Month: March 2022

The Wayward Assassin by Susan Ouellette

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Wayward Assassin by Susan Ouellette was an exciting book.  The author did a great job of making me want to read this book.  There was just the right amount of suspense that made me want to read this book until I had finished it.  I could tell that the author knew what she was writing about, which made the book even more enjoyable.  This is the second book in the series, and this is the first one that I have read.  You don’t have to read the first book to understand this book, but if you want to know the back story, I would recommend reading that one first.  I will probably go back and read that one when I have some time in the future.  I loved that I could see what happens in this book happening in the real world. I fell in love with Maggie right from the start, and I couldn’t want to see what was going to happen next and how she was going to solve everything.  This book did keep me guessing as I was reading, and I loved that about this book as well.  If you love spy thrillers, I think you will love this book.

About The Book

Genre: Thriller
Published by: CamCat Books
Publication Date: March 15, 2022
Number of Pages: 416
ISBN: 0744304784 (ISBN13: 9780744304787)
Series: The Wayward Series, Book 2 || Each is a Stand Alone Book

Revenge knows no deadline.

Although told to stand down now that the Chechen rebel who killed her fiancé is dead, CIA analyst Maggie Jenkins believes otherwise and goes rogue to track down the assassin. Soon it becomes clear that failure to find Zara will have repercussions far beyond the personal, as Maggie uncovers plans for a horrific attack on innocent Americans. Zara is the new face of terrorism–someone who doesn’t fit the profile, who can slip undetected from attack to attack, and who’s intent on pursuing a personal vendetta at any cost.

Chasing Zara from Russia to the war-torn streets of Chechnya, to London, and finally, to the suburbs of Washington, D. C., Maggie risks her life to stop a deadly plot.

Praise for The Wayward Assassin:

“Ouellette, herself a former intelligence analyst for the CIA, imbues the exciting action with authenticity. Readers will want to see more of the wily Maggie . . .”
—Publishers Weekly

“Every once in a decade you read a book like The Wayward Spy, which is thrilling, addictive, and sends you reading more thrillers, but you’ll go back to this stunning book by Susan Ouellette and reread this tour de force.”
—The Strand Magazine, a Top 12 Book of the Year

About The Author

Susan Ouellette is the author of The Wayward Spy, a thriller that Publishers Weekly calls a “gripping debut and series launch.” She was born and raised in the suburbs of Boston, where she studied international relations and Russian as both an undergraduate and graduate student. As the Soviet Union teetered on the edge of collapse, she worked as a CIA intelligence analyst. Subsequently, Susan worked on Capitol Hill as a professional staff member for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Since her stint on Capitol Hill, she has worked for several federal consulting firms. Susan lives on a farm outside of Washington, D.C. with her family.

Catch Up With Susan Ouellette:
http://www.SusanOuellette.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @susanobooks1
Instagram – @susanobooks
Twitter – @smobooks
Facebook – @SusanOuelletteAuthor

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They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark

 

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

They Called Him Marvin by Roger Stark was a great book.  I am a massive fan of books like this because I am interested in what happened during WWII.  I love when I find a new book that talks about what the person in the story went through.  I am a huge fan of true stories because I feel like I can relate to what the people went through.  This book did make me think more about what is currently happening in the world because I believe we can see where this might end up if we look at what happened in WWII.  I loved that the author included actual letters that were written because they made the characters come to life.  You can learn so much about a person by what they write, and it made me understand their feelings and why they did the things they did.  The author did a great job of giving you all the facts but not overdoing things with too many details.  I can not say enough good things about this book.  It is one that I am going to keep in my collections of books because I know I will go back and reread it in the future.  If you love WWII, I would pick up this book because I am sure you will love it just as much as I do.

About The Book

​Book Title:  They Called Him Marvin, A History of Love, War and Family by Roger Stark
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+), 333 pages
Genre: Historical Romance, WW2 history, True Love Story
Publisher: Silver Star Publishing
Release Date: September 2021
Content Rating:  PG-13: No sex scenes, six mild profanities, depictions of war scenes.

They were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love, desperate to be a family, but a war and a B29 got in their way.

Three hundred ten days before Pearl Harbor, buck private Dean Sherman innocently went to church with a new friend in Salt Lake City. From that moment, the unsuspecting soldier travelled a remarkable, heroic path, falling in love, graduating from demanding training to become a B29 pilot, conceiving a son and entering the China, Burma and India theater of the WW2.

He chronicled his story with letters home to his bride Connie that he met on that fateful Sunday, blind to the fact that fifteen hundred seventy five days after their meeting, a Japanese swordsman would end his life.

His crew, a gaggle of Corporals that dubbed themselves the Corporalies, four officers and a tech Sargent, adventured their way across the globe. Flying the “Aluminum Trail” also called the Hump through the Himalayas, site of the most dangerous flying in the world. Landing in China to refuel and then fly on to to places like Manchuria, Rangoon or even the most southern parts of Japan to drop 500 pounders.

Each mission had it’s challenges, minus fifty degree weather in Mukden, or Japanese fighters firing away at them, a close encounter of the wrong kind, nearly missing a collision with another B29 while flying in clouds, seeing friends downed and lost because of “mechanicals,” the constant threat of running out of fuel and their greatest fear, engine fire.

