NetGalley Reviewer nix21230

LETHAL ACTION is the ninth book in the Mason Sharpe thriller series by Logan Ryles - it's another corker! Something is not as it should be in Prairie Junction, Iowa, and Mason Sharpe's internal warning signals are ringing loud and clear.  Suddenly a swarm of choppers and trucks descend on the sleepy town and everyone is told to stay indoors whilst the town is put under complete lockdown with roadblocks restricting movements. As we know from previous escapades, Sharpe is not one to sit and wait, so he starts investigating. After witnessing a murder of a local man, it's clear that something big is happening.  Sharpe is soon calling in a favour from an old friend who is now in a position of power within central government.  Working together to outsmart the bad guys and trying to figure out what is actually happening we are treated to an action packed and intelligent thriller in true Sharpe style.  Highly recommended! #LethalAction #netgalley

Psychological thriller - please check trigger warnings! Emotional family drama, favourite daughter who dies, father who's overstepping, pregnancy, living to get revenge - it all makes sense during the second part of the story, when things that have only been alluded to earlier are brought together.  I'm glad I continued reading, despite the slow beginning and the darker themes. The story comes together well in the end, but for me I'll return to more happy stories including the author's books set on Arran. As a side note, there is something seriously wrong with our justice system (quote from the ARC); ‘ I just know how much stress and heartache lies ahead for you. Especially if this goes to court. To trial. Your life will be ripped apart. Our lives will be ripped apart. Nothing will ever be the same. ’ Feelings of guilt and shame are flooding through me. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. ‘But I can’t be the victim anymore. I need to speak out.’ Do check out Lorna Henderson's a...

Knock Out by Logan Ryles is the eight book with Mason Sharpe as the lead character.  Sharpe is finally enjoying some much needed down time but this all stops when he spots three men beating up a kid in an alleyway. Sharpe  sends the attackers on their way, and then patches up the kid, Spencer.  Spencer has set his target on earning some "quick" cash, by winning big money at an underground fight club. The fight club is run by a biker gang and Sharpe soon finds himself in a bit of a predicament.. Personally I wasn't keen on the fight club element, but it's Mason Sharpe so it is still a book well worth reading! Knock Out by Logan Ryles is available now.

Ten days to keep a lie. Ten plagues if you deny. Ten ways to watch them die. Detective Jena Campbell put away a notorious serial killer named Silas Halvard (The Leviticus Killer) five years ago based on evidence which was more circumstantial than real.  At the beginning of this story, Jack the Governor's son is kidnapped and Jena is called in to investigate. It very soon becomes clear that solving the case becomes a race against time whilst the kidnapper, using the alias Azrael, threatens to kill unless Silas is released. One by one, the jurors from Silas' trial are murdered using inspiration from the ten Biblical plagues. Jena tries to get Silas to cooperate, but her efforts are futile and time is running out to save Jack. At the edge of your seat, nail biting psychological thriller. Heavy Are the Stones by J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle is set to release on 26 November 2024. #HeavyAreTheStones #NetGalley

A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Darcy McGuire is the second book in the "The Queen's Deadly Damsels" series. Set in Regency England, the novel follows the adventures of Millicent Whittenburg, a spy in training for the Queen. Lady Phillipa has very recently started training Millie, to be part of her secret cadre of undercover agents, all working on the orders from the Queen herself. Millie is just hours away from being forced to marry a man the same age as her father - all instigated by her power hungry, horrible step-mother Patricia. Together with Lady Phillipa, a plan is put in place, but it doesn't seem like it'll go as expected.. Major General Beaufort Drake is way more decent than they expected. A Lady's Lesson in Scandal is another fab story and I'm guessing there'll be at least one more instalment to come. Highly recommended. Pub Date:12 Oct 2024 Previous book: The Secret Life of a Lady - link to my review #ALadysLessoninScandal #NetGalley

Hard duty is the 13th book in the action packed, high-tech and intelligent Jon Reznick thriller series.  Reznick has been called in when a former fellow agent has gone rouge, and he must now navigate a complex web of lies and misinformation to track the down the rogue before highly sensitive information is sold to the highest bidder. Reznick is a volatile and unpredictable as in the previous books, but with the support of his hand picked team - tough Scot Mac McCafferty and Trevelle Williams, the cyber security expert who lost his girlfriend in a previous book - the odds for success are as high as they can be.  It is a gripping, fast paced and clever story, where (as hoped for) the good wins in the end.  Hard duty by J. B. Turner is currently set to publish on 3 October 2024. #HardDuty13 #NetGalley #jonreznick #HardDuty13AJonReznickThriller

This is an amazing, engaging and funny historical novel! Miss Hannah Simmons is doing her best to blend in, to not be noticed, she dresses is muted grey and brown colours and rarely speaks.  Operating in plain sight has become her best disguise, until Duke Robert Killian takes notice of her. They are both tasked with secret missions - one working for the queen and the other one for the prime minister. What can possibly go wrong?  Highly recommended! The second book in the series, "A Lady's Lesson in Scandal" is currently scheduled to be released on October 2024.

