Ungodly Rich

 

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Julia falls for a gorgeous guy who loves adventure and a good adrenaline rush. Turns out he's the god of war, his family runs a global empire, and his mom wants Julia gone.

Ungodly Rich by Katharine McGee reimagines the gods and goddesses of Olympus as the ultra rich, ultra powerful family behind a worldwide corporation. Think Succession, but everyone has magic powers and nobody has ever been to therapy. 

The whole thing is a romp. Hera is the scheming future mother in law determined to end her son's romance. Aphrodite is the jealous sister in law happy to help her do it. And Hades is off in a corner running his own quiet plan to topple Zeus.

Saskia Maarleveld narrates, which was a good sign before I ever hit play. She gives Hera a voice that cuts like glass, and I never once lost track of who was who, which is no small thing with a cast this size.

This is a fun pick for a lot of different readers, especially if you love romance, retellings, or watching a wealthy family come apart at the seams. Word is there's a sequel in the works and I'm here for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now.

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

If you liked this review, you might be interested in my review of  The Witch's Heart.

About the Author

Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling of the American Royals series, The Thousandth Floor trilogy, and A Queen’s Game. She studied English and French literature at Princeton and has an MBA from Stanford. Follow Katharine on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

Beyond Honor

 

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Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio, Atria Books, and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted copies.

An Alaskan hunting guide, a New York developer in over his head, and a CIA analyst chasing a conspiracy straight into the Oval Office. This debut ties all three together and never lets up.

Beyond Honor by K.B. Brodsky is an old-school, globetrotting political thriller with the pacing of a modern action novel, and it's a debut. Bill and Karen Brodsky are a husband-and-wife writing team, which explains nothing about how they pulled this off on the first try.

Three threads: Kevin Rhoads is young Alaskan hunting guide whose tracking skills make him CIA paramilitary material. When his team is killed, his grief turns into something sharper, and the man who goes into Siberia on a solo extraction has vengeance on his mind. Real estate developer Peter Michaels is desperate for financing. He takes money from the wrong people in Moscow and finds himself owned. Analyst Whitney Skyler uncovers foreign operation that involves the Oval Office. Whitney and CIA Director Cynthia King leverage a thirty-year debt of honor to try to free an American agent rotting in a Russian prison.

To say there's a lot going on is an understatement. What impressed me is that none of it tangles. The threads converge into a fast-paced edge-your-seat thriller. 

I went back and forth between print and audio and ended up doing most of it on audio. Narrator Jacques Roy handles a huge cast without a single moment where I lost track of who was talking. That's harder than it sounds.

A sequel is already announced and I'm in. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now. 

Grab a copy of Beyond Honor from Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

I you enjoyed this review, and want more espionage, you might be interested in my review of The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen.

About the Author

K.B. Brodsky is the pen name of Bill and Karen Brodsky, a husband-and-wife writing team based in New York City and Colorado. Beyond Honor is the first book in a series. Follow the authors on Instagram and visit their website for more news and information about their work.

The Camino

 

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Thank you Simon and Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobook!

This is not the fast paced thriller the cover promises, and that's exactly why I liked it.

A widow retraces her husband’s final walk on the Camino and discovers the man she married never existed.

The Camino by Anya Niewierra is billed as a literary thriller, and it is and it isn’t. It reads more like a domestic drama braided with historical fiction, with a character study at its heart. So a fair warning from your librarian: if you go in expecting a page turner with a twist every chapter, you might be disappointed. But if you love to settle into a layered story and let it unfold at its own pace, your patience will be rewarded.

Lotte Bonnet is a Dutch chocolatier whose husband Emil, a refugee from Bosnia, died by suicide while walking the Camino de Santiago through central France. One year later, Lotte follows his exact route, stop for stop, hoping to understand what happened. Along the way she learns that Emil had been living a lie for their entire marriage. And she starts to realize someone does not want her to finish the walk.

The second timeline comes through a letter written to Lotte, describing life in Bosnia before the war and the hardships and horrors once it began. I’m old enough to remember watching the Bosnian War unfold on the news, and it’s clear Niewierra did serious research here. This is a time and place that doesn’t get much shelf space in historical fiction, and it deserves it.

I liked Lotte. I found the story unique and intriguing. There's a subplot I thought pulled focus from the main story, but overall it's an engrossing read. A quick note that this book was a phenomenon in the Netherlands, selling over 800,000 copies and winning multiple awards, and it's finally available in English for the first time.

On audio, Carlotta Brentan and Vas Eli are excellent. Their performances perfectly match Niewierra’s lyrical prose, and having two narrators for the two timelines really elevated the listening experience.

This is a good choice for historical fiction lovers who want a setting and events off the beaten path, and literary thriller readers who like to get lost in a story that takes its time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now.

Grab a copy at 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 Heather. It's a literary thriller by Caitlin Muller.

About the Author

Anya Niewierra is the number one bestselling author of the Netherlands, dubbed by the press as the new queen of Dutch literature. She has written six books, all of them immense bestsellers. Her breakthrough book The Camino has sold well over 800,000 copies in the Netherlands, won both the NS Reader’s Award and the Hebban Crime Award, and was the bestselling and most borrowed book of the year in the Netherlands in 2024, spending over 170 weeks on the bestseller list. It’s currently being made into an international television series and has been published in multiple languages. Follow Anya on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

Before You Were Anne

 

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobook. 

