Say When

In Elizabeth Berg's Say When, this woman's fiction novel deals with the changes in a relatioship from a male's POV.  It all started when Frank Griffin's wife Ellen said she wanted a divorce, a few weeks before the Christmas season. That started the ball ralling for Frank and Ellen as they started to go their separate ways in a trial seperation. For Ellen, she found love with a younger man and needed time and distance to think things through. As for Griffin, he dealt with the ramifications and tried to set things right with their daughter Zoe, who was caught in the middle. And they had to put her needs first. Frank finds a job at a mall Santa and meets Donna who works there, while Ellen had trouble sleeping at their home and decides to move out in her own place. There would always be there for Zoe as a tomboy, who's been dealing with some hard times of her own. Frank remembers pieces of their life together as learns about love and relationships from the people closest to him, when it comes to the healing heart. At Christmas time, he asked Ellen if they could start over and try again to make things right with a happy ending fit for the holidays.


This was a beautiful and emotional woman's fiction novel that deals with the topic of divorce and how Frank told his story from it. I did care for Frank on how Ellen tore his world apart in the beginning and how it made his sense of it through the story. I cared for Zoe and her spunkiness. I did like how Frank and Ellen managed to turn things around toward the end. I loved the  Chicago locations during the cold  winter holiday seasons with vivid scenic settings. This would make you want for Frank and Ellen to pull through as it would pull your heart strings real taut, make you cry for Zoe's sake, take a deep breath and sigh with nonstop action, drama, suspense, and a hint of romance to wrap it up with a bow.

Do you know when to Say When to call it quits for something worth fighting for?

Vanishing Girls

In Katia Lief's Vanishing Girls, the third installment in the Karin Schaeffer Mystery thriller series,  get ready to be thrown into a twisted and violent world of child sex trafficking. It's close to Christmas time in New York City, when Karin's husband Mac is sick with the flu, and their close friend Billy is dealing with a major case of PTSD, Karin comes to the scene of a horrible crime. Another woman is found dead on the streets and a young child was hit by a car, putting her in a medical-induced coma. As a criminal forensic specialist, not yet part of the NYPD, she talks about the issue with her babysitter Chali Das for her son. As it made sensational news once again, Chali wanted to tell her something, before her daughter Dathi visits her from India. But before she could, it was too late, when she was killed. Now this meant something personal to Karin, when she contacted with Dathi and her folks in India about the harrowing news. While dealing with the loss of her baby girl from a miscarriage, she aches to have a child for her own and did everything she could to save Dathi from her uncle selling her for child trafficking across the globe. And she took care of Dathi under her home, while she bonded with Abby Dekker, who dealt with the loss of her family, and waking from her coma. That's when Karin started to piece the puzzle together when Dathi went missing as she learned a shocking conclusion about who killed Chali and the others in the end.

This was a gripping and dark thriller that dealt with hard-core subject matters. I cared for Karin all the way from start to finish on how she dealt with so many things at one time. I also feel for Dathi, who had lost her mother, and had bonded with Abby, when they discovered a sick secret together. And it had connected the dots from one set of murders to another. I also cared for Billy, who had deal with being blind in one eye, and being haunted by his own inner demons. I loved the NYC scenic settings and vivid locations, especially during the holiday season. This would pull your heart strings, grimace and groan, give you a weak stomach in some scenes, root and cheer for Karin to solve the mysteries with nonstop action, drama, intrigue and suspense.

Will you check out Vanishing Girls today?

Bourbon and Blood

In Garrard Hayes's Bourbon and Blood, the first installment in the Bill Conlin thriller series, this one would get you hooked into it after the first page. Bill Conlin is a former Army Veteran from the war and couldn't find any good work in New York City. That's when his cousin Jimmy tells him about a job working for Francis Sullivan, the same his cousin works for, too. But thing aren't what they seem, when he works for the Irish crime lord. As soon as he meets Dana, a waitress at the diner, things heat up for Bill and Jimmy. It all started with the first assignment and that was going to a Mexican bar with Jimmy. From there, he had been dealt with prostitution, corrupted cops and FBI agents, a drug war between the Mexicans and Russians, and a sex trafficking crime ring. When a fellow associate  gets his cousin hooked on heroin, he sends him to rehab and when to start his new life. With his new partner Kenny, it took a nose dove, when the next assisgnment almost had gotten him killed and put him in a coma. Months later, Kenny stole his girl, when he believed the Russians had kidnapped her and set him up for the murder of the Mexican gang leader. Now he came gunning after the real ring leader with a cheesy cop on the take, when he had to go into hiding and run for his life with vengeance on his mind.

This was a real good crime thriller debut by Garrard Hayes. I did care for Bill Conlin and his cousin Jimmy. I thought Dana was a keeper, but I thought wrong about her and the people he associated him with. I do like the NYC locations and the vivid depictive scene in each settings. This really took me into the novel to get a feel for his world. This had everything you would need in a fast-paced thriller with non-stop action, drama, suspense, intrigue and a lot of mystery. (There's a couple of typos every now and then.)

Will you be ready to taste Bourbon and Blood?

