Tag:

Thrillers

Review

Hidden in Smoke

by Henrietta Thornton

Whip-smart, odd-couple arson investigators Andrew Walker and Walter Sharpe are back, this time probing a string of fires across LA. The worst is a blaze that has taken out part of a major highway. In a city that lives in its car, traffic that’s even more snarled is a disaster, and the investigators relish the chance to travel by helicopter while they sniff out—sometimes literally—clues and, at least on Sharpe’s part, exasperate all around them. Fans of the series will enjoy reacquainting themselves with a lovable criminal from the previous books (Ashes Never Lie, 2024; Malibu Burning, 2023), Danny Cole, who is continuing his revenge against a corporate monster. Tense scenes, some (awesome!), Mission Impossible-type capers, and the wonderful arson-fighting duo of Walker and Sharpe make this an exciting, absorbing addition to the series. Readers need not have read the previous books, but it adds to the experience.

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Review

South of Nowhere

by Jeff Ayers

Colter Shaw takes on a mission to find a missing family swept away by a flood in Deaver’s latest thriller. They don’t have much time to survive, so Colter’s efforts and utilizing his skill set come with a ticking clock. A levee near a small California town has overflowed, and that raging water is merely the beginning of a possible catastrophic event that could decimate the town if the barrier fails. Colter and his sister, Dorion, work with the police and emergency personnel to evacuate everyone before what seems to be an inevitable breach occurs. When they uncover evidence of sabotage, it becomes a race to find who and why someone would want to destroy the town and its citizens. Deaver is a master in misleadingly utilizing readers’ expectations and perceptions, so every revelation is a surprise. The ending hints at a terrific next adventure, and it can’t come soon enough. Fans of the CBS series Tracker already know Colter Shaw, and this great thriller highlights why he’s such a wonderful character. Deaver has done it again.

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Review

Ruth Run

by Jeff Ayers

Ruth has an unconventional way of making money, and her method of robbing banks through a code in a hacked chip has finally caught up with her in Kaufman’s debut thriller. Taking cash in small amounts from transactions has made her a very rich cybercriminal. When alarms signal she’s been discovered, she grabs her accomplice, and they take off. A government agent named Mike has been watching her for some time and knows everything about Ruth since he feels he launched her career. Mike has planted tracking devices in her home, car, and a bag that never leaves her side, so he knows her every move. When his superiors want her eliminated since her bug is inside the government’s network, Mike agrees to help. However, he seems to have feelings for the woman he considers his protégé, so what is his objective? When Ruth realizes that the authorities are close and her usual tricks won’t be enough, she must improvise. But even though she is elusive and clever, her methods might put her in even more danger than she’s in from the law. Kaufman has created a compelling and complex character in Ruth, and watching her outwit and coordinate her surroundings to stay alive while being in control will endear her to readers. The motivations behind the people after this protagonist, and her inability to trust those she enlists for help, keep the paranoia above a level ten. Hopefully this terrific debut will launch a series featuring Ruth and her adventures.

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Review

Strangers in Time

by Jeff Ayers

The horrors of war are reflected in the lives of three people in Baldacci’s (A Calamity of Souls) latest. Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters lives with his grandmother in cramped conditions. She thinks Charlie is spending his weekdays in school, but he has quit and spends the day roaming the streets, stealing food and money to survive. His goal is to eventually enlist and fight the Germans for taking away his parents and his sense of safety. When he steals from Ignatius Oliver’s bookshop, rather than demanding punishment for Charlie, Ignatius treats him well, almost like a father would. Like Charlie, Ignatius is dealing with loss, but it’s his wife instead of his parents. When 15-year-old Molly Wakefield returns to London after spending time away from the big city and conflict, she is horrified to learn her parents did not survive the bombing. The three bond, throughout the war trusting and protecting one another from a relentless enemy and secrets they can’t see coming. Baldacci chronicles the story of this makeshift family brought together by circumstances out of their control and how they can survive and confront whatever awaits. The author does a terrific job of transporting the reader back in time to a tumultuous period of living in London, and readers will practically smell the smoke and feel surrounded by rubble from the shattered buildings. Another great tale from a grandmaster storyteller.

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Review

The Backwater

by Henrietta Thornton

Sabine Kelly has been on the run for years. As a teen she was accused of arson that killed nine people, including her mother and sister. The Sabine whom readers meet seems hardened by her years on the road—or rather, on the river, hiding as she does in a houseboat on the same rural Australia waterway she grew up by, with her drug-addicted mother and a sister she had to parent. But she doesn’t seem capable of the crime she’s running from. Instead, she seems scarred by it and desperate for the truth to come out, but powerless to make that happen. Enter Rachel Weidermann, a journalist who lives next to Sabine’s grandfather, a complicated character called Pop. She’s been obsessed for years with getting Sabine’s story, and when she sees the fugitive visiting Pop, she is excited to both get answers and save her fading career. Following the women, as Sabine learns to trust someone and Rachel to let things unfold imprecisely, offers both an engrossing journalism procedural tale and a look at what can happen when goodness meets desperation. Setting is as prominent as characterization and plot here, with all combining to create a memorable tale of redemption.

