains, it seems, with few boundaries when it comes to women. But he’s offed before Milo and Alex can get to him. Worse yet, the rifle that killed him was used in a prior case . . . and another case before that. And then it's fired again and again, taking victims right under their noses.

They begin to think that someone is avenging the victims of men without boundaries—but is this a slick, efficient assassin with their own corrupt code of justice, or a knight errant, one who doesn’t want to be seen, but still wants to be known?

Alex and Milo soon find themselves in the thick of a truly complicated and twisted case—one with no shortage of suspects or victims that takes them on a wild ride through the surreal underbelly of Los Angeles.]]> 288 Jonathan Kellerman 0593497694 Ricki 4
A team of Milo's detectives are assembled to scour for financial, phone and other leads but it's Alex's out of the box thinking that discovers the link between all of them. A killer with deep-seated justifications for the killings but nowhere are we given info on what motivations started him on this path.

Complex and entertaining.

]]> 3.89 2025
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:
Dr Alex Delaware and Det. Milo Sturgis are on the case of an aspiring actress dumped at an emergency room after having been drugged & raped, but it was too late. Almost immediately, they have a suspect but before they develop a case against him, he's shot by a sniper in his apartment. This leads to the discovery of similar sniper deaths both in LA and Ohio that seeming have no connection.

A team of Milo's detectives are assembled to scour for financial, phone and other leads but it's Alex's out of the box thinking that discovers the link between all of them. A killer with deep-seated justifications for the killings but nowhere are we given info on what motivations started him on this path.

Complex and entertaining.


]]> 201750163 Private investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, face a cryptic case and a terrifying, unpredictable killer in this twisty, satisfying thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Crais.

Traci Beller was thirteen when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Traci never believed it. The police couldn't find her dad and neither could the detectives her mother hired, but now, ten years later, Traci is a super-popular influencer with millions of followers and the money to hire a new detective: Elvis Cole.

Taking on a ten-years-cold missing person case is almost always a loser, but Elvis heads to Rancha where he learns an ex-con named Sadie Givens and her daughter, Anya, might have a line on the missing man. But when Elvis finds himself shadowed by a deadly gang of vicious criminals, the simple missing persons case becomes far more sinister and dangerous. Elvis calls in his ex-Marine friend, Joe Pike, to help, but even Pike might not be able to help.

As Elvis Cole and Joe Pike follow Tommy Beller's trail into the twisted, nightmare depths of a monstrous evil, the case flips on its head. Victims become predators, predators become prey, and when everyone is a victim, can Elvis Cole save them all?

In a case that tests Elvis Cole's loyalty to his clients and himself, the truth must come out no matter the cost. Elvis must face The Big Empty and see justice done.]]> 373 Robert Crais 0525535799 Ricki 3
Joe's part was mostly subdued, not much of his usual flair but Elvis was his regular dog with a bone self in pursuing the case of Thomas Beller, missing for ten years and hired by his daughter who wants an answer. She doesn't believe he would have abandoned her & her mother but the results of the investigation will not be what she expects nor would want to hear.

Turns out there is a killer following Elvis's steps and "mopping up" loose ends from all those years ago and for me it was easy to figure out who.

I missed this series, not sure why there was a long break since the last one but it seemed a bit less than former books in the series. For more insight on the storyline, go with Lora's review dated Sept 22,2024]]> 4.56 2025
author: Robert Crais
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:
Elvis & Joe are back after a 3 year hiatus. It wasn't one of my favorites although it did include both of them, the first half of the book was mostly Joe and the second half bounced back & fourth between the two especially after Elvis was found severely beaten on the side of the road.

Joe's part was mostly subdued, not much of his usual flair but Elvis was his regular dog with a bone self in pursuing the case of Thomas Beller, missing for ten years and hired by his daughter who wants an answer. She doesn't believe he would have abandoned her & her mother but the results of the investigation will not be what she expects nor would want to hear.

Turns out there is a killer following Elvis's steps and "mopping up" loose ends from all those years ago and for me it was easy to figure out who.

I missed this series, not sure why there was a long break since the last one but it seemed a bit less than former books in the series. For more insight on the storyline, go with Lora's review dated Sept 22,2024
]]> 213050960 Bestselling author James Grippando’s legendary criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck is back to defend a single mother accused of kidnapping her own child in a perilous case involving politics and international diplomacy that will test his legal expertise and his marriage.

Jack Swyteck’s new client fled Iran to Miami with her daughter, and has been accused of kidnapping by her husband. The seasoned attorney must not only plan a winning defense. To stop the father from taking the girl back to Tehran, Jack must build a case under international law and prove that returning the child would put her at risk.

But everything in this case isn’t what it seems, and Jack quickly learns that his client is really the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police. But what role did the father play in his wife’s death, and why is Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, being pressured by her bosses to persuade Jack to drop the case?

Plunging into an investigation unlike any other, Jack must discover who is behind the legal maneuvering and what their interest is. As politics threatens to derail the case and compromise the best interests of the child, Jack and Andie find themselves on opposite sides—with their marriage hanging in the balance. For their relationship to survive, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that extends from a Miami courthouse to the highest echelons of Washington DC, and spells grave danger at every turn.]]> 316 James Grippando 0063358050 Ricki 3
Jack is approached by his former governor Dad to take a case pro bono from his friend in D.C. Meanwhile, his marriage to Andie is rocky and in counseling they decide to talk more about their work lives and he would cut back on criminal cases.

The new case involves an Iranian woman in the US who has absconded with her step-daughter and is fighting for custody overseen by the international court in the Hague. Zahra is unlikeable to me from the start and something about her screams liar. The US State Dept wants Jack to refrain from accusing Iran of the death of Yasmin's mother who was incarcerated in Iran by the morality police while the father is suing for custody.

Although Jack & Andie promised each other more clarity, they are on opposite sides of this battle which involves two governments, a secret negotiation between the two, the CIA and the international court.

The subject matter didn't spark my interest and I couldn't wait to get done with this.]]> 4.46
author: James Grippando
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:
Not one of my favorites of this series. More of a 2.5 but rounded up cause I am a fan of Swyteck!

Jack is approached by his former governor Dad to take a case pro bono from his friend in D.C. Meanwhile, his marriage to Andie is rocky and in counseling they decide to talk more about their work lives and he would cut back on criminal cases.

The new case involves an Iranian woman in the US who has absconded with her step-daughter and is fighting for custody overseen by the international court in the Hague. Zahra is unlikeable to me from the start and something about her screams liar. The US State Dept wants Jack to refrain from accusing Iran of the death of Yasmin's mother who was incarcerated in Iran by the morality police while the father is suing for custody.

Although Jack & Andie promised each other more clarity, they are on opposite sides of this battle which involves two governments, a secret negotiation between the two, the CIA and the international court.

The subject matter didn't spark my interest and I couldn't wait to get done with this.
]]> 210694097 A cold case is about to turn hotter than the sun.

Texas Ranger Rory Yates has proven his strength on the field time and again. Now he faces the toughest case of his career.

He’s on the trail of two missing women. Both are Native American. Does anything else link them?

As he digs deeper, he discovers that a Native American woman has gone missing every summer solstice for the past few years. The captor leaves no trace, except for a very strange calling card.

The Texas Ranger must do everything he can to track down these missing women.

He only hopes that he finds them alive . . .]]> 405 James Patterson 152915975X Ricki 3
Texas Ranger Rory Yates is at a shooting competition where he's pitted against FBI Agent Ryan Logan. Both equally skilled, it ends in a tie. Although Ryan "seems" ok with the tie, when they end up working on a case involving the trafficking of Native American women, Ryan's resentment is apparent.

There's also a second case that draws Rory's attention, that of Native American women missing annually on the Solstice and a Golden Eagle feather left behind. As Rory teams up with Ryan & Ranger Carlos Castillo on the task force of trafficked women, he also teams with Tribal Police Officer Ava Cruz to locate the kidnapper/killer of the women on the Solstice.

It bounces back and forth between the two stories but not without injuries to some of his colleagues.

This series is just an ok, fast read for me.]]> 4.23 2025
author: James Patterson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:
This series is just ok for me. A bit slow and drawn out and could have been condensed more.

Texas Ranger Rory Yates is at a shooting competition where he's pitted against FBI Agent Ryan Logan. Both equally skilled, it ends in a tie. Although Ryan "seems" ok with the tie, when they end up working on a case involving the trafficking of Native American women, Ryan's resentment is apparent.

There's also a second case that draws Rory's attention, that of Native American women missing annually on the Solstice and a Golden Eagle feather left behind. As Rory teams up with Ryan & Ranger Carlos Castillo on the task force of trafficked women, he also teams with Tribal Police Officer Ava Cruz to locate the kidnapper/killer of the women on the Solstice.

It bounces back and forth between the two stories but not without injuries to some of his colleagues.

This series is just an ok, fast read for me.
]]> 201089715 In the desolate, unforgiving landscape of small town North Dakota, bodies are found encased in ice. Tough and brilliant FBI special agent 30-year-old Kelsey Hawk, angering her superiors, is relocated to the North Dakota field office, near her hometown which she’d vowed to never return to. In a deadly game of cat and mouse, the stakes couldn’t be higher, as an FBI agent and a killer collide�

“This is an excellent book� When you start reading, be sure you don’t have to wake up early!�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

DEAD INSIDE is book #1 in a new series by #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Kate Bold, whose bestseller NOT ME (a free download) has received over 1,500 five star ratings and reviews.

When she was just a child, Kelsey’s entire family was murdered, leaving her, the sole survivor, to grow up in the foster system. A rising star in the FBI, Kelsey set her ambitions on being assigned to a field office in the big city, away from the ghosts of her past. But when she’s reassigned to a small town in North Dakota, she can’t help but remember all the tragedy she fought so hard to leave behind.

Can she stop this killer in time?

A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured FBI agent, the KELSEY HAWK series is a riveting mystery, packed with non-stop action, suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night. Fans of Rachel Caine, Teresa Driscoll, and Robert Dugoni are sure to fall in love.

Future books in the series are now available.

“This book moved very fast and every page was exciting. Plenty of dialogue, you absolutely love the characters, and you were rooting for the good guy throughout the whole story� I look forward to reading the next in the series.�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“Kate did an amazing job on this book and I was hooked from the first chapter!�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“I really enjoyed this book. The characters were authentic, and I see the bad guys as something we hear about daily on the news... Looking forward to book 2.�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“This was a really good book. The main characters were real, flawed and human. The story went along quickly and wasn't mired in too many unnecessary details. I really enjoyed it.�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“Alexa Chase is headstrong, impatient, but most of all brave with a capital B. She never, repeat never, backs down until the bad guys are put where they belong. Clearly five stars!�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“Captivating and riveting serial murder with a twist of the macabre� Very well done.�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“WOW what a great read! Talk about a diabolical killer! Really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to reading others by this author as well.�
—Reader review for The Killing Game
�����

“Page turner for sure. Great characters and relationships.]]> 159 Kate Bold Ricki 1
As I did not finish and abandoned this slow (for me) storyline, there's not much more I can say.]]> 4.16 2023
author: Kate Bold
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:
Not sure what turned me off to this series but it was slowly developing, with main character Agent Kelsey Hawk banished to North Dakota for having done a good job and her boss not appreciating her showing him up.

As I did not finish and abandoned this slow (for me) storyline, there's not much more I can say.
]]> 211650089 No matter how far you run, some pasts never let you go�

Two people were murdered—at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, bodies covered in the same red poppies…but on opposite sides of the country.

With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted?

Yet their search unearths more questions than answers—until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers.

Soon, it becomes clear this case is nothing like they’ve seen before as their investigation leads them to the hallowed grounds of Havenwood—an eerily beautiful place rooted in a terrifying past.

As more bodies turn up, all tied to the same community, Kara and Matt are desperate to piece the puzzle together before Havenwood’s leader sacrifices everything to keep her secrets buried.]]> 400 Allison Brennan Ricki 3
The victims are seemingly not connected and with more past & current murders discovered, they are finally connected to a settlement in Colorado called Havenwood. If you are not a fan of cult type books, this is where this goes but without the reluctant help of Riley Pierce who escaped from Havenwood they would probably not have solved it.

