Book Review: Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell

Monday 5 September, 2011 By 2 Comments

Title: Claim of Innocence
Author: Laura Caldwell
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: August 23, 2011
Paperback: 448 pages
ISBN: 978-0778329329
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Book Synopsis:

It was a crime of passion—or so the police say. Valerie Solara has been charged with poisoning her best friend. The prosecution claims she’s always been secretly attracted to Amanda’s husband…and with Amanda gone, she planned to make her move.

Attorney Izzy McNeil left the legal world a year ago, but a friend’s request pulls her into the murder trial. Izzy knows how passion can turn your life upside down. She thought she had it once with her ex-fiancé, Sam. Now she wonders if that’s all she has in common with her criminally gorgeous younger boyfriend, Theo.

It’s Izzy’s job to present the facts that will exonerate her client—whether or not she’s innocent. But when she suspects Valerie is hiding something, she begins investigating—and uncovers a web of secret passions and dark motives, where seemingly innocent relationships can prove poisonous….

My Review:

Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell is a fast-paced legal thriller about a woman accused of murdering her best friend, and about her defense attorney, Izzy McNeil, who is trying her first criminal case after a leave from her exclusively civil litigations.  Readers are introduced to Valerie Solara, who has been accused of poisoning her best friend, Amanda, whose husband Valerie has been longing for. Mixed in with Izzy’s own personal romantic urges, the interpersonal issues makes for a complicated plot that at times loses focus on the legal case at hand.  As readers follow the case for the defense of Valerie, they will find that not is all as it seemed at first to Izzy, and as she builds her case for her client, the suspense is turned up several notches and suspense fans will delight in the discoveries that await Izzy.  One of my personal dislikes of this novel was the romance, which I found to be a distraction from what would otherwise be a taut mystery thriller.  Being part of the Izzy McNeil series, which I have not read, may be part of the reason for my opinions, for I felt at times that knowing a little more about Izzy, especially when allusions to other works were made, would have helped.  With that said, I would recommend Claim of Innocence to those who enjoy a good legal thriller with romance thrown in for good measure.

To learn more about author Laura Caldwell, please visit her website: www.lauracaldwell.com

I received a complimentary copy of Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. to offer my honest review of the book.  Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review: Creep by Jennifer Hillier

Saturday 3 September, 2011 By 6 Comments

Title: Creep
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: July 5, 2011
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-1451625844
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

From the Publisher:

If he can’t have her . . . Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away

. . . . no one else can.

Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancÉ discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

My Review:

Creep by Jennifer Hillier is an intense debut suspense thriller that will keep even the most reluctant reader entranced until the very end.  Readers are thrown into the deep end as Hillier wastes no time in developing the plot straightaway on page one.  Hillier crafts an excellent and most creepy scenario as the basis for this story involving a college professor, Dr. Sheila Tao and her not-so-willing-to-let-things-go teaching assistant, Ethan.  Hillier introduces readers to Sheila and Ethan while Sheila is revealing to him that she was just engaged and that their own taboo affair would have to end.  With Ethan not seeing why their affair must end, the intensity escalates and threats of blackmail ensue.  And this is all in the first chapter.  Readers will not be disappointed by the early and rapid developments as Hillier maintains the plot progression at an astounding pace.  In this psychological thriller, Hillier has made her first mark in the suspense genre an extraordinarily memorable one.  I highly recommend Creep to adults interested in a fast-paced thrill ride for their next read.

To learn more about author Jennifer Hillier, please visit her website: www.jenniferhillier.org

I received a complimentary copy of Creep by Jennifer Hillier from Gallery Books Publicity to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review: Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon

Thursday 18 August, 2011 By 8 Comments

Title: Shut Your Eyes Tight (Dave Gurney, No. 2)
Author: John Verdon
Publisher: Crown
Publication Date: July 12, 2011
Hardcover: 528 pages
ISBN: 978-0307717894
Genre: Fiction, Thriller

From the Publisher:

 When he was the NYPD’s top homicide investigator, Dave Gurney was never comfortable with the label the press gave him: super detective. He was simply a man who, when faced with a puzzle, wanted to know. He was called to the investigative hunt by the presumptuous arrogance of murderers – by their smug belief that they could kill without leaving a trace. There was always a trace, Gurney believed.

