Tag Archives: psychological

Review – The Compass Killer by Michael Geczi @MichaelGeczi

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Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The Compass Killer is part of The Serial Killer Anthology, which will include five books, by Michael Geczi. Each book has a unique focus and The Compass Killer is about a serial killer, Travis Newsom, who has a last wish. He wants to know more about the people he killed and all those around them who were affects. Of course, I know you can’t believe what a psychopath says, but Reverend Stan McLogan feels by helping the serial killer get what he wants, he can find out about other killings. Quid pro quo. He is interested in learning more about their emotions and spirituality of those on death row.

I love reading about serial killers, but I don’t know if the why of their killings is ever answered. I love trying to decipher their motivations, which can probably never be known.

As the deadline approaches for his execution, I can’t help but think he deserves what is coming for him. As the clock ticks down, I can only think he has overstayed his welcome on this earth. Will he give the Reverend the list of his victims before he is put to death?

We learn about his killings, how his victims were chosen and how they died, leaving a compass on top of their bodies. All except one, why was that different.

As I approached the final pages of The Compass Killer by Michael Geczi, I was surprised at the fabulous ending. I never saw it coming. Well done, Michael.

I want to thank Michael for the opportunity to read and review The Compass Killer by Michael Geczi.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

AMAZON SYNOPSIS

The new addition to The Serial Killer Anthology! Get it today!

Facing execution, Arizona death-row inmate Travis Newsom, “The Compass Killer,” has a last wish: he tells Rev. Stan McLogan he wants to learn more before he’s dead about the families and friends of his victims as well as the family he abandoned. McLogan thinks it’s a great opportunity to identify additional victims that Newsom may have killed beyond the ones he left small round compasses on in 1998 after murdering them. He asks his friend, Santa Monica Detective Nour El Masry, if she’ll help with the research.

The task is far from straightforward, however. McLogan’s prison discussions with Newsom take surprising psychological twists and turns, reflecting both men’s own agendas. El Masry’s research raises questions about Newsom’s background and what he’s sharing. And Arizona politics put the execution at risk.

As deadlines approach, McLogan questions his involvement with the prisoner, and Newsom discovers the young minister is a formidable adversary and not the naïve soft touch he imagined. El Masry, meanwhile, finds new information about the origins of Newsom’s life of lies and violence.

The Compass Killer, the fourth book in the Serial Killer Anthology, brings together elements of the series’ three previous stories: The Deadly Samaritan (McLogan’s parents and a 1992 serial killer case); Killer Dead, Victim Alive (Santa Monica Detectives Greg Nichols and Mollie Granger), and Hunting a Cat in Dogtown (Nour El Masry, Nichols and Granger).

ABOUT MICHAEL GECZI (from Amazon)

Former Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Associated Press and Dallas Morning News writer and editor; Wall Street executive; best-selling author; communications/crisis consultant and university instructor (University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism). Also author of Futures: The Anti-Inflation Investment. Lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, Lisa.

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Review – In The Doldrums by Simon Dieppe #simondieppe #inthedoldrums

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Amazon / KindleUnlimited / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I have gotten on a huge apocalyptic/dystopian reading binge and when I saw In The Doldrums by Simon Dieppe’s cover I got even more curious. Without looking, what do you think is on the cover?

BOOM

Someone pushed the button and hell and chaos was released. Will humanity be able to survive? If you don’t die from the bomb, what about the fallout? Would you want to be one of the survivors? It’s not just the power grid being obliterated, food, water, and medical supplies becoming scarce, but you know it will be survivor against survivor.

Donal O’Brien is one of the 27 survivors on the Thalassa, a container ship with a vast ocean separating them from land. They had parked themselves In The Doldrums, a belt around the Earth that allowed them to tread water, saving their fuel. But, how long can they survive, before they have to find somewhere to replenish heir supplies?

I had also remembered that Kirk, Spock and Bones were always accompanied by at least two junior members of the crew, who were invariably cannon-fodder for humanoid lizards and aggressive robots.

In The Doldrums was a bit different from my usual apocalyptic/dystopian reading, considering it takes place on a ship at sea. We all know that sooner or later they are going to have to seek out other survivors. Will they be hostile?

Simon Dieppe didn’t waste any time getting into the crisis. He supplied food for thought, seeing we are living with so much instability all across the globe. Are you of the ilk that no one would be cruel enough to push the button? Myself, I go back and forth on the subject. We have so many volatile leaders, it’s hard to not think about it.

