Best Women's Detective Fiction
Darby Thorne is a college student stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere. She’ll have to spend the night in the rest stop with four complete strangers. There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the snow, and she doesn’t know which one of the other travelers is the kidnapper. Full of shocking twists and turns, this beautifully written novel will have you on the edge of your seat. “ I found myself having to tell myself to stop read and just BLINK, and breathe, for crying out loud. Would have read it quicker if I could have hidden myself away from the rest of the world, but alas, there was no escape from reality! The suspense starts at the very first page and only becomes more compelling until the explosive ending.” Linda Strong. “Once starting this story I just could not put it down, call it engrossing, engaging, intriguing or whatever you’d like it truly turned into one of those reads that I couldn’t break away from and today I really need a nap.” Carrie Glover. OUR LAST NIGHT Dan Rupley has 24 hours to get his dead fiancée back. Taylor Adams directed the acclaimed short film And I Feel Fine in 2008 and graduated from Eastern Washington University with the prestigious Edmund G. Yarwood Award.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A thriller I would highly recommend!"
"This went much faster than most books for me because I really didn’t want to put it down, needing to read every detail and see how it played out."
"I really enjoyed this book."
"This is an easy quick read you will not be a let to put down!"
"I despise reading because it is just so boring for me and I got this book for the sole purpose of school and ended up loving it."
"Aside from the language being a tad juvenile, the plot of the book was great and very entertaining."
"This book kept my interest beginning to end."
"Fantastic book, very fast read."
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Shari Lapena’s new thriller, A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, is available now from Viking Books! A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist. Even then, you'll never guess the truth...until it's too late.” --Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Find Her “I read this novel at one sitting, absolutely riveted by the storyline. "A twisty, utterly riveting tale that will send readers on a wild rollercoaster ride of emotions. “Expertly paced and finely crafted, The Couple Next Door is a gripping thriller of the highest order. This utterly riveting psychological thriller hurtles along at breakneck speed, never giving you the opportunity to catch your breath. First-time novelist Lapena’s writing is spare and tense, and it makes The Couple Next Door a compulsive read. Twists are subtly revealed with aplomb, taking the story to increasingly unpredictable levels.” —Associated Press “[A] suspenseful, heart-wrenching debut. After numerous twists and turns, Lapena delivers one final, deftly crafted surprise.”. — Publishers Weekly. “Brisk prose style and character development are almost beside the point in Lapena’s suspense-fiction debut; this is a plot-driven page-turner, and even the most character-focused readers will find it hard to put down.” — Booklist. SHARI LAPENA worked as a lawyer and as an English teacher before turning to writing fiction.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"So, with their babysitter cancelling on them, Anne and Marco leave their baby, Cora, at home whilst they "pop" next door for a dinner party. With most of the suspects being inconsistent with their stories will Rasbach be able to cut through the noise, work out truth from lies, and bring the case to a close? I was completely enthralled by all the twists and turns, secrets and lies and some delicious family dynamics specifically between Marco and his in-laws. The action was high octane most of the way through but there were calmer moments throughout which I was grateful for as they gave me chance to catch my breath before starting off again."
"The book starts out with an interesting premise and works away at it for a couple hundred pages before devolving into a ridiculous and completely unsatisfying conclusion. The second half was a long slide down through big plot holes, thin and flimsy characters, extended re-hashing of stuff we already know, inane conversations, and convoluted "twists" that you could see coming a mile away."
"This book was not my favorite until about half way when the plot really developed."
"This was a good book to read."
"That made it tough to really dive into the book and have a vested interest in how it was going to end up for the characters."
"I enjoyed the book, it started off a bit slow as the story built and accelerated straight to the end."
"I became weary of the limited characters and simplistic interactions between them."
"The writing style is painfully simplistic. It's as if the author has no formal education beyond grade school. The characters are shallow because they are all described in short, simple sentences."
Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the heart-stopping ending. But his nickname “Holy Joe” belies his former life as a soldier. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. DISCOVER YOUR NEXT FAVOURITE MYSTERY SERIES NOW Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell. ALSO BY JOY ELLIS THE NIKKI GALENA SERIES. Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS. Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS. Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS. Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS. Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS. Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS. Book 7: BURIED ON THE FENS. Book 8: THIEVES ON THE FENS.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is a very well written thriller."
"It had everything one could want from a police procedural--two nasty villians, a competent team peopled by interesting characters, almost no gadding about with descriptions that, in my opinion anyway, do absolutely nothing to move the story forward. I also learned something about the history and origina of the can't housebreakers, etc, used to keep the average citizen from knowing what they were talking about."
"5 stars. DI Nikki Galena and her team are looking into a series of burglaries in the area. At the same time, Nikki and DS Joseph Easter are receiving strange phone calls. One of the older detectives on the team identifies the “language” used in the phone calls as a dialect that used to be popular in the 1500’s. A subplot in the book is that one of Nikki’s mother’s friends Jenny Foxwell has died on the eve of their trip abroad. Quite upset, Eve tells Nikki and Joseph about a death of another friend. After more scary phone calls, Joseph decides to stay at Nikki’s house that night. Nikki receives a surprise phone call from her determined mother giving her some information about the thieves’ case and telling her not to look for her. I like Nikki Galena, Joseph Easter, Cat and Ben and the rest of the team very much."
