Time is Running Out by Michael Wood

Wow! What a fantastic series and set of characters Michael Wood has created. This book knocked me out! I read it in record time and am glad I have the next book Survivor's Guilt, to look forward to. I don't know what I'll do when I've caught up to the series; this is book seven and book eleven is coming out tomorrow, September 30, 2023. I can't imagine having to wait a year for another installment.

Matilda Darke receives an ominous phone call saying she is a survivor, "But what's the point in surviving when everyone around you is dead?" The next thing she knows, a gunman is firing at her as well as members of the South Yorkshire Police when they are lured out of headquarters by a false fire alarm. Caught out in the open, the gunman begins to pick them off. Little do they know that this is the start of his bloody rampage around Sheffield. Always one step ahead of them, the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team race to discover the gunman's identity, his next target, and what set him off.

This book starts out with a bang (pun intended) and doesn't let up. The body count mounts with each location the gunman targets and it seems as though no character is safe from Wood's bloody pen. I won't say more lest I spoil it for anyone who hasn't read this book. If you haven't yet started the series, I highly recommend it if you like a dark, superbly plotted police procedural. The characters are well-developed, the writing excellent, and the pacing breakneck. Thank you to my bookish Twitter friends for alerting me to this series and author--it's a gem. 5/5 stars.

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Lost Colony: The Hennepin Island Murders by Steve Berg

I love it when I try a new author and am rewarded with an excellent read. Such is the case with this book and its author.

In 1986, Sweden's Prime Minister Olaf Palme was assassinated; his killer was never found. Flash forward to 2016 on a small island in the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Paul and the shocking murders of a Lutheran minister and the church custodian. Island residents, Reverend Maggie Lindberg and journalist Span Lokken are caught up in the investigation and quickly become allies, pooling their information and investigative skills to try and determine who would want to kill these men and why. Early indicators point to another island resident, wealthy and eccentric businessman, Jonas Kron, who has been very public in his feud with the late Reverend Hammar. It is apparent professionals carried out the killings and Kron is just the man with the money to orchestrate such a killing. But would he go that far?

Told from the points of view of Maggie and Span as well as the killers, this is an engaging story that captured my interest from the beginning. It is fast-paced, excellently plotted, and ties into the assassination of Palme with a surprising twist. This is Berg's first venture into writing fiction and he does an outstanding job. 5/5 stars.

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Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke

 This book brought back all of the reasons why I don't like to read books set during wars--mostly because of the violence and man's inhumanity to man. That said, I did enjoy this book because of the characters and its evocative prose.

The Civil War is winding down. It's 1863, the Union army is winning and wreaking destruction along the way. Much of Louisiana has already fallen and opened the door for Red Legs, irregulars from the fleeing Confederate army, to step in and fight for what is left.

When slave Hannah Laveau is accused of murdering a neighboring plantation owner, abolitionist Florence Milton goes on the run with her trying to escape constable Pierre Cauchon and a vile Union army commander out to capture them. They end up being apprehended by Red Legs Colonel Charleton Hayes and wonder if they have gone from the frying pan into the fire. Cauchon ends up befriending another enslaved woman, Darla Babineaux, and tries to help her get free from the clutches of a Union army colonel who has taken over the plantation she lives on. The three women must fight for their freedom and try to distinguish friend from foe.

This is an atmospheric novel that captures the horror of war by focusing on characters caught up in the turmoil. The voices of the characters are wonderfully rendered as is their plight. It's good versus evil when even the good do despicable acts to survive. Overall, I enjoyed this book but didn't care for the violence that is war.

For more information:

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The Exchange by John Grisham

 I love Grisham's legal thrillers and his character-driven novels. Since this book is billed as a sequel to The Firm I was expecting another legal thriller. Not so. This book is more like an international crime drama--not my favorite type of read--but Grisham does a good job switching genres.