"Eventuellt uppsåt - att döda ortens gangsters" - freely translated as "Possible intent - to kill off the local baddies". This is another amazing book by Jan Guillou!!! It would be amazing if this really is part of a new series - bring on more Ponti and Hamilton, and Tanguy for that matter!  “The older I get, the better I was” 😂 I always enjoy reading Guillou's books - the story line is tight, unexpected and his language extremely rich - perfect to keep my Swedish alive, whilst at the same time getting reminded of events that has taken place in Sweden.  Keep writing - don't feed the pigeons!! I wish someone would translate all of the Hamilton series, so non Swedish speakers could enjoy these fantastic stories and realise who heavily inspired the more recent Swedish crime writers.

"Den som dödade helvetets änglar by Jan Guillou" - freely translated as " The one who killed the angels in hell". A bit late to reading this, but what a treat!!!  His language is beautiful, the connections to true events and living people are spot on, and the criticism of governments thought-provoking and necessary in a democratic-ish society.  Written in a completely different style to his other Hamilton and Ponti books i loved this one! I’ve already got the next one downloaded and will hopefully be in for another treat.  This book is so far only available in Swedish - unfortunately similar to most of Guillou's fabulous books! 

Action, intrigue, and some politics mixed into another fab Jon Reznick thriller. This is the twelfth in the series but it can be read as a standalone.  This time it's Jon's go-to hacker and computer genius Trevelle that's in trouble. Trevelle contacts Jon to ask for help after his Chinese girl friend fell / got pushed into the tracks. A parallell legal system with Chinese police station is revealed and it all feels very close to a possible real situation which makes the story even better.  To find the culprits, the relationship between Martha (FBI) and Jon is tested yet again in this story - but this time it's Martha's career that's at stake. With the pressure piling up, will she be loyal to Jon or look after herself first?  Highly recommended. The Jon Reznick thrillers are available on Kindle Unlimited and you may as well subscribe for a month or so, to read them all! Hard Power will be published on 12 March 2024, but can be preordered now. #HardPower #NetGalle...

Labelled as an erotical thriller, this book (and soon film apparently) is so, so much more!  It will play with your emotions, your sense of logic and what's right and wrong - when a game is just a game and shouldn't have real life consequences, or should it? How far would YOU go? For many who downloaded the Sugar and Spice app, they went all the way - all in an effort to win the ultimate prize. The tasks given out by the Sugar and Spice are carefully orchestrated so the players get roped in and are prepared to complete tasks which are subtly getting more and more borderline to what's allowed in the eye of the law - until it's waaaay past. Psychology and human greed at their best! Behind a closed door by J.D. Barker i scheduled to be released on 13 May 2024.  #BehindAClosedDoor #NetGalley

We need some real-life Dylan Trumans exacting revenge on those who deserve it! After a horrific incident Dylan became Lady Justice, a professional vigilante who's exacting revenge on those scumbags who deserve it be it cheaters, bullies, swindlers or others. When she's contacted to exact revenge on Brent Wilder, a billionaire and decorated hero it suddenly gets personal. Brent is the one who ruined Dylan's sister's life.  Amazingly well written, faced paced, and humours all in one package. Never has revenge felt sooooo good! #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo #NetGalley

Lots of content warnings on this book! The first part of the story really hooks you in as it is extremely well written, engaging and beautifully paced.  The second half of the story goes really dark and sinister rather quickly. It is HOT in places, but also somewhat repetitive and (in my view) unnecessarily dark. It felt like a book of two halves. At the time of writing this review, the following content warnings were shared on the author's website: Breath play; kidnapping; violence; strong sexual themes; trauma; close proximity; close impact play; grief; psychological trauma, dub-con, non-con, torture, knife-play, grief.  LINK This title will be released on October 23, 2023. #ResistingJax #NetGalley

Fire Team by Logan Ryles is the fourth book in the series about Mason Sharpe. I had not read the previous three but decided to give this title a go when it came up on Netgalley. It works well as a stand-alone, even though I at some times felt like I was missing some of the back story.  Mason is at the bank to sort out his affairs, when someone shouts “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a robbery!”. They are all forced down on the floor as one of the robbers heads to the vault. Leaving, the robbers carry only a small bag and also grabs two hostages - Mason and a woman who was on the floor next to him. There's just something with the whole event which doesn't sit right with Mason and his brain is working overtime trying to figure it out. It turns out that the two bank robbers are veterans from the same Army Ranger Regiment as Mason served in. As he starts asking questions he finds himself changing sides to that of the robbers to unearth years of cover-ups, deception and fraud high up ...

