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Category Archives: Thriller
Coldwater by Goulda
I have just recently gotten into more mystery/thriller type books and just finished reading Coldwater: A Novel by Diana Gould. Gould spent years writing for television, with Coldwater being her first novel.
Coldwater: A Novel
By Diana Goulda
Gibraltar Road
January 2013
Brett wakes up from her most recent alcohol induced blackout wondering where she is today. These blackouts now occur to Brett on a regular basis. One late night, on a drug run Brett hits something on a dark and winding road. It was just an animal right? Brett rose to fame as a writer for a popular police drama on television and blew it all with drugs and alcohol, losing her career, her boyfriend Jonathon and most importantly Jonathon’s daughter Julia.
Years later when Julia’s best friend goes missing, Julia finds Brett and wants Brett to help her find her friend. Can Brett get her life back together to help Julia? Brett is going to have to help Julia in more ways than one because Julia is next to go missing.
While I thought that the character development was lacking a bit beyond the main character Brett, it was a good read. I was constantly wondering “who dunnit?” and constantly second guessing characters throughout the story. Coldwater held my interest from start to finish and was good. I would pass it on and recommend it.
Nicole L. Wright is an avid reader and lover of books who enjoys sharing reviews with fellow book lovers.
Walking Ghost Phase by Daugherty
Emily Heath and her friends decide to spend their summer vacation in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, the trip becomes boring fast and Emily quickly begins to regret her decision of choosing D.C. over the beach. As she contemplates her poor choice in vacation spots, a nuclear bomb is detonated in the city, and Emily receives a lethal dose of radiation poisoning.
Walking Ghost Phase
by DC Daugherty
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
December 15, 2011
Emily is now left with a bitter choice. She can suffer for three months as she slowly dies, or take part in an experimental government treatment that will save her life. The treatment comes at a high cost, however. A major side-effect is partial memory loss, and after a three month reprieve, she will be forced into an experimental army training camp.
If she can last at the camp for six months, she can have her life back. Unfortunately, no one ever survives that long.
While I would classify this story as science fiction, a major part of the story takes place in a mundane and relatively modern setting. The science fiction elements are used mainly as a backdrop to the interpersonal relationships between the four main characters. At its heart, this is really a story about how different people react and deal with stress, and while we see the characters grow and mature, we also see them break down and suffer.
However, there are no roller coasters of emotion. The rise and fall is steady and gradual. And while this makes for a slower pace and less dramatic scenes, it does well to put the reader in the same state of mind as the characters. It’s easy to empathize with both their despair and elation.
My one complaint for the book as a whole is the ending. Of course, I won’t give anything away here, but the ending to the book left me unsatisfied. There is a lot of information thrown at you in those last few pages and some loose ends and questions that never seem to get answered.
In fact, the end was the one area of the book where I felt rushed. I found myself having to read and reread paragraphs at a time in an effort to understand what was being said, and even after finishing the book, I still felt unsure and a bit confused.
That said, I still greatly enjoyed the book and encourage readers to reach their own conclusions as far as the ending is concerned.
Matthew Scott is the Dark Fantasy & Horror Editor of BookGateway.com who describes himself as just another average reader who enjoys sharing his opinion on various books, authors, and whatever else may cross his path.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Storyteller by Picoult
I have been a huge fan of Jodi Picoult’s for years. I recently finished reading her newest book and I must say I think this has to be one of, if not the best book Picoult has written so far!
The Storyteller
By Jodi Picoult
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
February 2013
The Storyteller spans over 70 years and intertwines the lives of many. When Sage Singer befriends the town’s favorite retired teacher and beloved little league coach Josef Weber, she is shocked when he asks her to do him a favor. Josef Weber asks Sage to kill him. Weber believes he deserves to die and Sage wants to know why. Can you forgive the unthinkable?
Picoult takes us on a journey through unimaginable events in history sharing with us not only what Sage Singer learns about Josef Weber but what her family was put through decades earlier. The emotions you feel throughout this book varies from one minute feeling angry at a character and the next you are devastated and shocked.
This story held my interest from start to finish. The twists and turns and the telling of the story were so intriguing I could not put the book down. I couldn’t put the book down! I can’t recommend it more highly!
Nicole L. Wright is an avid reader and lover of books who enjoys sharing reviews with fellow book lovers.
The Girl in the Wall by Benedis-Grab
At a high school birthday party, security guards for the live entertainment pull their weapons on the kids, start shooting, and the party turns in to a hostage situation. Ariel, the birthday girl hears the noises, quickly runs away and hides in a crawl space between the walls. Within moments a friend of Ariel’s who looks like her and her father are both executed in brain splattering gory detail. And then other kids are killed as well. Again and again all night long.