Since I am not a fan of "cult" books, it's only average for me.]]> 4.14 2025
author: Allison Brennan
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:
Murders of random victims in separate parts of the country and the only connections is the body strewn with red poppies. Since they are in different jurisdictions, the FBI Mobile Response Team with Kara Quinn & Matt Costa are called in.

The victims are seemingly not connected and with more past & current murders discovered, they are finally connected to a settlement in Colorado called Havenwood. If you are not a fan of cult type books, this is where this goes but without the reluctant help of Riley Pierce who escaped from Havenwood they would probably not have solved it.

Since I am not a fan of "cult" books, it's only average for me.
]]> 210164221 A dead man’s riddles—and secrets—thrust an FBI codebreaker into a deadly cross-country race for justice in a propulsive thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

During a recent undercover sting gone bad, hit man Gustavo Toro died in the arms of FBI Special Agent Daniela “Dani� Vega. But Toro had secrets he refused to take to the grave.

In the event of his death, Toro left behind a video that promises to expose a mysterious mastermind who has been operating with impunity for decades. But there’s a catch. Dani’s team must follow Toro’s cryptic clues on a cross-country hunt for justice, and piecing together his past is more twisted than Dani could have imagined.

But as Dani and her team race to gather the evidence, it’s clear this powerful adversary will stop at nothing to keep their secrets—including eliminating those who threaten to reveal them.]]> 344 Isabella Maldonado 1662515847 Ricki 2
The person they are seeking who has this evidence has been off the grid for a number of years and the clues assassin Toro leaves behind are cryptic and only Dani seems to be able to solve the codes. She has assistance from a competent team including her immediate boss Wu while trying to stay ahead of Assistant Director Hargrave who has his own agenda.

It's a bit convoluted but the stash is found but not without significant peril to Dani and her team that she as a former Ranger has the skills to combat.

About a 2.5 for me.

]]> 4.48
author: Isabella Maldonado
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
An assassin Dani Vega has met before leaves behind a video after his death with clues as to who his employer was. He sends them cross country following these clues that hint there's a treasure trove of evidence he has secreted for the FBI to prosecute the man responsible for his hiring.

The person they are seeking who has this evidence has been off the grid for a number of years and the clues assassin Toro leaves behind are cryptic and only Dani seems to be able to solve the codes. She has assistance from a competent team including her immediate boss Wu while trying to stay ahead of Assistant Director Hargrave who has his own agenda.

It's a bit convoluted but the stash is found but not without significant peril to Dani and her team that she as a former Ranger has the skills to combat.

About a 2.5 for me.


]]> 212924104 It’s their toughest case yet. And their best detective is missing. Holmes, Margaret and Poe run the private detective agency that solves the crimes no one else can. Or they did � until Holmes said he wanted to leave the business and fell off the radar. In New York City, they are called to investigate the abduction of six newborns from a private hospital. Without Holmes, they try to investigate this terrible crime. They hear word of more missing babies in London, and Margaret follows the trail across the pond. But they need Holmes. To solve the crime of the century, first they must save their friend.]]> 352 James Patterson 0316569976 Ricki 3
Marple & Poe are hired on a new case of multiple newborn babies having been stolen from the hospital right after birth. The head of the case,Det. Duff doesn't want these famous PI's anywhere near this but they are hired by the wealthy parents to find the babies.

Holmes joins them but not fully, he's drawn into another case by a mysterious watchmaker who informs him of a serial murderer that only kills annually on Sept 30th. He is distracted by this case, only helps peripherally and keeps insisting he's leaving the their firm.

The case is more of a Poe/Marple on the babies as Marple does most of the heavy lifting with an assist from their assistant/housekeeper Virginia and Holmes on the serial killer. It's a fast read as are most Patterson books and not too complicated.]]> 4.01 2025
author: James Patterson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
Not sure why this is titled "Holmes is Missing" cause he's in most of the book but currently in rehab for his heroin addiction.

Marple & Poe are hired on a new case of multiple newborn babies having been stolen from the hospital right after birth. The head of the case,Det. Duff doesn't want these famous PI's anywhere near this but they are hired by the wealthy parents to find the babies.

Holmes joins them but not fully, he's drawn into another case by a mysterious watchmaker who informs him of a serial murderer that only kills annually on Sept 30th. He is distracted by this case, only helps peripherally and keeps insisting he's leaving the their firm.

The case is more of a Poe/Marple on the babies as Marple does most of the heavy lifting with an assist from their assistant/housekeeper Virginia and Holmes on the serial killer. It's a fast read as are most Patterson books and not too complicated.
]]> 61311024 An FBI agent with a background in cryptography. A brilliant game maker bent on revenge. A deadly battle of wits and wills. An ingenious thriller from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

FBI agent and former military codebreaker Daniela “Dani� Vega witnesses a murder on a Manhattan sidewalk. The victim is chief of staff for a powerful New York senator. The assassin turned informant is Gustavo Toro. His code: hit the target and don’t ask questions. When Dani suspects a complex conspiracy, the only way to take down the mastermind is from the inside, forcing her to partner with Toro. Together they must infiltrate the inner circle at a remote facility.

Except it’s a trap. For all of them.

Locked in a subterranean labyrinth and held captive by an unseen host, Dani, Toro, and others must fight for their lives. Now Dani must stay undercover, unravel a bizarre conspiracy, and survive lethal puzzles. But will Toro be friend or foe? Because in this killer’s game, everything is real: the paranoia, the desperation, and the body count. And only one person can make it out alive.]]> 365 Isabella Maldonado 1662507828 Ricki 2
It gets nothing but weird from there, they catch the assassin in record time and she goes undercover to find the "Nemesis" -the one who hired the assassin. Dani ends up in an underground "kill" game where a bunch of assassins kill each other to be able to escape at the end.

A clunky read, skipped parts just to get through this. I started reading Ms Maldonado's Nina Guerrera series and like it better- Not sure if I'll read another Daniela Vega.]]> 4.18 2023
author: Isabella Maldonado
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/29
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
Daniela Vega, former Army Ranger is now an FBI Agent when she sees an assassination coming out of a coffee shop in NYC on her way to work.

It gets nothing but weird from there, they catch the assassin in record time and she goes undercover to find the "Nemesis" -the one who hired the assassin. Dani ends up in an underground "kill" game where a bunch of assassins kill each other to be able to escape at the end.

A clunky read, skipped parts just to get through this. I started reading Ms Maldonado's Nina Guerrera series and like it better- Not sure if I'll read another Daniela Vega.
]]> 206180597
Teddy Fay is ready to embark on the European press tour of Peter Barrington’s latest film Storm’s Eye, when he receives an unexpected visit from Lance Cabot, director of the CIA. Several CIA agents have been turning up dead. The commonality? They were all part of a mission Teddy was involved in: Golden Hour. Lance wants Teddy to use his trip as a cover to investigate who is behind these killings.

From Venice and Budapest to their last stop at a film festival in Berlin, Teddy must dodge excited fans, enamored women, and a few too many assassins who seem dead set on tracking down Golden Hour agents. And if Teddy doesn’t work fast enough, his identity—and life—might just be the next target in the killer’s ruthless plot for revenge.]]> 352 Brett Battles 0593331605 Ricki 3
That said, a computer savvy person working for bad guy Braun "sees" through his disguise and finds him. Braun wants retribution for a twenty year old CIA op and has a list of agents he wants dead. Teddy is asked by the agency to help locate the who & why of the killings while in Europe on a press junket for his latest movie.

Stone Barrington also makes a couple of cameo's and it's an ok storyline about a 3.25 for me.]]> 3.81
author: Brett Battles
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:
Its an ok read for me, mainly cause Teddy Fay is not one of my favorite characters by Woods. All the expert disguises he has are hard to keep track of. He has two main ones Billy Barnett & Mark Weldon that he alternates in Hollywood and yet no one is the wiser. There are at least 20 people in on his secret and as the circle gets larger someone will surely slip.

That said, a computer savvy person working for bad guy Braun "sees" through his disguise and finds him. Braun wants retribution for a twenty year old CIA op and has a list of agents he wants dead. Teddy is asked by the agency to help locate the who & why of the killings while in Europe on a press junket for his latest movie.

Stone Barrington also makes a couple of cameo's and it's an ok storyline about a 3.25 for me.
]]> 215959515 A tenacious attorney grapples with a dangerous group of thieves in this new thriller from the author of The Old Man.

Charles Warren, Los Angeles attorney, has dedicated his career to aiding people in financial straits. He is particularly skilled at the art of recovering assets that have been embezzled or hidden. In his newest case, helping a beautiful young widow find the money missing from her late husband’s investment accounts, Charlie recognizes a familiar scheme—one that echoes the con job that targeted his own widowed mother many years before, and that led him, as a teenager, to commit a crime of retribution that still weighs on his conscience.

Charlie can’t get the present case out of his mind, but within hours of starting his investigation, he is followed, shot at, and has his briefcase stolen. It’s clear that someone doesn’t want him following the trail of the missing money but, as Charlie continues to pursue answers, he quickly becomes too entangled in the web of fraud, betrayal, and career criminals surrounding the theft to escape its deadly snare.]]> 360 Thomas Perry 1613166168 Ricki 3
This stand alone novel introduces us to Attorney Charlie Warren but not until a rather odd prologue that didn't make a lot of sense when reading it. Charlie's widowed mother married a con man when he was a teenager and when they realized what happened, absconded, died in a car crash and had made off with a lot of her savings .

Fast forward, we meet Charlie's new client Vesper with a similar story but her money is being stolen by her financial advisor. Suddenly a few days after meeting with Charlie and she goes missing. He hunts her down, finds she was kidnapped by two men who have info about Charlie's mom's missing money. He negotiates her release promising to cut them in on any funds recovered.

The book seemed like two books mashed into one. First half, the Vesper Ellis story & Charlie's hunt to get her funds back and second half is the recovery of Charlie's mom's money but not without a bit of drama and another attempt by con men to steal it.

It was ok, Charlie is not all on the straight and narrow but he got Vesper her funds back pro bono.

]]> 3.75 2025
author: Thomas Perry
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:
My favorite of Thomas Perry was The Old Man and I haven't found another he's written that I've liked as much (forget The Old Man TV show- just not as good as the book).

This stand alone novel introduces us to Attorney Charlie Warren but not until a rather odd prologue that didn't make a lot of sense when reading it. Charlie's widowed mother married a con man when he was a teenager and when they realized what happened, absconded, died in a car crash and had made off with a lot of her savings .

Fast forward, we meet Charlie's new client Vesper with a similar story but her money is being stolen by her financial advisor. Suddenly a few days after meeting with Charlie and she goes missing. He hunts her down, finds she was kidnapped by two men who have info about Charlie's mom's missing money. He negotiates her release promising to cut them in on any funds recovered.

The book seemed like two books mashed into one. First half, the Vesper Ellis story & Charlie's hunt to get her funds back and second half is the recovery of Charlie's mom's money but not without a bit of drama and another attempt by con men to steal it.

It was ok, Charlie is not all on the straight and narrow but he got Vesper her funds back pro bono.


]]> 30750262 333 Jon Mills Ricki 3
While battling dangers on two fronts, the FBI agent chasing him from city to city arrests him, but he saves her instead. Something seems off or more personal with the FBI hunting him and it would be nice to get more info about it.

Again, lots of killing but more by others than by Jack.
]]> 4.41
author: Jon Mills
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves:
review:
Jack Winchester former mob collector, is on his way to New Orleans to see an old girlfriend. Since being released from prison, he's tackled the NY mob, Sicilian Mob, the San Francisco triads and now in this installment meth dealers in New Orleans and another Sicilian assassin sent to avenge a death from a previous book.

While battling dangers on two fronts, the FBI agent chasing him from city to city arrests him, but he saves her instead. Something seems off or more personal with the FBI hunting him and it would be nice to get more info about it.