The pacing kept me involved and I loved the ending. After all, we need hope to keep us putting one foot in front of the other. So….if you are looking an intriguing read that is sure to keep you guessing, it would be hard to go wrong with In The Doldrums.

Thanks Simon, for the opportunity to read and review a free copy of In The Doldrums.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREAD BLURB

A strategic, manmade global pandemic.
A nuclear response.
A new, dark age for humanity.

Two weeks before, washed-up writer, Donal O’Brien, boards the container ship Thalassa. In a last-ditch attempt to gain literary immortality, he has left his life behind to immerse himself in a new world – a world he hopes will inspire him to create his masterpiece. He is to tell the story of those who live at sea, those whose work invisibly greases the cogs of modern consumerism. It is a world of ingrained inequality, a melting pot of nations, a soup of stories.

Then, as the ship reaches the quiet of the Mid-Atlantic Doldrums, humanity implodes.

Unsure of what remains of the world they left behind, the crew of twenty-two must find a way to survive – not only from the catastrophe that surrounds them, but from each other.

In the Doldrums is a speculative psychological thriller, murder mystery and examination of the human condition all rolled up into one.

For lovers of literary dystopian, post-apocalyptic fiction who enjoyed novels such as Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Hannah Jameson’s The Last.

★★★★★“A beautifully written post-apocalyptic tale. The juxtaposing themes of hope, despair, loneliness, fear, paranoia and friendship are all explored and navigated expertly. The geographically, scientifically and historically accurate facts grounds the story in realism and allows you to truly picture the settings and places from the story.” John Athan

★★★★★”Clever writing in a future that is entirely believable.” S.Bowsher

★★★★★”Really good, chillingly appropriate for the times.” N.J. Blake

  • Genre: Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Fiction, Psychological, Science Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • 288 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published January 1, 2024

ABOUT SIMONE DIEPPE

Simon Dieppe lives near Worcester in the UK. He has been a lawyer, worked in the international conference industry and was a Director in a UK PLC, but has now settled down as an English and History teacher – a career that he loves. Simon started writing in the first lockdown, and hasn’t stopped. In the Doldrums is his third novel, but the first that he has published. He is currently re-working the first two books with the aim of publishing them later this year. He has an eclectic taste in literature, but has always been drawn towards dystopian fiction. He lives with his wife, two children and dog, Bernie.

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Books From The Backlog – Blue Coyote Motel by Dianne Harman @DianneDHarman

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Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.

If you would like to join in, swing by Carole’s Random Life in Books.

Blue Coyote Motel (Coyote #1)

Amazon / Goodreads

GOODREADS BLURB

Would you take an anti-aging hormone? What if you could keep your youth? If someone you knew was terrified of aging, and you’d invented the hormone, would you give it to them? Even if it meant discovery would cause you to lose your chance of winning the Nobel Prize?
Blue Coyote Motel is a suspense love story which begins in the barrios of Southern California and spans the globe in such diverse locations as Provence, South America, and the Himalayas. The beautiful Latina, Maria, and her husband, Jeffrey, a scientist fired from a prestigious laboratory, struggle to build a new life in a remote Southern California desert areas as owners of the motel.
Along with the anti-aging hormone, Jeffrey invents a “feel-good” wonder drug to help Maria with her depression. As Jeffrey becomes insane he begins to experiment with the wonder drug. Six wayward travelers, including an alcoholic priest, a couple who own gold mines in Brazil, a depressed widow, a struggling salesman, and a Native American pediatrician find themselves spending the night at the small motel. The next morning they wake up feeling better than ever. Has Jeffrey’s miracle drug delivered? Or is the nightmare of addiction only beginning?
Blue Coyote Motel presents an engaging look at the human frailties present in all of us.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.70  ·  Rating details ·  731 ratings  ·  174 reviews

I added Blue Coyote by Dianne Harman to my TBR on 2.10.13. Why? #1 – the cover. #2 – the title. #3 – the blurb. It sounds like a wild ride and I was curious. Makes me think of that saying: If something seems to good to be true, it usually is. Everything has a price and I wonder what these characters will have to pay.

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Books From The Backlog – Entangled by Barbara Ellen Brink @BarbaraEBrink

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Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.

If you would like to join in, swing by Carole’s Random Life in Books.