"This is part of a series but the author expertly ensures that they can be read as stand-alone and she does so in a way that doesn’t involve repeating events from previous books. That said there is no romance in this book it is all thriller and police procedural, however, the relationships do play their part in making the characters humans we can all relate to. I love Eve she is a feisty, ex-military, old lady with plenty of life left in her and her friends are of the same ilk and don’t take kindly to having their little group destroyed one by one and set out to discover who is behind it."
"Perhaps I am biased as have read all of Joy Ellis's books and really enjoyed them whereas I thought this book was extremely poor."
Best Women's Crime Fiction
Darby Thorne is a college student stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the middle of nowhere. She’ll have to spend the night in the rest stop with four complete strangers. There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the snow, and she doesn’t know which one of the other travelers is the kidnapper. Full of shocking twists and turns, this beautifully written novel will have you on the edge of your seat. “ I found myself having to tell myself to stop read and just BLINK, and breathe, for crying out loud. Would have read it quicker if I could have hidden myself away from the rest of the world, but alas, there was no escape from reality! The suspense starts at the very first page and only becomes more compelling until the explosive ending.” Linda Strong. “Once starting this story I just could not put it down, call it engrossing, engaging, intriguing or whatever you’d like it truly turned into one of those reads that I couldn’t break away from and today I really need a nap.” Carrie Glover. OUR LAST NIGHT Dan Rupley has 24 hours to get his dead fiancée back. Taylor Adams directed the acclaimed short film And I Feel Fine in 2008 and graduated from Eastern Washington University with the prestigious Edmund G. Yarwood Award.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Darby is heading to Utah when she is stranded by a snowstorm in Colorado at a rest stop."
"A thriller I would highly recommend!"
"There is a young female protagonist, an average girl with multiple personal problems but capable of heroic actions."
"I will buy another book from this author, but will likely read another book first."
"I see now that it is possible, although I put this one down twice--to eat dinner with my wife, during which I raved about this book--and again when we went to a movie, after which I compared the book to the movie (Valley of Bones--an all action flick but not nearly as good as NO EXIT would be on the big screen.)."
"This went much faster than most books for me because I really didn’t want to put it down, needing to read every detail and see how it played out."
"You will feel like you are there."
"I gave this book 5 stars because I felt it was well written."
Best Women Sleuths
A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim’s fiancé, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. Do yourself a favor and give this bright talent a read.” —John Hart, multiple Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of Redemption Road. Barbara Nickless has written a twisting, tortured novel that speaks with brutal honesty of the lingering traumas of war, including and especially those wounds we cannot see. I fell hard for Parnell and her four-legged partner and can't wait to read more.” —Vicki Pettersson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Swerve. Barbara Nickless has fashioned a beautifully drawn hero in take-charge, take-no-prisoners Sydney Parnell, former Marine and now a railway cop battling a deadly gang as she investigates their purported connection to a recent murder. Skilled in evoking emotion from the reader, Nickless is a master of the craft, a writer to keep your eyes on.” —Chris Goff, author of Dark Waters. “Barbara Nickless’s Blood on the Tracks is raw and authentic, plunging readers into the fascinating world of tough railroad cop Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell and her Malinois sidekick, Clyde. Haunted by her military service in Iraq, Sydney Rose is brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help solve a particularly brutal murder, leading her into a snake pit of hate and betrayal. Full of the suspense that holds you on the edge of your seat, it’s also replete with acts of bravery, moments of hope, and a host of feelings that keep the story’s intensity level high. An active member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, she has given workshops and speeches at numerous writing conferences and book events.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Here's a quick rundown, without spoilers: THE HEROINE -- At first, it appeared this was going to be another female character who somehow seems to do everything right despite all the angst she has to lug around. Her scene descriptions are vivid, and the attention to the thoughts of her main character Sydney is wonderful. ADDITIONAL WRITING THOUGHT -- The author uses transcripts of the main character's notes, interviews, journals, etc. I don't subtract stars if an author chooses to include language or sex, just letting potential readers know both exist in this book. For me, I enjoy when an author drops clues throughout the book that add up to a strong justification when the murderer is finally revealed, and I personally thought this could have been handled a little better. HOWEVER...even with the "twists" issue, the story is excellent and I found myself really liking the character of Sydney Parnell."
"Since I enjoy reading police procedural novels, I didn’t need to go past the summary description that this one included a K-9 partner to immediately select it as my Kindle First choice. While this is an especially interesting police procedural story since Sydney Rose Parnell and Clyde are part of a railroad police force, it goes much deeper."
"I was hooked from the first chapter - drawn in by the main character, Sydney, who hides her complex and compassionate nature beneath a stoic exterior."
"The story gives you the information about her past little by little, which made me love her character even more. I was pleasantly surprised when I finished the story and the second book popped up."