High Country Contract by Lance Morcan & James Morcan

Description from Goodreads:

"A crime-based adventure set in Middle Earth territory in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

Young Kiwi drifter Arch Quaid thinks he has landed the contract of his life when he’s hired to cull deer on a high country property in the South Island of New Zealand. He quickly changes his mind when he discovers he’s the hunted, not the hunter.

Caught up in the middle of it all is his new love Janine, a beautiful Maori girl, who will likely be the killer’s next target if Arch doesn’t overcome the most daunting of odds."

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In this quick but engaging read, we are transported to the highlands of the South Island of New Zealand; a beautiful but remote backdrop to this thrilling tale of the hunter unwittingly becoming the hunted.

Once again, I am not disappointed by the writings of Lance and James Morcan; they know how to pull you in and keep you there until the end.  I was however disappointed that it wasn't a bit longer ... no sooner had the action began, than it ended which was a shame as I really feel more could have been made of the terrain and the cat and mouse games between the hunter and the hunted.  However, it is what it is and it's still a great thriller with interesting and believable characters.

I would recommend anyone read Lance and James' books particularly The Orphan Trilogy which is for lovers of action, espionage, conspiracy theories or just people who enjoy a flippin’ good read ... you won't be disappointed.

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Nothing to Hide (DC Constance Fairchild #2) by James Oswald

Description from Goodreads:

"Suspended from duty after her last case ended in the high-profile arrest of one of Britain's wealthiest men, DC Constance Fairchild is trying to stay away from the limelight. Fate has other ideas . . .

Coming home to her London flat, Constance stumbles across a young man, bloodied, mutilated and barely alive. She calls it in and is quickly thrown into the middle of a nationwide investigation . . . It seems that the victim is just the latest in a string of similar ritualistic attacks.

No matter that she is off-duty, no matter that there are those in the Met who would gladly see the back of her, Con can't shake her innate determination to bring the monsters responsible for this brutality to justice.

Trouble always seems to find her, and even if she has nothing to hide, perhaps she has everything to lose ..."

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This is the second book in the Constance Fairchild Series and a follow on from "No Time To Cry" which I absolutely loved and enjoyed so much that I was a little apprehensive to read this just in case it didn't live up my expectations ... I needn't have worried, this one was just as good and, yes, you've guessed it, I loved it!

"Nothing to Hide" can be read as a standalone but I would strongly recommend you read the first one otherwise I think you could potentially be lost as to why DC Fairchild is in the place she is, i.e. suspended and a pariah amongst a lot of her fellow officers and a magnet for the media and paparazzi.  "No Time To Cry" also provides a lot of back story and history that this book can only touch upon otherwise it would be a tome!

DC Constance Fairchild, or Con for short, is a fantastic, strong, female character whose strength, bravery and steely determination is highlighted within the pages of this book.  Con is not however the only fantastic character in this story ... it's full of them and all of them have a part to play, big and small, in what is a totally engrossing and enthralling read from start to finish.

At the end of "No Time To Cry", I said I couldn't wait for the next one in the series and as I have said, I wasn't disappointed ... so .... when's the next one out??? 

Many thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas

Description from Goodreads:

"Everything changed the night Flora Powell disappeared. 

Heather and Jess were best friends - until the night Heather's sister vanished.

Jess has never forgiven herself for the lie she told that night. Nor has Heather.

But now Heather is accused of an awful crime.

And Jess is forced to return to the sleepy seaside town where they grew up, to ask the question she's avoided for so long:

What really happened the night Flora disappeared?"

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This is a good psychological thriller with a captivating start and the rest being a slow, burn to the satisfying conclusion.

Written at good pace and switching between two timelines with complex and interesting characters, Then She Vanishes is an enthralling read and whilst it might not have the action or thrills of most books of this genre, it definitely has the tension and build-up to rival any of them.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

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Stolen (Lucy Clayburn #3) by Paul Finch

Description from Goodreads:

"How do you find the missing when there’s no trail to follow?

DC Lucy Clayburn is having a tough time of it. Not only is her estranged father one of the North West’s toughest gangsters, but she is in the midst of one of the biggest police operations of her life.

Members of the public have started to disappear, taken from the streets as they’re going about their every day lives. But no bodies are appearing – it’s almost as if the victims never existed.

Lucy must chase a trail of dead ends and false starts as the disappearances mount up. But when her father gets caught in the crossfire, the investigation suddenly becomes a whole lot more bloody…

The Sunday Times bestseller returns with his latest nail-shredding thriller – a must for all fans of Happy Valley and M.J. Arlidge."

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I am a fan of Paul Finch and love Lucy as a strong, female character who takes no prisoners.  Here she finds herself in the midst of a pretty grim series of what initially appear to be a series of unconnected events but they quickly turn into a nightmare investigation.  This is where I need to warn you that this book does contain scenes of animal cruelty and abuse ...  it also contains scenes of human cruelty!  Both are hard to read.

Dark, gritty, exciting, full of tension and suspense, well written with a cast of brilliant characters, this is a great addition to the series and one I would happily recommend.

This is the third book in the series and although can be read as a standalone, to get the best out of it, I would recommend you read them in order so that you get the back story to the characters ... you won't be disappointed.

My thanks go to Avon Books UK via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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