Again, lots of killing but more by others than by Jack.

]]> 221727814 They thought they knew about pain. They’re about to meet Tom Rollins, PhD.

Tom Rollins is heading cross-country when he gets a call from his old friend, Cindy Vaughan.

Cindy is searching for a missing woman, Louise. She’s found CCTV of her abduction and needs Tom’s help tracking down whoever is responsible.

Tom and Cindy start to investigate and soon realise that Louise is in deep trouble. She’s been taken by a ruthless gang who plan to use her for their own grisly entertainment.

The clock is ticking and if they are to save Louise, Tom and Cindy will have to move fast. They take the fight to the enemy and uncover a sinister operation that will stop at nothing to cover its tracks.

And when the tables are turned and Tom finds himself trapped in one of the gang’s twisted games, he realises there is only one kill or be killed.

Choke Hold � Book 15 in the outstanding Tom Rollins action thriller series. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Jason Kasper and David Archer.


What readers are saying about Choke Hold:

“â¶Ä¦an extraordinary, nail-biting, brilliant thriller that packs a punch.â€� -Booksprout Reviewer

“Every book in this series gets better and better� If I could give it more stars I would. Best book I’ve read in a while and I’m a daily reader.� -Booksprout Reviewer

“This was a strong fifteenth entry in the Tom Rollins thriller series� Paul Heatley has a strong writing style and was glad I read this.� -Netgalley Reviewer

�Non-stop action makes for a very quick read.� -Netgalley Reviewer

“â¶Ä¦some heart pounding momentsâ€� I highly recommend reading this book!â€� -Netgalley Reviewer

“A terrific page turner from Paul Heatley, so exciting I read it all as fast as possible, highly recommended.� -Netgalley Reviewer

�Intense from beginning to end� the action never lets up. Everything builds to an explosive conclusion, you don't want to miss this one.� -Netgalley Reviewer
]]> 344 Paul Heatley 1837564884 Ricki 4
Another gang took her, and it's up to Tom and Cindy's computer skills to find her. Along the way, Tom fights overwhelming odds to get her back and ruin the people responsible.

Lot's of action.]]> 4.51
author: Paul Heatley
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves:
review:
Tom was in CA when he got a call from friend Cindy Vaughn asking for help. Although driving straight thru, it takes a few days and by the time he arrives, Cindy is gone from her ransacked apartment. After tracking her down, he finds out she's helping someone find a missing woman.

Another gang took her, and it's up to Tom and Cindy's computer skills to find her. Along the way, Tom fights overwhelming odds to get her back and ruin the people responsible.

Lot's of action.
]]> 218191067 The first couple is on full alert, deflecting new threats from near and far�

Lieutenant Sam Holland has seen just about everything as a D.C. homicide detective, but she’s never been asked to lie to her closest colleagues and her husband—until now. With national security on the line, Sam makes a deal with the devil that quickly comes back to haunt her as she assists in a baffling case that leads right back to the Oval Office, where her husband is mourning the loss of his trusted aide, Navy Lieutenant Juan Rodriguez.

For President Nick Cappuano, the betrayal cuts deep. The military advisers he inherited from the Nelson administration plotted to remove him from office, and now, the young man who warned him of their deceit is dead. But nothing is as it appears, and with the NCIS building a case against the disgraced Joint Chiefs, Nick is forced to carry on with the duties of his office while wondering who’s coming for him next.

Sam no sooner gets one situation under control when another murder victim requires her full attention. A woman tied to an earlier cold case is found dead in her home in a case that’ll have Sam and her team digging deep into the past to find a ruthless killer while wondering if they should be looking much closer to home for the person who wanted her dead.

As if they didn’t have enough to worry about, a new threat to their happy family has them considering drastic measures to protect the ones they love the most. While storms rage all around them, Sam and Nick take refuge in each other and find the strength they need to carry on.]]> 416 Marie Force 1958035858 Ricki 3
What's not (and I get this series is in the "romance" genre) but who says it has to be so explicit? That's entirely different from romance- something left to the imagination is more interesting.

The book, jumps right into a murder for Sam to investigate and then more info about Lt Juan Rodriguez's death and the NCIS investigation into the treason of the Joint Chiefs. Along the way disgraced former Det Ramsey makes the usual crazy appearance and we are updated on the Stahl murders (why these two threads still continue and are dragged on is tiresome). Plus the reappearance of Nick's awful mother and the grandparents of the twins looking for custody keeps reappearing as filler that has run it's course.

About a 3.25 for me just because I like police procedurals.]]> 4.72 2024
author: Marie Force
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.72
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves:
review:
Continuing saga with the first family, new Pres Nick Cappuano & homicide Det Sam Holland & their blended family. The portrayal of Scottie & twins is hilarious, her interaction with her secret service detail good and the investigation portion of these books with all the detectives under her command also good.

What's not (and I get this series is in the "romance" genre) but who says it has to be so explicit? That's entirely different from romance- something left to the imagination is more interesting.

The book, jumps right into a murder for Sam to investigate and then more info about Lt Juan Rodriguez's death and the NCIS investigation into the treason of the Joint Chiefs. Along the way disgraced former Det Ramsey makes the usual crazy appearance and we are updated on the Stahl murders (why these two threads still continue and are dragged on is tiresome). Plus the reappearance of Nick's awful mother and the grandparents of the twins looking for custody keeps reappearing as filler that has run it's course.

About a 3.25 for me just because I like police procedurals.
]]> 196218540 For Sheriff Bree Taggert, a gruesome double murder exposes the secrets of the dead in a shocking novel of suspense by #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

A teenager returns home from work and finds her parents shot to death in their bed. Responding to the call, Sheriff Bree Taggert realizes the crime wasn’t a burglary gone wrong. The couple was executed. The sole survivor: their traumatized teenage daughter, Claire Mason.

Bree teams up with investigator Matt Flynn to work the case, but together they uncover more questions than answers. When Claire is stalked at the park, it’s clear the killer isn’t finished—and she’s the next target.

As Bree and Matt sift through the past—suspect by suspect—a tangled web of deception emerges, and the truth becomes harder to see. Because the victims� entire lives were a lie. And the only way to protect the vulnerable girl is to unravel her parents� secrets.]]> 313 Melinda Leigh 1662516959 Ricki 4
Bree & consultant/boyfriend Matt head down a number of wrong roads before finally getting the right killer and it was not who I thought which rarely happens for me.

One of the better Bree Taggert books with less small town politics than usual which for me was a plus.]]> 4.49 2025
author: Melinda Leigh
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:
Bree Taggert is called to a double murder of parents found by their teen daughter. As the investigation progresses, the parents are not at all what they seem. The daughter is traumatized and isn't much help but for the description of a tattoo on someone that tries to nab her after the murders.

Bree & consultant/boyfriend Matt head down a number of wrong roads before finally getting the right killer and it was not who I thought which rarely happens for me.

One of the better Bree Taggert books with less small town politics than usual which for me was a plus.
]]> 211399773 A vacation in the Hamptons goes terribly wrong for three friends with a complicated history.

It was meant to be a harmless prank.

Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Well-behaved, top of her class, a compulsive rule-follower. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. Her friends didn’t call her the Little Sheriff for nothing.

But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond—forged when May was just twelve years old—has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry.Ěý

When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder whether Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.

What had they gone and done?

The Note is a page-turner of the highest orderĚýfrom one of our greatest contemporary suspense writers.]]> 287 Alafair Burke 0593537084 Ricki 3
That said, it was just ok for me. Three longtime friends from Wildfire camp get together every so often to catch up. They head to an Airbnb in the Hamptons of Long Island and it heads downhill from there. Out for dinner/drinks, they are robbed of a parking spot and one of them leaves a note on the car "as a prank" without the others knowing.

Later. the man driving is found dead and the three are investigated by the local police as persons of interest. After getting half way through, it seemed obvious who the killer was but the why took a bit longer.]]> 3.37 2025
author: Alafair Burke
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:
Thanks to net gallery for the advance copy this but must apologize that I was so late in reading it (Didn't receive it for a while after winning and then off on a cruise for a month- then forgot I had it).

That said, it was just ok for me. Three longtime friends from Wildfire camp get together every so often to catch up. They head to an Airbnb in the Hamptons of Long Island and it heads downhill from there. Out for dinner/drinks, they are robbed of a parking spot and one of them leaves a note on the car "as a prank" without the others knowing.

Later. the man driving is found dead and the three are investigated by the local police as persons of interest. After getting half way through, it seemed obvious who the killer was but the why took a bit longer.
]]> 211399654 A love from Bourne's past seeks his help when assassins threaten her husband, but only treachery burns hotter than true love in the New York Times bestselling series.

Two years ago, Bourne knew he had to let Abbey Laurent walk away from his dangerous world. Now Abbey is back â€� and she’s married to a top government official. But she’s convinced someone is trying to kill her husband, and she wants Jason’s help.Ěý

Bourne follows the plot against this man into a deadly web of
conspiracyĚýthat puts them all at risk. But the deeper he descends into the violence, the more he believes that Abbey may not know who her husband really is.]]> 392 Brian Freeman 0593716493 Ricki 3
Jason's still with Treadstone and is tasked with finding "the Files" - which is information that can be gathered by AI to find their deepest secrets. Shadow & Storm are both after the files, Abbey & Tati caught in the crosshairs. The files were stolen and it seemed obvious who the culprit was.

An ok thriller but not so much in the spy realm- more of a regular soap opera mystery. The only high point was the resolution between Bourne & Abbey.]]> 4.40
author: Brian Freeman
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:
Go with Mark's review of Jan 19, 2025. He hits the nail right on the head- it's all about the women, three in fact from Jason's past- Abbey/Shadow/Storm/Tati.

Jason's still with Treadstone and is tasked with finding "the Files" - which is information that can be gathered by AI to find their deepest secrets. Shadow & Storm are both after the files, Abbey & Tati caught in the crosshairs. The files were stolen and it seemed obvious who the culprit was.

An ok thriller but not so much in the spy realm- more of a regular soap opera mystery. The only high point was the resolution between Bourne & Abbey.
]]> 219533547
Ex-deputy US Marshal Axel Blaze is doing what he knows best � dealing with trouble. Ten years in the special forces and five years in the US Marshals have made Blaze a trained investigator and expert in combat.

Blaze does not fight his opponents; he puts them down. He strikes first. And hard. Takes them out. Fast.

Deputy Marshal Carter has gone missing in Little Butte, Nevada. The Dawsons own the town. The Mexican cartel is moving in on their meth business. A gang war is coming to town. Director Flynn asks Blaze to return for one last assignment.

It is up to Blaze to find Carter before all hell breaks loose.]]> Bill Runner Ricki 2
Read this as an in-between while waiting for new releases and probably could have skipped it.]]> 4.38
author: Bill Runner
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
Just struggled to get thru this. Axel Blaze (really) is a retired US Marshall called upon to find a missing fellow agent cause he gets things done- but not without the bodies piling up. No sooner does the book start than he's in a fight with a bunch of bikers. He assesses the angles Reacher like but somehow, this book is just so cheesy as is his name and it wasn't as believable as the Reacher series.

Read this as an in-between while waiting for new releases and probably could have skipped it.
]]> 60675430 Private Beijing is ripped apart after an attack leaves three agents dead and the head of the team missing.

With the Beijing branch in turmoil, Private's owner and global head, Jack Morgan, immediately gets on a plane from LA.

Soon after Jack lands in China, another Private office is attacked. It's clear that the entire organisation is under threat.

