Author

Jeff Ayers

Review

The Price of Everything

by Jeff Ayers

In a future world where the delivery of goods is overseen by an organization called the Guild, a courier steps into a conspiracy. Armand Pierce’s job required him to have surgery to graft a titanium handcuff onto his wrist bone so that theft of an attaché case linked at the other end is physically impossible. Like the Domino’s Pizza guarantee of 30 minutes or less, the Guild promises a successful transaction or death for the courier if that person fails to deliver the package for any reason. When Pierce arrives with a package, he’s shocked to learn that the materials inside have vanished, and he’s forced to kill everyone in the room to stay alive. On the run, he has nowhere to go and nobody to trust. This ultraviolent and nonstop action sci-fi thriller delivers (no pun intended) all the goods. McGoran does a terrific job of worldbuilding, and readers will dig this blending of Blade Runner and John Wick. Is there a sequel coming?

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Review

Kiss Her Goodbye

by Jeff Ayers

Frankie Elkin, finder of missing people, goes to Tucson, Arizona, to search for a missing Afghan refugee in Gardner’s (Still See You Everywhere), latest thriller. Sabera’s a young mom who vanishes, leaving behind a frightened little girl and a husband who doesn’t seem all that concerned his wife is missing. The police don’t even bother opening a case into the matter. Sabera’s friend, Aliah, knows something has happened and hopes Frankie can uncover the truth, even if the answer is painful. Establishing a home base of operations, Frankie finds a place to live temporarily: housesitting for a rich gamer with exotic pets and a quirky staff, who quickly become her allies. The more Frankie digs, the more everyone seems to be hiding something, and when a breaking news segment on local television shows what appears to be Sabera in the background of a murder scene, Frankie starts to question if anyone is trustworthy. The past collides with the present, and Frankie will face the unfortunate reality that finding answers might not necessarily mean winning or justice. Gardner knows how to do a psychological deep dive into her characters, making readers feel that these people with traumatic pasts and secrets could easily be our next-door neighbors. She also provides insight into the plight of refugees while amping up the tension and twists. Another great entry from the always reliable Gardner.

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Review

Exiles

by Jeff Ayers

Coile, who also writes as Andrew Pyper, passed away in early January, and this tense and terrific novel is sadly his last. A crew of three—two men and one woman—is sent to Mars to coordinate the eventual habitation of the red planet. Machines were sent earlier to create the base where they will live out the remainder of their lives, but the crew arrives at Mars to find no response to their signal. A bumpy ride to the surface and changed lock codes reveal a strange scenario. The robots built the habitat but were attacked by a being with stealth abilities and super strength, and the description sounds like an insect if it had one giant claw and could walk on two legs. As the crew listens to the machines tell their story, it appears that not all is as it seems, and the robots might be homesick for Earth, which would be entirely against their programming. This mix of horror, isolation, and psychological suspense demands to be read in one sitting and forces the reader to ask provocative questions with answers that have profound implications, such as, “What constitutes sentience?” and “What is the price humanity is willing to pay to reach the stars?” Exiles would make a fantastic movie, and fans of Alien or Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow should consider going on this journey.

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Review

Blood and Treasure

by Jeff Ayers

Pote’s debut thriller mixes the best of Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, and Dan Brown to weave an unputdownable tale. An incident on the International Space Station leads to more questions than answers and appears to be a prelude to gaining access to a satellite and its tech. Ethan Cain and his team take on big-pocket clients to find hidden treasures and artifacts. Their current client initially had them track down a scroll, and the information revealed on it leads to the location of an ancient weapon hidden for centuries. Evil people and entire governments want to utilize its capabilities, and whoever has this weapon could change the world. Cain learns the coordinates for this device’s underwater hidden location, but when trying to recover it, he watches as a space capsule slams into the water close to them. Inside is an unconscious woman, ejected from the event that occurred onboard the International Space Station. How did she survive, and does she also have an ulterior motive? Pote’s writing captures what makes fans of action-adventure and historical conspiracy thriller writers like Brad Thor and Steve Berry deliver every book. Make this a mandatory addition to your reading pile; you will treasure it forever.

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Review

The Lake Escape

by Jeff Ayers

An annual tradition goes horribly wrong at a lake retreat in Vermont in Day’s latest thriller. Three families have grown up, and lifelong friendships have developed from Julia’s, David’s, and Erika’s families spending time every summer together. So much so that when their children become adults, they continue meeting every year and bring their kids. The area gives off a Jason/Friday the 13th vibe, since a local legend has a young woman disappear every 30 years, and this reunion marks the 30th anniversary of the last disappearance. Tensions explode from the moment they arrive, and everyone appears to have secrets and hidden motives. Day takes characters who initially seem to dislike one another and slowly reveals the bonds and reasons for them to stay as close as siblings forever. When David’s new girlfriend disappears, and his new nanny seems to have ulterior motives for taking the job, the group’s bonds begin to fray. The revelations pile up, and by the end, the reader will be surprised and a bit overwhelmed, which is a good thing. Day perfectly delivers the awkwardness and obligation of family reunions while spotlighting the comfortability and love that makes it all worthwhile.

