Book Review: Too Far Gone by Allison Brennan

 

                                        Published Minotaur Books (October 30, 2018)

                                        Buy on Amazon

Things finally seem to be going well for FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid. She's just finished training for Hostage Rescue, her husband's relationship with his son is back on track, and her tense relationship with her boss, Rachel Vaughn, has become much more bearable. That is, until her first hostage case throws everything off track.

When a man who appears under the influence and mentally unstable holds a group of people hostage and dies in a shootout with the FBI, Lucy is assigned to investigate what happened. His descent doesn't make any sense - he was an upstanding citizen a year ago and only started declining after a series of blackouts and strange occurrences. Even his autopsy seems suspicious, and the body has been cremated without the proper approval. As Lucy investigates, she realizes that this story may be more complicated than she thinks, and that her own life might be in danger.

                                                                MY REVIEW:

Too Far Gone by Allison Brennan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the 14th book in this series and I have not read any other books in this series. You do get a little background on the characters and it could be read as a stand a lone.
FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid is part of a team assembled to take care of a hostage situation at a coffee shop, backing up the negotiator. Customers and the manager are being held at gunpoint by Charlie McMahon, a research scientist who recently lost his job, his family and what appears to be his sanity. He’s shot and killed when the team attempts a rescue and he fires his weapon.
Meanwhile Lucy's husband Sean, is trying to get to know his teenage son, who he didn't know he fathered until recently.
Their lives have all seem to be in danger and looks like someone is out for sean, or maybe not. As we get to know more of what is going on it seems to be worse than I thought.
Thanks to Minotaur for the book to read.

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                                                                Allison Brennan


Born in Redwood City, CA, The United States
September 29

Website
http://www.allisonbrennan.com/

Twitter
Allison_Brennan

Genre
Suspense, Thriller, Mystery

Influences
Stephen King, Lisa Gardner ...more


New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Allison Brennan believes that life is too short to be bored, so she had five children and writes three books a year.

40 books and numerous short stories later, Allison relocated in 2019 from Northern California to Arizona with her husband and two youngest children.

RT Book Reviews called Allison “a master of suspense” and her books “haunting,” “mesmerizing,” “pulse-pounding” and “emotionally complex.” She's been nominated for many awards, and is a three time winner of the Reviewer's Choice award winner for RT Book Reviews as well as the Daphne du Maurier award. Most recently, she was nominated for Best Paperback Original by International Thriller Writers.

Most recent book: THE WRONG VICTIM out now in hardcover, in paperback in September 2022. In 2023, DON'T OPEN THE DOOR (Jan); SEVEN GIRLS GONE (April); and NORTH OF NOWHERE (Aug).

You can reach Allison through Goodreads or through her website.

Book Review: The Blame Game by Sandie Jones

 

                                                    Kindle Edition, 256 pages
                                               Published August 16th 2022 by Minotaur Books
                                                    Buy on Amazon

She knows she’s telling the truth. But the evidence says she’s lying.

As a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, Naomi has found it hard to not become overly invested in her clients’ lives. But after helping the middle-aged Jacob make the decision to leave his wife, Naomi has begun to worry that she’s gone too far this time. On the morning of Jacob’s first session after his escape, doors that Naomi is sure she’d locked have been mysteriously left open, and Jacob’s client file is missing.

Then, another client approaches Naomi for assistance in leaving behind her abusive husband, and Naomi is once again unable to turn aside someone in need. But are the missing papers and unlocked doors symptoms of Naomi’s own dark past raising its ugly head, or something more? And is it possible that her clients aren’t the only ones in danger, but Naomi herself?

                                             BOOK REVIEW:

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, Naomi has found it hard to not become overly invested in her clients’ lives. That's where her troubles start.
Jacob Is a client of hers who is being abused by his wife and needs help. Naomi just can't seem to listen to her husband, Leon, when he says keep everything professional. Naomi helps Jacob outside of her office and that's when things go bad.
Anna is also a client of Naomi's and abused by her husband after a year of grief , of losing their son.
Naomi's family was torn apart as a child, she saw her father kill her mother after years of abuse. Her and her sister were put into foster care and they were seperated. Now her dad is released from jail and her sister is reaching out to her.
I really liked this book and would have loved it but when Naomi is questioned about a lot of things she decides to lie and cover things up. If she had sat down ad told the whole story things might have been much better for her. Especially with her husband. I read it in 1 day because I could not stop reading. I had to know what was going on and was I surprised.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press Minotaur books for the book to review.

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                                                              Sandie Jones


Website
http://www.sandiejones.co.uk/

Twitter
realsandiejones




Sandie Jones has worked as a freelance journalist for over twenty years, and has written for publications including the Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly and the Daily Mail. She lives in London with her husband and three children. The Other Woman is her debut novel.

Book Review: Deep Into the Dark by P.J. Tracy

 

                                                            Hardcover, 352 pages
                                           Published January 12th 2021 by Minotaur Books
                                                               buy on Amazon

New York Times bestseller P. J. Tracy returns with Deep into the Dark, a brand new series set in LA and featuring up-and-coming LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan and murder suspect Sam Easton.

Sam Easton—a true survivor—is home from Afghanistan, trying to rebuild a life in his hometown of LA. Separated from his wife, bartending and therapy sessions are what occupy his days and nights. When friend and colleague Melody Traeger is beaten by her boyfriend, she turns to Sam for help. When the boyfriend turns up dead the next day, a hard case like Sam is the perfect suspect.

But LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, whose brother recently died serving overseas, is sympathetic to Sam's troubles, and can't quite see him as a killer. She's more interested in the secrets Melody might be keeping and the developments in another murder case on the other side of town.

Set in an LA where real people live and work--not the superficial LA of Beverly Hills or the gritty underbelly of the city--Deep into the Dark features two really engaging, dynamic main characters and explores the nature of obsession, revenge, and grief.

                                                 MY REVIEW:

Deep into the Dark by P.J. Tracy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sam Easton—a true survivor—is home from Afghanistan, trying to rebuild a life in his hometown of LA. Separated from his wife, bartending and therapy sessions are what occupy his days and nights. When friend and colleague Melody Traeger is beaten by her boyfriend, she turns to Sam for help. When the boyfriend turns up dead the next day, a hard case like Sam is the perfect suspect.
But LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan, whose brother recently died serving overseas, is sympathetic to Sam's troubles, and can't quite see him as a killer. Nolan's partner on the other hand wants to get Sam for the murder.
Then there is another murder and it hits close to home for Sam. Can he prove he is innocent?
Then Sam is also dealing with PTSD and we learn more of what happened to him in Afghanistan.
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for the ARC to review,

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                                                                            P.J. Tracy


Website
http://pjtracy.com/

Genre
Mystery & Thrillers





PJ Tracy is the pseudonym of mother-daughter writing duo P.J. and Traci Lambrecht, winners of the Anthony, Barry, Gumshoe, and Minnesota Book Awards. Their ten novels, MONKEEWRENCH, LIVE BAIT, DEAD RUN, SNOW BLIND, SHOOT TO THRILL, OFF THE GRID, THE SIXTH IDEA, NOTHING STAYS BURIED, THE GUILTY DEAD, and ICE COLD HEART have become national and international bestsellers. PJ passed away in December 2016, but Traci continues to write the Monkeewrench series. DEEP INTO THE DARK, a stand-alone psychological thriller will be available February 2021.

Learn more about PJ Tracy at pjtracy.com

Follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PJTracyAuthor/

Look them up on Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/pjtracy.com

Minotaur books review: What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr

In New York Times bestselling author Nevada Barr's gripping standalone, a grandmother in her sixties emerges from a mental fog to find she's trapped in her worst nightmare

Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.

The only problem is—how does she convince anyone that she's not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn't sure she sounds completely sane. But any lingering doubt Rose herself might have had is erased when a would-be killer shows up in her house in the middle of the night. Now Rose knows that someone is determined to get rid of her.

With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back—to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards.

                               My Review:

What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rose wakes up in a Alzheimers unit in a nursing home. She knows she is fine and feels like someone is out to get her. She overhears that she isn't going to make it through the week. So she stops taking her medication and plots her escape.
With the help of her granddaughter, Mel and her friend, plus Rose's computer savvy sister she is on the run and looking for clues and trying to prove she doesn't have alzheimers. I laughed at some of the antics and I yelled at her as well. Sometimes she just made things look worse for herself.
Her family is the one who put her in the nursing home so she doesn't know who to trust. The one person I thought was involved in it is actually who helps her at the end so I was wrong about that person.
I received this from Minotaur books and NetGalley for review.

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The Nowhere Child by Christian White Review

Kimberly Leamy is a photography teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-six years earlier, Sammy Went, a two-year old girl vanished from her home in Manson, Kentucky. An American accountant who contacts Kim is convinced she was that child, kidnapped just after her birthday. She cannot believe the woman who raised her, a loving social worker who died of cancer four years ago, crossed international lines to steal a toddler.

On April 3rd, 1990, Jack and Molly Went’s daughter Sammy disappeared from the inside their Kentucky home. Already estranged since the girl’s birth, the couple drifted further apart as time passed. Jack did his best to raise and protect his other daughter and son while Molly found solace in her faith. The Church of the Light Within, a Pentecostal fundamentalist group who handle poisonous snakes as part of their worship, provided that faith. Without Sammy, the Wents eventually fell apart.

Now, with proof that she and Sammy are in fact the same person, Kim travels to America to reunite with a family she never knew she had. And to solve the mystery of her abduction—a mystery that will take her deep into the dark heart of religious fanaticism where she must fight for her life against those determined to save her soul…

My Thoughts:

The Nowhere Child by Christian  White

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what can I say. This is a debut thriller from this author. I could not put it down. A 2 year old child goes missing, 26 years ago. Kim lives in Australia as a photographer. She has a sister and a step dad she loves with all her heart. Her mom died of cancer 4 years ago. Stuart Went contacts her and says I believe you are my sister, Sammy, who went missing 26 years ago. Kim can not believe that the mother who raised her was a kidnapper. So Kim travels to Kentucky to meet the family of Sammy,
You will read what happened then and what is happening now all throughout the book. Each chapter changes so you get to know the Went family 26 years ago and you get to know Kim's family now and her meeting the Went family. As you keep reading things fall into place but I still was a little surprised at the end. I am so glad that I read this book and will look forward to this author's other books.
I received this from Minotaur books for review.

Buy this on Amazon https://amzn.to/2T37wdW

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