As Jack launches a global investigation from unfamiliar territory, he will need the loyalty of his team now more than ever.
______________________________

Readers are loving Private Beijing

'Does not let up!
'Superbly written'
'Tense, suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat stuff'
'Addictive, fast paced and thrilling story'
'An exciting, exhilarating, explosive, high octane political thriller'
______________________________

PRAISE FOR THE PRIVATE THRILLERS

'Great action sequences ... breathtaking twists and turns' ANTHONY HOROWITZ

'An unmissable, breakneck ride' JAMES SWALLOW

'Exhilarating, high-stakes action' LESLEY KARA

'An exhilarating and totally satisfying read' NB MAGAZINE

'A breakneck fast, brutally good page-turner' DAILY MAIL

'Hits the ground running and the pace never misses a beat' DAILY EXPRESS

'Yet another fine outing from the master of thrillers' CITY A.M.
]]> 445 James Patterson 1529157374 Ricki 3
Jack Morgan, head of Private heads there to investigate and then the NY branch is also targeted. one dead and one in a coma. As he follows leads in both locations, it is clear they are after Jack and plan to hurt him via his employees and friends. The trail converges and leads back to Moscow where Jack cleaned up a mess earlier in the Private series.

It takes a while to get all the clues together and it Private is truly a global company but really - Jack is the only one that can find the answers?]]> 4.28 2022
author: James Patterson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
Private Beijing was hired to investigate a billionaire and while on stakeout, 3 of the 4 team members are killed and the head of the agency is missing.

Jack Morgan, head of Private heads there to investigate and then the NY branch is also targeted. one dead and one in a coma. As he follows leads in both locations, it is clear they are after Jack and plan to hurt him via his employees and friends. The trail converges and leads back to Moscow where Jack cleaned up a mess earlier in the Private series.

It takes a while to get all the clues together and it Private is truly a global company but really - Jack is the only one that can find the answers?
]]> 222635918 Special Agent Constant Marlowe pursues a lead to rural Illinois and finds a hornet’s nest of conspiracy in a pulse-pounding novella by New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, where nothing is what it seems.

Special Agent Constant Marlowe is in pursuit of “Mr. X,� a key player in organized crime. Her mission is to collar him and flip him into a cooperating witness. The only problem? Marlowe doesn’t know who he is or even what he looks like. It doesn’t help that the trail has led her to a farming community in the nether land of Downstate, those stretches of Illinois where endless fields of late-season corn block the truth…and any sign of coming threat. When Marlowe stumbles on a teenage boy’s convenience store robbery, she suddenly finds herself in the crosshairs of a conspiracy that shatters the illusion of a sleepy small town.]]> 126 Jeffery Deaver 1662518382 Ricki 3
Constant is on the hunt for Mr X. A broker of information to all manner of corrupt people- finding people, things,etc. She wants to find him, get him to flip on his customers and follows him to rural Illinois where she stumbles upon a nasty conspiracy. Only problem is she has no idea what he looks like and uses some tricks to get him to reveal himself.

She ends up getting her man and solving the local problem at the same time.

]]> 4.14 2025
author: Jeffery Deaver
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves:
review:
Not much of a fan of novellas (short stories) but it was only an ok read for me.

Constant is on the hunt for Mr X. A broker of information to all manner of corrupt people- finding people, things,etc. She wants to find him, get him to flip on his customers and follows him to rural Illinois where she stumbles upon a nasty conspiracy. Only problem is she has no idea what he looks like and uses some tricks to get him to reveal himself.

She ends up getting her man and solving the local problem at the same time.


]]> 30181453 344 Jon Mills Ricki 4
He's not sure what he's planning going forward but once he arrives at the homeless mission on Skid Row, he's pulled into a fight with the Asian Triad's human smuggling operation "reclaiming runaways" right out of John Dalton's mission. This is not something he can just stand-by and watch so he takes them on and the bodies mount up.

Meanwhile an FBI agent is assigned to look into what happened in NY and trails Jack to LA thinking she'll get answers to what really happened especially after Jack's ex- Dana gives her a lot of info (this is what he gets for having saved her son in the last book).

There's lots of bloodshed and Agent Isabel is right on his trail but maybe Jack has found his calling if only he can evade the FBI.]]> 4.36
author: Jon Mills
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:
Former mob hitman, Jack Winchester left NY after taking on the Sicilian Mob and is headed to LA to find John Dalton, a "friend" of his late friend & Dad Eddie.

He's not sure what he's planning going forward but once he arrives at the homeless mission on Skid Row, he's pulled into a fight with the Asian Triad's human smuggling operation "reclaiming runaways" right out of John Dalton's mission. This is not something he can just stand-by and watch so he takes them on and the bodies mount up.

Meanwhile an FBI agent is assigned to look into what happened in NY and trails Jack to LA thinking she'll get answers to what really happened especially after Jack's ex- Dana gives her a lot of info (this is what he gets for having saved her son in the last book).

There's lots of bloodshed and Agent Isabel is right on his trail but maybe Jack has found his calling if only he can evade the FBI.
]]> 220807587 Sins can be forgiven, but some can be like a curse,
afflicting and tormenting until the last breath.

Former FBI Agent Spenser Song is on the path to healing from tragedy and betrayal.
After moving to Sweetwater Falls and settling into her cabin in the idyllic woods,
she has found a sense of belonging and peace as the town’s Sheriff.

While having breakfast with Ryker, Spenser is notified about a grim new case.
A female victim has been found shot on the side of a rural road.

Upon arrival at the crime scene, Spenser recognizes the deceased woman.
The acclaimed author, Dallas James.
Spenser had just provided security for her a few days prior.

Speculations and theories circulate in town, leaving more confusion than answers.
A deep dive into the victim's life reveals many passion-fueled twists.

It is said that a deceitful heart is deadlier than any weapon.
The sins of the falls might lead its participants on the road to their demise. ]]> 261 Elle Gray Ricki 4
This book focuses on the murder of a famous local author and despite the motive pointing to "marriage issues"- the motive was entirely different.

It's a 3.75 rounded to 4 for me.]]> 4.55
author: Elle Gray
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:
Finally, a Spenser Song book without all the political drama of her "coming reelection" and the opposition she faces from "the mean girls- a group of women who never grew out of high school" and a rich jerk who's pissed at her for his son's arrest a few books ago.

This book focuses on the murder of a famous local author and despite the motive pointing to "marriage issues"- the motive was entirely different.

It's a 3.75 rounded to 4 for me.
]]> 28452051 ]]> 318 Jon Mills Ricki 3
Seems it's a good time for Dana's son to get out of town as he's hooked up with the local drug distributors and needs to do a pickup in NY. Jason is heading down the same road as his dead Dad.

Once in NY, Jack finds his friend Eddie dead and sister kidnapped by the Sicilian Mafia who is here to collect monies owed by the mob now that Jack's former boss is dead. Needless to say, don't mess with Jack, it's not pretty but definitely effective.]]> 4.41
author: Jon Mills
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:
Jack Winchester former assassin for the NYC mob, now in hiding (sort of) in Maine talks his on/off girlfriend Dana into going to NYC for New Years Eve. He's planning on seeing "friend" Eddie and his sister and reconnecting with Dana.

Seems it's a good time for Dana's son to get out of town as he's hooked up with the local drug distributors and needs to do a pickup in NY. Jason is heading down the same road as his dead Dad.

Once in NY, Jack finds his friend Eddie dead and sister kidnapped by the Sicilian Mafia who is here to collect monies owed by the mob now that Jack's former boss is dead. Needless to say, don't mess with Jack, it's not pretty but definitely effective.
]]> 28489486 314 Jon Mills Ricki 3
A bit slow in parts, the mob boss & new collector are not to be trusted. The twist ending is the best part.]]> 3.74 2015
author: Jon Mills
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves:
review:
Jack Winchester is finally out of jail after 4+ yrs. He's the Butcher of Manhattan for the mob and while inside has decided he needs to part ways with them BUT they give him one last job. Do a collection in Maine. He finds out the guy is already dead and befriends the widow/son looking for the missing money.

A bit slow in parts, the mob boss & new collector are not to be trusted. The twist ending is the best part.
]]> 212081521
While on a routine security assessment in India, Taskforce operator Pike Logan foils an attempted attack on a meeting between the CIA and India’s intelligence service. Both government agencies believe it’s nothing more than a minor terrorist attack, but Pike suspects that something much more sinister is at play. After another terrorist operation at the Taj Mahal, he begins to believe that outside powers are attacking India in the gray zone between peace and war, leveraging terrorist groups for nothing more than economic gain. But the separatists conducting the operations have their own agenda.

After a massive slaughter and kidnapping of hostages during an elaborate Indian pre-wedding party, two global powers are destabilized, and only Pike Logan and his team can de-escalate the tension by rescuing the captives. What follows is a race against the clock that winds through the bustling markets of Old Delhi, the luxurious resorts of Goa, and the epic halls of the Taj Mahal. It will take everything that Logan and the taskforce have to foil an intricate plot that leaves countless lives in the balance.]]> 464 Brad Taylor 0063222086 Ricki 0 to-read 4.31 2025
author: Brad Taylor
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44668771 Assistant U.S. Attorney Aroostine Higgins' most critical vulnerability is exposed in this smart, gripping series-starter from a USA Today bestseller.Aroostine's gearing up to prosecute a major bribery trial ... one that could make or break her career in the Department of Justice's elite Criminal Division. But everything's going wrong.By the time Aroostine realizes her string of bad luck is anything but random, the stakes are far higher than the outcome of a high-profile court case. The life of the only man she's ever loved hangs in the balance.Now, it's personal.]]> 258 Melissa F. Miller Ricki 2
That said, go with review by Rohit Enghakat from 4-13-17.

A disappointment!]]> 4.22 2014
author: Melissa F. Miller
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:
Had this book in my kindle for a while and finally got around to it.

That said, go with review by Rohit Enghakat from 4-13-17.

A disappointment!
]]> 222163948 An American mathematician’s assignment in Russia spirals into a high-stakes maze of shifting loyalties and intrigue in a propulsive short thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child.

Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics—in short, a nobody from nowhere. So why is the White House calling? Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he’s the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough. Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever. All he has to do is get to a meeting with the renowned Russian mathematician who created it. But when Nathan crashes headlong into a dangerous new game, the odds against him suddenly look a lot steeper.]]> 50 Lee Child 1662526202 Ricki 4
A math professor -Nathan Tyler -a specialist in Kandinsky numbers is spirited off to the White House to consult on a problem only 5 people know about. Although he has a solve, the last password is one of eleven and they only get one chance to get it right. They can guess but then they will miss a good opportunity to get Russian intelligence.

In order to get it right, they convince Nathan to go to a math conference in Russia to meet with the author of the puzzle and suss out which of the eleven it might be without coming right out and asking.

After a car accident while driving from the airport, Nathan is arrested, jailed an maybe left behind by the government that sent him there.

This short 45 page book is better than the last few Reachers' written by his brother!]]> 4.09 2025
author: Lee Child
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:
An early release for Amazon prime members and reminds me of the Lee Child of old.

A math professor -Nathan Tyler -a specialist in Kandinsky numbers is spirited off to the White House to consult on a problem only 5 people know about. Although he has a solve, the last password is one of eleven and they only get one chance to get it right. They can guess but then they will miss a good opportunity to get Russian intelligence.

In order to get it right, they convince Nathan to go to a math conference in Russia to meet with the author of the puzzle and suss out which of the eleven it might be without coming right out and asking.

After a car accident while driving from the airport, Nathan is arrested, jailed an maybe left behind by the government that sent him there.

This short 45 page book is better than the last few Reachers' written by his brother!
]]> 206294753 The bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife delivers a haunting legal thriller, plunging the reader headlong into the search for a deadly stalker—and a quest to bring a young victim peace.

Far from the neon glare of the Vegas strip, attorney Piper Danes walks away from a hotshot law firm to work as a guardian ad litem (GAL). Piper was once a vulnerable youth herself, and a GAL gave her hope when she needed it most. Now she’s committed to paying it forward.

Her first case is unlike any fifteen-year-old Sophie Grace is the sole survivor of a gruesome family murder. Teaming up with the formidable Judge Hope Dawson and enigmatic Detective Lazarus Holloway, Piper delves into a world more sinister than she could have imagined.

