Thriller

Guest Post from Author Chrys Fey

~ Erika K ~ 3 Comments

30secondsbefore_w-11122_750Title: 30 Seconds Before

Prequel to 30 Seconds

Genre: Mainstream Thriller

Page Count: 60 (novella)

BLURB:

Blake Herro is a cop in the Cleveland Police Force. Ever since he was a child he wanted to do right by the city he loved by cleaning up the streets and protecting its citizens. Red, a notorious mobster, has other plans.

On a bitter December night, ten police officers are drawn into a trap and killed by Red’s followers. Blake wants to bring down the Mob to avenge his fallen brothers and to prevent other cops from being murdered. Except the only way he can do that is by infiltrating the Mob.

Every minute he’s with these mobsters he’s in danger. Around every corner lies the threat of coming face to face with a gun. Will he make it out of the Mob alive or will he be their next victim?

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Review and Giveaway (ENDED)- The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

The Beauty of the End“I was fourteen when I fell in love with a goddess. . .”

So begins the testimony of Noah Calaway, an ex-lawyer with a sideline in armchair criminal psychology. Now living an aimless life in an inherited cottage in the English countryside, Noah is haunted by the memory of the beguiling young woman who left him at the altar sixteen years earlier. Then one day he receives a troubling phone call. April, the woman he once loved, lies in a coma, the victim of an apparent overdose–and the lead suspect in a brutal murder. Deep in his bones, Noah believes that April is innocent. Then again, he also believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.

While Noah searches for evidence that will clear April’s name, a teenager named Ella begins to sift through the secrets of her own painful family history. The same age as April was when Noah first met her, Ella harbors a revelation that could be the key to solving the murder. As the two stories converge, there are shocking consequences when at last, the truth emerges.

Or so everyone believes. . .

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Review – The Lie by C.L. Taylor

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

The Lie I know your name’s not really Jane Hughes…

Jane Hughes has a loving partner, a job in an animal sanctuary and a tiny cottage in rural Wales. She’s happier than she’s ever been but her life is a lie. Jane Hughes does not really exist.

Five years earlier Jane and her then best friends went on holiday but what should have been the trip of a lifetime rapidly descended into a nightmare that claimed the lives of two of the women.

Jane has tried to put her past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed Jane and everything she loves.

 

 

Genre: Thriller
My Rating: **** (4 stars)

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Audiobook Review – Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Gideon Crew #4

Beyond the Ice Limit (Gideon Crew, #4)That thing is growing again. We must destroy it. The time to act is now…
With these words begins Gideon Crew’s latest, most dangerous, most high-stakes assignment yet. Failure will mean nothing short of the end of humankind on earth.
Five years ago, the mysterious and inscrutable head of Effective Engineering Solutions, Eli Glinn, led a mission to recover a gigantic meteorite–the largest ever discovered–from a remote island off the coast of South America. The mission ended in disaster when their ship, the Rolvaag, foundered in a vicious storm in the Antarctic waters and broke apart, sinking-along with its unique cargo-to the ocean floor. One hundred and eight crew members perished, and Eli Glinn was left paralyzed.

But this was not all. The tragedy revealed something truly terrifying: the meteorite they tried to retrieve was not, in fact, simply a rock. Instead, it was a complex organism from the deep reaches of space.

Now, that organism has implanted itself in the sea bed two miles below the surface-and it is growing. If it is not destroyed, the planet will be doomed. There is only one hope: for Glinn and his team to annihilate it, a task which requires Gideon’s expertise with nuclear weapons. But as Gideon and his colleagues soon discover, the “meteorite” has a mind of its own-and it has no intention of going quietly…

Narration – *** (3 stars)
Story – **** (4 stars)

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Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan – Excerpt and Giveaway (ENDED)

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

BOOK COVER For underworld enforcer Richard “Rico” Sanders, it seemed like an ordinary job. Retrieve his gangster boss’s priceless pigeon-blood red ruby necklace and teach the double-dealing cheat who stole it a lesson. A job like a hundred before it. But the chase quickly goes sideways and takes Rico from the mean streets of Chicago to sunny Honolulu, where the hardened hit man finds himself in uncharted territory when a couple of innocent bystanders are accidentally embroiled in the crime.

As Rico pursues his new targets, the hunter and his prey develop an unlikely respect for one another and Rico is faced with a momentous decision: follow his orders to kill the couple whose courage and character have won his admiration, or refuse and endanger the life of the woman he loves?

Pigeon-Blood Red is a fast-paced and suspenseful crime thriller by Ed Duncan. It was released in March 2016, published by Zharmae and is available for sale on Amazon.

Keep reading below for an excerpt and your chance to win a digital copy!

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House of the Hanging Jade by Amy M. Reade – Giveaway (ENDED)

~ Erika K ~ 3 Comments

house hanging jade large banner new640

House of the Hanging Jade A dark presence had invaded the Jorgensens’ house. On a spectacular bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, something evil is watching and waiting . . .

Tired of the cold winters in Washington, D.C. and disturbed by her increasingly obsessive boyfriend, Kailani Kanaka savors her move back to her native Big Island of Hawaii. She also finds a new job as personal chef for the Jorgensen family. The gentle caress of the Hawaiian trade winds, the soft sigh of the swaying palm trees, and the stunning blue waters of the Pacific lull her into a sense of calm at the House of Hanging Jade–an idyll that quickly fades as it becomes apparent that dark secrets lurk within her new home. Furtive whispers in the night, a terrifying shark attack, and the discovery of a dead body leave Kailani shaken and afraid. But it’s the unexpected appearance of her ex-boyfriend, tracking her every move and demanding she return to him, that has her fearing for her life . . .

