A TAP ON THE WINDOW by Linwood Barclay

Hailed as a "suspense master” by Stephen King, Linwood Barclay now reveals the dark side of a small town—and the even darker secrets that hide there...

It’s been two months since private investigator Cal Weaver’s teenage son Scott died in a tragic accident. Ever since, he and his wife have drifted apart, fracturing a once normal life. Cal is mired in grief, a grief he can’t move past. And maybe his grief has clouded his judgment. Because driving home one night, he makes his first big mistake.

A girl drenched in rain taps on his car window and asks for a ride as he sits at a stoplight. Even though he knows a fortysomething man picking up a teenage hitchhiker is a fool, he lets her in. She’s the same age as Scott, and maybe she can help Cal find the dealer who sold his son the drugs that killed him. After a brief stop at a roadside diner, Cal senses that something’s not right with the girl or the situation. But it’s too late. He’s already involved.

Now Cal is drawn into a nightmare of pain and suspicion. Something is horribly wrong in the small town of Griffon in upstate New York. There are too many secrets there, too many lies and cover-ups. And Cal has decided to expose those secrets one by one.

That’s his second big mistake.

My thoughts...

An entertaining book though not as thrilling as it sounds. There's lots of dead bodies and parts were predictable though there's enough mystery to keep you reading. I must say I found the ending a bit of a letdown. I was expecting more of a BOOM and got a pop.

The hitchhiker Cal picks up is a girl that knew his dead son, sounds harmless. Always follow your mothers good advice, never pick up a hitchhiker!

***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***

RIVERS by Michael Farris Smith

It had been raining for weeks. Maybe months. He had forgotten the last day that it hadn’t rained, when the storms gave way to the pale blue of the Gulf sky, when the birds flew and the clouds were white and sunshine glistened across the drenched land.

Following years of catastrophic hurricanes, the Gulf Coast—stretching from the Florida panhandle to the western Louisiana border—has been brought to its knees. The region is so punished and depleted that the government has drawn a new boundary ninety miles north of the coastline. Life below the Line offers no services, no electricity, and no resources, and those who stay behind live by their own rules.

Cohen is one who stayed. Unable to overcome the crushing loss of his wife and unborn child who were killed during an evacuation, he returned home to Mississippi to bury them on family land. Until now he hasn’t had the strength to leave them behind, even to save himself.

But after his home is ransacked and all of his carefully accumulated supplies stolen, Cohen is finally forced from his shelter. On the road north, he encounters a colony of survivors led by a fanatical, snake-handling preacher named Aggie who has dangerous visions of repopulating the barren region.

Realizing what’s in store for the women Aggie is holding against their will, Cohen is faced with a decision: continue to the Line alone, or try to shepherd the madman’s captives across the unforgiving land with the biggest hurricane yet bearing down—and Cohen harboring a secret that may pose the greatest threat of all.

Eerily prophetic in its depiction of a southern landscape ravaged by extreme weather, Rivers is a masterful tale of survival and redemption in a world where the next devastating storm is never far behind.

My thoughts...

"Rivers" is a bit of a spooky novel, lots of dark things happening. After ravaging hurricanes hit the southern coastline the damage is catastrophic and the government decides to remove them from the US. Residents can sell their property and move north or remain and make it any way they can. There are those that choose to stay for various reasons. Cohen has remained mostly due to memories of his deceased wife and daughter.

Due to the fact there is no law in the land things go drastically downhill, people are robbed of their supplies, human trafficking runs rampant. The rest you'll have to read for yourself. There's lots going on in the book and you will want to know what happens to everyone. The extreme weather patterns will also make you stop and think what if this really happened?

***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***

MORE BITTER THAN DEATH by Camilla Grebe

In the chilling follow-up to Some Kind of Peace, Siri Bergman returns to investigate a brutal murder case centered in the dark world of domestic abuse.It’s a rainy evening in a Stockholm suburb, and five-year-old Tilde is hiding under the kitchen table playing with her crayons, when a man enters and beats her mother to death in cold blood. Tilde can’t quite see the murderer, but she’s the only witness.

Across town, psychologist Siri Bergman and her friend Aina are meeting with their old friend Vijay, who wants them to host a self-help group for victims of domestic abuse. Over the course of several evenings, five very different women share their stories of impossible love, violence, and humiliation. At the same time, Siri finds herself at a crossroads—she’s carrying her boyfriend’s child, but is still beset by doubts and fears.

Swedish sisters Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff weave all these threads together so that the search for healing and the ability to love again are soon transformed into a hunt for Tilde’s mother’s killer. Everyone is a suspect: the many men in the victim’s life, her own son, even some of the women in the self-help group. Grebe and Träff combine the chills of first-rate crime novels with palpable emotion and personal experience (Träff is a real-life psychologist), as More Bitter Than Death builds to a shocking conclusion.

My thoughts...

This is a favorite of mine, it kept me guessing to the last page! I wasn't familiar with this author but wow, she knows how to write a mystery! Five year old Tilde watches as her mother is beaten to death though she can't see the face of the murderer. The therapist she sees also has a dark past.