It's 2005 and fifteen years after Mitch McDeere and his wife Abby fled Memphis after exposing the corrupt practices of the Bendini law firm. They are now in New York where Mitch is a partner in the largest legal firm in the world and Abby is a cookbook editor; they now have twin boys. When Mitch's former mentor in Rome, Luca Sandroni, is diagnosed with cancer, he asks Mitch to take over a high profile case against Libya and dictator Muammar Gaddafi. During a supposedly safe trip to Libya, things go horribly wrong and suddenly Mitch, his family, and colleagues are in danger. Mitch once again teams up with Abby to try and outwit his adversaries.

First off, it is not necessary to have read The Firm to enjoy this book--Grisham does a good job of summing up the events from that book so feel free to jump right in. I liked the character updates and seeing that Mitch and Abby had flourished after their Memphis misadventures. I did think the book was a little slow getting to the main plot but once it got there, things picked up and the action was breakneck. In typical Grisham style, the plot was intricate with many moving parts and characters. Overall, I think this is a good book but as I said, this is not one of my favorite genres and saying it is a sequel to The Firm is a bit misleading: it's not another legal thriller. 3/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Doubleday for an advance copy to review in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is October 17, 2023.

For more information:

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Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

 

This book came highly recommended to me and I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations.

Billie, Natalie, Mary Alice, and Helen were recruited by the Museum, a shadow organization of assassins who only killed people who needed killing. Now after forty years of service, they are given a retirement gift of a luxury cruise, but all is not what it seems when they spot another Museum operative who appears to be out to assassinate them. Barely escaping, they must find out who is behind the order to kill them and why. Coming together one last time, the foursome targets high-ranking members of their organization in order to save themselves.

This is a fast-paced, engaging read with wonderful characters I rooted for. The plot is twisty and action-packed and kept me up late to see how this fearsome foursome would prevail. The writing is excellent and the dialogue witty despite the danger the women are in. Seeing four strong women who work well together in an otherwise male-dominated genre is a treat. I recommend this book if you like a good action-packed mystery/thriller. 5/5 stars.

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Holly by Stephen King

First introduced in his book Mr. Mercedes, King returns Holly Gibney at her most appealing best. She has grown as a character and is much more relatable in this outing.

Set during the Covid-19 pandemic, Holly's partner at the Finders Keepers detective agency has contracted the virus and the agency is all but shut down. Holly's mother--a Covid denier--has just died of the virus so between her grief and her hyper-awareness of the virus, Holly is looking for something to distract herself when Penny Dahl calls and begs her to find her missing daughter, Bonnie; she takes the case.

Professors Emeritus Rodney and Emily Harris are not going gently into old age. Indeed, they have a theory to prevent their maladies that involves Bonnie and perhaps others who have gone missing. With the police relinquishing control of the missing persons cases, Holly steps in to try and solve them, but at what cost?

Although this can be categorized as a horror novel, to me it was more of a suspense read. Sure, there are the expected King gruesome elements, but this is more an exploration of pure evil rather than anything supernatural. Holly herself emerges as a character with stronger metal than her shy, introverted self as depicted in earlier novels and much more likable. There is also a tease that there may be more books featuring Holly ahead to which I say, bring it on! 5/5 stars.

Related books: Mr. Mercedes; Finders Keepers; End of Watch; The Outsider.

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The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger has to be one of the best storytellers out there. Although I haven't gotten far in his Cork O'Connor series--something I am determined to fix--I love all of his standalone books. They are expertly crafted with prose that begs to be highlighted.

It's Memorial Day, 1958, in Jewel, Minnesota, a small town that is the seat of Black Earth County. Not much happens around there so when the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found in the Alabaster River with a gunshot wound in his side, the town immediately begins to speculate: was it murder? An accident? Suicide? That's up to Sheriff Brody Dern to determine.

Tensions are high and gossipers are sure Noah Bluestone is involved. Noah is a decorated WWII veteran who is Native American and who brought home a Japanese bride after the war. Both his ethnicity and that of his wife don't sit well in Jewell. With all the righteousness of small-town bigots everywhere, Bluestone is tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty. It's up to Brody to protect Noah and his wife and still get to the bottom of what happened to Quinn.

