Category: Book reviews

Review: The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

16 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 20, 2018

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’t be silenced. . . .

Review:

It’s rare for me to enjoy a book that blurs the lines between genres, sometimes books that straddle two (or more) genres read kind of messy to me but when I can find an author that manages to blend several genres in a coherent and seamless manner, well, I’m thrilled! The Broken Girls was at it’s core a mystery but it also had historical elements and just enough of the supernatural to be creepy yet plausible.

This is told in dual timelines, you have Fiona in 2014 who is a journalist with painful ties to Idelwild Hall then it also flips back to 1950 when Idelwild Hall was a school for wayward girls and you hear from four friends and roommates. Initially it had a somewhat slower start, but around the halfway point things picked up for me and I was hooked. Fiona and her backstory did reel me in early on but it took me a bit longer to become invested in the four girls, but once I was in, I was all in. Their individual stories were terribly sad and sometimes tragic but their time together at Idelwild Hall was disturbing and at times shocking.

This was an eerily atmospheric read, both narratives are set in Vermont and St. James did an amazing job at creating a hauntingly beautiful setting. The sections in the past were downright scary at times but the more recent chapters were also freaky as the school was long ago abandoned and derelict. Add in a purported ghost named Mary Hand and a handful of cold cases begging to be solved and you have the perfect combination of intrigue and fear. This was a really solid read for me from a talented writer, if you don’t mind a small dose of the supernatural in your mysteries then you should check this one out!

The Broken Girls in three words: Creepy, Chilling and Captivating.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Review: The Summer of Secrets by Tilly Tennant @TillyTenWriter @bookouture #BlogBlitz

4 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 14, 2018

Publisher: Bookouture

Genre: Romance

Blurb:

Can new love grow when you dig up old secrets?

Recently engaged, Harper Woods wakes up every morning on Silver Hill Farm feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. She has escaped her troubled past, outside the rolling yellow cornfields go on for miles and just downstairs are the gorgeous tea rooms she’s always dreamed of owning.

But Harper is about to discover something that will change her luck forever. For better or worse? She has no idea. Not until an expert can identify whether the jewellery she found hidden in the farm’s foundations is priceless, or utterly worthless…

As news of the discovery spreads through the village, there are others who’d like to lay their claim to the fortune. In particular, Will Frampton, handsome recluse and Lord of Silver Hill House, the crumbling stately home on the other side of the hill in desperate need of renovation.

It seems everyone wants a piece of the sparkling prize hidden under the Silver Hill tea rooms. But as relationships are tested and tea cakes begin to fly, will anyone catch the romance blossoming in the most unexpected of places?

Love and laughter are the biggest reward of them all in this utterly heart-warming romance, perfect for fans of Jane Linfoot, Debbie Johnson and Jenny Colgan.

I’m so pleased to be one of the stops on the blog blitz for The Summer of Secrets today!

Review:

Diving into a new Tilly Tennant novel is akin to eating a delicious meal filled with all of my go to comfort foods and The Summer of Secrets did not disappoint! Even though I wasn’t able to take a trip anywhere fun for spring break this year this gem of a book swept me away to a quaint, charming little village which was the next best thing to a real vacation.

Tennant has a real knack for crafting lovable characters that I just can’t get enough of. Harper runs a farm with her best friend Pip and their friendship was so sweet and genuine, I just adored them both. As for the romance there was plenty going on here as Harper is engaged to Shay and there are several other budding relationships but to say more would just spoil it. The portrayal of how these romances unfolds is always so practical and just rings true, I so appreciate that! Tennant always alludes to sex in a classy, subtle way and I really think that makes it even sexier than if she went into detail about what was happening with her characters in the bedroom.

What do I look for in a romance novel? Interesting characters and an intriguing plot to start and this one definitely has that, there’s a light mystery that keep me engaged and plenty of lovely characters to root for. I also want a great setting and the village was adorable and so beautifully described. Finally, I want a bit of humor and a lot of heart and I got more than enough of both here, I always finish her books with a smile on my face and a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. So if you’re a fan of contemporary romance and looking for a vacation read check this one out!

The Summer of Secrets in three words: Sweet, Delightful and Heartfelt.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author:

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing. She wrote a novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books before the rest of the world gets them.

Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was her debut novel; published in 2014 it was an Amazon bestseller in both the UK and Australia. In 2016 she signed to the hugely successful Bookouture and is currently working on her next Tilly Tennant novel. She also writes as Sharon Sant, where she explores the darker side of life, and Poppy Galbraith, where things get a little crazier.

 

Author Social Media Links

 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TillyTennant/

TWITTER:https://twitter.com/TillyTenWriter

WEBSITE:www.tillytennant.com

Review: Hot Mess by Emily Belden #BlogTour

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Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 20, 2018

Publisher: Graydon House

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

Sweetbitter meets The Devil Wears Prada in this riveting and provocative novel set in the trendy Chicago restaurant scene.

Twenty-something Allie Simon never imagined she’d fall for a recovering drug addict—but that was before she met Benji Zane, Chicago’s hottest up-and-coming chef, who’s known as much for his hard partying ways as for his unparalleled culinary skills. Six months into their relationship, the food and chemistry are out of this world, but the reality of living with a cooking wunderkind hasn’t exactly been all hearts and flowers. Still, Allie’s convinced that her love is the key to fixing this talented man’s broken soul—so when Benji is offered his dream job as chef de cuisine for a new restaurant opening on Randolph Street, Chicago’s foodie hot spot, Allie agrees to invest her life savings in his future. But less than a month after she goes all in, Allie learns a heartbreaking lesson: addicts lie. Benji cracks under the pressure, relapses and disappears, bagging out not only on the restaurant, but on her, too. Left with nothing but a massive withdrawal slip and a restaurant that absolutely must open in a matter of weeks, Allie finds herself thrust into a world of luxury and greed, cutthroat business and sensory delight. Lost in the mess of it all, she can either crumble completely or fight like hell for the life she wants and the love she deserves.

With razor-sharp wit and searing insight, Emily Belden serves up a deliciously dishy look behind the kitchen doors of a hot foodie town.

I’m so pleased to be hosting a stop on the blog tour for Hot Mess today! Check out TLC Book Tours for the full schedule.

Review:

If you like wickedly delicious humor, a not so perfect love story and mouth watering descriptions of food, Hot Mess needs to be on your TBR! This is told solely from Allie’s point a view, a twenty five year old woman entangled in a dark relationship with a bad boy chef, Benji. I’m not sure if hot mess even accurately describes the total nightmare that is their union, but she believes in Benji despite his drug addiction and selfish behavior. I liked Allie and was totally rooting for her, she’s young and a bit naive but she’s loyal to a fault and she had a sassy side that was great. Benji was ugh, I’ve been in a relationship with a drug addict before and it’s not pretty, Belden did a great job accurately portraying what’s it like to live with an addict.

While much of this book was light and fun it has a dark edgy side that was realistic. As much as I consider myself to be a minor foodie I don’t know much about actually operating a restaurant and the insiders look at the not so glam industry was juicy and fascinating. It’ll also make you hungry and may even cause you to want to binge watch Top Chef, or maybe that’s just me? The writing was solid and full of snark with a side of millennial humor and a dash of social media obsession, what more could you want?! Maybe a bit of romance? Don’t worry, Belden has you covered this is a sexy little read but the romance isn’t the star, the food is! And Allie, she’s a bright little star and the backdrop of Chicago doesn’t hurt either, it adds a hip vibe that was really cool. If you like foodie fiction definitely check this one out, totally recommended.

Hot Mess in three words: Snarky, Sexy and Delicious.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for my review copy.

About the Author:

Emily Belden is an author for powerhouse publisher, Harlequin/HarperCollins. She is represented by famed literary agency, Browne & Miller, along with 44 Blue Productions in Burbank. The SoCal studio is adapting her memoir into a comedic series.

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Connect with Emily

Website | Facebook  | Twitter

Review: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian

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Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 13, 2018

Publisher: Doubleday

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, already counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police–she’s a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home–Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it’s too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?

Review:

Chris Bohjalian is one of those authors I’ve been meaning to read for the longest time, I’ve heard nothing but great things about his books and was super excited that I would finally be reading one of his books, this one sounded exactly like the kind of book that I would end up loving and I had heard he was an excellent writer. After finishing and really thinking about this one before I wrote my review I can definitely say that yes, he is a fantastic author but this one really didn’t excite me as much as I had assumed it would.

