Abusive Relationship
Alcohol Abuse
Vehicular Manslaughter
Cheating
Explicit Sexual Scenes
“I felt like I wanted to run away, flee the feeling and situation. I wanted to run and hide somewhere safe until the storm was over, but I couldn’t because I was in the storm, and the storm was my life.”
You might think you know how her story ends, but looks can be deceiving. Plunge into the prequel to Death Rattle and learn more about Heather Dunn, the girl who died too soon.
Your fiancé calls. ‘A little girl needs help.’ Then they both disappear…
Melody gazes across the rippling lake to the trees on the shore, waiting for her fiancé Evan to arrive so their family holiday can begin. Here in this cabin in a small Canadian island town, there’s so much space for their son to play. It’s going to be perfect – just like the first time Melody visited as a child. But then a call from Evan shatters her world.
‘There’s someone in the road. I think it’s a little girl. She’s covered in mud. Or… is it blood?’ His voice becomes distant. ‘Are you OK? What’s your name?’ Then there’s a thud.
Evan never arrives to the holiday cabin. Melody, and her son, are terrified and desperate for answers. But with miles of endless, empty forest, and no reports of a missing girl, what hope is there of finding Evan?
The more questions Melody asks of the locals, the more she fears a terrible secret hides just out of sight. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she is in…
A totally gripping thriller that will have you racing through the pages until the final shocking twist. Perfect for fans of T.M. Logan and Rachel Abbott.
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Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.
He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.
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My thoughts: another cracking thriller from Kerry Wilkinson, I knew there would be twists and there were, ones I just could not see coming.
Returning to the area of Vancouver Island she spent a happy childhood summer in, Melody and her family are set to see the sights and relax. She’s booked her son into a summer camp like the one she went to, and rented a cabin on the lake.
Then her fiancè fails to arrive. She finds his hire car, his phone, but he and his luggage are gone. The police are a bit hopeless, and Melody seems to be the only one really worried. She starts to carry out her own investigation and finds some strange people in the small community.
Then some huge twists and turns that come as Melody keeps digging, and answers she needs to find. Perhaps that long ago summer wasn’t as idyllic as she remembers and it had repercussions still being felt today…
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
You can bury the dead. But you can’t bury the past.
Jane’s father was murdered in cold blood at the family home. The killer was never found.
In the years since, Jane has done everything in her power to stay away from that house. To forget the nightmare and get on with her life.
But now she has to go back.
Her mother is ill and Jane must care for her. Her husband Joe goes with her but soon after they arrive at her family home, he begins to act strangely. Adding to her unease, Jane’s brother Dan is openly hostile.
Increasingly unnerved, Jane feels compelled to uncover the secrets of the old house. And discovers that her father may have been killed by someone close to her. Someone who’s been hiding in plain sight all these years.
Now it’s a race against time. Can Jane discover the shocking truth about her father’s death before it’s too late? Can she right the wrongs of the past?
Kevin is a Guidance Counselor by day and a psychological thriller author during his off hours. He puts an original slant on some common experiences and creates engaging stories with a personal twist. Kevin lives in Dublin, Ireland with three great kids, a frenetic Westie, Alfie, and a wife who makes him laugh, which is really all he could ask for.
My thoughts: moving in to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother brings all sorts of memories back for Jane, not least the murder of her father on the driveway, never solved, it still haunts her.
Her husband Joe resents being expected to help care for his mother-in-law and has plenty of secrets of his own, as their marriage struggles, he withdraws further.
Then there’s Jane’s odd brother Dan, always in his cycling gear, despite supposedly having a high flying finance job, he has plenty of time to pop in at random points during the day, make creepy comments and then cycle off.
As the family soldier on, Jane’s mother’s health continues to fail, she drinks too much despite the medication she’s on and her memory wanders, does a care home feature in her future sooner rather than later?
Joe confides in Dan, which can’t end well, and Jane wants to confront her husband about his secrets. As things come to a head, will Jane finally learn the truth about her dad’s death and will everyone survive the answers?
Gripping and full of twists and turns, this is a sinister and tragic family thriller.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Nina always wanted a child of her own. Now she has one.