The Girl in the Wall
By Daphne Benedis-Grab
Merit Press
December 2012
Reading through this “Children’s book” for teenagers was more horrifying than even horror books I’ve read by Stephen King or the Walking Dead. Because this author crosses the line of torturing and killing children! In detail. With gore. A kid won’t answer where Ariel is (because they don’t know) so the bad guys shoot him in the head, brain matter splattering the other kids. Even a bad guy remarks, “I didn’t sign up to kill children” at one point.
Which brings me to the main question: what is the point of this? No one, movies, TV and most books go this far in violently treating characters that are children. (Remember the debate raised about the Walking Dead on AMC in season 1 when Rick shoots a child zombie? Imagine a story where bad guys killed children who were not zombies, a lot.) Here this author does and there isn’t a payoff. There isn’t a moral. There isn’t even progression of character. It’s like a horrible nightmare of what none of us parents would ever want to contemplate. A what if? from Hell. And the author seems to delight in it.
This is an uncompromisingly dark, poorly conceived and completely inappropriate book that I would never let a young person read (and I woudl go to great lengths to tell everyone to avoid.)
Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Deposit Slip by Johnson
The Deposit Slip is an intriguing mystery that keeps you guessing all throughout. I completely loved the whole story from beginning to end. I highly recommended for any age reader.
The Deposit Slip
By Todd M. Johnson
Bethany House
July 2012
When Jared accepts a, possible but highly unlikely, breakthrough case, it brings him back to his childhood home. With all the bad memories, he still chooses to go back there and eventually end back up at his home, with his dad. As he climbs deeper and deeper into this ten million dollar case, he finds, not just himself, but others in danger. When he discovers how deep he has gotten involved, it is really too late to back out and he is also closer than anyone has gotten so far, but how far would he go?
This book has many twist and turns. The outcome was nothing I expected. I loved the way Mr. Johnson wrote this to keep you wanting to engage in reading. I read this book in 2 days time.
Brittney Dodson is a stay at home mom who also works from home. She find reading free her from reality and the worries it brings.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Pleasures of Men by Williams
The Pleasures of Men brings the hot, teeming streets of Victorian London to life.
The Pleasures of Men
By Kate Williams
Voice
August 2012
Young Victoria has just entered her second year on the throne. A major recession has hit London. Nineteen year old Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her uncle. who is rather strange. She is deadly afraid of him and rarely leaves her room when he is home. Catherine is intrigued with the gruesome murders of young girls sweeping the city. The serial killer has been nicknamed the “Man of Crows”. Catherine begins writing stories about the murders. She secretly leaves the house at night and takes to the streets putting herself in the killer’s place. As her voyages into the streets of London brings her farther into the underworld of London, she discovers disturbing evidence against her uncle. Could he be the Man of Crows?
A very interesting suspense story that will keep you turning pages far into the night. Be sure to leave the light on as it is very scary. I loved the book.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Prophet by Peretti
“…You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” – John 8:32
Prophet
by Frank E. Peretti
Crossway
1st Printing 1992
John Barrett, Jr.- anchorman for “NewsSix at Five “- has a problem. His world is slowly unwinding – it is being jarred to the breaking point. He has an outstanding story but the station will not let him air it. John Barrett Sr. – the prophet – recently had a fatal accident. John had always been a little ashamed of his God-fearing, Bible thumping father, and did not want anyone to know they were father and son. To make matters even worse, John’ s estranged son Carl has returned and is living with John’s mother. Carl is challenging John’s integrity. He wants to paint the face of his real father – not the one the public sees on the daily news. John is hearing strange voices – is he going mad?
Governor Hiram Slater is campaigning for re-election. Slater believes reproductive freedom is a fundamental right of every woman. In other words – legal abortion. with no question asked or with parents knowing. There is something fishy about Martin Devin – the Governor’s Chief of Staff. Governor Slater’s daughter Hillary died suddenly and John believes the real reason has been covered up by Slater. Shannon – Hillary’s best friend – received a first every Hillary Slater Scholarship and is sent to a far away university. This seems rather odd to John.
To make a long story short – John gets to air his story, but it has lost its punch. In a Press Conference Slater announced the real cause of Hillary’s death ,but denies he knew the real reason at the time.
The story brings home the things politicians and their hired guns will do to win an election.
An excellent read.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Inescapable by Mehl
Lizzie Engel left her Mennonite hometown Kingdom, Kansas at the age of eighteen never to return. She was forced to leave home in disgrace. She has built a life for herself at Harbor House, but this is all falling apart. Her boss Sylvia has suffered her second heart attack and is forced to resign. Her replacement Sylvia doesn’t like Lizzie and has accused her of stealing money from the home. To make matters worse, she is being stalked by a stranger and receiving threatening notes.
