Them

 

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Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted listen. 

They made contact with an alien species and thought they could turn it into a weapon. They could not. 

Them by W.H. Chizmar is a stunning dystopian thriller that will leave you thinking “who are the real monsters here?” A top secret government project finds a way to move matter across space and brings something back alive. Something they think can be tamed into the perfect soldier. It cannot. 

Years later one man walks the earth by night, scavenging abandoned houses and hiding from the creatures that wiped out most of humanity. Another man sits alone in an underground bunker with nothing but a journal and the guilt of knowing he’s the one who started all of this. Their stories collide and the full picture of how the world ended comes into focus. 

This is Chizmar’s first solo novel and it does not read like a debut. The writing is sharp and layered. The tension never lets up, and the aliens themselves are nothing like what you’re picturing. These are massive armored killing machines, and somehow they still end up feeling real and complex. 

I don’t usually pick up sci-fi, but the emotional weight of this one pulled me right in and never let go. This is more than just dystopian sci-fi. It's also an examination of loneliness, guilt, and friendship. Narrators Johnny Heller and Kevin R. Free both bring real gravitas to their characters. These are top notch audio performances. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Them is out now. Don't miss it! 

You can grab a copy of Them from Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in my review of The Dorians by Nick Cutter.

About the Author

W.H. Chizmar is the New York Times bestselling coauthor (with Richard Chizmar) of Widow’s Point: The Complete Haunting, as well as numerous short stories and essays. Them is his debut solo novel.

Currently Reading

 

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Thank you Simon Audio, Grand Central Publishing, and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted copies! 

I just started listening to The Camino by Anya Niewierra. This is a literary thriller about a woman who walks the Camino de Santiago in search of answers to her husband's death. This one's out Aug. 25. 

I'm reading Tear the City Down by Andre Hardy. Coltrane is a hustler and fixer, but he's ready to quit the game for his daughter and the woman he loves. But one final job involving an NFL player gets complicated and pulls Coltrane into danger he never expected. This is gritty crime fiction debut from Hardy, a former NFL player. It's out Sept. 1. 

You can preorder a copy of The Camino and Tear the City Down from Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

The Shadow Friends

 

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Thank you to Amazon Publishing and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted ARC.

I started this series with book three and it was just fine.

Tess Gerritsen’s The Shadow Friends was definitely the thriller I needed at the right time. It’s a smart, fast-paced spy story about a group of friends who are all retired intelligence agents. They call themselves the Martini Club, and they spend their retirement on good food, good conversation, and a lot of drinks. Until duty calls.

When a renowned infectious disease expert and Russian defector turns up dead at a conference, followed by the murder of a hotel waitress, the group gets pulled back into the game. Ingrid recognizes the killer’s handiwork immediately. She’s seen it before, decades ago, on a mission that nearly got her killed.

I really liked Ingrid, her husband Lloyd, Maggie, and Declan. Gerritsen provides enough backstory that jumping in at book three never felt like a gap. I had a real handle on these characters and their friendship from page one. The pacing never let up, the tension stayed high, and the spycraft was sharp throughout. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one is perfect for anyone who loves the idea of nosy retirees solving mysteries and saving the world at the same time. 

The Shadow Friends is out August 25. You can preorder a copy from Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it. 

You you enjoyed this review you might be interested in my review of Kills Well with Others. It's a funny and fast paced spy thriller about a group of retired female assassins who go back to work to find a mole in their former organization.

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen earned international acclaim for her first novel of suspense, Harvest. She introduced Detective Jane Rizzoli in The Surgeon (2001) and Dr. Maura Isles in The Apprentice (2002) and has gone on to write numerous other titles in the celebrated Rizzoli & Isles series, most recently The Mephisto Club, The Keepsake, Ice Cold, The Silent Girl, Last to Die, Die Again, and I Know a Secret. Follow Tess on Instagram or visit her website more news and information her books.

Two for Tuesday: Five Star Romance Edition

 

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Two for Tuesday is going all in on five stars today. Two romances, two very different worlds, both worth whatever's left of your summer reading time. 

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan and The Open Era by Edward Schmit have both been out all summer, so I won't bore you with a big summary eery. Five stars for both.

I listened to Dolly on audio, narrated by Julia Whelan, and she's perfect for this one, which should surprise no one. Dolly herself is everything I want in a romantic lead: a real, down to earth woman with a job that's an actual job and a family that feels like an actual family. She's not twenty-five, and doesn't need to be. Her teenage son could have been written as an eye-rolling cliché and wasn't. Her brother's mental health struggles are handled with real care. There even a subplot where Dolly keep's a relationship with Stewart's mother even after the third act breakup. Monaghan's writing is sharp and funny then sneaks up on you and makes you feel things. Perfection. 

The Open Era is a completely different vibe and just as good. Austin is funny, smart, sweet, grieving, and dealing with real anxiety that's written honestly, including going to therapy for it. Watching him navigate a Grand Slam tournament and sudden media attention as the first openly gay man competing on that stage is moving. Diego might be the sweetest love interest I've read in a long time. The Grand Slam setting gives it this electric, high stakes backdrop, and for a debut novel, Schmit's control of the pacing is impressive. This is Schmit's debut novel and it's a stunner.

If you want romance with characters who have actual layers and depth, who are smart and funny, and feel real, both these books deliver. Crackling tension, great banter, swoon-worthy moments, the whole package. 