Except what if one day there wasn’t?Dave Gurney, a few months past the Mellery case that pulled him out of retirement and then nearly killed him, is trying once again to adjust to his country house’s bucolic rhythms when he receives a call about a case so seductively bewildering that the thought of not looking into it seems unimaginable—even if his beloved wife, Madeleine, would rather he do anything but.The facts of what has occurred are horrible: a blushing bride, newly wed to an eminent psychiatrist and just minutes from hearing her congratulatory toast, is found decapitated, her head apparently severed by a machete. Though police investigators believe that a Mexican gardener killed the young woman in a fit of jealous fury, the victim’s mother—a chilly high-society beauty—is having none of it. Reluctantly drawn in, Dave is quickly buffeted by a series of revelations that transform the bizarrely monstrous into the monstrously bizarre.  Underneath it all may exist one of the darkest criminal schemes imaginable. And as Gurney begins deciphering its grotesque outlines, some of his most cherished assumptions about himself are challenged, causing him to stare into an abyss so deep that it threatens to swallow not just him but Madeleine, too.
Desperate to protect Madeleine and bring an end to the madness, Gurney ultimately discovers that the killer has left a trace after all. Unfortunately, the revelation may come too late to save his own life.With Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon delivers on the promise of his internationally bestselling debut, Think of a Number, creating a portrait of evil let loose across generations that is as rife with moments of touching humanity as it is with spellbinding images of perversity.



My Review:

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon is a captivating thriller and the second book in the Detective Dave Gurney series, a series beginning with Verdon’s debut Think of a Number.  In Shut Your Eyes Tight, Gurney is once again called out of retirement to investigate a heinous beheading and readers will delight in the superior style that Verdon has adopted in this most compelling series of thrillers.  Verdon masterfully crafted this mystery thrill ride where Gurney finds evil far beyond his wildest expectations as he investigates the gruesome and bizarre death of a new bride in the middle of her wedding reception.  Verdon has cleverly crafted an exceptional thriller while exemplifying beautiful literary characteristics in his use of vivid descriptions and details of the characters, their lives, and their surroundings.   Shut Your Eyes Tight was a book that could have gone on forever and I would not complain, and I am glad to see he has continued in the tradition of excellence set out with the original Dave Gurney novel.  Without reservation I recommend Shut Your Eyes Tight to anyone looking for an exceptionally thought out thriller.

About the Author:

JOHN VERDON has held several executive positions with Manhattan advertising firms, but like his protagonist, he recently relocated with his wife to rural upstate New York. Shut Your Eyes Tight is his second novel.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received a complimentary ARC of Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Filed Under: Book Review, Book Tour Tagged With: , , , , ,

Book Review: Long Gone by Alafair Burke

Saturday 13 August, 2011 By 4 Comments

Title: Long Gone
Author: Alafair Burke
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: June 21, 2011
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0061999185
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

From the Publisher:

What if everything you thought you knew turned out to be a lie? 
…more may be read by clicking the click above, I want to avoid potential spoilers…

My Review:

Long Gone by Alafair Burke is a tantalizing and taught suspense thriller that will take readers on an exciting journey with Alice Humphrey whose new job, working as the curator of a Manhattan art gallery, has just become a nightmare. I have read other works from Burke, so by saying Burke has kept up with the pattern of her previous novels, I imply that Long Gone is another excellent and suspenseful mystery that is sure to please mystery fans. Burke, in Long Gone, has yet again crafted in masterful fashion a plot with more twists and turns than a small intestine, keeping readers on the end of their seats as this story is hard to read in anything but one sitting. When the man who hired Alice is found dead in the art gallery, and all of the art has disappeared, the story takes on a life of its own as Alice finds herself the prime suspect in the murder. Told from various perspectives, readers will delight in following Alice along of path of deception, littered with secrets that will disturb the very foundations of Alice’s upbringing. The plot twists are well placed and Burke has crafted exceptional characters with realistic flaws. Lone Gone is an all around great suspense mystery that drew me into the plot early and kept me engaged through to the unexpected conclusion. I recommend Long Gone to all fans of suspense mysteries, but must caution the profanity at times may be too harsh for some readers.

To learn more about author Alafair Burke or her books, please visit her website: alafairburke.com

I received a complimentary ARC of Long Gone by Alafair Burke from Harper Collins. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review: The Sixes by Kate White

Wednesday 3 August, 2011 By 4 Comments

Title: The Sixes
Author: Kate White
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
Hardcover: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0061576621
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

From the Publisher:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hush and the Bailey Weggins mystery series comes a thriller set in a college town where a student’s death sends one woman on a search for the truth and into the clutches of a frightening secret society.

Phoebe Hall’s Manhattan life has suddenly begun to unravel. Right after her long-term boyfriend breaks off their relationship, she’s falsely accused of plagiarizing her latest bestselling celebrity biography. Looking for a quiet place to put her life back together, Phoebe jumps at the offer to teach in a sleepy Pennsylvania town at a small private college run by her former boarding school roommate and close friend, Glenda Johns.

But behind the campus’s quiet cafés and leafy maple trees lie evil happenings. The body of a female student washes up on the banks of a nearby river, and disturbing revelations begin to surface: accusations from coeds about abuses wrought by a secret society of girls on campus known as The Sixes.. To help Glenda, Phoebe embarks on a search for clues—a quest that soon raises painful memories of her own boarding school days years ago.

As the investigation heats up, Phoebe unexpectedly finds herself falling for the school’s handsome psychology professor, Duncan Shaw. But when nasty pranks turn into deadly threats, Phoebe realizes she’s in the middle of a real-life nightmare, not knowing whom she can trust and if she will even survive.

Plunging deeper into danger with every step, Phoebe knows she’s close to unmasking a killer. But with truth comes a terrifying revelation: your darkest secrets can still be uncovered . . . and starting over may be a crime punishable by death.



My Review:

The Sixes by Kate White is a tantalizing mystery suspense thriller set on the campus of a small town  college in Pennsylvania.  White weaves an intriguing tale that begins when writer Phoebe Hall decides to relocate to a rural setting to teach at a small private college after her career in Manhattan begins to crumble amidst plagiarism accusations.  What Hall does not know is that beneath the façade of the reputable school is a secret society, known as The Sixes, made up of some very strange girls with extremely disturbing behavior.  Though The Sixes would naturally be implicated when one of the college coeds is found dead in a nearby river, White crafts plenty of twists and turns within the plot to keep readers guessing and second-guessing as Hall is asked by the college president to learn more about The Sixes and to get to the bottom of a seemingly linked series of incidents.  Although the plot is loaded with suspense and mystery, I found some of the characters to lack a full complement of dimensions, but then again, these are college coed sociopaths that White has cast for her novel and one might expect there to be some shallow characters.  I think readers will enjoy White’s story, the backdrop of the college setting and the suspenseful moments that make The Sixes an exciting read.  I recommend The Sixes to mystery suspense fans in search of a good thrill.

To learn more about author Kate White and her books, please visit her website katewhite.com

I received a complimentary arc of The Sixes by Kate White from Harper Collins. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review: Delirious by Daniel Palmer

Saturday 22 January, 2011 By 19 Comments


Title: Delirious
Author: Daniel Palmer
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: January 25, 2011
Hardcover: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0758246646
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

From the Publisher:

In Daniel Palmer’s blistering, fast-paced debut, one man is taken to the edge of sanity in a mind-bending novel of paranoia, deception, and revenge…

Charlie Giles is at the top of his game. An electronics superstar, he’s sold his startup company to a giant Boston firm, where he’s now a senior director. With his dog, Monte, at his side, Charlie is treated like a VIP everywhere he goes.