Entangled (Fredrickson Winery, #1)

Amazon / Goodreads

GOODREADS BLURB

A Minneapolis attorney inherits a small California winery, reawakening memories that have lain dormant for twenty years. One summer of her childhood is a mystery she intends to solve. But digging up her past also lays bare the skeletons of others, including her mother’s. Entangled between what she once believed and a new reality, will she be able to live with the consequences of full disclosure?

Goodreads Ratings: 3.65  ·  2,810 ratings  ·  249 reviews

I added Entangled by Barbara Ellen Brink to my TBR on 2.2.13. The reason…the cover, of course. I am a sucker for a fantastic cover and that is a great one! Ya can’t run from your past and when it arises in a novel, it makes for some intriguing reading.

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The Momentous Expiration of Tremmy Sinclair @MichaelFStewart

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The Momentous Expiration of Tremmy Sinclair

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

“…privilege is often synonymous with assholery.”

“By the time you all figure it out, you’ve got daughters of your own being stalked by jerks like you.”

“How do you live a lifetime in four months?”

I don’t know if I found one character to root for, but I feel there is always an opportunity for them to redeem themselves. Knowing you are dying gives you an opportunity to rethink what life you have left. I do love a thought provoking book, and Michael F Stewart is able to do that with ease.

Tremmy and his ‘friends’ are what you expect from the spoiled elite who think their shit don’t stink. Little do they know, they walk alone. Even their friends will betray them at the drop of a hat. Is there no one who cares about his thoughts, his feelings? I expected his fellow students and friends to act the way they did, but I did not expect the adults to be the same way. I can feel his frustration and pain as the clock ticks down.

“To die well, you have to live well.”

As days pass, so do his old thoughts and feelings.

Michael F Stewart handles a difficult subject in an unusual way, with an twisted ending that deserves a star of its own. I had wondered how he would end the story, because he has a great way of taking me to a place, making me follow a path, where I thought I knew where I was going, until I stepped off that cliff saying WTF.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of The Momentous Expiration of Tremmy Sinclair by Michael F Stewart.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Seventeen years old. Rich. Hot. Captain of the Drone War team. Head prefect of a surreally elite boarding school. Tremmy is dying.

His illness strips everything from him­—­including the support of his teachers and friends who once nurtured his bright future. Worst of all, his best friend’s meteoric rise has come at the expense of Tremmy’s spectacular fall. Far from going out with the bang he’d hoped for, Tremmy faces betrayal.

But his illness has the power to expose the best as well as the worst of his school, his friends, and himself. Tremmy sets out to prove that the community he loves has to overcome its fear of death in order to truly begin to live. And Tremmy receive the momentous end he so fervently desires.

ABOUT MICHAEL F STEWART

Michael F. Stewart is winner of both the 2015 Claymore Award and the 2014 inaugural Creation of Stories Award for best YA novel at the Toronto International Book Fair.
He likes to combine storytelling with technology and pioneered interactive storytelling with Scholastic Canada, Australia, and New Zealand’s, anti-cyberbullying program Bully For You. In addition to his award winning Assured Destruction series, he has authored four graphic novels with Oxford University Press Canada’s Boldprint series. Publications of nonfiction titles on Corruption and Children’s Rights are published by Scholastic and early readers are out with Pearson Education.

For adults, Michael has written THE SAND DRAGON a horror about a revenant prehistoric vampire set in the tar sands, HURAKAN a Mayan themed thriller which pits the Maya against the MS-13 with a New York family stuck in the middle, 24 BONES an urban fantasy which draws from Egyptian myth, and THE TERMINALS–a covert government unit which solves crimes in this realm by investigating them in the next.

Herder of four daughters, Michael lives to write in Ottawa where he was the Ottawa Public Library’s first Writer in Residence. To learn more about Michael and his next projects visit his website at www.michaelfstewart.com or connect via Twitter @MichaelFStewart.

Michael is represented by Talcott Notch.

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Keep Writing: Sparks to Defeat Writer’s Block, Depression, and Burnout by Chrys Fey @ChrysFey

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Chrys Fey writes in more than one genre, and she does a damn fine job of it.

Keep Writing with Fey: Sparks to Defeat Writer's Block, Depression, and Burnout

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Keep Writing by Chrys Fey includes tips that everyone can use whether you are an author or not, such as reducing stress, especially in these turbulent times.

Setting goals is huge. Set short, medium and long range goals.

Short chapters written in easy to understand language.

Her tips are sparks, to ignite you, to set your passions on fire.