Their hunt for the truth leads to a serial killer known only as “The Creeper,� a predator who hides in the shadows. But as the team inches closer to unveiling the murderer, they find themselves in the crosshairs. Trapped in a web of lies, Piper will do anything to protect Sophie and stop the killer…before she becomes his next victim.]]> 363 Victor Methos 1662516274 Ricki 1
This was an early release freebie from Kindle- good thing cause after about one fourth of the way I abandoned it. I am just not into legal thrillers and this one also included a creepy serial slasher which is also not a favorite genre of mine!

Needless to say, not going ahead with the next in the series.]]> 4.13 2024
author: Victor Methos
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
DNF- did not finish

This was an early release freebie from Kindle- good thing cause after about one fourth of the way I abandoned it. I am just not into legal thrillers and this one also included a creepy serial slasher which is also not a favorite genre of mine!

Needless to say, not going ahead with the next in the series.
]]> 195830809
There are plenty of people who are upset about Ethan stepping into the shoes of the last Chief, but when a body shows up on the railroad tracks, he’s got to focus on the task at hand. With a population of only five thousand, Blaine sees eight million vehicles pass through its Peace Arch crossing every year. It’s the perfect site for drug smuggling, human trafficking, larceny, and murder.

Ethan begins to realize that the sleepy town has a lot more secrets than he originally thought. With no one to trust, his job already on the line, and the threats getting bolder and more reckless, Ethan Brand must find the killers and bring them to justice.]]> 304 Nolan Chase 1639107770 Ricki 3
The investigation is ok, the threats predictable as to who made them but the book follows a lot of the small town mysteries in that either the Mayor or head of the Town Council has it out for the Sheriff either for personal reasons or they feel they are not getting the attention they deserve.

Throughout the investigation, he's constantly having to report to the council as to the progress he has made and threatened with termination if he doesn't produce while also dealing with personnel issues at work and threats at home.

This could be a good series if Ethan gets more of a backbone when dealing with the political aspect of his new position.]]> 3.66 2024
author: Nolan Chase
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
Ethan Brand's first day as Sheriff of a small town in Washington state when a body is discovered near the RR tracks but his day already started with a death threat left on his porch.

The investigation is ok, the threats predictable as to who made them but the book follows a lot of the small town mysteries in that either the Mayor or head of the Town Council has it out for the Sheriff either for personal reasons or they feel they are not getting the attention they deserve.

Throughout the investigation, he's constantly having to report to the council as to the progress he has made and threatened with termination if he doesn't produce while also dealing with personnel issues at work and threats at home.

This could be a good series if Ethan gets more of a backbone when dealing with the political aspect of his new position.
]]> 55886233 He knows he’s more than just another washed-up ex-cop. Solving a murder will help him prove it...

A straight-shooter who lives on a boat and likes a drink or two, Henry’s frustrated he can't even land work as a dispatcher. And his job running security for a local baseball team is far from his idea of excitement.

But it pays the bills.

The morning after the season ends, Henry’s at his friend’s bar with a Bloody Mary in one hand and a phone in the other. He takes a call that could change everything...

Turns out a couple of fishermen pulled third baseman Lance Moreau’s body from the St. Johns River. And his teammate's been arrested for the murder.

The team's owner turns to Henry to help prove the cops have the wrong man.

Henry knows working security in an empty ballpark is one thing. But investigating a murder?

It won’t be easy.

Lucky for him he has Alex Jepson on his side. She’s beautiful. She’s tough. And as Henry likes to say...she’s the one with the brains.

They’re a good match, in more ways than one.

Now all they have to do is find the real killer...]]> 258 Gregory Payette 1733866205 Ricki 3
Henry is asked to look into it by the teams owner, as no can believe he did it. This takes Henry along a slow trail to the killer and the reason was to protect a dead person's memory (certainly a farfetched reason and unbelievable.)

It's an ok read.]]> 4.07 2019
author: Gregory Payette
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
I have read a couple of the Walsh series but not in order. Ex-cop Henry, is head of security for a local baseball team. The season is over ,the third baseman is found dead in the river and his teammate accused of the murder.

Henry is asked to look into it by the teams owner, as no can believe he did it. This takes Henry along a slow trail to the killer and the reason was to protect a dead person's memory (certainly a farfetched reason and unbelievable.)

It's an ok read.
]]> 59386570 A former private detective with a penchant for trouble stumbles into a deadly conspiracy that puts him in a killer’s crosshairs, in this witty crime novel.

Former police officer turned private detective, Davis Reed is taking refuge in the mountains of Cruso, North Carolina. When respected real estate agent Prentiss Wells is killed by an errant golf ball, Davis has no reason to suspect it wasn’t an accident. But then a wealthy couple hires him to prove the death was murder and catch the killer. In desperate need of cash, Davis takes the job.Ěý

While Davis investigates who had the motive to kill Prentiss, Elizabeth Harper, an accountant who stirs butterflies in Davisâ€� stomach, uncovers a tangled mess of shady real estate deals linked to Prentissâ€� firm. As the case garners media attention, Davis must carefully navigate a minefield of secrets and lies.Ěý

With the help of his friend Dale Johnson, a local deputy whose mood changes with the wind, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a mad genius motor-mouthed mechanic, Davis sets out to uncover a mystery that runs much deeper than he thinks.]]> 256 Steven Tingle 1643859129 Ricki 3
Davis Reed a former (for 5 minutes) cop from Charleston now lives in the mountains of NC. He is renting a cabin from a local deputy with whom he solved a murder in the last book.

This time, they're called to an "accidental" death on the golf course. A golfer hit in the head by a ball.
Soon however, a wealthy couple into true crime offers a low on cash Davis money to prove/disprove it was an accident and it leads him down a rabbit hole of real estate fraud and confirmation of the murder of golfer Prentiss Wells.

It's a lite mystery, especially with the comic relief of Deputy Dale's ninja cousin Floppy. ]]> 3.94
author: Steven Tingle
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
I wish there were partial stars- this was a 3.5.

Davis Reed a former (for 5 minutes) cop from Charleston now lives in the mountains of NC. He is renting a cabin from a local deputy with whom he solved a murder in the last book.

This time, they're called to an "accidental" death on the golf course. A golfer hit in the head by a ball.
Soon however, a wealthy couple into true crime offers a low on cash Davis money to prove/disprove it was an accident and it leads him down a rabbit hole of real estate fraud and confirmation of the murder of golfer Prentiss Wells.

It's a lite mystery, especially with the comic relief of Deputy Dale's ninja cousin Floppy.
]]> 24877652
As the politicians in Washington struggle with how to respond to the imminent collapse of the United States� largest trading partner, the responsibility falls on Kurt to prevent the destruction of the modern global economy.

When the conflict begins to spread beyond China’s borders, Kurt and his team learn the threat is larger and more insidious than anyone could have imagined. If they don’t act fast, the entire region, and perhaps the entire world may be draw into a conflict unlike any seen before.]]> 226 William Esmont 1507624255 Ricki 2
It's the last in this just average series (for me) and finds Kurt/Amanda in China at a conference when all "Heck" breaks loose. Riots in the streets in several cities, their task then to find and speak to "CIA spy" in the Ministry for information. By the time they get some, Kurt is wounded and they hide out with a former friend of Amanda's before being evacuated to Japan.

North Korea has decided to destabilize China in order to get lucrative deals with large companies. Nukes are detonated by both sides and then Japan enters the fray. At each location, Kurt and Amanda barely help but "save the day" in the end.

Again, abrupt closure -they are arrested in Japan and next we find them at lunch in DC? Just weird.

]]> 3.74 2014
author: William Esmont
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
Go with Chris's synopsis dated April, 2016 which gives a pretty good overview of the subject.

It's the last in this just average series (for me) and finds Kurt/Amanda in China at a conference when all "Heck" breaks loose. Riots in the streets in several cities, their task then to find and speak to "CIA spy" in the Ministry for information. By the time they get some, Kurt is wounded and they hide out with a former friend of Amanda's before being evacuated to Japan.

North Korea has decided to destabilize China in order to get lucrative deals with large companies. Nukes are detonated by both sides and then Japan enters the fray. At each location, Kurt and Amanda barely help but "save the day" in the end.

Again, abrupt closure -they are arrested in Japan and next we find them at lunch in DC? Just weird.


]]> 24684549
When Kurt and his partner Amanda Carter investigate the security lapse, they discover that elements of a Russian sleeper cell have compromised the integrity of the National Military Command Center. To further complicate matters, Kurt and Amanda also learn that a Chechen arms dealer with a stolen nuclear warhead is about to start selling suitcase nukes to the highest bidder.

With membership in the nuclear club poised to explode and the United States effectively blinded to the threat, Kurt and Amanda are the last line of defense before the world descends into anarchy.]]> William Esmont Ricki 2
Turns out the nuke they thought they found from the first in the series was a dummy and the real one was still out there. Kurt/Amanda are again tasked with saving the day.

Another average action thriller, Kurt seems to be the thinker and Amanda the action person. Again just an ok read.]]> 3.50 2011
author: William Esmont
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
Second in the series and as Kurt & Amanda are being awarded presidential medals in the Oval, a security breach of the national defense system finds them evacuated with the president to a secure location. Turns out Moscow has the ability to hack into their systems from blackmailing citizens for the program of how to do it.

Turns out the nuke they thought they found from the first in the series was a dummy and the real one was still out there. Kurt/Amanda are again tasked with saving the day.

Another average action thriller, Kurt seems to be the thinker and Amanda the action person. Again just an ok read.
]]> 24684512
The files lead him to London, where he meets Amanda Carter, an enigmatic woman from his brother’s past. With Amanda’s help, he uncovers a rogue CIA plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in Moscow. Meanwhile, the assassins who killed his brother launch an all-out hunt to silence him and anyone else who may thwart their plans.

In a frantic sprint across Europe, Kurt and Amanda must stay one step ahead of the killers while racing against the clock to prevent the bomb from incinerating millions of innocent people.]]> William Esmont Ricki 2
I'd give it a 2.5.
]]> 3.75 2010
author: William Esmont
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
It's the holidays and new releases are slim so freebies from Hoopla are on the agenda. Go with review by Tanya dated July 2011. Yep, this series of three has been around a while and although I agree with most of Tanya's review, I'd say it's a bit lacking near the end. Once the proverbial S_ _T hit the fan in Moscow, we skip to Washington DC. It wasn't ended very well but an ok, easy read.

I'd give it a 2.5.

]]> 221822343 A small town under martial law. But one man makes his own rules.

Army veteran Mason Sharpe has been laying low in Prairie Junction, Iowa. Working a steady job, enjoying the quiet life.

Then all hell breaks loose when a swarm of National Guard choppers descend on the town.

Soldiers in hazmat suits enforce a strict lockdown. Roadblocks go up. Martial law kicks in. Everyone’s ordered to stay inside. No questions, no answers.

But when Mason sees a local man murdered by soldiers, he knows something is very, very wrong.

Joining forces with an old flame, Dr. Evelyn Landry, Mason will do whatever it takes to find out why this little town has been cut off from the outside world.

And if the situation escalates? Well, Mason will escalate right along with it. All the way to Lethal Action.

Lethal Action � book 9 of the stunning Mason Sharpe action thriller series. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Jason Kasper and David Archer.


What readers are saying about Lethal Action:

“This masterpiece is a MUST-READ thriller... lots of action and a compelling storyline.� -Booksprout Reviewer

“This series maintains its place on my TBR list as a must read. Every book in the series has been excellent, my reading friends and family receive these books as gifts…� -Netgalley Reviewer

“Great action and suspense� a riveting read. And Mason Sharpe always delivers.� -Netgalley Reviewer

“â¶Ä¦what a thrilling addition to the series this book is. It's absolutely relentless from start to finish, and as is always the case with Logan Ryles' writing, I couldn't put it down.â€� -Netgalley Reviewer

“â¶Ä¦v±đ°ů˛â highly recommendedâ€� a lightning-fast-paced thriller…â€� -Netgalley Reviewer

“â¶Ä¦one of those page turners that is hard to put down and when you aren’t reading, you are thinking about the story. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes well written action adventures!â€� -Netgalley Reviewer
]]> 402 Logan Ryles 1837565058 Ricki 4
Mason is suspicious, something's not right and his fears are confirmed when he witnesses a local conspiracy theorist killed point blank. We follow him and Evelyn during a bad blizzard from place to place, evading the soldiers to uncover the truth.

