Book Review: The Runaway by Nick Petrie @_NickPetrie_ @PutnamBooks

The Runaway
A Peter Ash Novel #7
Nick Petrie
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, January 2022
ISBN 978-0-525-53550-8
Hardcover

In this the seventh book in Nick Petrie’s Peter Ash series, the hero finds himself in a heap of trouble, all because he’s a nice guy. When Peter spots a pregnant young woman whose car has broken down on a quiet gravel road in the wilds of Nebraska, he stops to offer assistance, having no idea the size of the bear he’s unknowingly about to poke.

When the story first opens we meet Helene, who lives in a small rural community of Coldwater, Montana a place she hates, and where she is struggling to cope with the recent death of her mother in a car accident. She’s 18, alone in the world now, working at a dead end job in a gas station/store. She longs for something different but what? Then two guys travelling through pull in for gas, and she makes a choice that changes her life.

The story moves seamlessly between the past and the events that bring Helene to the present. And in a matter of minutes Peter and Helene are suddenly fleeing for their lives as another vehicle races towards them. Helene isn’t sure if she can trust Peter but she announces that the guys in the truck are friends of her ex-cop husband, who is possessive and controlling, and will do anything to stop her from leaving him.

As they race away Peter tries to find out more from Helene but she’s reluctant to confide in him. However, they don’t get far. Ahead are reinforcements, as another truck is parked across the road. They’ve driven straight into a trap. Peter quickly reassess the situation and with bullets flying he has to make a quick decision.

To say more would spoil this very dramatic and highly exciting tale which I read in one sitting. Peter’s ultimate goal is to save this young woman and her unborn child, but the odds are decidedly stacked against him. But our hero is both resourceful and highly motivated, especially when it comes to helping people. Walking away or giving up is simply not an option. And in truth he loves the challenge.

The action is non-stop and escalates into an all out war with Peter being outnumbered as Helene’s ex-cop husband and his murderous side-kicks up the ante.

If, like me, you’ve read this author’s previous novels, you’ll know Peter Ash never gives up; that he’ll never stop in his quest to save Helene. Trouble seems to find him but he wouldn’t have it that way. I read somewhere that the author was having trouble coming up with a new plot for his character…so he went for a long drive. The Runaway is the result.

Check it out…I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!!!

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, February 2022.

Book Review: Billy Summers by Stephen King @StephenKing @ScribnerBooks

Billy Summers
Stephen King
Scribner, August 2021
ISBN 978-1-9821-7361-6
Hardcover

I’ve been a Stephen King fan for a long time but over the past few years I’ve drifted away from reading his work. I’m not too sure if it was simply because I wasn’t altogether fond of his darker novels.  I used to say I’d rather read the scary stuff than watch it in a movie or television series, but I’ve found I’m not enjoying reading anything too dark with too much graphic scenes of murder and mayhem.

With a title like Billy Summers  (everyone knows a guy named Billy who can generally be a friendly helpful individual and of course Summers gives the impression of a warm, lazy, easy-going guy who is well-liked).  And after reading a few positive reviews and comments regarding King’s latest offering, I became intrigued and decided to check it out.  I’m so glad I did.

Billy Summers is an intriguing character. He’s a hired killer and has been for a number of years.  He’s also a decorated Iraq war vet and one of the best snipers in the world. So says the inside flap on the hardcover.  He has one rule, however, when it comes to a proposed victim, he must be a truly bad guy. Billy has been paid well for his skill and for the fact that he manages to successfully slip away unnoticed from these ‘jobs’.

Getting on in years Billy has plans to retire, but after much thought he accepts this latest and, as far as he’s concerned, last job.  There is much planning and possibly weeks of waiting.  Billy moves to an apartment while he waits for final instructions re the ‘job’ and spends his time reading, a favourite pastime. Told to keep a low profile he soon gets bored, and decides to pass the time writing his own life story, but changing his name.

So there are two stories now running parallel.  Slowly but surely you grow to like and even admire this man, learning how his early life played out and influenced the choices he made, adding a depth of understanding to just how he became a hired killer.

But Billy is also a careful, thoughtful, and smart guy who begins to doubt the motives and plans of the men who have hired him.  Billy has tended over the years to cultivate the impression he is a quiet guy and one who is a little simple-minded. And as an added precaution, decides to make plans of his own, a backup, for when the job is done.

And there’s more! Much more!  And  if you want to find out how Billy fares, my advice is to grab a copy and read Billy Summers, one of King‘s best novels to date….

Trust me you won’t regret it…

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, January 2022.

Book Review: The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly @Connellybooks @littlebrown

The Dark Hours
A Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel #4
Michael Connelly
Little Brown and Company, November 2021
ISBN 978-0-316-48564-7
Hard Cover

Ballard and Bosch are back in another great read.  Connelly just gets better and better.

