A good thriller with a bit of blood and gore thrown in for good measure.

The River Is Dark
by Joe Hart

In a small town along the Mississippi River, separate but nearly identical attacks have left two married couples brutally murdered in their homes. A young boy?the lone survivor of the killings?now lies comatose in the hospital. And the police's only lead is the boy's terrified description of the assailant: a ?monster.?

Enter former homicide detective Liam Dempsey, whose estranged brother fell victim to the killer. Dragged into the investigation as a suspect, Dempsey vows to solve the case and clear his name. But two things stand between him and the truth: a web of local politics, and the grim secrets the victims held close. All the while, a murderer with boundless hatred continues to raise the body count.

As the troubled ex-cop tries to pull justice from the town's emotional wreckage, he realizes that his could be the next life lost to the killer's ruthless, twisted plan for revenge.

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I am embarrassed to say that I have never read anything by Joe Hart before ... well, after this, I won't make the same mistake again and I am so pleased that I took a punt and requested a copy via www.netgalley.com and am grateful that the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, sent me a copy in return for an honest review.

I liked everything about it ... the story, the pace and style of writing, the sense of tension that grows in intensity, the characters, etc, etc ... it was great.

The beginning of the story hits you right in the face straight away and leaves you wanting to read on to find out what "the monster" is and why "it" has murdered in such a brutal way? The middle of the book develops the story and provides more background to the characters as well as introducing more interesting players but what links the murders and does it have anything to do with the proposed development over the river? The ending is fast and furious and even though I saw part of it coming, it still came as a bit of a surprise.

The main character, Liam, is excellent and, again, makes you want to read long into the night to find out more about him and why he is in the place he is. All the while, the story develops and pieces of the jigsaw start slotting together. The introduction of a bit of romance was well done, not too much and, I think, appropriate for the story and the development of the understanding of the characters of Liam and Dani.

I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a good thriller with a bit of blood and gore thrown in for good measure.

I also feel this has more mileage for prequels and sequels especially around Liam who is an extremely interesting character and I would definitely give them a go if they were to be developed ... hint hint Mr Hart ;)

Disappointed by Prime Deception by Carys Jones

"When Lorna Thomas is found dead in her car everyone believes she killed herself. But the day after her death Lorna was set to sell a scandalous story to one of Britain’s biggest tabloid papers. For six months she had been the Deputy Prime Minister’s mistress.

Will Lorna’s secret die with her? While her family try to move on and come to terms with her death one person refuses to believe that Lorna killed herself. Her twin sister, Laurie is convinced that Lorna was murdered and she’ll stop at nothing to prove it, even if that means teaming up the very man her sister had been having an affair with."

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I really don’t know what to say about this book to be honest! I thought I was going to be reading a good thriller but instead, it turned out to be an in-depth exploration of grief and guilt with a bit of thriller thrown in.

The story was interesting but could have been so much more than that; I felt there was way too much emphasis on the feelings of the main characters, which got boring quite quickly, and not enough development of the crime/thriller aspect of the story. The first third of the story was good, the second third was boring and the last third was when the tension developed but this was over very quickly.

The characters were interesting and well developed but I found they became annoying quite early. Charles (the Deputy Prime Minister) starts off ok and I did feel sorry for him in the beginning but this soon wears off and he ends up, to me, being creepy and unlikeable - he made me physically cringe at times. His wife, Elaine, was from the Victorian era and in a marriage of convenience over love - I liked her character but not as a person. I’m not a twin but I did empathise with Laurie and her quest to find out the truth about her sister’s death at all costs. John, the reporter, didn’t really get too much of a mention despite him being in the “blurb” of the book. The minor characters were great and I especially liked Faye and Arthur.

In its defence, it was well written and I particularly liked the way the author was able to write a situation from different perspectives in subsequent paragraphs however, there were a few typing errors that interrupted the flow of my reading.

Overall, I was left a little disappointed by this - it had so much promise but just didn’t deliver for me. Would I read something else by this author? Hmmm … not sure … it would have to have a great description to entice me.

I want to thank www.netgalley.com for providing me with a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

A pretty good opener to a Zombie series - Dead Islands by Tim Moon

Dead Islands: Necrose Series

Book One (Necrose #1)

by Tim Moon

Description:

Ben Chase and his friend Ty are fresh from teaching English in South Korea, and they’re on their way to experience the Big Island of Hawaii – but their vacation turns into a nightmare when two passengers unexpectedly die during their flight.

Desperate to recover their sense of excitement, they meet up with Ty’s friend Anuhea and her friend Charlotte, who Ben finds himself instantly attracted to. But their plans quickly unravel as a rampant infection hits the islands and they find themselves surrounded by flesh-eating monsters.

