Tag: Thriller

Canopy – Liz Faraim

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
This one is a hard one to review – I couldn’t put it down, I read it one setting. It’s very well written, especially for a debut author. The subject matter is dealt with sensitively. It’s just over a four star book for me. Yet it’s hard for me to say I enjoyed it. It’s a tough read and perhaps that’s it for me, I appreciated rather than enjoyed, but it didn’t take anything away from the book – I’m fact I’m eagerly awaiting the next instalment.

Viv is ex-army, studying at College and making a living bar tendering. Whilst she’s not completely estranged from her family she is very much a loner – her friendship with another vet Jared being her anchor in a storm. She struggles with PTSD.

She meets Angela, a cop, a vet from the Navy and they begin a complicated relationship, with elements of polyamory.

Viv stumbles on something criminal that brings a lot of issues into her life and shakes things up in ways she’d never have expected.

The topics of abuse from the past, relationship ethics, PTSD, intermittent violence, sex trafficking and some homophobia all mean this isn’t a light read, yet there is something about the way Viv is written that just keeps you reading, wanting to know where this is going to go.

The romance between Viv and Ang isn’t the headline for this book. Viv’s life in general, her friendships and her making her way through life are very much front and centre.

Despite the somewhat darker tone of the book and therefore my review, I’d encourage you to give this a go – just don’t expect an easy light hearted read, or a neatly tied up ending.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One More Chance – Ali Vali

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s over a 3.5 star but not quite a four. It’s really hard to say you enjoyed something with such serious and difficult topics as domestic violence and homophobia. So I think it’s more appropriate to say I appreciated the writing.

The MCs are Harry and Desi – childhood lovers who met in third grade but due to life circumstances we no longer able to be together after high school. Harry becomes a well respected orthopaedic surgeon and happens to be in the ER the day Desi is brought into the ER after her husband makes an attempt on her life – throwing them together again in ways neither had hoped or expected.

I liked both MCs. Desi was written well to illustrate the feelings people in this situation feel (I have no experience in this situation, so I can only presume sensitivity readers were used to ensure this was accurate). Harry is definitely a character written in the ‘hero’ mould.

Once they are thrown back together a relationship does come around quickly which I struggled with slightly but could also understand. I’ve previously enjoyed books where characters have got back together after break-ups but I have tended to prefer ones where that’s a slower burn so this was a bit different for me.

I liked the secondary characters around the MCs – and even the horrible secondary characters had a purpose to the storyline. The inclusion of Serena, Rachel, Mona and Tony ensures that we see the MCs from different points of view and ensures that we get the opportunities to move away from the violence where possible.

The book comes with many warnings from my point of view, it definitely will not be for everybody, but it is definitely a well written book and from that point of view I can recommend it. I would be interested in a second part of the story.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gray Matters – Dolores Arden

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
This is another book due out in October with a number of darker topics. Remy is an Inspector who has been tasked with finding what is likely to be a serial killer, we meet her after the second victim has been found. Giana is a forensic scientist who decides to up and move her life across the country from Philadelphia to San Francisco, where she meets Remy at work.

I like both characters for very different reasons and connected with them both. Remy is well written as an inspector, but also with regards to her interactions and loyalty to family and friends and with regards to how her past impacts her feelings and decisions. I enjoyed Giana as someone discovering herself and her feelings about Remy and I liked reading about her work as a scientist, although it’s brief.

The story has some turmoil, both with family and the underlying murder storyline and the relationship isn’t always easy either. I’m finding it hard to rate because I enjoyed the book – but it isn’t one I’d want to read again – so I’m settling for around 3.5 stars. I would definitely appreciate a sequel though as I feel the situations they encounter mean that there would be lots of opportunity to tell lots more interesting stories about the pair and their friends and family.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Money Creek – Anne Laughlin

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Rating: 4 out of 5.
It seems odd to say I enjoyed a book that is full of unhappy, tense topics and situations but I found myself drawn in and unable to put the book down, despite my continuing apprehension about how things would turn out. Clare is a lawyer in a big city firm struggling with a drug addiction, who decides to take up a job in the small town of Money Creek.

I haven’t read Laughlin before so I can’t comment as to whether this fits into the usual tone of her books, but I’ll be picking up some more to find out, as whilst the topic of drugs and addiction is at times difficult to read about, I enjoyed the narrative. There are many different characters, but I was impressed that they weren’t difficult to keep track of and I appreciated the descriptions of small town life and how everyone hears about everything. Laughlin writes in a style I really like and I welcomed her writing on addiction, Clare’s feelings, motives and decisions and how the trade operates.

The book is written from many different points of view, which was done well enough that it didn’t become confusing. I found it slightly odd at times that one of the points of view was from a male, but I got used to it. There is some romance in the book, but the thriller aspect is the larger part. I enjoyed Clare and Freya getting to know each other and would be interested in hearing more about them in a future book. I really appreciated the ending – I don’t want to give anything away – but it felt like an appropriate, real life ending.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a well written thriller with some romance on the outskirts of the story.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.