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Review

Kills Well with Others

by Henrietta Thornton

They’re back! The trained assassins readers first met and loved in Killers of a Certain Age (2022) are on another mission, but things are odd this time. The group of women, which resembles nothing so much as a book club that’s enjoying itself a bit too much, is summoned to a new job, but given tickets for coach airfare…decidedly not the style they’re accustomed to. The usual impeccable preparedness is lacking in other ways, too—no backup murder weapon provided? What is this?—and things go completely off the rails—pun intended, as the worldwide escapades after looted art and to flee revenge end up with the women on a lethal train journey through Montenegro. The Bond-type exploits are exciting and the art-history details absorbing, but as in the previous book, it’s the realistic friendships and love—including same-sex romance—that will keep readers wanting more from Raybourn. An invigorating read that will lift readers’ spirits.

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Review

Parents Weekend

by Jeff Ayers

Santa Clara University hosts an annual Parents Weekend for students’ families. In Finlay’s latest thriller, he showcases five families with baggage, from students hiding secrets to their parents with facades created to ignore reality. This generational mess creates a drama school larger than anything New York or Los Angeles universities have ever seen, with dysfunction ruling the day. The parents and youngsters are supposed to attend a dinner event together, but only the adults show up. Numerous calls and texts to the kids go unanswered, and the worries grow. An accidental drowning of a student a couple of days earlier may hold the key. FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller arrives to find answers. Keller was seen in Finlay’s earlier novels Every Last Fear and The Night Shift, and fans will be thrilled to see her again, while newcomers will fall in love with her. As Keller talks to the parents of the missing students, she begins to uncover the truth of what each family wants to avoid. Finlay tells the story from the parents’ perspective, occasionally peering into the five missing students’ lives without revealing too much. He crafts a genuine page-turner with a cast of flawed and realistic human characters. Plan a weekend to devour this terrific thriller.

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Review

The Wolf Tree

by Willy Williams

Eight months after a traumatic on-the-job accident almost killed her, George (Georgina) Lennox has been assigned her first case as a newly promoted Glasgow DI: to investigate the suicide of 18-year-old Alan Ferguson on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. A disappointed George protests to her boss: “Because nothing happens out there. These islands are medieval time capsules with a population of relics.” Arriving on the stark and barren Eilean Eadar with her partner, Richie Stewart, she finds an isolated community that still clings to its ancient Catholic faith (in Protestant Scotland) and that is deeply suspicious of outsiders. As George and Richie interview the locals, George senses that something is off about the place and its people. Mysterious double spirals are engraved into the village houses and farm crofts. The long abandoned lighthouse where Alan fell is also the site where three lighthouse keepers disappeared mysteriously a century ago. Late at night, George hears the howling of a wolf and spots a masked figure outside her window. Who is trying to thwart the investigation? At the same time, George and Richie clash over the DI’s use of prescription pain medication and her reckless tendency to charge into risky situations without backup. George is a compelling sleuth, tough yet also vulnerable and not always likable, but she has great chemistry with the fatherly Richie. Debut author McCluskey has written a compellingly spooky and creepy mystery with a hint of folk horror à la The Wicker Man. Fans of Ann Cleeves’s Shetland crime novels and Peter May’s Lewis Trilogy will delight in this atmospheric thriller.

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Review

Cold Burn

by Henrietta Thornton

Brace yourself. Landau (pseudonym for authors Jeff Ayers and Jon Land) is back with a new National Parks-based thriller, and it’s even more breakneck-speed than the last. This time, several mysteries entwine, starting with the fate of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) workers who disappear after the reader follows their every panicked move as an avalanche descends on them at the Lamplugh Glacier in Alaska’s Glacier Bay. Michael Walker, a special agent with the National Parks Investigative Services Branch, hero of Leave No Trace (2024) is dispatched to find them, working with Tlingits, Natives whose animosity toward white outsiders has been well earned. At the other end of the country, a USGS intern is found dead, his cause of death seemingly impossible. And the crew of a U.S. Navy submarine finds itself in terrible peril, the claustrophobia and fear seeping off the pages. There are several highlights here, in addition to the fast-paced, dangerous subplots: a respectful look at the Tlingits and their ways, with a show of force by the tribe creating knife-edge suspense near book’s end; a young Tlingit woman, Amka Reynolds, whose scientific know-how and dedication to her community will make her a reader favorite; and the continued look, in protagonist Walker, at a disabled character with a physically active career, realistically hampered at times but getting on with it. For fans of Landau, outdoorsy thrillers, and stories about the effects of technology (you’ll see).

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Review

Claire, Darling

by Brian Kenney

Yes, her childhood was terrifying, with a mother who made Mommie Dearest seem like milquetoast. But, these days, Claire has really got it together. Now she’s 30, with a job in PR that she always wanted and a fiancé, Noah, who’s handsome and loving; life couldn’t be better. Even her horrible mother died a few months ago, freeing Claire, although leaving her nothing in her will. Until one day when she decides to drop off lunch for Noah at his office—it’s their anniversary—and the receptionist won’t let her in. In fact, she claims that Noah hasn’t worked there in three months. Whaaaat? That night, Noah doesn’t show up at the apartment they share. He’s not picking up her calls. Not answering her texts. In the days to come, and with the help of her friend Sukhi, Claire tracks Noah through every channel possible, getting repeatedly blocked along the way and transforming from a happy young woman to a stalker, obsessed with the beautiful blonde woman who keeps showing up in Noah’s socials. A psychological thriller that will delight readers who enjoy fiction that’s thoughtful but also reads like a rocket. If you appreciated Kimberly McCreight’s Like Mother, Like Daughter, you may well like this.

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