Law and order degenerates into a daring fight for survival, and Ben is faced with a critical decision that places the fate of his friends in his hands. And what he must do to save them is unthinkable…

Dead Islands will leave your skin crawling as you follow Ben and his friends’ terrifying encounter with the deadly Necrose-7A virus, and their desperate attempts to survive the doomed island paradise. 

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A pretty good opener to a series with enough action to “whet your appetite” so to speak and spark enough interest to read the next one to see how it all pans out and the story develops.

I thought the characters were interesting although seemed a bit “dim” and naive as to understanding and reacting to what was going on - particularly at the beginning - it was as if they had never seen or heard anything about zombies before … very strange!

The story, however, was well written with a good pace. I felt the sense of confusion and fear was put across really well and the descriptions of situations was excellent. I particularly enjoyed the airplane sequence but did feel it was a little downplayed; I expected more tension and panic which would have been more realistic in that particular scenario where there is no escape. This did however improve as the book moved on and things became a little more believable.

I admit that I haven’t read an awful lot of “zombie” books so don’t have a lot to compare against but I do watch these types of films/programmes and feel this stands up quite well and, as I said, is a pretty good opener and I am tempted to read the next book in the series.

I also love the cover.

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and be sent a copy of this eBook by the author in return for an honest review; this did not determine the outcome of my review.

Book Review - The Ninth Orphan by James and Lance Morcan

The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy #1)

by James Morcan and Lance Morcan

"How do you catch a man who is never the same man twice?

That is the question posed in The Ninth Orphan, a top-rated international thriller novel and the first book in The Orphan Trilogy.

An orphan grows up to become an assassin for a highly secretive organization. When he tries to break free and live a normal life, he is hunted by his mentor and father figure, and by a female orphan he spent his childhood with. On the run, the mysterious man's life becomes entwined with his beautiful French-African hostage and a shocking past riddled with the darkest of conspiracies is revealed.

But can the ninth-born orphan ever get off the grid? To find out you'll need to go on a tumultuous journey around the globe to such far-flung locations as China, France, the Philippines, Andorra, America, England, Germany and French Polynesia. The frenetic cat-and-mouse chase moves from airports to train stations and hidden torture prisons, taking the reader on a shocking, nail-biting ride into the world's closet of skeletons that goes beyond conspiracy theories to painful reality."

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I received a copy of this eBook from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

The story follows a man named "Nine" as he tries to free himself from the powerful and shady organisation whose ultimate goal is power and domination. The 9th out of 23 orphans, he is different and longs for a life of freedom but the quest is not so easy. Throw in the leaders of the clandestine organisation, another orphan (“seventeen”), the Chinese and a love interest together with locations around the world and you have a recipe for success. There were many twists, turns and sub-plots that keep things interesting throughout and those, added to a fast pace of writing results in a great, suspense-filled and thrilling read.

All the characters, both major and minor, were really well developed. There was a good mix of background history that helped in the understanding of the characters and their motivations.

I haven’t read the Bourne books but imagine that this would compare quite well with them if the films are anything to go by and this would make a great film.

I loved it and found it hard to put down. I read most of it in one day - I had a 2 ½ hour delay plus a 3 hour flight home from my holidays and the time went so quick as I was engrossed in this book; I was annoyed when I had to stop reading when interrupted by the people I was sitting next to (not my family I hasten to add) and the air stewardesses!

I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a great spy, conspiracy, action, etc, etc book and I would love to read the other books in the series.

Short story review - Killing Your Boss by James DeSantis

Killing Your Boss by James De Santis

"Have you ever had a terrible day at work? Nothing seems to go right and everybody is out to ruin your entire day? Also, add on the fact that your boss is breathing down your neck to get work done. You ever get the urge to maybe want to...kill someone? That's what Ben gets roped into as his best friend, Ron, forces him to join him on a nightly adventure to kill their boss. What seems like a joke at first quickly escalates and things aren't what they seem. The workers want a little revenge but what if the boss has plans of his own?

Check out a twisted horror filled story about one terrible night that is worse than anyone could have imagined. Death, torture, and more awaits in a short story created by James DeSantis. The end results promise to leave you feeling terrified."

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A quick but surprisingly good read.  I'm not sure how believable it is that someone would just decide to kill their boss and the girlfriend and best friend go along with it but if you can't push the boundaries of reality and common sense in a book then when can you?

It was well written with a few errors but nothing that detracted from the reading experience.  It has its fair share of tension, suspense, blood, gore and moments where you wince in pain for the character and all told in a very successful way.  The characters were interesting and I liked the way each chapter was told from their different perspectives, this made it all the more compelling and enjoyable for me.  The ending was great and surprising and I didn't see it coming which I love.

I think this has scope for further books - one of which could focus on Kurt and his life before ending up at the E-mart and one could focus on his daughter.

I would consider reading something else by this author and would recommend but only to people over 18.

I received a copy of this book direct from the author in return for an honest review - this did not influence me in any way.