House of the Hanging Jade is a suspenseful tale of murder and obsession, all taking place against a beautiful Hawaiian backdrop. Lush descriptions of both the scenery and the food prepared by the protagonist leave you wanting more. Fans of both gothic romance and mystery novels should enjoy this story.

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway (ENDED) to win an ebook copy for yourself.

About The Author
Amy M. Reade grew up in northern New York. After graduating from college and law school, she practiced law in New York City before moving to southern New Jersey, where she lives now with her husband, three children, dog, two cats, and a fish. She writes full time and is the author of Secrets of Hallstead House, a novel of romantic suspense set in the Thousand Islands region of New York, and The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, a novel in the same genre set outside Charleston, South Carolina. Her third novel, House of Hanging Jade, is set in Hawaii and will be released in April, 2016. She is currently working on the first book of a series set in the United Kingdom (expected release date in early 2017). She loves cooking, reading, and traveling.

website: www.amymreade.com
blog: www.amreade.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amreadeauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/readeandwrite
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/amreade
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/amyreade

Tour Participants

April 25 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
April 26 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW, GIVEAWAY
April 27 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY
April 28 – Musings and Ramblings – INTERVIEW
April 29 – Melina’s Book Blog –  REVIEW, GIVEAWAY
April 30 – dru’s book musings – GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY
May 1 – Cozy Up With Kathy – INTERVIEW
May 2 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT, GIVEAWAY
May 3 – Author Annette Drake’s blog – GUEST POST
May 4 – A Blue Million Books – INTERVIEW
May 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, GIVEAWAY
May 6 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST, GIVEAWAY
May 7 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW
May 8 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

NOTE: I was provided with a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Interview with Denison Hatch, Author of Flash Crash

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

 David Belov, a quant programmer working for an investment bank in New York, is blackmailed into writing an algorithm that will intentionally crash the gold market.

David discovers that his virtual “Flash Crash” was simply a required stepping stone towards the largest physical gold robbery in history, and that’s he’s been framed for the resulting chaos, the lives of his beloved wife and son on the balance . . .

With Detective Jake Rivett and the NYPD’s finest operators from the Major Crimes Division actively seeking to locate and arrest David, and other, darker elements nipping at his heels, David is forced to confront his own past in order to have a future. 

Flash Crash’s Amazon Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Crash-Rivett-Heist-Thriller-ebook/dp/B01CYVI68A/

Please join me in welcoming Denison Hatch to The Book’s the Thing. Denison is the author of the recently released thriller Flash Crash, and has taken the time to answer a few questions for us. Sounds like Denison and I have very similar tastes in literature, so I’m really looking forward to reading and reviewing his book!

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Girl on the Run by Daryl Wood Gerber – #WAYRW

~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

whatareyoureadingwed

What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s A Reading Thing. To participate, open the book you are currently reading to page 34 (or 34% in your ebook) and answer these three questions.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Now for my answers this week…

2. Girl on the Run by Daryl Wood Gerber
Girl on the Run

2. As Chessa lifted the items, her body trembled with grief. Zach. How could you? She pushed the painful thought from her mind, slipped inside the guest bathroom, and took her first full breath since the sheriff’s department had arrived.

3. It very much depends…I would not have a problem living in Lake Tahoe, but if i had to take off like Chessa, then no thank you! 🙂

So tell me, what are you reading this week? Let me know in the comments, and feel free to leave a link if you have a post to share.

 

New Release Review – Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon
Try Not to Breathe

Goodreads Description:

For fans of Lianne Moriarty, Paula Hawkins, and Tana French, an arresting debut novel of psychological suspense: a young journalist struggles to keep the demons of her alcoholism at bay as she finds her purpose again in tackling the mystery of a shocking headline-making crime, still unsolved after fifteen years.

Amy Stevenson was the biggest news story of 1995. Only fifteen years old, Amy disappeared walking home from school one day and was found in a coma three days later. Her attacker was never identified and her angelic face was plastered across every paper and nightly news segment.

Fifteen years later, Amy lies in the hospital, surrounded by 90’s Britpop posters, forgotten by the world until reporter Alex Dale stumbles across her while researching a routine story on vegetative patients.

Remembering Amy’s story like it was yesterday, she feels compelled to solve the long-cold case.

The only problem is, Alex is just as lost as Amy—her alcoholism has cost her everything including her marriage and her professional reputation.

In the hopes that finding Amy’s attacker will be her own salvation as well, Alex embarks on a dangerous investigation, suspecting someone close to Amy.

Told in the present by an increasingly fragile Alex and in dream-like flashbacks by Amy as she floats in a fog of memories, dreams, and music from 1995, Try Not to Breathe unfolds layer by layer to a breathtaking conclusion.

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
My Rating: **** (4 stars)

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Review – Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Pendergast #15

Goodreads description:

Crimson Shore (Agent Pendergast, #15)

A secret chamber.

A mysterious shipwreck.

A murder in the desolate salt marshes.

A seemingly straightforward private case turns out to be much more complicated-and sinister-than Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast ever could have anticipated.

Pendergast, together with his ward Constance Greene, travels to the quaint seaside village of Exmouth, Massachusetts, to investigate the theft of a priceless wine collection. But inside the wine cellar, they find something considerably more disturbing: a bricked-up niche that once held a crumbling skeleton.

Genre: Mystery / Thriller
My Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

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