This started out very strong for me, Cassie is the perfect representation of what I expect in an unlikable narrator, she’s a hot mess and she knows it, she’s unashamedly badly behaved and I liked that she owned her crappy behavior and questionable decision making skills. The premise was also interesting even though I’ve read similar books, but the whole waking up next to a dead body will honestly probably never get old for me. After the initial setup I just got bored though, I’m all for a slow burn but this moved at an extremely sedate pace and I just could not stay focused. It actually took me over a week to read and that’s a super long time for me, I’m a book every day, every two days at the most reader and getting through this one felt like work, never a great sign. It was missing excitement and tension and when things finally seemed to heat up I really didn’t care all that much and then it was just a little too far fetched for me to believe.

Here’s my dilemma; the author can write, there is no question about that and his attention to detail is impeccable, there was a lot of interesting information about flight attendants that made me keep turning pages and I always appreciate a writer who has done their homework. But I’m wondering if his style is always this way, do his books follow a similar pattern? If you’re a fan of his work what’s your favorite book of his? Because I really want to add something else of his to my TBR but if all of his books are similar to this I may have to pass…So help me my fellow bookworms, do I call this a fluke and give him another shot or is it a case of a mismatch between author and reader and move on? I hate when a book/author is super popular and I just feel like I don’t get the hype!

Overall rating: 3/5 (Full disclosure, this would be like a two from me based on plot and pacing but the solid writing made me bump it up, it was that good. Also, I skipped my three word sum up because I am just way too torn to pick three words, sorry!)

Review: The Neighbors by Hannah Mary McKinnon

17 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 13, 2018

Publisher: MIRA

Genre: Domestic Suspense

Blurb:

In 1992, a car accident kills a young man and forever changes the lives of three people… Now, twenty years later, they’ll all come to regret the choices they made that day, as the secrets and lies they’ve told to protect each other become the very things that tear their lives apart.

After a night of fun, Abby was responsible for the car crash that killed her beloved brother. It is a sin she can never forgive herself for, so she pushes away the man she loves most, knowing that he would eventually hate her for what she’s done, the same way she hates herself.

Twenty years later, Abby’s husband, Nate, is also living with a deep sense of guilt. He was the driver who first came upon the scene of Abby’s accident, the man who pulled her to safety before the car erupted in flames, the man who could not save her brother in time. It’s this guilt, this regret that binds them together. They understand each other. Or so Nate believes.

In a strange twist of fate, Liam (her old lover—possibly her true soulmate) moves in with his own family next door, releasing a flood of memories that Abby has been trying to keep buried all these years. Abby and Liam, in a complicit agreement, pretend never to have met, yet cannot resist the pull of the past—nor the repercussions of the dark secrets they’ve both been carrying…

Review:

The Neighbors is the kind of book that sneaks up on you, it lulls you into a sense of complacency with its lighter style of suspense and intrigue and then BAM the last few pages deliver an onslaught of twists that make you go, oohhh I see what you did there! I absolutely loved that approach and found it to be a really nice change of pace from a typical super fast paced thriller with twists and turns throughout, there was an air of refinement in this one that worked so well for me.

This is told both in the present day as well as in flashbacks from 1992, the year Abby’s brother was tragically killed in a car accident and she was the driver. Besides Abby you also hear from her husband Nate and her daughter Sarah. Liam is Abby’s ex boyfriend and you see his wife Nancy’s point of view as well. As you can see there is a lot going on here but ensemble style narratives are one of my favorites, especially if they’re done well and McKinnon did a fantastic job, each character had a unique voice and each proved to have a pivotal POV by the end. They were also very well drawn and extremely well written which is always an added bonus when you have such a juicy plot.

This centers on two families who are keeping secrets from each other and you just know that all of those lies and betrayals will come out eventually, but Man was the wait well worth it. I kept thinking about how I would feel if one of my ex boyfriends, or worse one of my husbands ex girlfriends moved in next door to us and I can’t say the thought appeals to me whatsoever haha! It’s a recipe for disaster and oh how I love a delicious fictional disaster and this one delivered! Recommended for fans of lighter suspense that’s highly entertaining, think Jessica Strawser or Liane Moriarty, no blood or guts just good old fashioned secrets and lies.

The Neighbors in three words: Sneaky, Subtle and Riveting.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Review: Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

21 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 13, 2018

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

Two years ago, Tom and Caroline Johnson committed suicide, one seemingly unable to live without the other. Their adult daughter, Anna, is struggling to come to terms with her parents’ deaths, unable to comprehend why they chose to end their lives. Now with a young baby herself, she feels her mother’s presence keenly and is determined to find out what really happened to her parents. But as Anna digs up the past, someone is trying to stop her. She soon learns that nothing is as it seemed.

