thriller

    What Happened to Nina? By Dervla McTiernan

    Published March, 2024 I don’t recall reading anything by Dervla McTiernan, but I will probably check out some of her other books after spending much of the past couple of days engrossed in her novel What Happened to Nina? – which grabbed me from the start. Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley, I received a …

    The Teacher by Freida McFadden

    Publication Date February 6, 2024 I enjoy psychological thrillers, but had not previously read anything by Freida McFadden (One By One, The Co-Worker, The Housemaid) , so I had no expectations when I received a copy of The Teacher from Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The story has two …

    All The Demons Are Here by Jake Tapper

    In 2018, I reviewed Jake Tapper’s book The Hellfire Club, and was introduced to Charlie Marder, a young Congressman (thanks to his father’s influence when a seat became vacant). He and his wife Margaret, a zoologist, have a ton of interesting experiences in and around Washington, D.C., and I loved the way the issues and …

    Inside Threat by Matthew Quirk

    About two weeks ago, I was looking for a good binge watch and came across The Night Agent on Netflix. I loved it, so when I was looking for something to read and saw Inside Threat by Matthew Quirk WHO ALSO WROTE THE NIGHT AGENT…sign me up! So the story is one of those political …

    City Of Dreams by Don Winslow

    My perception of the books written by Don Winslow has been that they are the kind of books my husband loves: full of action, violence, drugs, sex, and maybe even some rock ‘n roll, but I could be wrong about that…in any case, I hadn’t read any of them, although I had started both The …

    The Prisoner by B.A. Paris

    I am a big fan of  “unputdownable psychological thrillers,” and a huge fan of B.A. Paris’s Behind Closed Doors (2016),   Bring Me Back (2018),  The Dilemma (2020), and last year’s The Therapist, I was happy to receive a copy of The Prisoner from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in return for my honest review. …

    The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane

    If you enjoy stories with unreliable narrators, possibly unstable women, annoying characters in general, and a nice dose of gaslighting, here’s a book for you! Or possibly you just want something twisty and turny to get your mind off the death of democracy and a worldwide pandemic for a day or two, well, buckle up! …

    The New Neighbor by Karen Cleveland

    Author Karen Cleveland has a solid background for writing thrillers that revolve around intelligence agencies and personnel: she was a Fulbright Scholar, earned a master’s degree from Trinity College in Dublin and Harvard, and  was a CIA analyst for eight years, focused on counterterrorism – and she also worked with the FBI. So, bottom line: …

    Mercy by David Baldacci

    David Baldacci’s series featuring FBI agent Atlee Pine began in 2018, with Long Road to Mercy. Subsequent titles included A Minute to Midnight and Daylight, continuing the story of Atlee’s search for her twin sister Mercy. I was pleased to receive a copy of Mercy,  #4 in the series, from Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley …

    A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker

    When I first read T. Jefferson Parker’s Laguna Heat back in 1985, I had recently moved to Santa Cruz and was ecstatic to be living in a small beach town again — because I grew up in South Orange County (specifically in and around Laguna Beach) and graduated high school in 1965. So I know …

    Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger

    Lisa Unger has another solid thriller out, with Last Girl Ghosted following Confessions on the 7:45 onto the list of woman-in-danger thrillers. I’m not the intended demographic, being totally not interested in dating apps, quickie hookups, or advice bloggers, but I was quickly taken in by the story. (TBH I did find myself getting annoyed …

    Mr. Nobody by Catherine Steadman

    I REALLY liked Catherine Steadman’s Something In the Water from 2018, so I was happy to receive a copy of her latest, Mr. Nobody, from Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. The protagonist, Dr. Emma Lewis, is a psychiatrist who has been to examine a man who has apparently washed up …

    No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez

    It’s winter. It’s dark and cold (or at least as cold as it ever gets at the beach on the Central Coast of California). For a few weeks, I’ve been craving one of THOSE books: the kind that grab you early on and keep you reading until you finish. And, thanks to Harper Collins/William Morrow …

    I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll

    Teresa Driscoll spent years as a reporter writing about crime, and she brings that experience into her writing (The Promise, The Friend, I Am Watching You). Apparently, there are characters from her earlier books in her latest one, I Will Make You Pay, but I haven’t read those and didn’t feel like I was missing …

    Nighttown by Timothy Hallinan

    Timothy Hallinan writes just the kind of books that SOUND really exciting and somewhat quirky. Nighttown, the latest (#7) in the Junior Bender series, came my way thanks to Soho Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. As it turned out, I tried several times to get into it, but it just wasn’t …

    The Fox by Frederick Forsyth

    Sometimes, you just want a rock solid spy story, like John LeCarre or Frederick Forsyth might write…recently, I did, and fortunately (thanks to Penguin Group/ G.P.Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley) I had a copy of Forsyth’s latest novel, The Fox, provided to me in exchange for an honest review. The protagonist is the former chief of …

    One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt

    A Haiku Review of One Fatal Mistake by Tom Hunt   Her son kills a man Together they coverup Then all hell breaks loose   Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in return for this honest haiku – I mean review.   A good, quick read. Kept me occupied all afternoon and …

    Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

    Beautiful Bad sounded like just my thing: psychological thriller, plucky heroine, remote locations, etc. So I was happy to provide an honest review in return for a copy from Harlequin/Park Row and NetGalley. This one has several of the things I like (listed above), and a few that maybe I have just gotten tired of, …

    The Burglar by Thomas Perry

    I am generally a fan of Thomas Perry’s books, so I was happy to get a copy of The Burglar from Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press and NetGalley in return for my honest review. As the story opens, we meet the protagonist, a petite blonde named Elle who is a successful burglar in the rich neighborhoods around …

    Alter Ego by Brian Freeman

    When I started reading Alter Ego, Brian Freeman’s latest, I kept thinking “wait, I KNOW this Jonathan Stride, a cop from Duluth, I recognize his house…” But then I thought maybe I was getting him mixed up with a character in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport/Virgil Flowers series – or maybe it was in one of …