A good action series, but the ending made me wonder if this is the last we will see of Mason?]]> 4.54
author: Logan Ryles
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.54
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:
We find Mason working in a lumbermill in rural Iowa. Suddenly, the town is inundated by the Nat Guard, locked down and the troops are wearing biohazard suits (with which Mason is intimately familiar). The prologue gave us a bit of background on this along with the introduction of Dr. Evelyn Landry with whom Mason has a history.

Mason is suspicious, something's not right and his fears are confirmed when he witnesses a local conspiracy theorist killed point blank. We follow him and Evelyn during a bad blizzard from place to place, evading the soldiers to uncover the truth.

A good action series, but the ending made me wonder if this is the last we will see of Mason?
]]> 75382154 A Wall Street Journal bestselling series.

Following a murder and a woman’s sudden disappearance, investigations into old crimes and new collide in an alarming novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.

Detective Evan Bolton is gutted by his latest investigation. His friend and mentor, retired detective Rod McLeod, has been murdered, his body left in the trunk of a junkyard car. When McLeod’s daughter and grandson abruptly vanish, Evan knows it’s not a coincidence. Search and rescue canine specialist Rowan Wolff agrees as she and her dog, Thor, track the missing family.

The two cases converge in a puzzling twist. Evan discovers that McLeod has been reinvestigating old crimes—solved but not forgotten. Evan takes them on, one by one, and a disturbing suspicion forms that someone in law enforcement has something to hide and would do anything to keep those secrets buried.

But Evan and Rowan’s time is slipping away. They have to find the killer now. Before someone else disappears. Before someone else dies.]]> 348 Kendra Elliot Ricki 3
That said, Det Evan Bolton is called to a dead body found in the trunk of a junkyard car. Turns out it was his mentor Rod, a retired detective. He's then called to a second scene, Rod's daughter Sophia house is trashed, with lots of blood and she's missing.

As he, girlfriend Rowan (search/rescue dog trainer), Noelle and other detectives follow every lead, he is suddenly suspended as his prints are found at both victims homes. On the day of his suspension, Evan disappears and it's up to Rowan and Noelle to find him.

It's a bit slow in spots and seems to go nowhere when suddenly it's solved.



]]> 4.46 2024
author: Kendra Elliot
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
Much prefer the Mercy Kilpatrick series but there hasn't been one in quite sometime- not sure if that series is over.

That said, Det Evan Bolton is called to a dead body found in the trunk of a junkyard car. Turns out it was his mentor Rod, a retired detective. He's then called to a second scene, Rod's daughter Sophia house is trashed, with lots of blood and she's missing.

As he, girlfriend Rowan (search/rescue dog trainer), Noelle and other detectives follow every lead, he is suddenly suspended as his prints are found at both victims homes. On the day of his suspension, Evan disappears and it's up to Rowan and Noelle to find him.

It's a bit slow in spots and seems to go nowhere when suddenly it's solved.




]]> 213916350 A cryptic letter from a prison inmate pulls Detective Jake Cashen back into one of the darkest chapters in the history of Blackhand Hills.Jake is poised to reopen a chilling murder case once thought closed. But some stones are meant to be left unturned. What crawls out from under this one could upend the entire Worthington County criminal justice system.

Lethal Harvest is the hair-raising seventh book in the Detective Jake Cashen Crime Thriller series. A former police detective, author Declan James brings you authentic, small-town, crime fiction written by someone who's been there. This edge-of-your-seat mystery will keep you guessing until the very last chapter. Perfect for fans of Connelly, Box, Dugoni and Baldacci
]]> 339 Declan James Ricki 3 This leads to him being given a letter from a death row inmate. Should Jake get involved, will it blow back on on his boss's upcoming election? Turns out her opponent was the investigator on the case but how can he turn his back on what turns out to be a botched, non investigation?

Jake finds the real culprit closer to the victim which will end the election.]]> 4.65
author: Declan James
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
A solid 3.5. Det Jake Cashen's sister asks for a favor. Will he speak to her miserable ex for 5 min?
This leads to him being given a letter from a death row inmate. Should Jake get involved, will it blow back on on his boss's upcoming election? Turns out her opponent was the investigator on the case but how can he turn his back on what turns out to be a botched, non investigation?

Jake finds the real culprit closer to the victim which will end the election.
]]> 18950130 216 L.J. Martin Ricki 1
He's asked to find a 5yr old not returned by Dad during his custody visit. She's been recommended by a Marine buddy so he takes it. Turns out she's killed-cartel style and that sets Mike off to Vegas to right some wrongs -using all his contacts/friends etc to get it done.

The dialog is super cheesy especially about women and it just caused many eye-rolls while reading.

Not proceeding with this series.]]> 3.87 2013
author: L.J. Martin
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2013
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:
Picked as a "filler" book to have something to read and could have skipped it. Ex-Marine working only through references and only if he "deems" the job is worth doing.

He's asked to find a 5yr old not returned by Dad during his custody visit. She's been recommended by a Marine buddy so he takes it. Turns out she's killed-cartel style and that sets Mike off to Vegas to right some wrongs -using all his contacts/friends etc to get it done.

The dialog is super cheesy especially about women and it just caused many eye-rolls while reading.

Not proceeding with this series.
]]> 222444305 When the bodies of two biker gang members are found, Detective David Wolf finds himself caught in a lethal environment, where truth comes at a price.

Two members of a ruthless biker gang called the Sons of the Void show up dead at a cabin in the woods, and Wolf and his team learn violence in a neighboring county has bled south into their jurisdiction. Despite the easily explainable crime, the brand new sheriff in office is hard-pressed to look active on the case and sends his ringer—Wolf—to northern Colorado to help investigate.

Unwanted and unwelcome by the locals, Wolf finds he’s plunged into a territory where fear and silence reign supreme, and as he unearths more details about the crime, learns there’s much more going on than meets the eye. More danger awaits, and not just for the criminals. Innocent lives are at stake, and the only man standing between them and certain doom is David Wolf.

The latest installment of the David Wolf mystery-thriller series takes the reader on an explosive adventure through the lung-pumping thin air of the mountain west, keeping you turning pages until the final word.

*This book is the 18th in the series but can be read as a standalone novel.
The bestselling author of Tuscan Blood delivers a page-turning detective thriller set in the desolate Colorado mountains. ]]> 310 Jeff Carson Ricki 3 Wolf follows the biker trail to another jurisdiction and although the sheriff there "seems" to help, he comes off as hinkey right from the start.

Meanwhile, one of the other detectives is battling demons after having been shot and seems MIA to friends, plus David's engaged and has plenty on his mind at home.

I enjoy this series but there always to seems to be a threat to someone's job for some reason.]]> 4.53 2024
author: Jeff Carson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
Two bikers from Son of the Void gang are found in a cabin in David's territory. Even though he routinely solves his cases, the new sheriff -Waze tells him he needs a win in order to stay in the dept.
Wolf follows the biker trail to another jurisdiction and although the sheriff there "seems" to help, he comes off as hinkey right from the start.

Meanwhile, one of the other detectives is battling demons after having been shot and seems MIA to friends, plus David's engaged and has plenty on his mind at home.

I enjoy this series but there always to seems to be a threat to someone's job for some reason.
]]> 201156352 From the award-winning author of Hide and Fall comes a taut tale of renegade justice and long-awaited resolution, bringing the thrilling Detective Harriet Foster series to a heart-stopping conclusion.

Hardwicke House, home to Belverton College’s exclusive Minotaur Society, is no stranger to tragedy. And when a body turns up in the field next to the mansion, the scene looks chillingly familiar.

Chicago PD sends hard-nosed Detective Harriet “Harri� Foster to investigate. The victim is Brice Collier, a wealthy Belverton student, whose billionaire father, Sebastian, owns Hardwicke and ranks as a major school benefactor. Sebastian also has ties to the mansion’s notorious past, when thirty years ago, hazing led to a student’s death in the very same field.

Could the deaths be connected? With no suspects or leads, Harri and her partner, Detective Vera Li, will have to dig deep to find answers. No charges were ever filed in the first case, and this time, Harri’s determined the killer must pay. But still grieving her former partner’s death, Harri must also contend with a shadowy figure called the voice—and their dangerous game of cat and mouse could threaten everything.]]> 361 Tracy Clark 1662517335 Ricki 3
There are two mysteries here, the death of a college student from excessive drinking (or was it) and the continuing mystery of harrassing/threatening phone calls to Harriet with hints as to what really happened to her last partner.

Harriet pursues both, reluctantly accepting help from Li and the rest of the squad on the college death and finally finds the culprit behind the mysterious calls and how they apply to her. She still tries to be the lone wolf, possibly because she is afraid someone else will get hurt being around her but this time Li and the squad are adamant they have her back.

Unfortunately we have another mystery at the end, who is the new mystery person who "takes care" of the threat to Harriet?]]> 4.18 2024
author: Tracy Clark
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
Det Harriet Foster is slowly warming up to new partner Li only because Li is determined to get through Harriet's hard shell.

There are two mysteries here, the death of a college student from excessive drinking (or was it) and the continuing mystery of harrassing/threatening phone calls to Harriet with hints as to what really happened to her last partner.

Harriet pursues both, reluctantly accepting help from Li and the rest of the squad on the college death and finally finds the culprit behind the mysterious calls and how they apply to her. She still tries to be the lone wolf, possibly because she is afraid someone else will get hurt being around her but this time Li and the squad are adamant they have her back.

Unfortunately we have another mystery at the end, who is the new mystery person who "takes care" of the threat to Harriet?
]]> 209455973 The stakes are sky-high when a minor misstatement from President Jack Ryan threatens the safety of Taiwan in this #1 New York Times bestselling series.Every word a president utters is weighed and examined, but none more so than when he is talking about Taiwan. That's why it's shocking that President Jack Ryan seems to imply that the US has no appetite for a war to protect Taiwan from the communist Chinese on the mainland.ĚýPresident Ryan is determined to protect the independence of the island nation, but he is determined that one slip of the tongue should not cost thousands of young soldiers, sailors and Marines their lives.]]> 506 Brian Andrews 0593717988 Ricki 3
As she follows leads, she proposes that the new "war games" by China near Taiwan are actually real and a ploy to take the country. She's put in command of the op in Taiwan to help stop the advance of China and Dad-Pres Jack Ryan is in the WH conferring with his staff & world leaders.

As a fan of Clancy and both the Jack & Jack Jr series, lets just call this what it is Katie Ryan series #2 with special appearances by Dad.

Still too much of the acronyms for us non-military types.]]> 4.62 2024
author: Brian Andrews
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:
The second in the "jack Ryan" series but again it's mostly about daughter Katie. She's an analyst who feels there something going on in China as the third high ranking politico is "disappeared".

As she follows leads, she proposes that the new "war games" by China near Taiwan are actually real and a ploy to take the country. She's put in command of the op in Taiwan to help stop the advance of China and Dad-Pres Jack Ryan is in the WH conferring with his staff & world leaders.

As a fan of Clancy and both the Jack & Jack Jr series, lets just call this what it is Katie Ryan series #2 with special appearances by Dad.

Still too much of the acronyms for us non-military types.
]]> 209456075 From #1 New York Times bestselling author, David Baldacci, the 6:20 Man returns, this time sent to the Pacific Northwest to aid the FBI in a case that gets more complicated with the more questions Devine asks—and he’s about to come face-to-face with his nemesis, the girl on the train.

Travis Devine has become a pro at adapting to any situation to accomplish the mission set in front of him. Whether it’s a high-powered corporate setting or small-town community, Devine will become the man for the job. His time as an Army Ranger and on the financial battlefields of Wall Street gave him the skills he needed, and he’s put them to good use. But this time it’s not his skills that send him to Seattle to aid the FBI in escorting orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who’s under investigation for RICO charges. Instead, he’s hoping to lie low and keep off the radar of an enemy that he evaded on a train in Switzerland and who has been after him ever since—the girl on the train.