Review:

Clare Mackintosh is one of those authors that is just such a genuinely great writer that I would read literally anything she puts out there. There is something about her style that never fails to reel me in and then she also comes up with these deeply complex characters that pull on your heart in a emotional way which is odd for a psychological thriller. On top of all of that, she never fails to surprise me with a multitude of twists and even though I may have figured out part of what was going on before it was actually revealed, I didn’t guess everything and there was plenty to shock me.

What’s revealed in the blurb about Anna is really all that you need to know so I’m not going to rehash that here, you’ll thank me later when you read this because you definitely should go into this one as blind as possible. But there is another point of view that of Murray, a semi retired police officer who gets entangled with Anna’s parents case and I would up absolutely loving him and the subplot concerning him and his wife. Without saying too much, Murray and Sarah’s story added an additional layer to the plot without detracting from the main one, it gave it extra depth that I valued and appreciated.

If you haven’t read Mackintosh before I highly recommend all of her books and if you’re already a fan I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one as well. This is a slow burn with fantastic characterization so if you like that style, you should check this one out. No one pulls off a final page plot twist quite as well as she does and even though I’ve come to expect it from her by now I never do manage to guess what it’ll be and it always leaves me shocked and awed.

Let Me Lie in three words: Clever, Twisty and Tumultuous

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Review: If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin #BlogTour

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About If I Die Tonight Paperback:384 pages
Publisher:William Morrow Paperbacks (March 6, 2018)

Reminiscent of the bestsellers of Laura Lippman and Harlan Coben with a dose of Big Little Lies or Stranger Things an absorbing, addictive tale of psychological suspense from the author of the highly acclaimed and Edgar Award-nominated What Remains of Me and the USA Today bestselling and Shamus Award-winning Brenna Spector series, in which a seemingly open-and-shut police case with a clear-cut hero and villain turns out to be anything but simple.

Late one night in the quiet Hudson Valley town of Havenkill, a distraught woman stumbles into the police station and lives are changed forever.

Aimee En, once a darling of the 80s pop music scene, claims that a teenage boy stole her car, then ran over another young man who’d rushed to help.

As Liam Miller’s life hangs in the balance, the events of that fateful night begin to come into focus. But is everything as it seems?

The case quickly consumes social media, transforming Liam, a local high school football star, into a folk hero, and the suspect, a high school outcast named Wade Reed, into a depraved would-be killer. But is Wade really guilty? And if he isn’t, why won’t he talk?

Told from a kaleidoscope of viewpoints Wade’s mother Jackie, his younger brother Connor, Aimee En and Pearl Maze, a young police officer with a tragic past, If I Die Tonight is a story of family ties and dark secrets and the lengths we’ll go to protect ourselves.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review:

This was one of those books that pulls you in right from the start, it has a powerful prologue and then flips back in time five days earlier. It’s told from a handful of perspectives but I enjoyed hearing from Jackie, mom to two teenaged boys and Pearl, a police officer the most. Jackie was relatable to me and I could feel her anxiety and fear for her sons, it broke my heart to pieces and the author did a fantastic job at showing a mother’s worst fears. You get a sprinkling of police procedural as well with Pearl’s POV and she was exactly the kind of cop I like reading about, flawed and damaged with an interesting backstory but still has a heart of gold.

This book scared me and I don’t mean that in the traditional sense of the word, it scared me in a realistic way as I can easily see this sort of thing happening in real life. Wade is an outcast at his high school, he’s a social pariah and really has no friends. When’s he’s the main suspect after his super popular classmate is hit by a car, what little dignity and solitude he had is shattered. Social media played a huge role in this book, much as it plays a huge part in all of our lives daily and showcased the dark side of it and how powerful it really can be. The gossip, speculation and rumors after the small town of Havenkill are rocked by the accident is unreal, the author likens it to a virus, a disease and that’s such a great comparison as these vicious rumors infect the whole town and impact so many people’s lives.

This was my first book by Gaylin and I’m really impressed, she weaves a compelling story and one that kept my attention the whole way through. This would be a great book club read as it tackles many relevant and current issues such as peer pressure, metal health issues and the negative effects of social media. Recommended for fans of authors like David Bell and Harlan Coben.