There's a lot of focus on domestic abuse and it's very informative in that area. The author has done her research. If you enjoy a good mystery you'll enjoy this one! Well written, not as fast paced as I like them but it wasn't too slow either. An enjoyable read!

***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***

YESTERDAY'S ECHO by Matt Coyle

While never convicted of his wife’s murder, Rick was never exonerated either. Not by the police. Not by the media. Not even by himself. Eight years later, police suspicion and his own guilt remain over his responsibility in his wife’s death.

When he meets Melody Malana, a beautiful yet secretive TV reporter, he sees a chance to love again. When she is arrested for murder and asks Rick for help, the former cop says no, but the rest of him says yes and he grasps at a chance for love and redemption.

Rick’s attempt to help turns terribly wrong, and he, too, becomes a suspect in the murder and the target of a police manhunt. On the run, Rick encounters desperate people who will kill to keep their pasts buried.

Before Rick can save himself and bring down a murderer, he must confront the truth about his own past and untangle his feeling for a woman he can never fully trust.

My thoughts...

For a first novel this is a great book! Wonderfully written, fast paced, one of those you don't want to put down so you stay up late reading and find it hard to get up in the morning. I'm anxiously awaiting book two!

Rick Cahill was deemed guilty of his wife's muder by the media. The police also had him as their main suspect. Eight years later he is managing a restaurant and is interested in a relationship with a beautiful reporter. However, he's in for a big surprise!

Rick, once again, becomes a suspect in a murder. You'll have to read the book to find out whose.

"Yesterday'e Echo" is a powerful read! A thriller that you will take with you to read a few pages where ever you can!

***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***

THE BURN PALACE by Stephen Dobyns

The sleepy community of Brewster, Rhode Island, is just like any other small American town. It’s a place where most of the population will likely die blocks from where they were born; where gossip spreads like wildfire, and the big entertainment on weekends is the inevitable fight at the local bar.

But recently, something out of the ordinary—perhaps even supernatural—has been stirring in Brewster. While packs of coyotes gather on back roads and the news spreads that a baby has been stolen from Memorial Hospital (and replaced in its bassinet by a snake), a series of inexplicably violent acts begins to confound Detective Woody Potter and the local police—and inspire terror in the hearts and minds of the locals.

My thoughts...

A baby is missing from the maternity ward, a snake is left in the empty crib. If that isn't enough to make you want to read the book how about the mother believing her baby is a devil or a man found dead in his car and a teenager disappears, the shape the corpse is in when found is enough to make your skin crawl. Oh, I can't forget the wolves invading the town!

This a dark read, full of mysteries and weirdness. If you like Stephen King you'll probably like this novel. I give it 4 stars. ***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***

New Lands (The Chronicles of Egg, #2)

This highly anticipated sequel to Rodkey's much-praised debut is funny, heartfelt, and action-packed. Don't miss it!
After a narrow escape from Deadweather Island, Egg and his slightly deranged partner Guts head for the remote New Lands. They’re in search of the lost Okalu tribe, who hold the key to the mysterious treasure map that Egg can't decipher.
But the ruthless Roger Pembroke is hard on Egg's trail, and the New Lands are full of new enemies — against which our heroes only weapons are their brains, their courage...and the two dozen swear words Guts just memorized in the local tongue.
They're going to need help.
But who can they trust?
Is Kira, the beautiful and heavily armed Okalu refugee, their ally…or their enemy? Is Pembroke's daughter Millicent on Egg's side…or her father's? Why on earth is the notorious pirate Burn Healy being so nice to them? And the biggest question of all: what shocking secret is Egg about to discover in the shadow of an ancient Okalu temple?

My thoughts...

Sometimes I like to read books outside the genre I normally read, I know this type of book is highly popular. It wasn't a bad read at all, it just isn't my style. Part of the story were interesting and surprising, I can see why people enjoy this genre.

It's well written, challenging, and has a neat storyline. Would I read more in this series? Yes, I will.

***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***

Last Chance Book Club by Hope Ramsay

After a painful divorce, Savannah White wants nothing more than to find her happy place. So when she gets the chance to pack up her life -and her son - and move to the idyllic town where she spent childhood summers, she jumps at the opportunity. Last Chance is just as charming as she remembered. She's even invited to join the local book club, where talk soon turns to Savannah's plan to bring the ramshackle downtown movie theater back to life. A new challenge is just what Savannah needs to move forward.. . .

Dash Randall wants to put his fortune to good use, but he remembers Savannah as the bratty "princess" who descended upon him each June, causing no end of trouble. But the teenager he remembered has grown into a gorgeous and generous woman, and it isn't long before Dash finds himself wanting to make brand new memories with Savannah. But first, Dash and Savannah will need to make peace with their pasts to find a new chance for love.

My thoughts...

This is a book you don't want to down. A fun story with great characters that I enjoyed so much. Ramsey has written in a way that is easy to picture the whole scene! I liked what Savannah did to the town once she arrived, it was fun to read about and to see the romance between her and Dash.

I've got to read more of the Last Chance series, I'm afraid I'm hooked!

***I won this book on Goodreads as a first reads giveaway. This is my honest review.***