But as Devine gets to know Betsy, questions begin to arise around the death of her parents. Betsy is adamant that they had never used drugs, but the police in the small rural town where they died insist the Odoms died of an overdose. Devine starts digging for answers, and what he finds points to a conspiracy bigger than he could’ve ever imagined. The question is, how do Betsy, her uncle, and various government agencies all fit into it.

It might finally be time for Devine and the girl on the train to come face-to-face, and when that happens, Devine is going to find himself unsure of who are his allies and who are his enemies. And in some cases, they might well be both.]]> 432 David Baldacci 1538757907 Ricki 4
Travis, working for a "special" division under DHS is sent to the pacific northwest to help protect a 12 year old girl Betsy, the niece of Danny Glass under RICO investigation by the FBI. Travis is sent because Danny is an old acquaintance from his war days and the hope is he has a small advantage with Danny.

Betsy's parents mysteriously died, Travis investigates, and finds the small corrupt town of Ricketts. There are attempts to kill him & kidnap Betsy before Travis figures out what happened.

The storyline takes a while to get together but it's a good read.]]> 4.21 2024
author: David Baldacci
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
Read review by Sujoya dated Nov , as it gives a good outline of the main points of the storyline.

Travis, working for a "special" division under DHS is sent to the pacific northwest to help protect a 12 year old girl Betsy, the niece of Danny Glass under RICO investigation by the FBI. Travis is sent because Danny is an old acquaintance from his war days and the hope is he has a small advantage with Danny.

Betsy's parents mysteriously died, Travis investigates, and finds the small corrupt town of Ricketts. There are attempts to kill him & kidnap Betsy before Travis figures out what happened.

The storyline takes a while to get together but it's a good read.
]]> 220078967 Mason only knows one way to fight � to the bitter end.

Army veteran Mason Sharpe is finally enjoying some peace and quiet. Sleepy days full of good music, better barbeque, and lazy rides on his motorcycle.

But then he sees three burly men beating on a kid and knows he has to step in.

The kid, Spencer, is obsessed with the idea of winning big money at an underground fight club � he desperately needs the cash to fund a life-saving operation for his little sister.

Mason takes one look at Spencer and strongly advises against getting into the ring.

But Spencer doesn’t listen and signs up to fight anyway. Badly injured, he ends up in a hospital � just another victim of the brutal motorcycle gang who run the fight club.

Mason can see they’re taking advantage of Spencer, using him as cannon fodder. He thinks maybe he can win the money for Spencer’s kid sister � and rain down a little pain on the bikers while he’s at it.

So Mason climbs into the ring � and sets off an escalating war with the vicious biker gang. A war that can only end one way � Knock Out.

Knock Out � book 8 of the exciting Mason Sharpe action thriller series. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Jason Kasper and David Archer.


What readers are saying about Knock Out:

“â¶Ä� non-stop action as usual in this eighth instalment in a very enjoyable series. …a high octane thrilling read that leads to some incredible scenesâ€� now need to get my breath…â€� -Booksprout Reviewer

“â¶Ä¦a complex, yet very entertaining, addition to this addictive series.â€� -Netgalley Reviewer

�Knock Out delivers non-stop action� an entertaining read with a solid plot that fans of the series will enjoy.� -Netgalley Reviewer

“A pulse-pounding thriller that is so hard to put down� action-galore and as always it's a great ride � loved the pacing of this book - it doesn't really let up…� -Netgalley Reviewer

“Logan Ryles does it again. The Mason series never disappoints. It had the perfect amount of action� kept me engaged.� -Booksprout Reviewer

“Entertaining, fast paced and action packed. Recommended.� -Netgalley Reviewer
]]> 334 Logan Ryles 1837564639 Ricki 4
He comes up on three bullies beating a teen and can't help but get involved. This leads him to a fight club, motorcycle crime syndicate and some seriously bad criminals raking in loads of money but not in a usual way. It's one fight after another although it did take a bit for him and an undercover FBI agent to figure out what was going on.

]]> 4.55
author: Logan Ryles
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:
Mason is renting an airstream, having his truck fixed, swimming the Mississippi and riding a motorcycle enjoying downtime but it doesn't last.

He comes up on three bullies beating a teen and can't help but get involved. This leads him to a fight club, motorcycle crime syndicate and some seriously bad criminals raking in loads of money but not in a usual way. It's one fight after another although it did take a bit for him and an undercover FBI agent to figure out what was going on.


]]> 209272944 304 Douglas Pratt Ricki 3
It's starts with two "navy squids" attacking him on his dock for no reason. Enter Amanda, EMT fixing his knife wounds. Since he's having trouble sleeping trying to figure out what's going on, he heads to a local watering hole and steps in when a guy slaps a woman who turns out to be Amanda.

So there are two storylines, saving Amanda from the controlling ex (who it turns out has connections), and the constant attempts to kill him by persons unknown.

Chase is like a Reacher with shorts and flip flops, former Recon Marine and not one to mess with. A good adventure and easy to read.

PS- Missy or Amanda?]]> 4.54
author: Douglas Pratt
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.54
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
More like a 3.5! Chase has been stuck on land for a while, recovering from injuries sustained in his last adventure.

It's starts with two "navy squids" attacking him on his dock for no reason. Enter Amanda, EMT fixing his knife wounds. Since he's having trouble sleeping trying to figure out what's going on, he heads to a local watering hole and steps in when a guy slaps a woman who turns out to be Amanda.

So there are two storylines, saving Amanda from the controlling ex (who it turns out has connections), and the constant attempts to kill him by persons unknown.

Chase is like a Reacher with shorts and flip flops, former Recon Marine and not one to mess with. A good adventure and easy to read.

PS- Missy or Amanda?
]]> 203348365 They were promised a simple job. Now they’re fighting for their lives.

When a so-called “easy op� to protect business tycoon Drake Cryer on a shady deal goes horribly wrong, former Delta Force operative Shepherd and his top-notch partner Lucky are faced with a situation that’s quickly spiraling into chaos. The pair are catapulted into a deadly mission to escape the clutches of a vicious Russian warlord.

Forced to team up with the infamous Darcy Brothers—a legendary mercenary duo with an uncanny ability to cheat death—Shepherd and Lucky must push their skills to the brink if they want to get out alive.

But they’re stranded deep in hostile territory. With a sinister extortion plot hanging over the head of the CEO they swore to protect, Shepherd and his team will need to dance with the devil as they carry out a cunning plan to escape the country in one piece.

Death lurks around every corner, and there is no safety among wolves...

As the explosive sequel in the action-packed Shepherd and Fox thriller series, USA Today bestselling authors Brian Shea and Kristi Belcamino deliver a suspense-fueled thrill ride that’s perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, David Baldacci’s The Innocent, and Jack Carr’s The Terminal List.]]> 263 Brian Christopher Shea Ricki 2
We find the same characters Fox, Shepherd and Red working for uber rich "Max" and called to investigate a plastics factory he owns in Russia. Two of the operations managers have been taken, tortured & killed by the local crime lord and his attempting to take over the factory.

The story line was ok but has some really gory scenes that could be edited a bit.



]]> 4.39 2024
author: Brian Christopher Shea
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
I wasn't a fan of this new series after the first one and this is going to be the last one for me.

We find the same characters Fox, Shepherd and Red working for uber rich "Max" and called to investigate a plastics factory he owns in Russia. Two of the operations managers have been taken, tortured & killed by the local crime lord and his attempting to take over the factory.

The story line was ok but has some really gory scenes that could be edited a bit.




]]> 209018850 In the tradition of Wait for Signs and The Highwayman, Craig Johnson is back with a short novel set in the Alaska tundra where a young Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear face off with powerful enemies who will do anything to get what they want.

Tooth and Claw follows Walt and Henry up to Alaska as they look for work after they both returned from serving in Vietnam. While working for an oil company in the bitter cold of winter, they soon encounter a ferocious polar bear who seems hell-bent on their destruction. But it’s not too long until they realize the danger does not lurk outside in the frozen Alaskan tundra, but with their co-workers who are after priceless treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.

Fans of Longmire will thrill to this pulse-pounding and bone-chilling novel of extreme adventure that adds another indelible chapter to the great story of Walt Longmire.]]> 205 Craig Johnson 0593834178 Ricki 3
It's Longmire & Henry at former Sheriff's Lucian's house for grilled steaks and a story from years ago.
Was this a tall tale or did it really happen? ]]> 4.28
author: Craig Johnson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
A short novella. Go with review from Chris dated 12/4 and get a synopsis.

It's Longmire & Henry at former Sheriff's Lucian's house for grilled steaks and a story from years ago.
Was this a tall tale or did it really happen?
]]> 208429557 379 Graham Brown 0593719212 Ricki 3
This is a combo Dirk/Joe & the Trouts and what I didn't like was the sci-fi aspects, jellypod attacks and people being put in a gooey liquid to meld with an AI machine. Far-fetched and icky and just rushed through it to get to the end.

]]> 4.40 2024
author: Graham Brown
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
Always have been a big fan of Cussler adventures but this one left me cold (a 2.75 at most)!

This is a combo Dirk/Joe & the Trouts and what I didn't like was the sci-fi aspects, jellypod attacks and people being put in a gooey liquid to meld with an AI machine. Far-fetched and icky and just rushed through it to get to the end.


]]> 207299449
While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. There’s Eugene Fleck, a seemingly sweet online influencer who might also be YouTube star Robin Hoodie, masked hero to the homeless, who hijacks delivery trucks and distributes their contents to the needy. She’s also on the trail of Bruno Jug, a wealthy and connected man in the wholesale produce business who is rumored to traffic young girls alongside lettuce and tomatoes. Most terrifying of all is Zoran—a laundromat manager by day and self-proclaimed vampire by night with a taste for the blood of pretty girls. When he shows up on Stephanie’s doorstep, it’s not for the meatloaf dinner.

With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But only she can decide what to do about the two men she actually loves. She can’t hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she’s keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all. Now or never, she’s got to make the decision of a lifetime.]]> 320 Janet Evanovich 1668003139 Ricki 4
She spends her time with minimal contact with both while she "figures out" her life. Never thought a Plum book would get here but it was fun. Meanwhile, she's still chasing FTA's -some are fun, one is not. There's Robin Hoodie (steals from the rich, gives to the homeless, posts it on youtube). There's Jug who has a high bounty and he is constantly being taken from her grasp. Then there's vampire Zoran who may be a killer. Lastly there's nerdy stalker Herbert.

No cars are on fire/bombed etc in this one but it's still fun. ]]> 4.05 2024
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:
Wow, never expected this, Stephanie's engaged -problem is it's to both Morelli & Ranger and neither knows about it.

She spends her time with minimal contact with both while she "figures out" her life. Never thought a Plum book would get here but it was fun. Meanwhile, she's still chasing FTA's -some are fun, one is not. There's Robin Hoodie (steals from the rich, gives to the homeless, posts it on youtube). There's Jug who has a high bounty and he is constantly being taken from her grasp. Then there's vampire Zoran who may be a killer. Lastly there's nerdy stalker Herbert.

No cars are on fire/bombed etc in this one but it's still fun.
]]> 205098968 A master manipulator accused of murder. An attorney sworn to defend her. Keera Duggan returns in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court—she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.

Three years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief medical scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.

As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.]]> 365 Robert Dugoni 1662500238 Ricki 3
She's told her client Jenna that if she lies, Keera is done. Nothing from Jenna's mouth is to be believed but Keera develops a defense and gets unexpected results. Jenna may or may not be guilty of murder but she is definitely guilty of fraud so whatever happens, she will do time.

It's a bit long and the beginning drags but ok. A generous 3.5.]]> 4.38 2024
author: Robert Dugoni
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves:
review:
Keera Duggan is roped into defending a childhood "frenemy" . Someone she's known to be a liar since childhood and never to be believed. Her alcoholic father agreed to defend her after having gotten her off from murder a few years ago and Keera is obligated to help him with now defending Jenna in a second murder charge. Early in the book, he relapses, goes to rehab and Keera is on her own.

