"The Lie Maker" by Linwood Barclay

The Lie Maker by Linwood Barclay was recommended to me by a friend.  Boy, was she right!  In The Lie Maker, Jack's father left him when Jack was very young.  Later, Jack is given a chance to maybe find his dad.  Jack has to create false histories for people in the witness protection program, like his dad is.  But then, his dad becomes really missing.  Can Jack find and save his dad?  This is good stuff with good action and true-to-life characters.  (Gerard's review, 5 stars) 

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"What Happened to the Bennets" by Lisa Scottoline

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline is the story of a family whose daughter is fatally shot when two thugs hijack their car.  The family is put into the FBI's witness protection program because Milo, the thug is after the father, who is a court reporter.  The family grieves and two FBI agents live in a house next to where they are staying.  Their friends and co-workers all wonder what happened to them and rumors begin to fly.  The father, Jason, makes a shocking discovery and chooses to go get justice for his daughter on his own.  

I liked this book a lot because it centered on a normal family who had their lives uprooted.  A lot went on in this book which is filled with action and suspense.  It even had a family dog in it which I thought was a nice touch.   (Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"The Girl in Cabin 13" by A. J. Rivers

In The Girl in Cabin 13 by A. J. Rivers, Emma finds a dead body on her porch with her name written on his hand!  Emma, an FBI agent, is sent to da small town to find out why people are vanishing.  The secrets are many and no one is talking.  This was good!  Emma was a great lead character and action flowed throughout the book with a good ending.  (Gerard's review, 5 stars) 

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"A Minute to Midnight" by David Baldacci

In A Minute to Midnight, Atlee Pine works for the FBI.  She takes some time off and tries to find out who took and killed her sister years ago.  I liked the action in this book.  I also enjoyed playing detective to try to discover the killer.  Good stuff!  (Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

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"Watching (The Making of Riley Paige--Book 1) by Blake Pierce

Watching (The Making of Riley Paige—Book 1) by Blake Pierce is a thriller about a couple murders on a college campus Both victims were friends of Riley Sweeny, who tries to figure out who the killer was on her own by pretending to get into the killer’s mind by re-enacting what the killer probably did. Riley, a senior psychology major becomes a target herself.

This book has a lot of grammatical errors and moved along fairly slowly. I thought it was okay but did not care for all the bar scenes, and the story line wasn’t very believable. I don’t know if I want to continue reading this series or not.
 (Karen's review, 2 stars)

Teaser from page 9: And Riley could see at least one thing that was wrong. About halfway down the hall, a girl was collapsed on her knees, sobbing.


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"Pieces of Her" by Karin Slaughter

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter is a dark thriller that focuses on a mother and daughter who are in danger. The mother has had a very adventurous life but never shared about it with her daughter. The daughter is sort of in limbo, trying to find her purpose and also trying to figure out who her mother really is. The mother is a complex person who loves her daughter very much, but makes her leave and go out on her own when her mother’s past seems to be coming back to haunt her.

As with most conspiracies, this book has a complex story line and lots of characters to keep straight. It is slow moving and drags in places, but if you can stick with it, everything falls into place in the Epilogue. All my questions got answered. I can’t really say much about the details of the story line without giving spoilers, but I can say I’m glad a read to the end and finished it. The writing did not appeal to me though because it alternated throughout the book between the past (1986) and the present (2018). The chunks it time were quite long and it was a bit challenging to remember where the events left off before the time switched. How Nick was so charismatic and able to manipulate people was sort of interesting. I thought the daughter was pretty stupid so didn’t care for her.
(Karen’s review, 3 stars)

Teaser from page 61: “They’re going to take you down harder than him, Laura. You did that kid a favor. This is all going to be about what you did, not what he did.”

SPOILER ALERT--STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS YET:

I was confused because some characters have the same name and I didn’t realize they were different people until much later in the book when it came out the mother was in the witness protection program and had changed her name. I liked the surprise twist that Andrea’s “stalker” was a U.S. Marshall.


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"Obsession" by Karen Robards is Quite the Page Turner!

Obsession by Karen Robards begins with a mystery right off the bat and is filled with action, mystery and suspense throughout. This is a book about an FBI investigation against the head of the CIA whose personal assistant, Katherine, is caught up in the middle and in great danger throughout the book. Katherine doesn’t know who to trust and finds herself in several life and death situations. This novel is full of betrayal, suspense, mystery and action with a bit of humor and romance.

This book kept me guessing all through, but at least I picked the right person that Katherine should trust, well, sort of. This has a wild plot and interesting characters. I especially liked Katherine’s cat, Muffy! Loved the ending! The one explicit sex scene I could do without, but other than that, I liked this contemporary thriller which is a page turner I recommend to anyone who enjoys a good mystery and unusual plots.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"The Dead Man" by Joel Goldman is 3 Mysteries in 1!