All of us bloggers are writers and I have dabbled in writing since I was a young child too. Will I ever write…my book? If I do, Chrys Fey shares easy to follow suggestions for us to pick and choose what works best for us. If I don’t, Chry shares sparks for destressing and dealing with depression.

Chrys draws from her personal experiences. Some tips may work for you and some may not, but I feel there is something for everyone in this gem.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Keep Writing by Chrys Fey.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Catch the sparks you need to conquer writer’s block, depression, and burnout!

When Chrys Fey shared her story about depression and burnout, it struck a chord with other writers. That put into perspective for her how desperate writers are to hear they aren’t alone. Many creative types experience these challenges, battling to recover. Let Keep Writing with Fey: Sparks to Defeat Writer’s Block, Depression, and Burnout guide you through:

• Writer’s block
• Depression
• Writer’s burnout
• What a writer doesn’t need to succeed
• Finding creativity boosts

With these sparks, you can begin your journey of rediscovering your creativity and get back to what you love – writing.

ABOUT CHRYS FEY

Chrys Fey

Author of Hurricane Crimes, Seismic Crimes, Lightning Crimes – FREE ebook, Tsunami Crimes, Flaming Crimes.

Chrys Fey blogs at Write with Fey and edits for Dancing Lemur Press. She’s also an partnered with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and runs with Goodreads book club.

At the age of twelve, she started writing her first novel, which flourished into a series she later rewrote at seventeen. Fey lives in Florida where she is waiting for the next hurricane to come her way.

Every day, she can be seen with a pen in my hand or pounding away at her computer. Although she doesn’t restrict herself to a single genre, she mostly writes suspense stories whether they are romances or fantasy.

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Clearing in the Woods by Phyllis M Newman @dollycas @phyllismnewman2

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Clearing in the Woods
by Phyllis M. Newman

About Clearing in the Woods

Clearing in the Woods
Women’s Psychological/Crime Fiction
Publisher: Independently published (October 31, 2019)
Paperback: 321 pages
ISBN-10: 1701629364
ISBN-13: 978-1701629363
Digital ASIN: B07ZTZMTVS

Roberta escapes her humdrum middle-class existence and the persistent ache of her dead mother’s secrets by fleeing to Alaska. Having abandoned everything she’d spent her life building, Roberta remakes herself in another place, doing anything other than responding to the demands of her self-absorbed husband, her entitled kids, and her Pottery Barn home. Taking her first job since college, and a small room above a tourists’ shop, she contemplates new vistas. She never expected, however, to find romance in the form of a handsome federal agent involved in murder and mayhem.And it is murder and mayhem, and the discovery of other’s secrets, that causes Roberta to run for her life into the Alaskan wilderness…

About Phyllis M. Newman 

PHYLLIS NEWMAN

Phyllis M. Newman is a native southerner. Born in New Orleans, she spent formative years in Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, and on a dairy farm in Ross County, Ohio. After a long career in finance and human resources at The Ohio State University, she turned her attention to writing fiction. She published a noir mystery, “Kat’s Eye” in 2015, a Gothic mystery, “The Vanished Bride of Northfield House” in 2018, and the suspense thriller “Clearing in the Woods” in 2019. Today she lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and three perpetually unimpressed cats, none of whom venture far from home.

Author Links

Website  www.readphyllismnewman.com, Twitter @phyllismnewman2, Facebook  https://facebook.com/ReadPhyllisMNewman/

Purchase Link – Amazon 

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Empathy For A Psycopath – Duplicity by Sibel Hodge @sibelhodge

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I am doing my best to finish up on overdue reviews and Duplicity by Sibel Hodge is one of those. I received the book back in October of 2016. Seems I really overdid things that year.

I will tell you that I gave Duplicity 5 Stars, so I have no excuses for not posting the review in a timely fashion. I think you may be able to relate to my problem, too many clicks and yeses. I just wanted to grab them all.

Cover: Blacksheep Design

Duplicity

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

With a cover like Duplicity by Sibel Hodge, I just know there is some good stuff inside. I read Untouchable by Sibel Hodge and loved it, so I was eager to begin Duplicity.

Duplicity starts out ugly, making me think of Clarise in Hannibal…but severely damaged, twisted.

A terrible, abhorrent childhood with an abusive father, neglectful mother, screaming, yelling, isolation…I want to have sympathy…

I love this kind of book. I love to read about serial killers, psychopaths and sociopaths. To delve into their fictional, or true, mind fascinates me. No matter how much I understand it is not their fault they are what they are, they still make choices.