Nina feels trapped. Her partner Gary is controlling, his daughter hates her, and she’s recently suffered a miscarriage. Just as her life seems hopeless, Alex, the son she gave up for adoption nearly 20 years ago, shows up at her door. Somehow, he has tracked her down.
Their reunion is everything Nina has hoped for. Now she has a child of her own, someone in the family who really cares about her.
But honeymoons are brief and this one is no exception.
Far from welcoming him, Gary is hostile to Alex and as their arguments become increasingly vicious, it soon becomes clear that Nina must choose between them.
But how will the abusive Gary react if she rejects him? And can she trust Alex? Is he really the loving son he seems to be – or does he have a sinister agenda of his own?
Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers for Inkubator Books: The Soulmate, The Perfect Husband and The Girl Downstairs.
Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad, a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co-authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse.
He has also written a semi-autobiographical novel, The Old Man, His Dog & Their Longest Journey.
He is an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces.
My thoughts: Nina hasn’t had a very happy life, her parents were very strict and used their religious beliefs as a stick – and when she got pregnant as a teenager sent her to an even stricter aunt and forced her to give up her son. She even lost her boyfriend when his family moved away.
Now she’s in a relationship with the rather repugnant Gary and his awful daughter Chloe is also living in her house. She’s recently lost a baby, one she wanted.
When a young man knocks on the door and claims he’s her long lost son Alex, she’s overcome. And immediately feels a connection – instantly feeling as though everything’s coming together.
But Gary is suspicious of this sudden “cousin” who is now staying with them. And despite his own nastiness, might be right. Monsters often recognise each other. As the situation in the house deteriorates, and Gary’s past starts to catch up with him too, Nina feels like she’s losing something. A chance encounter with her lost love, Ryan, her teenage boyfriend (and Alex’s father) gives her a spark of hope, but it might be too late…
Loads of shocking twists and turns, that I did not see coming, this is gripping, OMG stuff, clever and well written, and with an ending that throws in more surprises, I felt so bad for Nina, nothing in her life has gone well and she’s so desperate for happiness.
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*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Happy release day to author Jude Berman! This one sounds like a good read! Good and also a bit chilling! There’s also a chance to win 1 of 5 paperback copies. Be sure to enter below!
The Die: A Novel
Publication Date: April 2, 2024
Genre: Techno-Thriller
Darah, a tech writer living in the democratic nation of California, is dismayed to see the game she’s helping develop for a Silicon Valley tech company has been tampered with. When her hacker friend Jedd investigates, he uncovers a conspiracy that could change the nation—and the world.
With a circle of close friends, Jedd digs deeper and deeper into the darknet and exposes the unthinkable: an app is being developed that uses quantum computing and neuroscience to alter people’s brains, totally unbeknownst to them. As the friends realize the devastating impact of this technology, they’re presented with a dilemma: stay quiet and stay safe, or risk their lives to stand up to the international authoritarian force behind this plot?
Combining activist, techno-thriller, and metaphysical fiction elements and scaffolded on three realities—the ancient wisdom of the Mahabharata, our current sociopolitical reality, and the near future—The Die is a fast-paced story about friendship, courage, and democracy.
Jude Berman grew up amid floor-to-ceiling shelves of books in many languages. In addition to a love of literature, her refugee parents instilled in her a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and social justice. Jude has a BA in art from Smith College and an EdD in cross-cultural communication from UMass Amherst. After a career in academic research, she built a freelance writing and editing business and ran two small independent presses. In her free time, she volunteers for progressive causes, paints with acrylic watercolors, gardens, meditates, and blogs at https://judeberman.org. Jude lives in Berkeley, California, where she continues to work with authors and write fiction.
A passionate love story, centred on a devastating Russian plot to sabotage the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK.
Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is upended when he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is the interpreter to the Russian President. Together they will try to stop the attack that could paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy.
A fluent Russian speaker and former journalist, Harriet Crawley lived and worked in Russia for twenty years. She sent her son to state school in Moscow which, until 2016, was her second home.
My thoughts: set in a fictional version of the real Russia, with stand in names for real people, and our translator protagonist thrust into the heart of high level negotiations between the British and Russian governments.
Having taken a sabbatical to translate Chekhov, Clive Franklin is summoned to Whitehall, the usual translator having had a nasty accident. He’s reluctant to return to Moscow and the delicate balance that is diplomatic work but it isn’t optional.
