The Ashes by Vincent Zandri

March 7, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book 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 Ashes by Vincent Zandri was different from anything that I have read lately. I read this book from cover to cover in two days because I didn’t want to put it down. Once I started reading it, I just kept on reading it because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I spent a good part of this book trying to figure out if “Skinner” was a real person or if he was some creature. I am not going to say what I found out because I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone. I enjoyed this book the entire time, and it is one that I know I will read again in the future. This is also the second book in the series, and I am for sure going to go back and read the first book because I am hooked. If you love horror books, I would for sure recommend this book to you because I am not usually into horror books and this one made me want to check out more books in this genre.

About The Book

HORROR IN THE DARK WOODS

It’s been eight years since artist and single mom, Rebecca Underhill, was abducted and left to die in an old broken down house located in the middle of the dark woods. But even if her abductor, Joseph William Whalen, has since been killed, another, more insidious evil is once more out to get her in the form of the Skinner. The son of an abusive butcher, Skinner, intends on finishing the job Whalen started but failed at.

How is he going to get to Rebecca?

He’s going to do it through her children, by luring them into the cornfield behind the old farmhouse they live in.

HORROR IN THE DEPTHS

Now, armed with the knowledge that the Skinner has escaped incarceration at a downstate facility for the criminally insane, Rebecca must face the most horrifying challenge of her adult life: Rescuing the children not from a house in the woods, but from the abandoned tunnels that run underneath her property.

But the Skinner is watching Rebecca’s every move.

Horrifying question is, will she live long enough to save the children?

About The Author

Winner of the 2015 PWA Shamus Award and the 2015 ITW Thriller Award for Best Original Paperback Novel, Vincent Zandri is the NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and AMAZON KINDLE No.1 bestselling author of more than 25 novels including THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT WEEPS, EVERYTHING BURNS, and ORCHARD GROVE. He is also the author of numerous Amazon bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL, TRUE STORIES and MOONLIGHT MAFIA among them. Harlan Coben has described THE INNOCENT (formerly As Catch Can) as “…gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting,” while the New York Post called it “Sensational…Masterful…Brilliant!” Zandri’s list of domestic publishers include Delacorte, Dell, Down & Out Books, Thomas & Mercer and Polis Books, while his foreign publisher is Meme Publishers of Milan and Paris. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri’s work is translated in the Dutch, Russian, French, Italian, and Japanese. Recently, Zandri was the subject of a major feature by the New York Times. He has also made appearances on Bloomberg TV and FOX news. In December 2014, Suspense Magazine named Zandri’s, THE SHROUD KEY, as one of the “Best Books of 2014.” Recently, Suspense Magazine selected WHEN SHADOWS COME as one of the “Best Books of 2016”. A freelance photo-journalist and the author of the popular “lit blog,” The Vincent Zandri Vox, Zandri has written for Living Ready Magazine, RT, New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, The Times Union (Albany), Game & Fish Magazine, and many more. He lives in New York and Florence, Italy.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

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Kill and Run by Lauren Carr

March 3, 2017

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.

Kill and Run by Lauren Carr was an interesting book. I know in a prior review that I wrote that I love how this author has created an entire world for her books where characters from different books show up and have parts in other books. I really like that because it means that you still get to see the characters that you have fallen in love with from her other books. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters better, and I can’t wait to get started with the next book in this series. I fell in love with Murphy right from the onset of this book, and when it was over, I was so glad that I already have the second book in the series waiting for me to read it. I find that even though her books can be repetitive I still enjoy them and I always get excited when I see that I can get one to review. If you love mystery books, I know you will love this book and even more than that she has a ton of books out, so you will have something to read for quite awhile.

About The Book

Five women with seemingly nothing in common are found brutally murdered in a townhome outside Washington, DC. Among the many questions surrounding the massacre is what had brought these apparent strangers together only to be killed.

Taking on his first official murder case, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, USN, believes that if he can uncover the thread connecting the victims, then he can find their murderer.