Psychopaths have no feelings, but are they all killers? They are smart, having to learn to fake all the emotions that ‘normal’ people have. Sometimes one pivotal moment can take someone down a path they never saw coming.

How do so many incompetents get high paying jobs that require knowledge and tact…which they don’t have? Does he have the skills to solve the case, to bring down a murderer? We shall see.

Twists! Turns! Surprises! I LOVE IT! OMG. Sure didn’t see that coming.

The writing and pacing, creativity, twists and turns, suspense and AHA moments kept me on the edge, glued to the pages, unable to stop reading, waiting for the next shoe to drop and who would drop with it. I don’t think there will be a happy ever after here.

As I flip through my notes, on paper and in my Kindle, I am even more upset with myself that I didn’t review this immediately. It is hard to express my emotions since it has been so long, but this is everything I love in a thrilling, chilling, creepalicious psychopath, and of course all the other characters. Sibel Hodge is definitely an author that will be at the top of my reading list.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Duplicity by Sibel Hodge.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

There are three sides to every story: Yours. Mine. And the truth…

Max and Alissa have a fairy tale life—newlywed, madly in love and enviously rich. Then Max is brutally stabbed to death at their home and Alissa, miraculously, escapes with her life. But why was she spared?

The hunt for the killer begins, uncovering a number of leads—was Max’s incredible wealth the motive? Had his shady business practices finally caught up with him? Or was it a stalker with a dangerous obsession?

Devoted friends rally around gentle, sweet Alissa as she is left to mourn the loss of her husband and pick up her life. But not everyone is who they seem…Deep-rooted jealousies, secrets and twisted love lie just beneath the surface, and not all fairy tales have a happy ending.

Duplicity is a suspenseful thriller from the bestselling author of Look Behind You and Where the Memories Lie.

ABOUT SIBEL HODGE

Sibel Hodge is the author of the #1 Bestsellers Look Behind You, Untouchable, and Duplicity. Her books have sold over one million copies and are international bestsellers in the UK, USA, Australia, France, Canada and Germany. She writes in an eclectic mix of genres, and is a passionate human and animal rights advocate.

Sibel Hodge

Her work has been nominated and shortlisted for numerous prizes, including the Harry Bowling Prize, the Yeovil Literary Prize, the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition, The Romance Reviews’ prize for Best Novel with Romantic Elements and Indie Book Bargains’ Best Indie Book of 2012 in two categories. She was the winner of Best Children’s Book in the 2013 eFestival of Words; nominated for the 2015 BigAl’s Books and Pals Young Adult Readers’ Choice Award; winner of the Crime, Thrillers & Mystery Book from a Series Award in the SpaSpa Book Awards 2013; winner of the Readers’ Favorite Young Adult (Coming of Age) Honorable award in 2015; a New Adult finalist in the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America’s International Digital Awards 2015, and 2017 International Thriller Writers Award finalist for Best E-book Original Novel. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave has been listed as one of the top forty books about human rights by Accredited Online Colleges.

For Sibel’s latest book releases, giveaways and gossip, sign up to her newsletter at www.sibelhodge.com/contact-followme.php.

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Untouchable

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She Drew First Blood – Room 553 by Britney King @EJBookPromos @britneyking_

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I am a huge fan of Britney King’s so I an very excited to share her newest release, Room 553, a psychological thriller, another nail biter that kept me guessing til the end…and what an ending it was.

Amazon / Goodreads

  • Title: Room 553
  • Author: Britney King
  • Release: June 20, 2019
  • Genre: Psychological thriller

MY REVIEW

I read the Foreword to Room 553 by Britney King and laughed out loud thinking, right Britney. Now you know I have to continue reading! OMG!

I didn’t see the direction this was going when I began. In fact, I was a bit disappointed because Britney King writes some fabulous stories and I am usually biting my nails and racing through the pages as soon as I begin. Not so with this psychological thriller. It is more subtle, slowly sucking me in, revealing the characters in starts and stops.

The story bounces between Max’s perspective and Laurel’s journal writings.

The characters, at first I didn’t think much of any of them, but as more of their personalities, sick, perverted personalities, were revealed, I began to think, there isn’t one of them worth redemption. Maybe they will all get what’s coming to them.

Room 553 gets deeper into their twisted world becoming darker, uglier more depraved as the threads are woven together to create surprises and turns that gave me a steady supply of WTFs. That ending…worth a star in itself! Love that Britney King can blow my mind making me think of the book long after I have finished reading it.