There he meets former lover Marina Volina, working in the same role for Russian president Surov. Her proximity to the throne means she’s the perfect person to assist in getting information the British need about Russia’s plans.
But it is incredibly dangerous, especially as the head of the FSB (the Russian secret service) is gunning for her. She needs to stay one step ahead of him even as she and her foster son hacker Ivan act to neutralise the general and provide the information Clive needs to satisfy his bosses.
Tense, gripping and bang up to date as the targets are vital data cables in the Atlantic, there are emails and texts whizzing around and secure apps are used to organise protests and spread news that the Kremlin doesn’t want shared.
As someone with a long fascination with Russia and its history (and present) this was totally compelling reading and written by someone who knows the country well, having lived and worked there adds authenticity to the story. It’s hinted at the end that there will be more for Clive and Marina and I hope there is as I thoroughly enjoyed this.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
My mother is obsessed with every detail of my wedding – controlling my dress, my ring, my happiness. But when the day finally comes, will she really let me go? Last year, my sister’s fiancé was murdered on his wedding day. And I found my mother’s corsage next to his body…
I’m beaming as I walk down the aisle, but my smile masks a prickling fear, even though this is supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
My husband-to-be, Owen, is everything to me, with his sandy hair and sparkling blue eyes. He keeps telling me it will all be fine. I pray he’s right as I slip a gold band onto his finger with trembling hands.
Please let me be wrong about what my mother did. Please let Owen be safe.
But when the priest asks if anyone objects, I turn to look at my mother. Her eyes are icy beneath the brim of her hat, and she’s staring right at me.
Is my husband’s life in danger? Or is it mine…?
A page-turning, addictive psychological thriller from an Amazon no. 1 bestseller with twists that will have your head spinning until the very end. Fans of The Housemaid, The Family Upstairs and The Perfect Marriage will be absolutely gripped!
Samantha Hayes grew up in a creative family where her love of writing began as a child. Samantha has written eight thrillers in total, including the bestselling Until You’re Mine. The Independent said “fantastically written and very tense” while Good Housekeeping said “Her believable psychological thrillers are completely gripping.” Samantha’s books are published in 22 languages at the last count.
When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.
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My thoughts: Moving back home with her loving fiancè, to live with her impossible, manipulative mother, who might be a murderer, Lizzie and Owen are determined to make the best of a bad situation. Even if Lizzie’s mother insists on organising their wedding herself.
Lizzie harbours plenty of suspicions about her mother, especially as she never really knew what was going on in her parents’ life, her dad’s currently in a psychiatric hospital, her sister avoids their mother and now she’s completely paranoid.
But she thinks she’s right to be. There are a lot of questions about her mum, why she left her job so abruptly, blaming Lizzie, whether she was involved in the tragic death of sister Shelley’s fiancè Rafe on their wedding day a year before, and more.
As she starts to dig into her mother’s history, asking her dad some questions too, and the police are asking a few questions about Rafe’s death again, perhaps she’ll finally get some answers, but it isn’t until her wedding day that the truth will all be revealed…
If you like complicated domestic thrillers, where the characters aren’t asking the right questions and a very dysfunctional family, who could all do with some communication lessons and probably therapy, a lot of secrets and tragedy, then you’ll enjoy this, with its twists and misdirection.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
The unputdownable new thriller from the bestselling author of The Perfect Holiday, which will have fans of Lucy Clarke and T M Logan gripped.
As soon as you first see the house, a former hotel in a picturesque enclave of the Cypriot hills, you know it’s the perfect home for you – with breath-taking views, a refreshing pool, and peace and quiet, away from the rest of the world. A private resort in paradise. A place to recover and grow. But paradise isn’t cheap, and as the debts mount, you could lose everything you’ve worked so hard for. Until someone makes you an offer: to keep your home, all you have to do is take a life. But you could never do that… could you? You’d die to stay here. But would you kill to?
Tracey lives in Scotland and writes psychological thrillers. Her short stories have been widely published in anthologies and literary magazines, and her feature writing has appeared in Stella magazine, Woman’s Own and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her first psychological thriller for Boldwood, The Perfect Holiday, was published in April 2022 and was an Amazon bestseller.