It’s New Year’s Eve and Ballard is working the graveyard shift when minutes after midnight, amid a noise of fireworks and gun shots fired into the air, she is called to the scene of a fatality.  A young auto-shop owner has been hit by a stray bullet at a street party.

On closer inspection Ballard isn’t totally convinced the shooting is accidental, and due to the busy night along with numerous calls to police she decides to investigate the incident, quickly learning through ballistics that there is a connection to another shooting, an unsolved homicide worked by Detective Bosch.

Ballard calls Bosch and they meet to talk about the murders trying to figure out a connection.  While she knows she will have to hand over the info she has gathered from the recent murder to another detective team, she hopes in the meantime with Bosch’s help they can uncover a clue that will lead them to the perpetrator.

Because of the trust she has for Bosch she tells him about the other case she’s working on with Detective Moore of the Sexual Assault Unit, a case involving a couple of serial rapists, dubbed The Midnight Men, who are targeting and terrorizing young women living alone. Her painstaking work questioning the victims and following every road of inquiry, she’s sure she’s on the right track. But when Detective Moore decides to take some time off, leaving Ballard to her own devices Bosch cautions her to be careful, worried that The Midnight Men appear to be growing more aggressive and might graduate to murder.

Tension mounts in both plot lines and Ballard grows increasingly frustrated when she’s ordered to hand over the file on the death of the auto-shop owner.  Ballard and Bosch agree to continue working the murder discovering that the murders are indeed connected.

It’s a roller-coaster of a ride as Ballard still working alone on The Midnight Men case, comes up with a plan to apprehend the brutal rapists.

Hang on to your hats as Ballard, with a little help from Bosch, proves she’s up to the challenge.

Don’t miss this one…

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, December 2021.

Book Review: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman @richardosman @PamelaDormanBks

The Man Who Died Twice
A Thursday Murder Club Mystery #2
Richard Osman
Pamela Dorman Books, September 2021
ISBN 978-1-9848-8099-4
Hardcover

If you read The Thursday Murder Club and enjoyed it as much as I did, then you should definitely get your hands on The Man Who Died Twice, the second book in the series. It’s great to revisit Coopers Chase, the upscale retirement village, along with the those unforgettable characters Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim who live there.

Still on something of a high after solving the first Thursday Club Murder Mystery, the friends and neighbours are enjoying some peace and quiet. But not for long! When an old friend and colleague of Elizabeth’s appears asking for her help, fearful for his life after being accused of stealing diamonds worth millions, she is hard pressed to refuse.

It isn’t long before a body turns up and Elizabeth and her friends suddenly find themselves dealing with a murderer intent on recovering those precious diamonds no matter how many bodies fall by the wayside in the attempt. But Elizabeth hopes to prevent that from happening by finding the missing diamonds.

The Murder Club members also find themselves coming to Ibrahim’s rescue after he is knocked down and injured by some street kids who also steal his phone. Mixed in with that are a local drug dealer and several MI6 members who are also chasing the diamonds.

Elizabeth takes charge as only she can, but bodies do appear fairly regularly and she and her friends are soon tangled up with a number of unsavoury characters in a new and far reaching adventure.

Dabs of humour lighten this, at times dark, yet enjoyable tale and there’s also a bit of romance thrown in.

The Author has a winning combination here…. and I can hardly wait for the next Thursday Murder Club Mystery to appear.

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, October 2021.

Book Review: Truth or Dare by M.J. Arlidge @mjarlidge @orionbooks

Truth or Dare
A Helen Grace Thriller #10
M.J. Arlidge
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd., November 2021
An Hachette UK Company
ISBN 978-1-4091-8846-9
Trade Paperback  (CA)

Detective Inspector Helen Grace is back in another thrilling and hard to put down read. A rash of random crimes; an arson at the docks, a car jacking gone wrong, a murder in a park, all happening within days of each other are tying Inspector Grace and her team in knots. The powers that be are breathing down her neck, pushing for results, but little progress is being made.

Helen feels defensive and tries to reassure her bosses that her team are working hard…. but in truth she’s at a loss. On top of this Detective Sergeant Joseph Hudson, an officer with whom she had an affair when he first joined the team, seems to be determined to dole out some payback after she ends their relationship. He has been undermining and questioning her every move on her handling of the spate of puzzling crimes and intent on following an unsubstantiated lead of his own, ignoring her orders and creating tension within her team.

Helen has a strong feeling that the crimes are connected…in some bizarre way. But while acknowledging this as merely a hunch, and totally off the charts, she trusts her instincts.