Some books tell you who a person was. This one shows you who she had to become.

Anne Walker is found murdered in her Seattle home and her sixteen-year-old daughter Naomi is gone. Detective Chelsey Calhoun and her partner Ryan Montoya catch the case, and what starts as a straightforward investigation cracks wide open when the detectives learn Anne was born Rika Takahashi on a remote farm in Japan. Her path to that suburban house runs through Tokyo's underworld, an isolated town in Idaho, and decades of carefully built lies. 

Chelsey has to find Naomi before she becomes the next victim, and the closer she gets to Rika's real life, the more dangerous the truth turns out to be. Rika’s not the only one with secrets. 

This is slow-burning, atmospheric, character-driven suspense told in three voices across timelines. Author Emiko Jean expertly weaves them together. The flashbacks are what make it. Rika's whole life unfolds in them, and by the end you understand exactly who she was and what she survived. Jean writes about motherhood, identity, trauma, and the damage that silence and secrets do to a family. Her prose is more lyrical than sharp, but it still takes the story to dark places. Meanwhile Chelsey is wrestling with her own family secrets and her own sense of identity, and that parallel gives the whole book real emotion. 

On audio, narrators Mizuo Peck, Meiko Gavin, and Mirai turn in outstanding performances. Their three distinct voices all carry real tension and heartbreak. If you want a layered, emotional mystery that stays with you long after the last page, this is your book. It's the second Chelsey Calhoun book but works completely as a standalone. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

If you liked this review you might be interested in my review of The Return of Ellie Black. It's the first book in the Chelsey Calhoun series.

About the Author

Emiko Jean is a New York Times bestselling author of young adult and adult fiction, including Love Me Tomorrow and Love Me Always. Her work has been published around the world and translated into over thirty languages. Follow Emiko on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

Tear the City Down

 

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Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted ARC.

Andre Hardy was fourth-round NFL draft pick. Now he’s writing gritty crime fiction.

Coltrane Davis has made millions as a fixer for Saul Sollman, a crooked kingmaker who moves San Diego’s elite around like chess pieces. Coltrane wants out. He’s got a teenage daughter with real tennis talent and a woman he’s ready to build a life with. Then the Chargers’ star running back is compromised, and Saul pulls him in for one more job. Easy money. There’s no such thing.

That job cracks San Diego open. Coltrane follows it into the city’s underworld and finds a girl being trafficked, and from that moment the book stops being about football entirely. He’s already haunted by his daughter’s best friend, another trafficking victim he couldn’t save. Saving this one becomes the only thing that matters to him.

Coltrane is a man of contradictions and he knows it. He knows something in him is broken and he’s trying to fix it with meditation and Buddhism, both of which his girlfriend Mona brought into his life. He’s also finding out that walking away from Saul is nowhere near as simple as deciding to.

The action is relentless and Coltrane will fight his way out of anything. But Hardy gives you more than suspense. Racism, poverty, and class inequality run through every page of this. It’s noir that has something on its mind.

This is a great choice for fans of S.A. Cosby looking for edgy noir. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out Sept. 1. 

🚨I’m chatting with Andre about Tear the City Down on IG Live Wednesday, September 2 at 3:00 PM EST. Come hang out with us.

Grab a copy of Tear the City Down at Bookshop.org and help am indie bookstore while you're at it.

if you enjoyed this review, you might like my review of Brimstone Hollow. 

About the Author

Andre Hardy has written across multiple genres, including creative nonfiction, essays and short stories, screenwriting, and long-form narrative. Andre’s essays, interviews, and critical analysis have been published in L.A. Tribe Magazine, Lunch Ticket, Antioch University’s cutting-edge literary and visual arts journal, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. His short story, “Negro in a Hot Tub,” is featured in Made in L.A.: An Anthology of Stories Rooted in the City of Angels, written by Los Angeles-based writers. Andre was the fourth pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1984 National Football League draft. He is a member of the NFL Retired Players Association and the NFL Legends Community, and he earned his MFA through the NFL Players Trust tuition reimbursement program. Follow Andre on Instagram or  visit his website for more news and information about his work.

We Already Dug the Grave

 

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Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the gifted ARC.

Apparently murder is a family bonding activity in this book.

Milly used to be able to read the future in tea leaves, until one deadly night made the gift go silent. Now she’s estranged from her sister Francis, who married into the most powerful family in Alabama and hasn’t spoken to Milly in years. Not since what happened in that meadow when they were teens. But Francis shows at Milly’s door needing help, and Milly can’t say no, especially once the tea leaves start talking again. 

This is a Southern gothic thriller with strong Sharp Objects meets Practical Magic vibes. I liked the past and present timelines showing how Milly's and Francis’s childhood with their two no nonsense aunts shaped everything they became. The pace is steady and then revs up as the twists keep coming. Aunt Ruth and Aunt Hattie May stole every scene they were in. 

This one is a perfect choice if you love family drama with a pinch of the supernatural. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 We Already Dug the Grave is out September 8. 

You can preorder a copy 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 supernatural thriller Molka.

About the Author

Emma C. Wells is the USA Today bestselling author of This Girl's A Killer. Follow Emma on Instagram or visit her website for more news an information about her books.

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.

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.