This is an atmospheric, absorbing read that transports the reader to the years when The Great War, WWII, and the Korean conflict were still fresh in people's minds. There is a strong sense of place and time, rich with characters that make this a must-read book, especially in today's political climate when hatred of those considered different is once again on the rise. 5/5 stars.

For more information:

Amazon  | Barnes & Noble | Atria Books

The Last Exchange by Charles Martin

I wasn't familiar with Charles Martin but this novel sounded intriguing so I thought I'd try him. After a few chapters, I was so caught up in the story and characters that I researched Martin and found he's a very popular author; now I know why.

Maybe Joe Sue's career is skyrocketing. She took the acting world by storm with her first movies and won awards and accolades. This, coupled with her powerful marriage to fellow actor Syd Painter, makes it appear as if she has it all. But scratch the surface and you'll find everything is not quite so stellar. Joe's early childhood was anything but storybook, she's been in rehab several times for her pill addiction, and her one unattainable thing is a child of her own.

Enter MacThomas Pockets. A former member of the Scottish Special Forces who, after a chance encounter with a director, finds himself a consultant in the Hollywood filmmaking industry and eventually ends up becoming Joe's bodyguard. Talk about oil and water. Pockets is reserved and professional while Joe is always trying to get him to loosen up. Joe comes to rely on Pockets but there is always a line they do not cross., even when Pockets ends up saving Joe from herself on more than one occasion. Can their relationship continue this way as Joe continues to spiral downward? 

This is an engrossing story that is excellently plotted. The reader is taken on the rollercoaster ride that is Joe's life with the ever-present Pockets ready to pick her up each time she falls. It is about love, friendship, and trust in a fellow human being. At times suspenseful and always emotionally charged, this is an excellent book that gives the reader two good characters to root for. 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The publication date is October 3, 2023.

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One Last Kill by Robert Dugoni

 

I can't believe this is the tenth book in the Tracy Crosswhite series and that I've been a fan since the beginning, eagerly awaiting each new installment. The series just keeps getting better and better.

Detective Tracy Crosswhite is still the sole member of Seattle's cold case department and often clashes with Chief of Police Marcella Weber as to what direction she should take. She is blindsided when Weber orders her to reopen the decades-old Route 99 serial killer cases in advance of a series of newspaper articles on them beginning on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the last killing. Not only that, Weber orders her to partner with her nemesis and boss, Captain Johnny Nolasco, who was head of the task force investigating the crimes when they first occurred. Nolasco and Crosswhite immediately disagree on their approach to solving the cases and things go downhill from there. 

As the investigation proceeds, Tracy begins to see connections between these cases and another case she just solved involving the disappearance of an investigative reporter that occurred at the same time as the serial killings. The more Tracy and Nolasco dig, the more the evidence leads them to powerful people, both past and present, who may not want the duo to solve the murders or continue at a cost they may not be willing to pay.

This book can be read as a standalone, but the reader is missing out on some excellent books by not reading the series. I especially liked how this book dovetailed with the storyline from Dugoni's last book, What She Found, and I can see where characters from both books could feature in future books. As usual, Dugoni's plotting, pacing, and writing are exceptional. The reader is also treated to perhaps the thawing of the relationship between Nolasco and Crosswhite, or at least an uneasy truce in their working relationship that is promising. I highly recommend this book and this series in general if you enjoy character-driven police procedurals. 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is October 3, 2023

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The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

I'm a bit late to The Thursday Murder Club  fan base but I have arrived! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to start the second one in the series.

In the retirement community of Coopers Chase, residents Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim have formed a murder club in which they review old unsolved murders from files supplied by a former police detective. When an actual murder occurs close to them, they put aside the cold cases and focus their various skills on solving this much more interesting case. Their involvement often treads on the toes of the two lead detectives working the case, Chris and Donna, but they form an uneasy alliance that seems to produce results. When another murder occurs, the club and the detectives work to see if the two are connected and how. With multiple suspects and a time span going back years, the game is afoot.

This is a highly entertaining book with a complex plot and charming characters. There are red herrings galore and enough misdirections that kept me guessing who the murderer(s) could be. This is the start of what promises to be an excellent series and I'm on board for it.

For more information:

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