The case takes an unexpected turn when Murphy discovers that one of the victims has a connection to his stepmother, Homicide Detective Cameron Gates. One wintry night, over a dozen years before, her first husband, a Pennsylvania State trooper, had been run down while working a night shift on the turnpike.

In this first installment of the Thorny Rose Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime join newlyweds Lieutenant Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday to sift through a web of lies and cover-ups. Together, can the detectives of the Thorny Rose uncover the truth without falling victim to a cunning killer?

About The Author

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Connect with Lauren: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

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Audiobook Review – Don’t Say A Word by Jennifer Jaynes

February 15, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from eStories 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.

Don’t Say a Word by Jennifer Jaynes was a great book. Before I get into my review of this book, I want to tell you about where I got the book from. I was put in contact with someone from eStories about trying out their service and see how I liked it. It is pretty similar to Audible, so I don’t know that you need to subscribe to both of them if you are already subscribed to Audible. I did like that they had an app that I could use on my phone so that I wouldn’t have to pick worry about losing my spot. It was also super easy to download the book, so I could listen to it on my work computer if I wanted to.

Anyway, let’s get back on to my thoughts about this book. I really enjoyed this book right from the first page. This is one that I binged listened too, and I would have to force myself to turn it off so that I could try and sleep. I really enjoyed the narrator that was reading this story. I know I will be reading more books by this author and I am going to keep the narrator name around as well so that if I see that she has read other books, I will for sure check them out as well. This is one of my favorite books that I have read lately, and I can’t wait to see other books by this author in the future.

About The Book

Death has always stalked single mother, Allie Callahan. For the first time in her life, she has found a fragile sort of happiness living a quiet, peaceful existence in East Texas with her young son, Sammy, and her adoptive mother.

Still, Allie fears she may be susceptible to the same mental illness that destroyed her serial-killer mother and brother. She’s haunted by the idea that she could become incapable of caring for Sammy.

When twelve-year-old twins Zoe and Carrie arrive on her doorstep late one night, their parents were slain in a vicious double homicide, Allie’s strength and sanity are put to the test. What did the twins see on the night of their parents’ horrific murder? They are too frightened to say.

Soon faced with a series of menacing phone calls, a rising body count, and the pressure of keeping the girls and her own son safe, Allie fears she’ll lose her mind—and her one shot at happiness—once and for all.

About The Author

I’m a novelist, wife, and mommy to the most wonderful twin four-year-olds on the planet.

While earning my Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences at Old Dominion University and a certificate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I did a little bit of everything to pay the bills. I’ve been a gas station attendant, waitress, a dancing waitress, beer girl, shot girl, bartender, closing coordinator, executive assistant, medical assistant, EMT, content manager, webmaster, news publisher, editor, copywriter, weight loss coach and publishing consultant.

However, through it all, what I really wanted to be was a novelist.

It’s been a very long, and sometimes difficult road, but in 2011, I finally began living my dream with the release of my debut thriller, Never Smile at Strangers. To date, Never Smile at Strangers has earned a place on the USA Today Bestseller’s list, the #1 spot (across all categories) in the Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store, has graced the Top 5 in the mystery/suspense category in the Kindle Store multiple times, and has appeared in the Top 25 in the Kindle Store (across all categories).

In 2014, Thomas & Mercer acquired the rights to Never Smile at Strangers and re-released it January 2015. They also bought the rights to my second novel, Ugly Young Thing, and will release it March 2015.

I LOVE to connect with my readers. You can find me at http://www.ProjectJennifer.com, http://www.Facebook.com/NeverSmileatStrangers and http://www.Twitter.com/jenniferjaynes7.(less)

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Environmentally Friendly by Elias Zanbaka

February 14, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author 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.

Environmentally Friendly by Elias Zanbaka was a weird book, to say the least. It is a short story, so I was able to read in like thirty minutes which I liked, but I felt lost the entire time I was reading the story. The best way I can think of to describe how I felt was I felt like I walked into an action movie right at the end when everything is going nuts. I was so confused because I had no idea who was who or what was happening. I was just left feeling like I wanted more information. There are books that are short like this that it work but this one seemed like I was reading the end of the book so I had no context, and I was so confused throughout.