Inescapable
by Nancy Mehl
Bethany House
July 2012
At the end of her rope, Lizzie takes her small daughter Cherry Bear and flees to her hometown of Kingdom. Lizzie soon learns that the dangers she ran from is much closer to home than she imagined. She also learns that she had misjudged the people of her town. Not sure who she can trust and fearful for her life she runs to the only person whose love is inescapable – her Heavenly Father.
A delightful read. Ms. Mehl is an excellent writer of suspense.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by MacNeal
Britain’s beloved monarch may be approaching ninety, but there is another younger side of Her Royal Highness. Special Agent Maggie Hope is back. She made her debut in MacNeal’s first novel Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.
Princess Elizabeth’s Spy
A Maggie Hope Mystery
by Susan Elia MacNeal
Bantam
October 2012
World War II sweeps the Continent and England steels itself against German attacks. Maggie Hope is an M1-5 Operative. who has hidden talents. She has completed training and hopes for a juicy assignment. To her great consternation, she is sent to Windsor Castle to tutor the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. The upstairs-downstairs world of royals and servants proves to be very dangerous indeed. Maggie must be on her toes at all times. Castle life is not what she had envisioned it to be.
Maggie is assigned a senior handler to whom she is required to make timely reports. She doesn’t always see eye to eye with her handler which causes some minor problems. Things really heat up at the Castle when the Young Princess Elizabeth is kidnapped. Maggie resolves to do everything in her power to help rescue the princess. What happens and who the kidnappers are will surprise you.
Ms. MacNeal is an excellent writer of historical fiction. She perfectly captures the spirit of wartime Britain. I loved the book and you will too.
Highly recommended.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
The Intercept by Wolf
WOW WOW WOW! This is the best nail-biting, page-turning, twisty suspense book I have ever read. It will literally take your breath away. The story will keep you glued to your chair with all the lights on and wondering just what will happen next.
The Intercept
Dick Wolf
William Morrow
December 2012
Bassam Shah has arrived in the Big Apple from Denver. Supposedly he came to check on the family’s coffee cart. In lower Manhattan Detective Jeremy Fisk arrived late at the Joint Terrorism Task Force Meeting. Bin Laden is staying at the home of Arshad Khan. Laden has visitors. They are discussing their next attack on the United States – especially New York City. Laden is angry. Once again we have foiled their attempt to bomb the subway. Bin laden states – “we must direct our energy toward a target of such powerful symbolic importance to the Americans that its destruction will resonate for generations.”
Scandinavian Flight 903 is approaching the Boston Airport from Sweden. Everything is going fine until suddenly one of the passengers- a Yemeni – tackles Flight Attendant Maggie – holding a knife to her throat. He has a bomb and is threatening to detonate it if he is not allowed in the cockpit. Several passengers rush him and wrestle him to the floor. The plane is re-routed to Bangor international Airport where the terrorist is taken into custody. They become heroes and are dubbed “the six”. Since the terrorist didn’t really have a bomb. Detective Fisk is a little confused. Was this just a trick and something bigger is going down?
Baada Bin-Hezam is in town. He is another on the terrorist list. In a Manhattan apartment, Aminah Bin Mohammed, an American woman turned Muslin, completes her final task. She is just waiting for a phone call. What is going down? One moment of delicious anticipation involves Bin-Hezan’s slow descent to the street. As he steps out of the building an army of cops converge on him. Another makes the decision to let someone in her hotel room late at night, then all hell breaks loose. A third man is planning something so big it will rock the world to its core.
Will Fisk and his crew discover the real plot in time to prevent another 911 incident in the Big Apple? How has Bin Laden been getting his messaged to Al-Qaeda operatives? Just who or what is the real target. The 4th of July celebration is in two days. The new tower at Ground Zero is to be dedicated with the past and present presidents in attendance. Could this be their target? Just how many terrorist are involved?
Dick Wolf is the architect of the most successful and long-running show in television history – NBC’s Law & Order. This is his literary debut and the first in a series featuring NYPD detective Jeremy Fisk.
I can’t recommend this book too highly. There are genuine surprises, moments of sheer panic, and suspense/terror that will take your breath away. I loved it and can’t wait for Wolf’s next novel to be published.
Mary Asher, the Golden Reviewer, is an 80 year old avid reader reviews the newest in Christian fiction and non-fiction with a sprinkle of the secular on top..