My thoughts: this is why I am suspicious of any of these wellbeing places that seem a bit too cult-like. There’s always way too much secret tension and no one is completely immune to the lure of the outside world.
When Sofia returns to the place her mother died, now a hugely wealthy and dangerous young woman, she’s there for revenge. She’s not coming back to see the people she once knew but offer them a terrible proposition. If they kill their leader, Quinn, she will give them three million euros and enable them to turn the dilapidated villa into a resort and make it a success.
But is this a price too far? Is murder too much, or will someone do anything for the right place. As Sofia’s offer forces the small cracks between the residents to widen and grow, Quinn starts to unravel and secrets come to light. Can this tiny community stay together or will the money drive them apart?
Tense, creepy and sinister, moving between narrators and timelines, this is a clever and gripping thriller set in the Cyprus hills.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for book two in The Teddy Bear Chronicles, Chloe’s Crusade by Donnalyn Vojta!
Chloe’s Crusade (Teddy Bear Chronicles #2)
Genre: Psychological Thriller
*NOT a children’s book*
In this second volume of the unique thriller/suspense series narrated by inanimate teddy bears, the ever-brave Chloe Stogdon inserts herself into the dark and chilling world of a global drug clan. Her fearless companion, Tiny Bear, provides a vivid account of the distressing, disturbing events that unfold around Chloe and her FBI team.
The story takes exciting turns and offers many layers of drama, including a love triangle, a star-struck stalker, and a tattered family relationship that may or may not recover. Chloe’s old friends, Richard and Sidney from Vol. I become entangled in Chloe’s perilous cartel crusade, and Love Bear, Fair Bear, and a debut bear, Rocco, reveal all the thrilling moments seen through their innocent eyes.
Formerly a litigation attorney, one constant in Donnalyn Vojta’s life is her love for writing, whether novels or screenplays. Vojta’s goal is always to entertain others as she’d like to be entertained. And for her, that means lots of suspense and thrilling twists!
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner comes a harrowing new thriller: Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
She has called herself “death,” but people called her the devil.
The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the very beginning, waived all appeals. Despite the media’s chronicling of her tragic circumstances—the childhood spent with a violent father—no one could find sympathy for “the Beautiful Butcher” who had led eighteen men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats. Now, with only twenty-one days left to live, Pierson has finally received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago, and she needs Frankie’s help to find her. The Beautiful Butcher’s offer:
When was the last time your search ended with finding the living?
Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Pierson’s request. Twelve years ago, five-year-old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Pierson’s tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus. Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific—the site of MacManus’s latest vanity project—fresh evidence has appeared. In order to learn the truth and possibly save a young woman’s life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. Her challenge: A dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. Zero means of calling for help. And then the storm rolls in…
Lisa Gardner, a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist, began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published across 30 countries. Her novel, The Neighbor, won Best Hardcover Novel from the International Thriller Writers. She has also been honored for her work with animal rescue and at-risk children. An avid hiker, gardener and cribbage player, Lisa lives with her family in New England.
My thoughts: there are some authors who are auto-buys for me (Karin Slaughter, Karen Rose, Louise Candlish) and Lisa Gardner is one of them. I especially love this series because I love Frankie.
Although I do worry about her, Frankie has narrowly avoided death in both previous books and this time she’s working for a serial killer. Oh, Frankie, why?
Pulled into the tragedy of Kaylee Pierson’s life, she’s on her way to a tropical paradise that might just be anything but.
Remote, isolated, no real way to contact the outside world, basically a terrible idea. Although the people staffing the not exactly built retreat are nice, but one of them might be a murderer or a paedophile or in league with the serial killer. But Frankie goes in undercover and soon discovers that Kaylee is not just a killer but a liar, and there is something else going on here.
I really like Frankie, she’s a wonderful character, despite how she sees herself, as a bit of a failure at life. She’s survived plenty of hard knocks and uses her street smarts, ability to read people and quick mouth to get in and out of trouble. This might just be her hardest case yet, the cavalry are too far away, she doesn’t know who to trust and psychopaths can’t be reasoned with.
A corking addition to this series, with all the twists and turns and terrifying moments Lisa Gardner’s known for, I could not put it down and devoured it in one (intense) sitting.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 