About The Book

Out of seven billion people, one man has declared war on Mother Nature and plans to bring it to its knees.

Out of all the criminals in Los Angeles, he’s the number one target being hunted by the LAPD tonight.

And out of the entire LAPD, one officer is hell-bent on helping him complete his mission.

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Grimm Woods by D. Melhoff

February 13, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead 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.

Grimm Woods by D. Melhoff was a great book. I liked this book right from the start of it which is always a good thing. I loved how the fairy tales were used throughout the book and how they made them relate to what was going on in the book. This is the first book in quite a while that kept me on the edge of my seat which I also love, and it can be hard for me to find books like that now that I have read so many books out there. I also so super interested in this book because I had no idea how fairy tales used to be so I also found that part of this book interesting as well. If you are looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat than I would for sure recommend this one to you.

About The Book

A remote summer camp becomes a lurid crime scene when the bodies of two teenagers are found in a bloody, real-life rendering of a classic Grimm’s fairy tale. Trapped in the wilderness, the remaining counselors must follow a trail of dark children’s fables in order to outwit a psychopath and save the dwindling survivors before falling prey to their own gruesome endings.

Drawing on the grisly, uncensored details of history’s most famous fairy tales, Grimm Woods is a heart-pounding thriller about a deranged killer who uses traditional children’s stories as tropes in elaborate murders. Set against the backdrop of modern-day Michigan, it’s a journey through the mind of a dangerous zealot and a shocking glimpse into the bedtime stories you thought you knew.

About The Author

D. Melhoff was born in a prairie ghost town that few people have heard of and even fewer have visited. While most of his stories are for adults, he also enjoys terrifying younger audiences from time to time, as seen in his series of twisted picture books for children. He credits King, Poe, Hitchcock, Harris, Stoker, and his second grade school teacher, Mrs. Lake, for turning him to horror. For more information, visit http://www.dmelhoff.com.

Connect with the author: Book Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

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The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt

February 7, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley 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 Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt was a hard book for me stay interested in. Once I was about halfway in I did want to finish the book but this is one of those books that took me longer to get through because I would always want to read other books instead of this one. I really was interested in this book because of the back cover, and that is why I didn’t give up on it even though it took me a few months to read the entire book. I did feel like the book was slow in some parts and in others parts it almost went too fast. If you enjoy mystery books than I would for sure tell you to check this book out and let me know what you think of it.

About The Book

From the author of Remember Mia comes the tale of a young woman in search of her past, and the mother who will do anything to keep it hidden…

What if you were the worst crime your mother ever committed?

Dahlia Waller’s childhood memories consist of stuffy cars, seedy motels, and a rootless existence traveling the country with her eccentric mother. Now grown, she desperately wants to distance herself from that life. Yet one thing is stopping her from moving forward: she has questions.

In order to understand her past, Dahlia must go back. Back to her mother in the stifling town of Aurora, Texas. Back into the past of a woman on the brink of madness. But after she discovers three grave-like mounds on a neighboring farm, she ll learn that in her mother s world of secrets, not all questions are meant to be answered…

About The Author

Born in Fulda, Germany, a baroque town in the East Hesse Highlands, I spent my childhood accompanying my two older brothers on local countryside adventures, roaming abandoned farm houses, ancient beech woods cratered by WW2 bombings, and sandstone towers rumored to have housed witches waiting to be burned at the stakes. A gluttonous reader long before online bookstores, grocery store crime novels, and large book chains cropped up in every city, I made do with a small town library in the city hall building. After I exhausted the children’s section, I moved on to crime fiction and serial killers.

While pursuing literary translations, I decided to tell my own stories. After three years of writing classes and gluttonous reading, my short fiction appeared in the Freedom Fiction Journal, All Things Girl, and MUSED Literary Review.

I currently live in Central Texas with my husband, my daughter, and two Chocolate Labrador Retrievers.

I am currently working on my third novel.