Transferred to the Mariana Islands, he and his crew were shot down over Nagoya, Japan as part of Mission 174, captured and declared war criminals.
​
Connie’s letters reveal life for a brand new mother whose husband is declared MIA. The agony for both of them, he in a Japanese prison, declared a war criminal, and she just not knowing why his letters stopped coming.

About The Author

I am, by my own admission, a reluctant writer. But there are stories that demand to to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest we forget and the stories be lost. Six years ago, in a quiet conversation with my friend Marvin, I learned the tragic story of his father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan just months before the end of the war. The telling of the story that evening by this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled me to ask if I could write the story. The result being They Called Him Marvin.

My life has been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of documenting this sacred story. I pray that we never forget, as a people, the depth of sacrifice that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and his father and mother on our behalf.

connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodread ~ bookbub

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Forgive Us Our Trespasses by Tom Avitabile

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses by Tom Avitabile was one of those books that kept me up late because I didn’t want to put it down.  The plot of this book made me wonder if something like this could ever happen in the real world.  I would love to think that it would never really happen, but after everything that is going on right now, I wouldn’t rule anything out.  The author did a great job of making the book come to life as I was reading it.  This book had just enough suspense that I didn’t want to put it down but not so much that I didn’t want to read it.  Just when I thought things figured out, something would happen, and I would have to start all over to try and figure out what was happening.  If you love fast-moving books with unique plots, I am sure you will enjoy this book.

About The Book

Genre: Thriller
Published by: The Story Plant
Publication Date: February 22, 2022
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 9781611883220
Series: A Brooke Burrell Thriller || Each is a Stand Alone Novel

The bruise on the young goalie’s cheek got girls high school soccer coach Brooke Burrell’s attention. Brooke tries to keep her advantage as the most decorated woman agent ever in government service at bay while dealing with the suspected abusive father – although she’d love to punch his lights out. Her digging reveals the reason for his abusiveness and it connects to a massive international terrorist attack.

When the father is found dead, Brooke is accused of the murder. Suddenly, she is forced to defend herself in court, and in the court of public opinion – while trying to stop the insidious plot to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people across the globe in one terrifying instant and bring the western world to its knees.

Filled with the nonstop thrills, all-too-real scenarios, and remarkable attention to detail that has made Tom Avitabile a consistent #1 bestseller, Forgive Us Our Trespasses is edge-of-your-seat storytelling of the first order.

About The Author

Tom Avitabile is a writer, director, and producer with numerous film and television credits, a professional musician, and an amateur woodworker. He has an extensive background in engineering and computers, including work on projects for the House Committee on Science and Technology. His novel The Devil’s Quota became a Barnes and Noble #1 bestseller, as did The Eighth Day, the first installment of his Bill Hiccock “thrillogy” that includes the novels The Hammer of God and The God Particle, and the first Brooke Burrell novel, Give Us This Day.

Catch Up With Tom Avitabile:
TomAvitabile.wordpress.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @fictiontillithappens
Instagram – @tomavitabile
Twitter – @TomAvitabile
Facebook – @tomavitabile

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Gambling With Murder by Lida Sideris

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Partners In Crime Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Gambling With Murder by Lida Sideris was a super easy read.  I was able to read this book from start to finish in about a day.  I loved that this book wasn’t super intense because I used it as my escape from all of the crazy going on in the world.  I love that there wasn’t a ton of suspense because I haven’t wanted to read super intense books lately.  The author did a great job of making me fall in love with the characters and the setting of this book right from the start.  I know that I will be going back and reading other books by her in the future because I enjoyed this book so much.  I loved that the author used experiences that she went through in her books because that makes the plot even more realistic.  If you are looking for your next book, I would pick up this book because I am sure you will love it like I do.

About The Book

Genre: Mystery (soft-boiled)
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: March 29, 2022
Number of Pages: 280
ISBN: 978-1-68512-086-3
Series: The Southern California Mystery series, #5 || Each is a stand alone work

A late-night call is all it takes for rookie lawyer Corrie Locke to kiss her day job at the movie studio goodbye, and do what she does best: flex her sweet P.I. skills and go undercover to find a senior who’s missing from a posh retirement community. One small stumbling block: skirting past security to gain inside access to the exclusive Villa Sunset. Time to call in the heavy artillery. Besides former security guard turned legal assistant—now wannabe P.I. –Veera, Corrie relies on a secret weapon: her mother, a surprisingly eager addition to Corrie’s team. Armed with enough attitude and pepper spray to take down a band of Navy Seals, Mom impersonates a senior to infiltrate the Villa, Corrie and Veera in tow. Turns out the job’s not as easy as they’d thought. These seniors have tricks tucked up their sleeves and aren’t afraid of using them.

The action gets dicey as the missing senior case turns into attempted murder by a criminal mind who’s always one step ahead. Corrie’s hot on the trail, but finds more than she bargained for…especially when her mother becomes a target.

About The Author

Lida Sideris’ first stint after law school was a newbie lawyer’s dream: working as an entertainment attorney for a movie studio…kind of like her heroine, Corrie Locke, except without the homicides. Lida was one of two national winners of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America Scholarship Award and a Silver Falchion Award Finalist. She lives in the northern tip of Southern California with her family, rescue dogs and a flock of uppity chickens.

To learn more about Lida, please visit:
http://www.LidaSideris.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @LidaSideris
Instagram – @lida_sideris
Twitter – @LidaSideris
Facebook – @lidasideris

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2022 Margaret Margaret