If I Die Tonight in three words: Timely, Compelling and Tense.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for my review copy.

Photo by Franco Vogt[/caption]

About Alison Gaylin

Alison Gaylin is the award-winning author of Hide Your Eyes and its sequel, You Kill Me; the standalones Trashed and Heartless; and the Brenna Spector series: And She Was, Into the Dark, and Stay with Me. A graduate of Northwestern University and of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, she lives with her husband and daughter in Woodstock, New York.

Find out more about Alison at her website, friend her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

Review: The Babysitter by Sheryl Browne @SherylBrowne @bookouture #BlogBlitz

3 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: March 8, 2018

Publisher: Bookouture

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Blurb:

You trust her with your family. Would you trust her with your life?

Mark and Melissa Cain are thrilled to have found Jade, a babysitter who is brilliant with their young children. Having seen her own house burn to the ground, Jade needs them as much as they need her. Moving Jade into the family home can only be a good thing, can’t it?

As Mark works long hours as a police officer and Melissa struggles with running a business, the family become ever more reliant on their babysitter, who is only too happy to help. And as Melissa begins to slip into depression, it’s Jade who is left picking up the pieces.

But Mark soon notices things aren’t quite as they seem. Things at home feel wrong, and as Mark begins to investigate their seemingly perfect sitter, what he discovers shocks him to his core. He’s met Jade before. And now he suspects he might know what she wants …

Mark is in a race against time to protect his family. But what will he find as he goes back to his family home?

If you loved reading The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors and The Sister, you’ll love the suspense of The Babysitter. This unputdownable read will have you turning the pages until way after dark.

I’m thrilled to be one of the stops on the blog blitz for The Babysitter today!

Review:

I absolutely love the premise for this one, the idea that a couple has let someone into their home to work with their children that has less than honorable intentions, it’s terrifying! Jade seems like the perfect babysitter for Mark and Mel’s children, but she’s too perfect and you know what they say about if something seems too good to be true…

This was an extremely fast paced and exciting read, I read it in just two sittings and only then had to stop to deal with real life otherwise it would’ve been a one sitting read. It had super short chapters which is always a favorite of mine and Jade was the type of character you just love to hate. She was manipulative and deplorable and you know right away she’s up to no good but what intrigued me was wondering what her motivations were and also what her master plan was, what was her end game? I thought I had it all worked out by Browne threw me for a loop with some surprises that were unexpected. I really loved how things all came together in the end and the final chapter was particularly special, clever lady!

The Babysitter in three words: Sinister, Engaging and Sly

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author:

Sheryl Browne brings you powerful psychological thriller and contemporary fiction. SheryI’s latest psychological thriller THE BABYSITTER – the first of a three-book deal – comes to you from fabulous BOOKOUTURE. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and previously writing for award winning Choc Lit, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

So why does Sheryl write in two genres? Quoting E. L. Doctorow, Sheryl says: “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights…” This she thinks sums up a writer’s journey, you never quite know where you are going until you get there. You might start with an outline, but a strong character will always divert from the plot. If Sheryl’s not sure where a character is going, she simply has to trust him to show her the way. Plus, according to one reviewer, she also has a scary insight into the mind of a psychopath.

Please do find out more about Sheryl at www.sherylbrowne.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SherylBrowne.Author/

and Twitter https://twitter.com/SherylBrowne

Review: The Sandman by Lars Kepler #TheSandman #LarsKepler

18 Comments

Release date: March 6, 2018

Publisher: Knopf

Genre: Crime Fiction

Blurb:

The #1 internationally best-selling thriller from the author of The Hypnotist tells the chilling story of a manipulative serial killer and the two brilliant police agents who must try to beat him at his own game.

Late one night, outside Stockholm, Mikael Kohler-Frost is found wandering. Thirteen years earlier, he went missing along with his younger sister. They were long thought to have been victims of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer, Jurek Walter, now serving a life sentence in a maximum security psychiatric hospital. Now Mikael tells the police that his sister is still alive and being held by someone he knows only as the Sandman. Years ago, Detective Inspector Joona Linna made an excruciating personal sacrifice to ensure Jurek’s capture. He is keenly aware of what this killer is capable of, and now he is certain that Jurek has an accomplice. He knows that any chance of rescuing Mikael’s sister depends on getting Jurek to talk, and that the only agent capable of this is Inspector Saga Bauer, a twenty-seven-year-old prodigy. She will have to go under deep cover in the psychiatric ward where Jurek is imprisoned, and she will have to find a way to get to the psychopath before it’s too late–and before he gets inside her head.