Even though I thought Room 553 was too tame for me in the beginning, the little nuggets of goodies started popping up…then, full on, psychological and psychopathic profiles were exposed and I was in my element. But, don’t judge me on my love of reading materials. 🙂

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Room 553 by Britney King.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

BLURB

“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.”

For Max and Laurel, nothing is off limits when they meet in room 553. Their illicit affair is exhilarating, passionate—and dangerous.

Driven as much by compulsion as pleasure, Max can’t stop. His mistress is Jesus on the streets, and Satan in the sack. But when things take a sharp and sudden turn for the worse, he finds himself ensnared in a trap of his own making.

Under heavy scrutiny by the police and the media, Max is hailed as a cold and evasive womanizer. He made mistakes, to be sure. But does that make him a killer?

Unnerving and addictive, Room 553 is a vivid and sensual psychological thriller that weaves a story of cruelty, reckless desire, and blind, bloody justice.

Buy Links: ✭ Amazon ✭ All Stores Universal ✭ B&N ✭ iBooks✭ Kobo

ABOUT BRITNEY KING

Britney King

Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.

When she’s not wrangling the things mentioned above, she writes psychological, domestic and romantic thrillers set in suburbia.

Currently, she’s writing three series and several standalone novels.

The Bedrock Series features an unlikely heroine who should have known better. Turns out, she didn’t. Thus she finds herself tangled in a messy, dangerous, forbidden love story and face-to-face with a madman hell-bent on revenge. The series has been compared to Fatal Attraction, Single White Female, and Basic Instinct.

The Water Series follows the shady love story of an unconventional married couple—he’s an assassin—she kills for fun. It has been compared to a crazier book version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Also, Dexter.

Around The Bend is a heart-pounding standalone, which traces the journey of a well-to-do suburban housewife, and her life as it unravels, thanks to the secrets she keeps. If she were the only one with things she wanted to keep hidden, then maybe it wouldn’t have turned out so bad. But she wasn’t.

The With You Series at its core is a deep love story about unlikely friends who travel the world; trying to find themselves, together and apart. Packed with drama and adventure along with a heavy dose of suspense, it has been compared to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Love, Rosie.

The Social Affair is an intense standalone about a timeless couple who find themselves with a secret admirer they hadn’t bargained for. For fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, the novel explores what can happen when privacy is traded for convenience. It is reminiscent of films such as One Hour Photo and Play Misty For Me.

Without a doubt, connecting with readers is the best part of this gig. You can find Britney online here:

  • Web• http://BritneyKing.com
  • Instagram • https://instagram.com/britneyking_
  • Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/BritneyKingAuthor
  • Twitter• http://twitter.com/BritneyKing_
  • Goodreads • http://bit.ly/BritneyKingGoodreads

To get more– grab two books for free, by subscribing to her mailing list at britneyking.com or just copy and paste bit.ly/britneykingweb into your browser.

Happy reading.

MY BRITNEY KING REVIEWS

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A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis @mulhollandbooks @KatiaLief

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Woo Hoo. A big shout out and thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the chance to read A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis/Katia Lief.

A Map of the Dark (The Searchers #1)

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Loved it!

Flawed characters, teenagers, kidnapping, murder, serial killer, life and death, cancer.

I loved the characters, searching for answers, struggling with life.

Glad Dark is in the title, because it’s not only the villain that hides in the dark.

I am so happy this is a series because I want a whole lot more of it.

Elsa, her new partner and friend, Lex…and his brother, David. she doesn’t have much of a personal life, doesn’t strive to have one, discourages those who try to get close, until Lex who manages to earn her trust.

Deep, dark secrets.

So glad I have the next story ready and waiting…and I will begin NOW.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A girl, missing
A woman, searching
A killer, planning…

FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people.
She knows how it feels to be lost…

Though her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, Elsa cannot refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing from Forest Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.

With each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man who may have been killing for years, the case starts to get underneath Elsa’s skin. Everything she has buried – her fraught relationship with her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother’s death – threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.

In order to save the missing girl, she may have to lose herself…and return to the darkness she’s been hiding from for years.

ABOUT KAREN ELLIS

Karen Ellis is a pseudonym of longtime crime novelist Katia Lief. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. Her novel A MAP OF THE DARK will be published by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown on January 9, 2018.
Learn more at karenellisbooks.com

Stay in touch with Karen Ellis by joining her mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cS6h_r

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product imgaes are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!