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Infected by Schannep
It’s been years since I last read a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, but man did I used to love them! I remember opening up the white bordered covers, flipping through the possible answers (to cheat, so I lived, of course!) and I remember hours of fun with a book at a time when reading books straight through wasn’t a hobby. Now that I’ve “grown up” and moved on to “real” books I haven’t thought of them for years. Until now.
Infected
Click Your Poison
By James Schannep
Amazon Digital Services
September 2012
You start the book reading about Gilgazyme a miracle medication that stops the aging process by mutating human genes. You can now stay “young and beautiful forever!” Your first choice: “Stay young and beautiful forever… sign me up”, or “Does anyone else think this is a bad idea?” And you’re off. It’s tough to review a story when the story is really what you make of it. But let me say this: I “played” this book from start to finish for hours and hours and for days on end trying to find the best resolutions and I do know the story and it’s a good one. But I’m not going to ruin it for you. You can assume that you will either try to enjoy the gene therapy or try to stop it. Either way, it is clear from the book title that the therapy produces Zombies. The next question is whether or not you’ll survive.
And I didn’t. In fact, I died maybe five times before I finally found a method of survival. By the end, I was able to reach the highest completion scenario (how do I know? Each of the “Congratulations” endings gets more and more excitable and the final one has an F-bomb in the middle of the word exclaiming my awesomeness.) Trying to survive is only part of the fun, though. Because if you don’t survive and you get infected you get a special treat by way of a point of view change. A storyline ensues that is really unique in this genre.
When I picked this up I expected to move through it for maybe an hour and move on. But I ended up that first day playing for several hours and then the next day as well. And a couple weeks later I’m still playing it trying to get all the possible endings. It is genius! How adult themed Choose Your Own Adventures have not been blowing up – especially in this current Zombie-loving time – is beyond me. I fully expect that books like this one will only get bigger.
This is a great book, a fun story, and a heck of a game. Highly recommended.
Note: If you are concerned about language or sexual situations in books then be advised that this book is very easily R rated and possibly NC-17. There are a ton of cuss words, drug use, sexual situations, and (obviously) graphic violence. Kinda what you would expect in a Zombie story.
Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
Rise of the Governor by Kirkman and Bonansinga
The dead are walking – and eating – the living. No one knows how or why. The only concern is survival. This first novel in the cultural phenomenon that is The Walking Dead takes the reader back to the beginning and those first frantic days in the late Georgian summer focusing on a small group of survivors trying to get to Atlanta’s rumored safe zone.
The Rise of the Governor
The Walking Dead
By Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga
Read by Fred Berman
Thomas Dunne Books / Macmillan Audio
October 2011
As the novel starts we find Philip Blake, his daughter Penny, his brother Brian, and his two friends Bobby and Nick clearing a house in an outlying suburb of Atlanta killing “biters”. The goal is Atlanta, but first a safe haven to rest. Unlike the television series that starts an indeterminate time after the outbreak or turn, this book takes the reader through those first horrible days as news reports start coming in detailing the rise of the undead through the terrifying losses of first some then all television, radio and news outlets and finally to the end of all infrastructure and utilities.
As the small group struggles through the masses of undead we find out what kind of people theses are and the darkness that lurks in each of them. Philip, the leader, is focused on the protection of his daughter to the exclusion of all others. His brother, Brian, a coward, loves his brother and is blind to the encroaching madness. Penny, a seven year old who has already seen her mother die years ago, struggles to cope with this new horror and retreats inside herself. While Bobby and Nick play roles but this story is ultimately about Blake family. (Which is a shame since Nick develops into one of the more interesting characters in the series – a religious man who holds on to his faith even through the outbreak and who isn’t a caricature of the faithful – but isn’t developed enough.)
As fans of the show, and movies in the genre, Atlanta’s safe zone doesn’t exist. Instead, the group finds thousands or even hundreds of thousands of zombies and no where to run. The story really hits its stride when the small group is saved by the Chalmers, a father and his two daughters hold up in an apartment complex. The group dynamic, and individual sanity, is changed forever when Philip makes a terrible choice forcing their exodus from Atlanta with nothing but the clothes on their back.
Ultimately, this story is about how the Governor rises to power in a small enclave of survivors in Woodbury. It is a complex and terrifying character study of a man’s descent into madness. For fans of books with great character development and for fans of this genre this book will definitely impress. It is filed with bloody, gory action; last second escapes (and not); and all the survival horror you can eat.
A note about the audio book: Berman does an excellent job channeling the anger and evil intentions of the characters. His voice modulation worked very well moving from marathon to character. The characters did sound almost the same at times and I had a hard time following who was speaking during intense conversations with a lot of back and forth. Overall this did not distract and I found myself easily lost in the story and rarely jolted out of it.
Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.
This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.