Goodreads|Amazon

Ahh I’m SO excited to share my thoughts on The Sandman today!! There’s a blog tour going on featuring some of my favorites bloggers and Instagram accounts so be sure and check them out for all sorts of fun content. You may want to check out my Instagram later today too….😜

Review:

Allow me to introduce you to my first MUST read book of 2018. If you’re a crime fiction fan you absolutely cannot miss this book, it’s extremely fast paced and exciting, the twists and turns are executed flawlessly and the serial killer is one of the most terrifying I’ve ever read about. If you’re at all hesitant please share your concerns with me because I promise you, if you start this one I don’t think you’ll regret it for one second.

This is the fourth book in a series following Joona Linnea but you can definitely read it as a standalone as I did as each book in the series seems to follow new cases with reoccurring characters. Speaking of characters, this book had some of the most complex, interesting characters I’ve ever encountered. They’re all multilayered and have fascinating histories, I fell a little bit in love with Joona and Saga. Jurek scared the daylights out of me, I probably shouldn’t have finished this at one am when my entire family was asleep but no way was I about to put this one down before I finished!

Much of the story takes place inside a high security psychiatric institution, talk about a creepy atmosphere! There were so many intense, heart pounding scenes that took place inside those walls and they were so well written that I was scared myself. Between the extraordinarily crafted setting and the crisp, precise writing style, I just could not get enough of this one. I’ll close by urging you once again not to miss this one, it’s outstanding!

The Sandman in three words: Gripping, Transfixing and Petrifying.

Overall rating: 5/5 (ALL THE STARS)

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author:

Lars Kepler is the pseudonym of critically acclaimed husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (b. 1966) and Alexander Ahndoril (b. 1967), authors of the internationally bestselling Joona Linna and Saga Bauer series. With six installments to date, the series has sold ten million copies in 40 languages.

The Ahndorils were both established writers before they adopted the pen name Lars Kepler, and have each published several acclaimed novels.

Alexander and Alexandra married in 1994 and have three daughters together. They live in central Stockholm.

ALEXANDRA COELHO AHNDORIL

Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril was born in 1966, and grew up on the south coast of Sweden. In the early 90s, Alexandra moved to Stockholm to pursue a career in acting though she eventually became an author.

In 2003, she published her critically acclaimed debut novel Stjärneborg (Stjerneborg) about the life of astronomer Tycho Brahe which received the Katapult Prize, Birgitta och Katarina (Birgitta and Katarina, 2006) about the life of Saint Birgitta of Sweden, and Mäster (2009), about the radical socialist August Palm.

In addition to her work as an author, Alexandra has also been a literary critic for two of Sweden’s largest newspapers, Göteborgs-Posten and Dagens Nyheter.

ALEXANDER AHNDORIL

Alexander was born in 1967 and grew up twelve miles north of Stockholm. Alexander studied philosophy, religion, and film at university. His first novel was picked up when he was nineteen.

Before he began writing as Lars Kepler, he had already penned twenty theatre plays, one opera libretto, nine novels including Regissören (The Director, 2006) a novel about Ingmar Bergman. Regissören was nominated for several awards, including the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and has been translated into 11 languages.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #imwayr

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly post to share what you recently finished reading, what you’re currently reading, and what you plan on reading this week. It’s hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate.

What I Read Last Week:

Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties was a relatable read about a woman starting over after a divorce.

Only Child was a heartbreaking read, very timely and moving.

Silent Victim was a dark, twisty psychological thriller, loved it!

Sunburn was a slow burn, a hypnotic read.

The Hunger was a historical retelling with a supernatural twist, dark and creepy.

A Perfect Marriage was a family drama, a quick read.

I love Slater and The Visitor was another great read.

Closer Than You Know was fantastic, a blend of legal thriller and domestic suspense.

The Perfect Girlfriend was a disturbing tale of obsession.

Currently Reading:

Up Next:

My reading mojo is back!! I’ve read some outstanding books lately and it’s definitely helped me get back into the swing of things. My kids are also healthy for now!! Anyway, I had a fantastic week and hope it continues through the month. I’m super excited for all of my planned reads this week as well, many I’ve been dying to read for awhile.

How was your week?!