Uncommon Enemies, Book Three

Five of five stars

In the first pages of Deadlock, we meet Randy and Rooster – code name Honey – just coming off an assignment in Africa and heading to Tanzania for some R & R with Randy’s sister Meg.  Except the guys aren’t on R & R long before they’re assigned to protect Meg and the other scientists in her group.

With her usual uncompromising talent for the fine details, Quinn has crafted another masterpiece.  The time and attention she expends on knowing her subjects – weaponry, the military, strategy, politics, third world countries and their issues – all combine to give the reader an experience they won’t soon forget.  These characters are engaging, sympathetic, and sometimes even humorous.   The situations in which they find themselves leave me awestruck.  That she weaves a thread of romance throughout is a part of what makes these “romantic thrillers” but the thrill is always the leading character.

I highly recommend this book and this author!

*****

I am a bona fide fan of Quinn’s work.  I discovered her while doing a reading challenge in a FB group – whose name escapes me now.  She had the first book – Open Secret, you can read my review here on the blog – in her FBI Joint Task Force series available for anyone who wanted to read.  I did.  And subsequently read the next two in that trilogy in rapid succession.  I had the pleasure of being a BETA reader for her latest offering – Book One in Cerberus Tactical K9 – Survival Instinct.  I’m waiting anxiously for Book Two.

That said, I purchased Deadlock outright.  Admittedly, it was a mistake – I thought I was purchasing the first in the set.  No matter, Quinn’s books stand alone quite nicely, and I will back track to catch them up!  The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

The Erin Reed Trilogy, Book One

Five of five stars

Ghana. A “deadly” bacteria. An investigative journalist. An edge-of-your-seat read!

In this first installment of what Fontenot intends to be a trilogy, we meet Erin Reed. An investigative journalist on her way to Ghana to find out why a whole compound of workers died from a bacteria which shouldn’t have been deadly. The complicating issue for Erin is that this assignment is awakening memories she’d rather not deal with. Memories of her mother’s unresolved suspicious death. And it has her already coming up against roadblocks intended to stop her in her tracks.

The Golden Chair is a tale filled with intrigue, hidden agendas, and misdirection. Fontenot masterfully weaves all those threads into a cohesive, intense narrative that grips the reader from the outset and holds them in its thrall. More than once throughout the reading of this, I found myself going off in the wrong direction. Finding deception where it was subsequently proven there was none. Finding danger where it became evident danger was nowhere near. Throughout the book, Erin finds herself in the same circumstances. Ultimately not knowing whom to trust, and where to look for help. There is an abundance of unsavoury types, but also many sympathetic characters; the trick is knowing which camp each falls into. Mistakenly trusting the wrong person, could prove fatal.

Fontenot is well on the way to a successful franchise with this trilogy. I could not stop reading, so invested was I in Erin and her cause. While the ending is not unexpected, it still held a few surprises. I am looking forward to reading Book Two.

[I appreciate having received a copy of this book from the author. However, I was in no way required to write a review; the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.]

Five of five stars

In the opening scenes of One Last Move, we meet Snowden’s main character, Larry Rosewood.  We get an inking of his profession, and the circumstances that are about to change the trajectory of his life.

In the first chapters, Rosewood loses his best friend and business partner.  Losing him again in the discovery of what the last years of his life had become – totally not the man Larry thought of as a brother.  In making sense of those first discoveries, Larry continues to uncover more of his partner’s deceptions.  He finds their business enmeshed in scandal and on the brink of bankruptcy.  It’s up to Rosewood to get to the bottom of what befell Ted before whatever it is ruins everything.

Snowden weaves the various threads of Ted’s deceit and Larry’s efforts to right a rapidly sinking ship with skill.  It took some time before I could see the clues that had been left and how they all led back to what ultimately would make or break the story.

One Last Move pulls heavily on the metaphor of a chess game and does it masterfully.  At several points, Larry equates what he’s up against as his opponent having more than one king on the board.  And he’s not far wrong.  Not your average suspense story where you find out the villain only in the last pages, Snowden allows you to see what and who his protagonist is up against early on.  The mystery is in who will come out of it all the victor.

There are a good few poignant, intriguing threads to One Last Move, Snowden weaves the narration with interesting facts and tidbits of real life circumstances. With the surprising addition of thought provoking questions that face many of us in real time, the author challenges you to think while at the same time enjoying the respite he offers with his fiction. This is a story that will stay with you for a long time.  I highly recommend it!