Slowly but surely she starts to see a pattern emerging. However, Hudson goes behind her back to push his own investigation and suggests to the bosses that Helen is losing it and should be removed from the case.

Her confidence has taken a hit and her team continue to struggle, but it’s fascinating to watch as she deals with the ambitious and spiteful colleague intent on replacing her, while she also unearths solid facts to prove she is indeed on the right track.

The plot while rather bizarre is very believable with an ending that will leave you breathless! Yes, Detective Inspector Helen Grace is often unorthodox in her methods to uncover the truth… but she takes us on one heck of a ride.

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, September 2021.

Book Review: The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @panmacmillan @MinotaurBooks

The Heron’s Cry
The Two Rivers Series #2
Ann Cleeves
Macmillan, September 2021 (CA)
ISBN 978-1-5098-8967-9
Trade Paperback
Minotaur Books, September 2021 (US)
ISBN 978-1-250-20447-9
Hardcover

This is the second book in a new series by Ann Cleeves known for two popular series, both picked up for Television viewing; Vera with DI Vera Stanhope and Shetland with DI Jimmy Perez. This new series is set in North Devon in an area off Bideford Bay where DI Matthew Venn grew up and where the first book, The Long Call, is debuting on television.

In this novel Matthew and his team are called to crime scene at the home of a group of artists. Dr. Nigel Yeo has been murdered, the victim of a stabbing. His daughter Eve is one of the artists. She works with glass and was expecting her father that day to help her with her work but instead she finds his dead body stabbed with a shard of glass from one of her broken pieces.

Nigel Yeo is well known in the area and seems to be the most unlikely person to be a victim of such a horrible crime. Devastated by the discovery of her father and having lost her mother not that long ago she can think of no reason for someone to kill him. Eve is also a friend of Matthew’s husband Jonathan, who runs the local Community Center, and Matthew knows he’ll have to tread carefully in this investigation, sensitive to how it affects the close knit community.

Matthew and Detective Jen Rafferty set out to interview everyone Dr. Yeo has had contact with in the past few months. Dr. Yeo had recently retired and has taken on a few new challenges including looking into the suicide death of a young man with mental issues.

When another body is found, killed in the same way as Dr. Yeo, it would appear someone is trying to point the finger at his daughter, Eve. Matthew and his team are frustrated as they attempt to unravel the mystery surrounding these murders before more deaths occur. Who is lying? Who would gain from these deaths?

This second Matthew Venn mystery is complex and intriguing. The community where he lives with his husband is well known to the author and comes across as a character in and of itself.

Ann Cleeves writes an interesting and enjoyable tale here and with each book the reader becomes more involved with these characters and I for one look forward to another entry, hopefully not in the too distant future.

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, October 2021.

Book Review: The Pact by Sharon Bolton @AuthorSJBolton @TrapezeBooks

The Pact
Sharon Bolton
Trapeze/Orion Publishing, May 2021
ISBN 978-1-4091-9831-4
Trade Paperback

Sharon Bolton’s latest is a terrific read.

Six friends are celebrating the end of term exams;  exams, the results of which, will set them on their individual paths to careers and futures.  Bored and a little inebriated they attempt the daredevil pursuit they’ve managed to pull off successfully a number of times throughout the year – driving the wrong way down a busy Motorway. The dare this time ends in a horrific accident.

Not aware of the full extent of the accident, Megan offers to take the blame, accepting the fact that it might well result in jail time. The others are quick to accept her offer and when Megan suggests they all sign a Pact stating they will grant a favour once she is released from prison, they readily agree.  But none of them, least of all Megan, anticipates the length of the sentence brought down by the judge.

The lives of the five friends proceed in expected ways, although none of them have either the courage or the decency to call or visit Megan in prison. When the time comes for her release, each of them grows anxious fearful of the price they will be asked to pay.  They meet to discuss what they might expect,  wondering if they should have tried harder to find the Pact they signed with the object of destroying it.

When Megan makes contact with them one by one, wanting to renew the friendships, she is hurt and angry at the reception she receives. It’s payback time, she tells them, but senses that her old friends are unwilling to fulfill the Pact they all signed.

It is interesting to watch the reactions of the friends as Megan deftly invites herself into their lives.  None of them are willing to welcome her back into the fold. She is an ex-con now and definitely not the kind of friend they would normally cultivate.  Tension mounts as she pushes harder to get what she feels is owed to her.

When one of the five is murdered it appears obvious to the other four Megan has crossed the line and is out for revenge.

The author raises the stakes as the remaining four fear for their lives.  As a result I found it difficult to put the book down until I reached the unexpected but thrilling conclusion.

The Pact is a must read….

Check it out.  You won’t be disappointed.

Respectfully submitted.

Reviewed by guest reviewer Moyra Tarling, September 2021.