Then one day, everything in Charlie’s neatly ordered world starts to go terrifyingly wrong. His prestigious job and his inventions are wrenched away from him. His family is targeted, and his former employers are dying gruesomely, picked off one by one. Every sign, every shred of evidence, points to Charlie as a cold-blooded killer. And soon Charlie is unable to tell whether he’s succumbed to the pressures of work and become the architect of his own destruction., or whether he’s the victim of a relentless, diabolical attack.

In a desperate struggle to save his life, Charlie races to uncover the truth, all the while realizing that nothing can be trusted—least of all his own fractured mind…

My Review:

Daniel Palmer’s debut book Delirious is a fast-paced emotional and psychological thriller that does not disappoint. Schizophrenia runs in Charlie Giles’ family and he has spent his adult life trying to avoid his schizophrenic brother Joe, their mother, who has devoted her life to caring for Joe, and desperately trying to forget their schizophrenic father who walked out on all of them. Charlie is a man in charge, his life is organised and appears to be going quite well until he starts finding notes he has absolutely no recollection of writing, and as things begin to escalate, he begins to fear for his own sanity and reaches out to Dr. Rachel Evans at Walderman Hospital. There his brother is still treated on an outpatient basis, but will he receive the answers he is longing to hear? Charles cannot decipher whether he is losing his mind or if someone is framing him, as both are symptoms of the disease he has grown up with and fears. Delirious is fraught with intense moments, extraordinary characters and exceedingly brilliant and unexpected plot developments and twists along the way. Palmer creates scenes where the reader will be questioning Charlie throughout the book. Filled with vivid scenes and an exceptional plot I was unable to set Delirious down. Daniel Palmer has made a name for himself with Delirious and is an author to keep an eye on. I highly recommend Delirious to anyone who enjoys an exceptional psychological thriller.

*Up until the book’s release, on January 25, 2011, Daniel Palmer will be posting the prologue and first three chapters of Delirious on his Facebook fan page.

About the Author:

Daniel Palmer spent a decade as an e-commerce pioneer, helping to build first generation Web sites for Barnes & Noble and other popular brands. An experienced musician and songwriter, Daniel has recorded two CDs and licensed his songs for commercial use. A graduate of Boston University, Daniel lives in New Hampshire with his wife and two children.

For more information about Daniel Palmer and his books:

Website
Twitter
Facebook

I received a complimentary ARC of Delirious by Daniel Palmer from the author to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: , ,

Book Review and Tour: Secrets To The Grave by Tami Hoag

Thursday 23 December, 2010 By 12 Comments


Title: Secrets to the Grave
Author: Tami Hoag
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Publication Date: December 28, 2010
Hardcover: 464 pages
ISBN: 978-0451230539
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

From the Publisher:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with her second thriller in the Deeper than the Dead microseries, exploring the early days of forensic investigation, the characteristics of innocence-and the nature of evil.

Marissa Fordham had a past full of secrets, a present full of lies. Everyone knew of her, but no one knew her.

When Marissa is found brutally murdered, with her young daughter, Haley, resting her head on her mother’s bloody breast, she sends the idyllic California town of Oak Knoll into a tailspin. Already on edge with the upcoming trial of the See- No-Evil killer, residents are shocked by reports of the crime scene, which might not have been discovered for days had it not been for a chilling 911 call: a small child’s voice saying, “My daddy hurt my mommy.”

Sheriff’s detective Tony Mendez faces a puzzle with nothing but pieces that won’t fit. To assist with his witness, Haley, he calls teacher-turned-child advocate Anne Leone. Anne’s life is hectic enough-she’s a newlywed and a part- time student in child psychology, and she’s the star witness in the See-No-Evil trial. But one look at Haley, alone and terrified, and Anne’s heart is stolen.