I have been hooked on the Blood Brothers books since I stumbled upon the first one on Netgalley in 2021. Fast paced, bad boys, mafia, corrupt police and strong capable women. If you haven't read them all, I recommend that you do; you're in for a treat! I thought MARKED, the fifth book in the series was going to be the last one, but the ending said differently, and here we are almost a year later -- the sixth book in the series -- UNBROKEN. It sure delivers!! Savannah is the mafia princess her father wants to protect at all costs, although she's fighting against his domineering control every step of the way. It gets even worse when she's told she needs to go away for a week with a 'babysitter' from Backcountry Protection Services. Toth has very reluctantly accepted the assignment to protect Savannah - he said no repeatedly, but that was exactly what made him the perfect man for the job! Fighting to keep Savannah safe and keeping his own feelings under wraps, this...

The fake wife bit of this book is the start of the story, a story that goes from what appears to be a chance meeting in a hotel restaurant followed by a one night stand to kidnapping, dangerous driving, murders and many layers of intrigue and deception; all excepted when there is a politician involved... PC Garry Mizon, the 'forever' traffic cop and flower grower was my favourite character together with Lexy Thomas the Detective Sergeant allocated to the case. Olive is the lead throughout the book and the story is told mainly via her events - present and past.  Michael, well he's the politician, so not much more to say, is there? We also have Maddy and Eloise, Michael's ex-wives. Gwen, the ex mother-in-law and her granddaughters. After a rather cringeworthy and slow start, the story really takes off and we're treated to many layers of intrigue as we get more information about Olive, Michael, Maddy and Eloise - oh, and the meddling Gwen.   This title will be released...

I absolutely loved this book! Fast paced, unexpected, and clever, with great characters solving a believable case. What's even better is that there are another TEN books with Jon Reznick already published AND they are available on Kindle Unlimited! A Swiss intelligence agent downloads thousands of classified documents including information that could expose secret agents and other key information that the global intelligence community are keen to keep under wraps.  With not much to go on, favours are called in and finally a dying friend and a blip in a computer programme - a face that cannot be matched to any living being - gives Jon the break he needs, but it also drags his past into the light. Suddenly, it's become personal. Hard Exit, the 11th book about Jon Reznick will be published on 14 December 2023 - a perfect Christmas present! #HardExit11 #NetGalley #jonreznick

Another fabulous book by Catherine Ryan Hyde! Nineteen-year-old Jill goes missing after eye witnesses have seen her in an altercation with her boyfriend at a camping place near the Utah-Arizona border. Norma is one of the search and rescue volunteers taking part in the search for Jill and she fairly quickly finds Jill, but due to the circumstances of Jill's disappearance, Norma decides to get Jill out of the situation without revealing to the rest of the search and rescue team that she has found Jill. I love how Catherine Ryan Hyde has created a totally believable and gripping story where right might not actually be right and wrong may be the right!  A Different Kind of Gone by Catherine Ryan Hyde will be released on 5 December 2023, but you can pre-order it now.  #ADifferentKindofGone #NetGalley

Private detective Marc Novak is the man you want on your side if you're in trouble. He’s ruthless, single-minded and after results.  After Collinson's first book about Marc Novak, An Accident in Paris , we are now treated to the second instalment in the series - The Romanov Code . Building on the historic events of the last of the Romanov family being butchered by the Bolsheviks in 1918, Collinson has created a well-woven tale of secrets, brutality, blackmail and hope. Marc Novak has been given the task to track down the lost treasures of the Romanovs which haven't been seen for over a century. Failure would mean that all he holds dear would be killed. The hunt is on! Unfortunately he isn't the only one after the treasures and a fierce chase takes place where it's not absolutely clear who he can trust and what tales are true.  Amazing! Highly recommended! This title is published on 17 August 2023, but you can pre-order it now.  Link to Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/3q...

Fantasy, sci-fi and magic mixed in with romance and some horror! Buchbinder has done her homework and we're treated to an intriguing and fast-paced story which I throughly enjoyed.  According to the authorities, both Charlene's parents committed suicide in a car accident. As a result, 24-year old Charlene is left to care for her brother Joey who is special needs. Unfortunately, as the accident was deemed suicide, there is no insurance money for Charlene to dig into to care for her brother.  Circumstance has it that her Aunt Jessie has left her an apple farm in Eden (Kentucky) - a place her mother always told her to stay well clear of. With money running out, Charlene hasn't really got any other option than to head to Eden.  Charlene lands herself a job driving a school bus for special needs children - all very similar to her brother. Work is made rather interesting as she is attracted to the owner of the company, Zach. As they days go by, Charlene slowly learns about Eden...