Iced

In Karen Moning's Iced, the 6th instalment in the Fever urban fantasy series, get ready to feel an arctic chill. Meet Dani "Mega" O'Malley, a 14-year-old teenage girl with super powers as a sidhe-seer. Her former best friend wants her dead, and Inspector Jayne from the police needs her sword, as a group of surly Unseelie princes want her banished too. Except for Christian MacKelter, who wants to make her his own. But first, something or something is freezing the people and places of Ireland to death. And it's up to Dani and Ryodan, the club's owner to figure it out before it goes any further. But he has her under his contract to abide by his rules and work in his club, when she rather be with her new best friend, Dancer. When she was frozen to death in the White Mansion, it was up to Ryodan and the others to save her life. But when she explored the mansion, she accidentally unleashed the Crimson Hag, who would pierce your guts with the shap knitting needles to finish her dress. With the Ice Monster and this other fiend in harm's way, it was up to Dani and the others to come up with a plan to stop the Hoar Frost King's tracks and send him packing to his own icy hell in a frosty climax.

This was a fantastic urban fantasy novel that would leave you chilled and breathless from start to finish. I really cared for Dani and her "dude-ness" to fight for the people in Dublin and to try to live a normal life. I did think Ryodan is a hoot and has his own plans for her, that he would rather not tell her about. I loved the characters and this imaginary world in a new Ireland with great scene-building and visuals for the locations and settings inside and outside. I really did care for Kat, who longs to be with her soul mate Sean, too. This would make you root for Dani and her super-heroic friends, cheer, whistle, sigh, gasp and cringe from time to time. It has non-stop action, drama, suspense, and intrigue to suck you in and leave you hanging on every page.

Will you be Iced today?

Deadly Alibi

In Leigh Russell's Deadly Alibi, the 9th installment in the DI Geraldine Steel thriller series, you'll be hooked into this crime thriller and thrown into a turbulent world. For DI Geraldine Steel, she had met and then lost her biological murder for the first time. Before the funeral, she had learned she had an identical twin sister named Helena, who her mother had choice to keep, while she was put up for adoption. Their first meeting wasn't too pleasant, either. Besides all this, she arrived at the grisly crime scene of a dead woman's body and identified her as Jamie Coldwell. At first, they believed her husband Chris had done it, when all the evidence had pointed to him, while he had proclaimed his innocense muliple times. During the investigation of this case, Geraldine talked to Chris's alibi Louise Marshall. When she was due to meet her for her statement, she went missing and later discovered dead. This left Chris still in jail with a defeated look after they didn't believe him. During this time, Geraldine had meetings with her twin Helena and discovered she was a heroin addict and was in a financial bind. When she tried to help her out, she ended up gotten trouble at the London met by meeting Helena's dealer, ended up getting arrested, and then later was suspended depending the inquiry. With her career on the line, she encouraged her partner Sam to discover the evidence to clear Chris's name, when she searched for records of a previous related crime. as she convinces Helena to go to rehab. As soon as they connect the dots, they make the arrest of the culprit, while Geraldine looks ahead to start off in York for a new future. 

 

This was a fantastic look in the world of DI Geraldine Steel in the London Met police. I did care for Geraldine on what she had gone through, when she'd lost her mother and just learned about her twin sister Helena, too. I also adored Sam and how she helped Geraldine out in a pinch. I did feel bad for Chris for facing the hot seat multiple times, when he had been the victim in all of this. I did like the locale in London for the vivid settings and the gripping locations for the scenes. This would make you want to gasp and shake your head a few times, along with a couple of moans too. This has non-stop action, drama, suspense and intrigue in each gripping page. 

 

Will you pick up a copy of the Deadly Alibi today?

 

Final Epidemic

I originally read this book a decade ago. And now since I've re-read it, I've changed my review. In Earl Merkel's Final Epidemic, the first installment in the Beck Casey medical thriller series, this debut would catapult you into a terrific read to read this summer. It all started with a sick patient had arrived in a medical clinic in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. From there, people had gotten sick real fast like wildfire. When the CDC were called in, they believed it was a strain of the flu with a killer variety. Patients have been dying too. That's when Beck Casey, a historian joins the CDC to help look for a clue on where the virus started and originated them. With the help from the FBI, they discovered it had a link to Beck's past as a former CIA operative who was tortured in Russia, and a link to the Japanese cult Aum and to an America militia who wanted to wipe out the world. When the virus spread across to New York City and nationwide to Russia and Europe, they would try everything to eradicate the virus and sacrifice lives. When Beck searches for his missing daughter with his ex-wife Deborah, they become frantic and search for answers. Later, when there's a discovery of the Russian antidote, they stopped it in the tracks and cured the ill from dying with a mind-blowing ending.

This was a great medical thriller debut that deals with medicine and politics that don't combine well. I do care for Beck and his daughter Katie. I also cared for the people who were sick and dying with this awful strain of the flu. I loved the vast and multiple locations in this novel from Russia and to the USA for the scenic settings as well. This would make you want to hold onto your seat for this wild roller coaster ride with non-stop action, suspense, drama, intrigue, to shake you head, gasp, wince and cry, right to the end.

Will you be a victim to the final epidemic?