These are two five star reads to close out your summer. You can't go wrong with either one. 

You can grab a copy of either book at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this post, you might be interested in my review of Reality Bites. It's a fun romcom by Amy Mass.

One of the Family

 

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Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted listen.

Rich people behaving badly is one of my favorite tropes,  and Mark Edwards'  One of the Family nails it. 

An ordinary guy meets his girlfriend's family for the first time. What could go wrong? Everything, obviously. 

Patrick is invited to spend New Year's with Holly's family at their remote Scottish estate. It's clear from the moment he arrives that something is off. 

Holly and her siblings aren't thrilled that their widower dad has a new love, especially one who looks eerily like their late mother. Awkward. Then Patrick overhears what sounds like a plan to get rid of her to protect the family inheritance. It's not shaping up to be the cozy holiday Patrick was hoping for. 

This is a fast paced domestic thriller that barely lets you catch your breath. It's packed with long buried secrets, lies and corporate intrigue. It's also got locked room thriller vibes too, thanks to the isolated Scottish setting during a snowstorm. 

The full cast narration by Anna Burnett, Kirsty Strain, Peter Caulfield, Sarah Slimani, and Thomas Judd brought all the tension and family dysfunction to life. 

If you loved the show Succession, this one's for you. Wealthy patriarch, resentful kids, distrustful villagers, corporate shenanigans, drama inheritance, and enough twists to keep every armchair detective guessing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now. 

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie Bookstore while you're at it.

If you liked this review, check out my review of Mark Edwards' The Wasp Trap.

They Say a Girl Died Here

 

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Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted early listen! 

Anna’s family just relocated to a small farming town to help care for her grandmother, who’s slipping into dementia. Her little sister is already spooked by local legend. Her friends told her a killer called the Farmhand who’s claimed a girl every three years. The anniversary is coming up fast, the town’s in a drought (same as the last two times), and everyone’s on edge, even though the alleged killer is dead.

Except Anna can’t let it go. The more she digs into the old murders, the more she notices her grandmother getting agitated. And the more she starts to wonder if grandma’s “confusion” is actually the key to the whole thing.

This one’s part psychological thriller, part paranormal, with just enough horror creeping around the edges. Anna is a great lead. She's smart, stubborn, exactly the kind of character you want driving a mystery like this. The atmosphere is thick and unsettling, and the twists kept coming.

My one hiccup: the grandmother’s role in it all needed more explanation. I rewound a section to make sure I wasn’t missing something, and I still felt like there could’ve been a little more information there. Fair warning that I read dementia-as-plot-device stories with a slightly skeptical eye after witnessing my dad's Parkinson's delusions and my mom's dementia, so take that with a grain of salt.

Saskia Maarleveld’s narration makes this shine. She’s fantastic as always, and she nails every ounce of Anna’s fear and determination.

If you love creepy, atmospheric thrillers without a ton of gore, or you’re already a Pinborough fan, this is going straight to the top of your list. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

They Say a Girl Died Here is out August 25. Preorder a copy at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you miay be interested in my review of Heather. It's a small town atmospheric story mystery about two sister who go missing.

About the Author

Sarah Pinborough is the award-winning, New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes and 13 Minutes. She lives in London. For more news and information about Sarah’s books, follow her on Instagram or visit her website.

Little Red Death

 

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A killer premise. A hot mess ending.

Little Red Death by Alexandra Benedict had an intriguing premises. A thriller writer gets kidnapped and told to write gruesome murders based on classic fairytales, murders her captor then acts out in real life. So much promise in the premise. Meanwhile DI Lyla Rondell is working the case, tying the killings to fairytales and connecting them to her best friend’s disappearance 25 years ago. Great setup. But the execution just did not hold up for me. 

I’ve read a lot of UK police procedurals and Lyla’s investigation felt off from the jump. She’s relentless, I’ll give her that, but she breaks chain of evidence, goes rogue constantly, and her boss talks and acts nothing like an actual supervising inspector would. It read amateurish in a genre that usually gets these details right. And then the back half. The murders keep escalating, the kidnapped writer is scrambling to save herself, and it all tips into pure absurdity. By the ending I wasn’t along for the ride anymore. I was just along for the wreck. If the goal was a meta, mind bending finale, then mission accomplished. But it cost the story my suspension of disbelief and, unfortunately, my enjoyment too. 

If you want a fast paced mashup of mystery, thriller, fairytale horror and existential chaos, this might be exactly your book. It just wasn’t mine. 

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the gifted ARC. Little Red Death is out Sept. 8. 

You can preorder a copy of Little Read Death at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it. 

If you're interested in folktale-based thriller, read my review of The Hat Man by Greg Marchand.

About the Author

Alexandra Benedict is a bestselling, award-winning writer of short stories, novels and scripts. She she writes acclaimed short stories, high-concept novels and award-winning audio drama for Big Finish, Audible UK, Audible US and BBC Sounds among others. She won the Scribe Award for her Doctor Who radio drama, The Calendar Man, and was shortlisted for the eDunnit Novel Award for The Beauty of Murder and the BBC Audio Drama Podcast Award for Children of the Stones. Her Christmas mysteries, The Christmas Murder Game and Murder on the Christmas Express, were both bestsellers, and The Christmas Murder Game was longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. Follow Alexandra on Instagram or visit her website for more news and information about her books.