She's told her client Jenna that if she lies, Keera is done. Nothing from Jenna's mouth is to be believed but Keera develops a defense and gets unexpected results. Jenna may or may not be guilty of murder but she is definitely guilty of fraud so whatever happens, she will do time.

It's a bit long and the beginning drags but ok. A generous 3.5.
]]> 209456063 The thirty-second instalment in James Patterson's globally bestselling Alex Cross series. It’s time to put the guns down, Detective Cross. Even if you knew the way out of this place, we would catch you.

A serial killer is taking out America’s finest legal minds, and Alex Cross is called to investigate their brutal murders. But during a dangerous mission to track down the killer, his wife, Bree, and best friend, John Sampson, go missing. To save the people he loves most, Cross has only three goals:
Number one: Find Bree and John.
Number two: Escape.
Number three: Survive.

If he fails, there will be no one left in the House of Cross.]]> 416 James Patterson 0316402680 Ricki 4
Bree (Alex's wife) and Sampson are on the hunt for info into the mysterious M and may finally have something. M has been a malevolent presence in Alex's life for more than half of the series books-is there finally going to be a resolution to this mystery?

Alex & Ned are all over the country hunting the killer of the judges while Bree and Sampson are hunting M and they turn out to be linked.

The killer of the judges is found but is M/Maestro finally caught- it seemed like a loose end to me.]]> 4.14 2024
author: James Patterson
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:
A van is being chased in the snowy mountains and prior to the crash the driver tries to contact Alex Cross. Meanwhile, Alex and FBI Agent Mahoney are looking for the killer/s of prominent judges who turn out to be on the short list for the Supreme Court by the new president elect.

Bree (Alex's wife) and Sampson are on the hunt for info into the mysterious M and may finally have something. M has been a malevolent presence in Alex's life for more than half of the series books-is there finally going to be a resolution to this mystery?

Alex & Ned are all over the country hunting the killer of the judges while Bree and Sampson are hunting M and they turn out to be linked.

The killer of the judges is found but is M/Maestro finally caught- it seemed like a loose end to me.
]]> 60232381
Oh, but it does. For the cranky private investigator with the bum knee, it can always get worse.

When the cops collar one of the people closest to Gage for murder, the desperate hours ahead become a frantic push to right a presumed injustice. Add in a daughter’s secret life, a bad boy Hollywood star, and a troubled new police chief with something to prove, and the night doesn't just get worse. It forces a quickly unraveling Gage to choose between cold, uncomfortable truths—about himself, about someone he loves—and shallow but comforting deceptions.]]> 320 Scott William Carter Ricki 3
He arrives late to the party, and his daughter bursts in covered in blood and holding his gun. This leads him down the investigative trail to prove her innocence. He's grumpier than ever, still gimping on his bum knee and has a new Chief of Police to contend with. It seems awfully soon after have just broken up with Rita (last book) for him to be interested in someone new- but it's obvious that's the road the next book will be on.

About a 3.25.]]> 4.32 2022
author: Scott William Carter
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
Gage is walking to his "surprise" birthday party after having stopped at the tavern near his house to meet the unlikeable movie star portraying him in a series about his life. He's stopped by the local police for a misdemeanor he supposedly committed in the parking lot of the bar and tries to explain but no one believes him.

He arrives late to the party, and his daughter bursts in covered in blood and holding his gun. This leads him down the investigative trail to prove her innocence. He's grumpier than ever, still gimping on his bum knee and has a new Chief of Police to contend with. It seems awfully soon after have just broken up with Rita (last book) for him to be interested in someone new- but it's obvious that's the road the next book will be on.

About a 3.25.
]]> 209635583 249 James H. Lewis Ricki 2
At the new town, she is starting as an unknown, her every move questioned, given minor cases but is sent to a scene of a naked dead body found in the snow which turns out to be a murder. She is again involved with another cop from her old station so she hasn't learned her lesson.

There are twists and the killer is not who you think. It's an average mystery with oh so many typos!
]]> 4.00
author: James H. Lewis
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
A hoopla police procedural. Det Lydia Barnwell, having solved a few difficult murder cases has transferred to a neighboring town & station after her love interest was killed. This was her way to get away from having had a relationship with a fellow officer.

At the new town, she is starting as an unknown, her every move questioned, given minor cases but is sent to a scene of a naked dead body found in the snow which turns out to be a murder. She is again involved with another cop from her old station so she hasn't learned her lesson.

There are twists and the killer is not who you think. It's an average mystery with oh so many typos!

]]> 203579065 A new standalone legal thriller from the international bestselling author of GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

Charlie Webb is a third-rate lawyer who graduated from a third law school and, because he couldn’t get hired by any of the major law firms, has opened his own law firm, where he gets by handling cases for dubious associates from his youth and some court-appointed cases.

Described as “a leaky boat floating down the stream of life,� Charlie has led an unremarkable life, personally and professionally. Until he’s appointed to be the attorney for a decidedly crackpot artist who calls himself Guido Sabatini (born Lawrence Weiss). Sabatini has been arrested � again � for breaking into a restaurant and stealing back a painting he sold them because he was insulted by where it was displayed. But as Lawrence Weiss, he’s also an accomplished card shark and burglar and while he was there, he stole a thumb drive from the owner’s safe. Not knowing what else Sabatini has stolen, Webb negotiates the return of the painting and 'other items� for the owner dropping charges against Sabatini. But the contents of the flash drive threatens very powerful figures who are determined to retrieve it, the restaurant owner (Gretchen Hall) and her driver (Yuri Makarov) are being investigated for the sex trafficking of minors, and there are others who have a violent grudge against Sabatini. When a minor theft case becomes a double homicide, and even more, Charlie Webb, an insignificant lawyer assigned to an insignificant case, is faced with the most important, and deadliest, case of his life. Going back to his long-time bestselling roots,

Phillip Margolin returns with a brilliant standalone legal thriller in the tradition of John Grisham.]]> 304 Phillip Margolin 1250885825 Ricki 3
Charlie Webb is an ok, not great lawyer when his is summoned by the court to defend Guido Sabatini (formerly Lawrence Weiss) who believes he's reincarnated from Michaelangelo's time during the Renaissance and was trained by him. His art is good, but he's a bit eccentric. Dresses in a white caftan, sandals, long hair etc and when is art goes unappreciated, or not properly displayed, he steals it back which gets him arrested and then the target of powerful people who are after a flash drive he also took.

Charlie defends Guido, gets him off and then different groups target him for the flash drive. There are a few murders for which he is then arrested and Charlie must prove Guido's innocence.

Charlie is described as a nerd but when we get a better description, it's not often a nerd is 200+ pounds and built with two women interested in him!

At least a 3.75.]]> 3.55 2024
author: Phillip Margolin
name: Ricki
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
A 3.25- 3.5 for me. It's a stand alone book (I still miss the Amanda Jaffe series).

Charlie Webb is an ok, not great lawyer when his is summoned by the court to defend Guido Sabatini (formerly Lawrence Weiss) who believes he's reincarnated from Michaelangelo's time during the Renaissance and was trained by him. His art is good, but he's a bit eccentric. Dresses in a white caftan, sandals, long hair etc and when is art goes unappreciated, or not properly displayed, he steals it back which gets him arrested and then the target of powerful people who are after a flash drive he also took.

Charlie defends Guido, gets him off and then different groups target him for the flash drive. There are a few murders for which he is then arrested and Charlie must prove Guido's innocence.

Charlie is described as a nerd but when we get a better description, it's not often a nerd is 200+ pounds and built with two women interested in him!

At least a 3.75.
]]> 54399442 Henry Walsh is back to solve a puzzling mystery in Fernandina Beach when a lifelong friend confesses to a murder...He refuses to believe Charlie Senecal is a killer. But the circumstances surrounding the crime raise far too many questions.And if the man Henry’s known since the third grade is innocent, then why would he confess to a murder he didn’t commit?It just doesn’t add up.But Henry knows Charlie hasn’t been himself since he lost his job as police chief. And with his wife now gone, his state-of-mind has to be questioned...Henry’s instincts take over as he ignores the facts others choose to accept. But his way of thinking could lead him into trouble, as he heads north of the border looking for answers.It’s clear the cops aren’t the only ones who want Henry out of their way. Just as he starts to make headway, he’s thrown into a dangerous situation. But he’s made a promise to his friend, and knows it’s more than just his own life that’s at risk...]]> 264 Gregory Payette 1734974915 Ricki 3
As Henry looks for Barbara, Charlie has confesse to and been arrested for murder of Kaplan, the man on the porch. Henry is adamant Charlie isn't guilty but maybe he's protecting Barbara. The twists/turns in the book leads Henry to investigate the victim and his contacts which leads him to be run down, abducted, beaten etc, all in an attempt to get him to stop investigating.

Henry & partner Alex find Barbara who then disappears again. It's a bit convoluted but the real culprit was a surprise.]]> 4.39
author: Gregory Payette
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
Another quick Henry Walsh read. This time, his friend Charlie (ex Chief of Police) comes and says his wife Barbara has left him and he's unable to contact her. Will Henry help find her? They head to Charlie's house where Henry finds a dead smiling man on the back porch. How did Charlie miss that?

As Henry looks for Barbara, Charlie has confesse to and been arrested for murder of Kaplan, the man on the porch. Henry is adamant Charlie isn't guilty but maybe he's protecting Barbara. The twists/turns in the book leads Henry to investigate the victim and his contacts which leads him to be run down, abducted, beaten etc, all in an attempt to get him to stop investigating.

Henry & partner Alex find Barbara who then disappears again. It's a bit convoluted but the real culprit was a surprise.
]]> 54402057 In his most thrilling mystery yet, private investigator Henry Walsh dodges bullets, bombs, and married women to help find a friend’s missing fiancé� Just as he’s about to begin the search, an explosion rocks the marina where his friend was staying. When divers from the Sheriff’s Office come up out of the water empty handed, Henry can only fear the worst.But he keeps his promise, and leaves no stone unturned as he continues his search for his friend’s fiancé. And as he hunts for those responsible, it’s Henry who soon becomes the hunted.The target on his back only grows, and he must fight to keep those around him out of harm’s way.His normally hard-shelled partner Alex is worried they’re in way over their heads. She pleads with him to leave it in the hands of the Sheriff’s Office.But walking away was never Henry’s thing. And he knows once he has all the pieces, he’ll have no problem making them fit.As long as he can stay alive...When Henry finally discovers the one thing everyone’s been after, getting it is his only option.Apparently, it’s a treasure worth killing for…]]> 290 Gregory Payette 1733866256 Ricki 2
PI, Henry Walsh lives on Peter's (a friend sort of) boat in the marina. Peter has asked him to vacate so and his fiancee can stay aboard. Now living above a bar at another friends place, he gets a call that the fiancee has been kidnapped. No sooner does he get to the boat, it explodes. His friend is missing, presumed dead but Henry keeps his promise and starts the hunt for the fiancee.

There are shootings, more bombs as he and his partner Alex go looking and find the reason for it all is a missing crystal penguin that everyone wants. The explanation of the statues value is a bit weird but Henry and Alex follow all leads to get answers.]]> 4.26
author: Gregory Payette
name: Ricki
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
My rating about 2.5-2.75. Just came across this series on hoopla and will use as a filler between more of my favorites.

PI, Henry Walsh lives on Peter's (a friend sort of) boat in the marina. Peter has asked him to vacate so and his fiancee can stay aboard. Now living above a bar at another friends place, he gets a call that the fiancee has been kidnapped. No sooner does he get to the boat, it explodes. His friend is missing, presumed dead but Henry keeps his promise and starts the hunt for the fiancee.

There are shootings, more bombs as he and his partner Alex go looking and find the reason for it all is a missing crystal penguin that everyone wants. The explanation of the statues value is a bit weird but Henry and Alex follow all leads to get answers.
]]>