[I was fortunate enough to be contracted to edit this book preparatory to it going to print.  I am reviewing it entirely of my own volition; the opinions expressed herein are mine.]

Five of five stars

This was my first foray into Snowden’s work.  As that, it was the one that convinced me I would be reading more from this author.

Firebug grabs you right from the first sentence.  You find yourself in the main character’s [or what I assumed would be a main character] mind set, while still not giving you too much to go on.  Snowden uses this little anonymous introduction to draw you in to what will prove to be an intriguing tale.

This is not a novel for the faint of read; it is of epic length, yet there is no part where it drags.  You are all in from the start and you stay invested to the last words.

What you will find in abundance, as you delve deeper into this tale, is suspense.  Twists, turns, red herrings tossed at you.  Like any good suspense novel, Firebug has plenty of those things.  I found myself changing my mind often about how I thought the trajectory would go.  I’ve never been all that great at getting to the solution before the book has totally unfolded.  Snowden kept me on the edge of my seat – with a couple of interesting plot twists.

It is my understanding that the author plans to continue with this story, likely making it a trilogy.  I look forward to them!

Caveat:  you WILL find some profanity in Snowden’s work.  Don’t let that alarm you, it’s in no way gratuitous, fitting in perfectly with the narrative in each instance. 

[It was my pleasure to receive a pre-publication copy of Firebug for a BETA read.  I was not in any way required to write a review.  The opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.]

A Veronica Lee Thriller, Book Two

Five of five stars

In Her Final Fall, we find reporter Veronica Lee working on a story at home when she receives a package.  With a flash drive.  With scenes from a horrific murder.

Faced with yet another killer who thinks he’s too wily to be caught, Veronica, the state prosecutor, and the chief of police, are hot on his trail; anxious to stop him BEFORE he claims his next victim.  Because there is no doubt that he will.

Woodhall has done it again with Her Final Fall!  Do we have a killer back from the dead?  A copy cat?  Simple revenge?  As in volume one, the suspense is so thick you could slice it!  I loved seeing these characters again.  Their interconnection is key to the way the narrative flows, and I am thrilled knowing there will be more stories to come.

This is a great standalone read but read Her Last Summer first; it will give you that feeling of knowing and being invested in these great characters, and it will impel you to keep coming back for more.

[Many thanks to Booksirens and the author for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.  I was not required to write a review.  The opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.]

Nosy Parker Mysteries, Mary’s Story

Five of five stars

When a favourite author writes a new book, even if it’s not part of the two series you’re already following, you read it!  Gena Webb is one of those authors for me.  The kind where you preorder sight unseen because she never disappoints.  The kind where you put everything on hold when the book drops, because you HAVE to read it.  And then you HAVE to finish it!

The Executed Executive is part of a collection of works, each by a different author, with the same theme.  In this case, Nosy Parker Mysteries focuses on a group of girls who grew up “investigating” local small crime – complete with detecting notebooks, clues and rules to follow.  This is them years later, off in different parts of the world some of them.  But still sleuthing.

Meet Mary.  Secretary to the on-his-way-out Chairman of the company.  Except that his way out wasn’t supposed to happen so soon.  And with such finality.  Now, amid worries about her own job security – after all, her boss is dead – Mary starts to see all kinds of suspicious activity, and a police department that’s a bit too happy to hang their hat on the “easy” solution.

You’ll also meet some questionable characters.  And a delicious private investigator.  Is romance a part of Mary’s future as well as having found a surrogate mom for herself?  Webb’s forte is pairing characters with a few eccentricities together with plot lines that can meander, tossing up red herrings for the armchair detectives in all of us.  The Executed Executive has all of that.

I had figured out that someone wasn’t what he seemed to be.  But the twist that the final outcome took was one I hadn’t seen coming.  But it’s good when you’re actually glad that the baddie wasn’t the REAL baddie.

I’m hoping we’ll see more of Mary in some future Webb work, but for now, The Executed Executive in no way disappointed.  A great fun read, a bit of quirk, a lot of humour and some exasperation – you can’t love all the characters all the time, right?  But a book you will keep turning pages on till the last page is done.

Highly recommend!

[I was offered a copy of this book pre-publication and invited to Beta read for the author. I was not in any way expected to give a review. I am doing so freely and all of the opinions expressed herein are my own.]