The Dead Man by Joel Goldman is about a former FBI agent, Jack who has a movement disorder that makes him shake. He takes a job as director of security at the Harper Institute of the Mind, working for an extremely rich man who has early stages of Alzheimer’s.  With the help of his landlady, an ex-cop, Jack finds himself investigating the deaths of two Dream Project volunteers who died, one suicide, one accident but what he believes to be murders connected with the institute.   The institute tries to help people who have bad nightmares be able to take control of what happens in them.

Jack's daughter, Wendy, who overdosed was believed to be involved with a drug ring and the FBI believes Jack knows what happened to the missing five million dollars they believe she had.  The mystery is what happened to the money.

The third mystery is who killed the parents of a little 10-yr.-old girl, Maggie while they were sleeping.  She got away by jumping from her bedroom balcony two-stories high.

This is a very complex mystery!  I figured out just one of the three.  There is a serial killer on the loose and lots of deaths in this book.  The title refers to the crime scene itself which gives the most evidence.  Jack is the main character and I liked him.  This is good from start to finish--I was never bored with it and recommend it to anyone who likes a good murder mystery!
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

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"The Girl Before"

In The Girl Before by Rena Olsen, Clara Lawson lives with her husband Glenn.  She helps with the family business.  Then one day the FBI breaks in and Clara is separated from Glenn.  When she is asked questions, she starts to realize that maybe everything she thought was right was not so.

I enjoyed this book.  the story flowed really well and I felt for Clara.  This is going to be a movie!  I think you should check it out!  It has a real good ending too!
(Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

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"Every Second" by Rick Mofina is Quite a Thriller!

Every Second by Rick Mofina is about the Fulton family and their dog.  One night, their home is invaded and they are taken hostage!  The dad had better do what they want or he might not see his wife and son again.  When the police get involved, this book really takes off.

I enjoyed this because it has good action and kept my interest throughout.  When you think it is over, think again because it is not!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

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"Invasion of Privacy" by Christopher Reich

Invasion of Privacy by Christopher Reich is told by Mary.  Her husband, Joe, worked for the FBI and was killed.  End of story.   BUT, Mary believes it is not that simple and wants to know why the cover up?  This book is a page turner.  I got into it early on and the story line is good and very believable.  I liked all the characters too.  Read this, you'll be glad you did!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)  

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"Cold Fear" by Rick Mofina - Girl Lost in the Woods Hoping to Survive

Cold Fear by Rick Mofina, a former crime reporter, is about Doug and Emily from San Francisco who take their family on a camping trip to a National Park located in Montana and Canada.  The majority of the book is about them being interrogated by the FBI when their 10-yr. old daughter, Paige and her Beagle dog turn up missing.  They went looking for her mother in the woods when her father was angrily chopping wood, cut his hand and didn’t want to talk to her.  Her dog went off the path after a chipmunk and she followed, but he didn’t come back so she just kept looking for him, going farther and farther off the path and getting lost in bear country.  Search and Rescue teams, forest rangers, and police all go looking for her.  Reporters come on the scene and the FBI shows up to investigate the parents who were the last ones to see her.  What they dig up is a lot of information that makes it look very bad for the parents.

This was an interesting read for me because of how it was written.  Usually, things happen and the reader is kept in the dark, wondering along with law enforcement officials what really happened.  However, in this book, the reader gets to know right from the start what really happened—that the parents are telling the truth.  Consequently, the reader is sympathetic towards the parents and the FBI agents look like bad guys harassing them during their crisis.  The author switched from the search and rescue, the FBI investigation, the reporters trying to get the story, the convict scheduled to be executed for murder of a little girl in the same park 22 years ago, and Paige’s frightening time in the woods. 

I enjoyed reading this book but didn’t think it was very believable.  The author certainly gives a comprehensive picture of the news event of the lost girl, but by including so many people, it was difficult at times to keep track of everyone.   

(Karen's review, 4 stars)

I made a COLD FEAR Booktube video about this one.

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"Hush" by Karen Robards has Action, Suspense and Romance--We Both Loved It!

Hush by Karen Robards is an exciting read that I didn't want to put down.  George, Riley's ex-father-in-law, scammed lots of people, including some very dangerous men, out of a lot of money.  George is arrested but the money is missing.  He says it's all gone but the FBI, CIA and the other people he scammed do not believe him.  Also, the guys who worked with George want to get it too.  Riley has four near-death experiences because she knows where the money is but Finn manages to protect her.

This is an excellent novel filled with suspense, action, lies and a developing hot romance.  I really enjoyed the cat and mouse game Riley and Finn played with each other throughout the book.  The author did a great job mixing suspense and romance for a great read!  I'll be looking up more of her books for sure.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review, 5++ stars):
This novel tells the story of Riley.  Her ex-husband is dead by what looks like a suicide, but Riley believes he was murdered.  His billionaire father concocted a financial fraud and is in jail, but the money he was able to get is out there somewhere and everyone wants it!  Riley is in great danger and the CIA has assigned agent Finn to recover the money.  Can Riley trust Finn and what secret is Riley keeping?  This is a really great book with good action which kept me turning pages.  I LOVED IT!