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Review

The Book of Lost Hours

by Jeff Ayers

In 1938, to hide her from the Nazis, a German watchmaker places his 11-year-old daughter in a library balanced between space and time, where the books on the shelves are memories, and promises to return. Lisavet grows up in this world between worlds, and as she grows, she becomes the leader of a movement to stop some of the timekeepers who browse the shelves from burning pages out of the books. In Boston in 1965, a young woman named Amelia is approached by the director of a highly secretive CIA program. Amelia has a watch that can access the library, and the director, Moira, wants her to find a particular book of memories. With no choice, Amelia begins her search, not realizing that success will destroy everything she loves. The story is elegantly poetic, with hints of romance and science fiction mixed with the thriller elements. The time references and how everything operates can be complicated, but it doesn’t matter because the characters and the writing carry the reader on a fantastic journey. What are memories? Can love transcend time? This tremendous debut from Gelfuso reminds us that we write in the book of memories every day of our lives.

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Review

Death and the Librarian

by Jeff Ayers

A case from almost 60 years ago threatens the present in Gilbert’s (Schooled in Murder, 2025) latest addition to her terrific Blue Ridge Library mystery series. A true-crime author, Maureen Dryden, visits the library run by Amy Muir to give a book talk and pursue a cold case from the area for her next book. She’s famous for writing about an unsolved crime in her previous book, and her identification of the killer resulted in the accused dying by suicide. One of the folks Maureen’s trying to track down is Kurt Kendrick, godfather to Amy’s children. When Maureen dies, Kurt ends up at the top of the suspect list. Amy’s investigation goes badly from the start, and Kurt is a bit too angry and demanding when Amy asks him questions, scaring her. It seems that bringing up the past makes a lot of residents in town reluctant to provide answers. When Amy starts receiving death threats, she realizes she might have gone too far this time. Gilbert does a terrific job of keeping the pace while showcasing a realistic small town with relatable characters. The solution to the mystery might seem obvious, but Gilbert has a few twists in store that will keep the reader guessing until the last page.

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Review

Bait and Swiss

by Jeff Ayers

Cozy mysteries have a template of sorts. They are usually set in a small town, and often set in a small business with a friendly, plucky, sleuthy heroine. Trouble, sometimes from the past, drops into the mix to spoil the perfection. Bait and Swiss is a fine example of the genre, with all the proper elements in place from chapter one. Willa and her incredibly simpatico team from her cheese shop, Curds & Whey, preparing for their second anniversary celebration, pause to attend the grand opening of a neighboring cake shop. Surprisingly, the cake shop includes a chocolatier run by Willa’s ex-fiancé and best friend from 10 years ago. In the chaos of the opening, Willa delivers samples of the chocolates to the newspaper editor, a reporter is poisoned, and the lovely town is in a panic. Willa’s relationship with the hunky local detective is in danger, but she sleuths on, partnering in a somewhat slapstick style with the editor. Food sales are down all over the town as the population fears poison from all quarters, but friendships hold firm and instincts are strong though the who-done-it is a surprise. The recipes at the end underscore the power of cheese. Fun all around from Moss (Cheddar Off Dead, 2022).

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Review

Nobody’s Fool

by Jeff Ayers

Coben (Think Twice) brings back former Detective Sami Kierce from Fool Me Once (the book and the NetFlix series) as his past crashes into his simple life. Sami works as a private investigator, doing jobs that embarrass him. He teaches a true-crime class at night school and lives with his wife and year-old son. Sami might want answers from past events in his life, but thinks he will never learn the truth until a woman he recognizes arrives in his class. When Sami graduated from college, he met Anna on a trip to Spain, and for days their lives were bliss until she ended up dead. But the woman Sami sees in his class is Anna, and Sami stumbles into a larger mystery that seems unrelated to his time overseas. To add to the investigator’s increasing stress, the person responsible for killing his partner when he worked in law enforcement is released from prison and asks Sami to reinvestigate the case to prove his innocence. Then Sami’s wife, Molly, thinks she is being stalked, and the lurid texts proving she’s right begin popping up on Sami’s phone. Coben juggles several complex stories, each one of which would be compelling by itself but that together create a page-turning experience that will leave fans and newcomers to Coben enthralled. The twists are shocking, and Sami; his wife, Molly; and the supporting cast are so much fun. Coben would be foolish not to bring them back for another story.

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Review

A Dead Draw

by Jeff Ayers

An interrogation with suspect Erik Schmidt haunts Detective Tracy Crosswhite, and his connection to her sister’s killer brings back painful memories in Dugoni’s latest thriller. Tracy’s reaction to Schmidt triggers her PTSD, and when she makes a mistake during a training session, the detective realizes she needs to destress. When Schmidt is released on a technicality, Tracy convinces her family to spend some time in her hometown of Cedar Grove so she can step away, relax, and put Schmidt out of her mind. But Schmidt has other ideas. A thriller author can rarely take an obvious cat-and-mouse game with the established final battle setup and turn it on its head to create a tense and unexpected confrontation, but Dugoni (Beyond Reasonable Doubt, A Killing on the Hill) pulls it off. He realizes his characters are first-rate and readers will follow them anywhere, so he amps up the suspense and crafts a page-turner that will cause carpal tunnel from tight gripping of the book. This eleventh entry is one of the best in the series, and Dugoni continues to tell great stories while expanding our love of Tracy and her world. Whether Tracy’s new or a regular addition to your reading pile, sketch out some time for this.

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