ramblingmads

Four cities, four killers, four murders. The Alliance is just getting started.

When four unconnected serial killers simultaneously commit identical murders across four different US cities, FBI Special Agent Shannon Wallace faces an unprecedented threat—a cooperative of killers working in unison. Each homicide is witnessed by a survivor, and now these lucky ones need to decide how to tell their stories to the world.

Their posts about the horrific murders create a media storm and a new term is soon coined for the killers: The Alliance. As they recruit new killers into their ranks and more innocent people linked to the initial murders are killed it becomes clear that Wallace is dealing with an unprecedented threat—a deadly alliance formed to terrorize the nation with coordinated strikes.

With the killers always one step ahead, the very fabric of society threatens to unravel and Wallace battles to decipher The Alliance’s endgame before they dismantle civilization city by city. In a desperate race against time, can Wallace uncover the members and motives of the Alliance and end their reign of terror before more victims wind up dead.

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Matt Brolly is the Amazon number one, and Wall Street Journal, bestselling author of the DI Blackwell novels set in Weston-super-Mare, as well as the DCI Lambert crime novels, the acclaimed near future crime novel, Zero, and the US thrillers, The Controller, The Railroad, and The Running Girls. His books have sold over one million copies in 16 countries.

 Matt lives in London with his wife, their two children, a dog called Herbie, and a cat called W.G Snuffy Walden.

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My thoughts: this was a really clever, twisted thriller, with a complex and disturbing premise.

At exactly the same time in four different cities, four 911 calls come through about four murders. As the police arrive at each scene they find two people tied to chairs, one alive, one dead. 

The FBI get involved with this deeply unusual case, finding a similar series of killings in 1996. But there seems to be no explanation. Then all the survivors disappear. 

It’s a really rather brilliant, if quite disturbing concept, I was totally hooked and wanted to find out what was going on and why all these things were happening.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

They keep each other’s secrets. They hide each other’s lies.

They were destined to be best friends. The four girls – all born that same hot summer. There was even a newspaper article after they were born. They said there must be something in the water on Larkspur Close. They predicted a safe and happy life for them all…

More than thirty years later, it’s more than an unbreakable friendship – it’s more like a sisterhood.
It’s the girls who Jess reaches out to because she’s worried about her grandparents who’ve raised her since her mother disappeared, who Erin tells about her new business idea, who Melissa calls to say she’s desperate to escape her toxic job.
But then Chantelle messages saying she’s discovered her husband is having an affair. And everything changes.
Because then her husband is found dead… And only a few people knew about his secret.
Is it just a terrible accident? Or will someone stop at nothing to keep the girls of Larkspur Close safe and happy?

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Anita Waller is the author of many bestselling psychological thrillers and the Kat and Mouse crime series. She lives in Sheffield, which continues to be the setting of many of her thrillers, and was first
published by Bloodhound at the age of sixty-nine. Her first book for Boldwood was published in August 2022.

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My thoughts: four women who grew up as close as sisters, four families bound together. When life starts to get a bit rubbish – one of the women discovers her husband is cheating on her. There’s worse to come, but as tragedy piles on tragedy, is there are a guardian angel watching over them or an avenging one?

The four, Jess, Chantelle, Mel and Erin seem like nice people, it’s just rubbish things all seem to happen at once. Though there are some good events to balance it out. I liked all of them, and even more so Jess’ Nan, Nora. I enjoyed their story, the way they leaned on each other and knew that whatever happened, they’d have one another.

There are some shocking twists in store too – I honestly thought it was all coincidence, right up until the end, and was really stunned when all was revealed. And then that little final sting in the tail (tale?) too? Nicely done.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.