As Tony and Anne begin to peel back the layers of Marissa Fordham’s life, they find a clue fragment here, another there. And just when it seems Marissa has taken her secrets to the grave, they uncover a fact that puts Anne and Haley directly in the sights of a killer: Marissa Fordham never existed.

My Review:

Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag is the second book in her Deeper Than the Dead microseries which picks up one year later in Oak Knoll, California, 1986.  While Secrets to the Grave could be read as a stand alone thriller, I strongly recommend all readers begin with Deeper Than the Dead as the book is absolutely brilliant and will give the reader a deeper knowledge of many of the key players and background for those readers young enough not to recall a time when computers were not in every home and people still used land lines and beepers.  Hoag is a master at crafting clever thrillers with enough leads to make the reader confident, but then she throws in a twist giving the reader pause, further hooking the reader into the story.  In both Secrets to the Grave and her previous book, Deeper Than the Dead, I truly enjoyed what I refer to as nostalgia thrillers, as Hoag does indeed take the reader to the 80s where profiling is just entering the vocabulary of the police, forensics is on the cutting edge, but not yet advanced enough to be routine and killers are caught the old fashion way, with a lot of detective leg work, paper work, and old fashioned sleuthing.  The series title, Deeper Than the Dead stems from the 1980s when fledgling profilers were housed at Quantico, Virginia, 60 feet underground, ten times deeper than the dead.  I so enjoyed Deeper Than the Dead I was not certain if Hoag would be able to meet my expectations of making Secrets to the Grave equally captivating. I need not have worried because Hoag met and exceeded all of my expectations, as I did not pause once while reading Secrets to the Grave.   Tami Hoag has a way of capturing the reader’s attention from the first page and not letting go and Secrets to the Grave is no exception.   With excellent attention to details, clever plot twists, richly developed characters and the effects of murder on the small town of Oak Knoll, this book is an excellent thriller and one not to be missed.   My only warning to readers would be to prepare for hours of being deeply engrossed in the complexities of the story, unable to do anything but read and guess the ending.  My only regret is I now must wait for Hoag’s next book; I became spoiled being able to read one right after another.  Without reservation I recommend Secrets to the Grave to all adult readers who enjoy suspense novels.

About the Author:

Tami Hoag is the #1 bestselling author of thirty novels. Since 1995′s Night Sins, each succeeding book has been a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Southern California and Florida.

To learn more about Tami Hoag please visit her website, follow her on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Filed Under: Book Review, Book Tour Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review: Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag

Wednesday 22 December, 2010 By 4 Comments


Title: Deeper Than the Dead
Author: Tami Hoag
Publisher: Signet; Reprint edition (October 26, 2010)
Publication Date: October 26, 2010
Paperback: 560 pages
ISBN: 978-0451230539
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

From the Publisher:

California, 1985-Four children and young teacher Anne Navarre make a gruesome discovery: a partially buried female body, her eyes and mouth glued shut. A serial killer is at large, and the very bonds that hold their idyllic town together are about to be tested. Tasked with finding the killer, FBI investigator Vince Leone employs a new and controversial FBI technique called “profiling”, which plunges him into the lives of the four children-and the young teacher whose need to uncover the truth is as intense as his own. But as new victims are found, Vince and Anne find themselves circling the same small group of local suspects, blissfully unaware that someone very near to them is a murderous psychopath…

My Review:

I have been a Tami Hoag fan since 1995 but I took a brief hiatus for reasons I cannot recall and was delighted to be asked to review Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag, which is the first in her newest series and I was thrilled to see how easily I fell into rhythm with the book and Hoag’s writing. After reading the book, I realised just how much I had missed Hoag’s excellently crafted suspenseful books and well developed characters. In Deeper Than the Dead, Hoag takes the reader to Oak Knoll, California, the year is 1985 and for those not as old as me, the 80s lacked the current technological advances found today on television and in modern day suspense thrillers. Police departments did not have computers, pagers were the closest we had to cell phones, forensics was far less advanced and profiling was just entering the scene and not well accepted. Hoag cleverly sets the stage and has four children from Anne Navarre’s 5th grade class stumble upon a body in the woods. Anne works closely with the local deputies, especially Mendez and FBI profiler Vince Leone to help with the case. Anne works closely with the students to learn what they know and to find out about their lives while Mendez and Leone work to discover not only the identities of the women, but also create a profile of the serial killer. Hoag masterfully creates a suspenseful plot from page one, offering up many red herrings along the way as the reader is drawn deeper and deeper into not only the case, but also the lives of Anne, Vince, and the four children as well as their parents. Rich in detail, prose, fantastic character development, and enough plot twists to delight any suspense fan, Hoag’s novel is one the will capture the reader and not let go until the very end. I found myself unable to set down the book and devoured all 560 pages without realising time passing. The second book in the series Secrets to the Grave will be released on 28 December and I am fortunate to have read that book as well. Please check back on 23 December for the review of Secrets to the Grave. I highly recommend Deeper Than the Dead to any reader who enjoys an excellent suspense novel.

About the Author:

Tami Hoag is the #1 bestselling author of thirty novels. Since 1995′s Night Sins, each succeeding book has been a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Southern California and Florida.

To learn more about Tami Hoag please visit her website, follow her on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

I received a complimentary copy of Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: , , , ,

Book Review and Tour: The Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello

Monday 20 December, 2010 By 10 Comments


Title: The Clouds Roll Away
Author: Sibella Giorello
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: March 16, 2010
Paperback: 336 Pages
ISBN: 978-1609360252
Genre: Fiction, Christian, Suspense

From the Publisher:

Raleigh Harmon’s life seems as impossible to solve as the high-profile case she’s pursuing.

Closing her assignment with the FBI’s Seattle office, forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon returns to her hometown of Richmond, Virginia, expecting a warm welcome. Instead she finds herself investigating an ugly cross burning at a celebrity’s mansion and standing in the crosshairs of her boss at the Bureau. And the deeper Raleigh digs into the case, the murkier the water becomes…until she’s left wondering who the real victims might be.

To make matters worse, Raleigh’s personal life offers almost zero clarity. Her former confidant is suddenly remote while her former boyfriend keeps popping up wherever she goes. And then there’s her mother. Raleigh’s move home was supposed to improve Nadine’s fragile sanity, but instead seems to be making things worse.

As the threads of the case begin crossing and double-crossing, Raleigh is forced to rely on her forensic skills, her faith, and the fervent hope that breakthrough will come, bringing with it that singular moment when the clouds roll away and everything finally makes sense.

My Review:

The Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello is the third book in her Raleigh Harmon series and is an interesting mixture of Christian fiction and suspense. Giorello’s writing is quite vivid and descriptive, making it easy for readers to imagine themselves in the story. The characters are flawed just enough to make them realistic and Giorello takes a long and hard look at the heart and mind of humans and what makes one hate when another does not. The book moves along at a fast clip and the action will keep the reader engaged throughout the book. Giorello gives the reader a brilliant heroine who is being pulled in all directions and at the end of her tether, yet her faith guides her through. In theory, The Clouds Roll Away could read well as a stand alone book, yet I think it would be best for the previous books, The Stones Cry Out and The Rivers Run Dry to have been read first to truly understand the main characters, their personal struggles and the intricacies of their lives. For those who enjoy an excellently written Christian fiction book and enjoy suspense, I would definitely recommend reading The Clouds Roll Away.

About the Author:

Sibella Giorello began writing as a features reporter for newspapers and magazines. Her stories won numerous awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She recently won a Christy award for her novel Stones Cry Out. She lives in Washington state with her husband and family.