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"A Collie Rescue" by Lindsay Downs

A Collie Rescue by Lindsay Downs is a short book that I read on my Kindle. I thought it was going to be about Collies being rescued, but it isn’t. It’s about Collies being buddies for returning vets with PTSD. Actually, that is just a small part of the book. This is about the FBI hunting down terrorists with the help of a returning vet with PTSD who is homeless, and her new Collie, Taz, who has her back.

This started kind of slow and I lost interest for a while, but returned to it and liked the ending. I would have rated it higher if the characters were more developed. I think vets may like it and anyone who enjoys quick reads without a lot of description or in-depth characters. (Half the proceeds from this book go to the pet fund.)
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

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"Sutton" by J.R. Moehringer--Fantastic!

Sutton by J. R. Moehringer is a fantastic book! Don't let the word "novel" fool you, Willie Sutton was an actual person. He made the first FBI Most Wanted list. He robbed banks but never hurt anyone or shot a gun. When asked why he robbed banks, he responded, "Because that's where the money is." This page turner will for sure make my top ten books of 2012. I loved it!
(Gerard's review, rating 5+++ stars)

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We are adding this one to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop in response to this prompt:  Book Review time! Recommend a great book, perfect for these stormy fall days! Hope you will subscribe to our blog so you get all of our reviews!

"The Pelican Brief" by John Grisham

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham is about Darby Shaw, a law student who does some research into a possible suspect who had two Supreme Court Justices assassinated.  She finds herself on the run when her brief makes it all the way to the FBI, CIA and the President.  There is a lot of killing in this book and Darby realizes she is in danger.  This is a real thriller because Darby doesn’t know who to trust.  She finally trusts Gray, an investigative reporter at the Washington Post who admires her and together they work at getting evidence.  It’s quite an elaborate story. 

I liked it because Darby was so smart when she was running for her life.  It was hard to believe she was able to outfox professional hit men, but at the same time, it was fun to see her doing it.  It has quite a bit of action which helped hold my interest.  It’s not my favorite Grisham book, but it is pretty good.

"The Town" by Chuck Hogan

The Town by Chuck Hogan is about four male friends who rob banks.  One day they take a female hostage and the leader of the gang takes a liking to her.  He decides to pursue her.  The FBI also has her under watch too!  He would love to get out of crime but one more huge job awaits that would be a fitting end to his career.  The whole book takes place in Boston, which is a major plus for me since I am a fan of all Boston teams.  After I read the book, I watched the movie trailer on the Internet.  I enjoyed the book very much!!!!  Loved the ending!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Public Enemies" by Bryan Burrough

Public Enemies:  America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough and Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan are so far tie for my number 1 books of 2009.  This book is about the gangster era of the early 30s featuring Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger and a few more.  

The stories about these people are so fascinating that it made me want to keep reading.  A ton of research went into making this book come alive.  I really, really enjoyed this book and plan to see the movie based on it one day.  I think this book would appeal more to men than women though--a great read!
(Gerard's review 9/09)

I got the DVD and started watching it but was disappointed in it.  The book is so much better!

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Deeper Than The Dead" by Tami Hoag

Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag is a murder mystery with many victims.  It is a real tragedy in more ways than one.  The author does a fantastic job of delving into the four families of the children who find a dead woman buried in the park and their teacher who is truly concerned about them.  Another dimension of the book is the criminal investigation, which includes an FBI agent falling in love with the teacher and a deputy who is the father of a bully who is one of the boys who discovered the dead body in the park.  I liked the insight into the different families who all had issues.  I felt bad for all the children and enjoyed the surprise twists that kept popping up along the way.  It certainly was not predictable and kept my interest all the way through.  It was a fast read and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery.  
(Karen's Review 2/22/10)

Awesome book!  Page turner!  I really enjoyed Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag!  One day four children come across a dead body in the park and from there this book takes off.  The story line between the kids, their parents, the school teacher and the detective trying to solve the crime is superb.  Throw in a lot of of twists and turns and a surprise ending and you get this great book!  Deeper Than The Dead got my attention at page 1 and kept it all the way through.   A MUST READ!  This was the first book I read by Tami, but will be back for more!
(Gerard's Review 2/11/10) (5+ stars)

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"The Overlook" by Michael Connelly

The Overlook by Michael Connelly is not your usual murder mystery.  Most of the novel centers on the crime investigation tension between the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI when the homicide turns into a national security issue.    Harry Bosch is pretty much a rogue detective in the special homicide department who has a lot of experience and is breaking in a new young partner.  He cares more about solving his case than protocol which makes for tension between him and his new partner as well as Special Agent Rachel Walling of the FBI.  The murderer almost pulls off the perfect crime, manipulating the evidence to lead the investigators on a wild goose chase.  When Bosch and Walling finally share their findings with each other and get a lucky break, things become clearer and they solve the mystery.    

 

This is a good crime story but moved sort of slow in the beginning but picked up speed as I went along.  I loved the chase scene at the end when Harry and Rachel teamed up and worked together on their own.  This one was not as thrilling or gripping as other mysteries I read.  It doesn’t have as much suspense as I like so does not get five stars from me.

(Karen's review)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?