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Clouds Roll Away by giving away a KINDLE prize pack worth over $150.00!

One Grand Prize winner will receive:
Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi
$25 gift certificate to Amazon.com

To enter visit Sibella Giorello’s Blog and click the button is on the right hand side. Good Luck!

Follow the blog tour and read other reviews.

I received a complimentary copy of The Clouds Roll Away by Sibella Giorello from LitFuse Publicity Group. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review, Book Tour Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review and Tour: Talion by Mary Maddox

Tuesday 7 December, 2010 By 3 Comments


Title: Talion
Author: Mary Maddox
Publisher: Cantraip Press
Publication Date: March 27, 2010
Paperback: 296 pages
ISBN: 978-0984428106
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense

Book Synopsis:

The dying body has a thousand voices, and all of them speak to Conrad (Rad) Sanders. Fifteen-year-old Lisa Duncan has no idea she has attracted Rad’s interest. At a mountain resort in Utah, he watches as vivacious Lisa begins an unlikely friendship with Lu Jakes, the strange and introverted daughter of employees there. Lu enters his fantasies as well. He learns she is being abused by her stepmother and toys with the notion of freeing her from her sad life and keeping her awhile as his captive. Lu seems like an easy conquest who could be persuaded to act out his fantasy by turning against her new friend.

But someone else is watching over Lu.

Talion appears to Lu as an angelic vision. He offers her love and counsel, the courage to defend herself from bullies at school and a way to free herself from her stepmother’s violence. He seems to know beforehand what will happen. But Talion’s true nature is unclear. His guidance leads Lu into dark places, moving her inevitably closer to the world inhabited by Rad. When she and Lisa are thrust into that darkness, will Talion come to her aid? Or will he become the killer’s ally?

My Review:

Talion by Mary Maddox contains an intriguing premise with diverse characters such as Rad (Conrad Sanders), a serial killer posing as a guest at the Hidden Creek Lodge where Lisa Duncan is currently visiting her Aunt Debbie and Uncle Hank, the owners of Hidden Creek Lodge, due to a misunderstanding with her parents.  While visiting, Lisa meets Lu, an unusual girl who is severely abused by her stepmother, Noreen, and her father Duane does not protect her from Noreen’s abuse.  Talion is narrated by most of the characters and does not run in a linear timeline.  Parts of the book read as though it is about teen angst and at other times it is an intriguing thriller, but unfortunately the book did not truly come together for me until near the end.  Talion does not fit easily into just one genre.  I think it is too graphic to classify as a young adult novel, yet it is primarily told through the eyes of two 15-year-olds, one rich and spoiled, the other poor, abused and who has three imaginary protectors; Black Claw a vampire type female, Delatar a male shape shifter of sorts, and Talion Lu’s hero.  Considering these three beings take up a large part of Lu’s identity, the book is also part fantasy and then there are the gruesome acts performed by Rad along with some strong adult content that I would not personally deem appropriate for young teens.  Ignoring the genre, Maddox creates several different story lines, rich in detail and imagery and cleverly intertwines them.  The book could use some polishing yet it holds a lot of promise.  I would recommend Talion to adults who enjoy the genres of young adult, fantasy, and thriller.

About the Author:

Mary Maddox grew up in Utah and California. A graduate of Knox College and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she now teaches composition and literature at Eastern Illinois University.

She lives in Charleston, Illinois with her husband, film scholar Joe Heumann. Her interests include riding her horse, Tucker, and playing club and tournament Scrabble. Mary’s short stories have appeared in a number of magazines including Farmer’s Market, Yellow Silk, and The Scream Online. Her writing has been honored with awards from the Illinois Arts Council.

For more information please visit Mary Maddox at her website or her blog.


Mary Maddox’s TALION VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 officially began on November 1 and will end on December 17 ‘10. here during the months of November and December to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Talion by Mary Maddox from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review, Book Tour Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts