Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Child – Fiona Barton

35535454.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore.

For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.

For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.

And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.

The Child’s story will be told.

Untitled

My thoughts: I have seen this book pop up a lot lately both on GoodReads and in the book clubs i’m following on Facebook. The synopsis did intrigue me so bought myself a copy. Didn’t know exactly what to expect and now i’m left with some mixed feelings.

In one way I did like the “mystery” and the history. Barton did however leave a lot of clues so I pretty much knew right from the start how everything was connected. She did throw me of there in the middle but in the end my suspicions was correct. That the book was predictable did not bother me in the end due to the really skilled way of writing it.

Other readers have reviewed it as a fast paced and an easy read. I however do not have the same feelings. There was nothing in this book that I would call fast paced and that made it pretty boring big parts of it. It is easy written yes, but it was not an easy read for me. I think due to the boring pace and the repetitive information from the different characters you get to follow made it that way for me. It doesn’t necessary have to mean that a book is boring if it is written that way, but in this one I found that it didn’t work.

In the end I do find the book likable. The story was intriguing even though predictable and it was somewhat of an easy read. It is a highly popular type of English crime right now and I do feel that it was no waste of time reading it.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Mr Mercedes – Stephen King

18775247| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.

In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.

Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with two new, unusual allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.

Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

Untitled

My thoughts: In this rich, high-suspense race against time, written by the King of horror himself, you will find the most unexpected heroes and the most expected and unpleasant evil. Is the book perfect? Oh no. Far from it. Did I go all fan-girl over it? Yepp, totally did!

As usual you find a book with deep characters, complex story and layer on layer of that deep chill, mind-blowing mystery not that many authors (I have read) manage to create. I’m somewhat hard to impress when it comes to the horror genre. And even tough I would categorize this one more of a crime mystery than horror, i’m totally impressed. I got what I came for.

As an avid reader in the crime mystery genre I do often feel i’m hard to surprise and story’s often are predictable to me. I don’t have a problem with predictability per say, if it is done well. And as usual I would not have to expect anything less than well from King. There is some real unexpected twists and a ending I really cant get mad over. I liked the cat and mouse play they had going on. The communication, the inspiration and the war. Who shall win in the end?

The only thing I did not like with the book however, is that some part of it, it was to slow. Specially in the ending where you pretty much goes around waiting for something to happen. I get that King probably wrote it that way to make it more realistic. But it kind of bored me a little. However, King saved it with the end.

There is two other books in the series about Bill Hodges and I certainly need to read those two. And there is a TV-series on this first book, en I certainly need to see that one to. Yeah, i’m totally star-struck by this book. That is how good it is.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

Spirits in the trees – Morgan H. MacDonald

17325157| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: EVIL DOES EXIST

An abandoned house, a serial killer, and a victim reaching out from the grave. A woman races against time to unearth buried secrets before she becomes a ghost herself.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Madeline Anderson goes to Isabelle Island, Washington, to sell a family home abandoned over forty years before. Strange things occur the moment she steps on the property. Inside the dilapidated old house, items move about on their own accord. Noises come from empty rooms. She has a vivid, recurring dream of a woman running for her life. The wind rustling through the trees sounds like urgent, murmuring voices. When the cacophony dies down, one single word emerges: Madeline, Madeline, Madeline.

YOU CAN NOT HIDE

At first, Doug Lindstrom, the hot fireman helping Maddy restore the old home, doesn’t believe anything bizarre is going on. He’s certain Maddy is jumping at shadows because the local kids call the house haunted. That is until he witnesses horrific violence he can’t explain. After Maddy’s life is threatened not once, but twice, Doug vows there will not be a third time.

THEY ARE WATCHING

While searching for answers, Maddy uncovers astonishing secrets about her aunt’s past. Finding more questions then answers, she digs deeper until she stumbles across evidence of a cold case involving a serial killer named The Seaside Strangler. Now Maddy must unmask the killer. The life she saves just might be their own.

Untitled

My thoughts: What I wanted and expected was some spine chilling horror/mystery. What I got was a silly love story in a hunted house and some confusion.

How shall I review this book? Well for starter, the writing did not work that well for me. It was somewhat confusing in the way that the author probably forgot to mention some details to make some other details later on make sense. And some stuff was only mention once or twice. This infuriates me. Do not include something huge in the story, and then just ignore it later on. A violation will not that easily be forgotten. And to not mention it again will just make it sham and frivolous.

I did however like the idea of the story. The hunted house, the family mystery’s, the 50 year old crimes, the island, the sickness and all that. Not so much the violations and there really should be a trigger warning on this book. Because there are some graphically described chapters from different point of views and I would have liked to be warned. But on the other hand, if I knew, it could have been a reason for me to not read it at all.

The characters are the usual ones. The great hero and the broken heroine on the way back to life. Somewhat shallow but still readable. I did like it. But if I remember correctly, I had the same writing problem with one of the other books I have read by McDonald. So even though it is a good story, I do see a pattern and maybe this is not an author for me.

Monthly summary

July Summary

monthlysummery2

I’m happy with this month. I have made a huge dent in my TBR pile in Kindle and I have soon reached my goal. Still have my goal on my physical TBR shelf and when I reach it, my no buy books ban will be lifted. Oh can’t wait. The last couple of months I have focused on getting my pile downsized. Specially in my kindle since I had like a 100+ books on it when the year started. Not to mention all the physical books on my TBR shelf and I have had a hard time stop buying books.

I have been deep in the romance genre this month. Some offside, mindless books and some thrillers just to break the stride. But I’m happy. 🙂

Favorite book this month: The Score – Elle Kennedy
Least favorite book this month: 
Sinful intent – Chelle Bliss

Number of physical books: 
2
Number of e-books:
 13
Number of audiobooks:
1
Total pages: 6492
Female authors: 11
Male authors: 3

25151764Sinful intent – Chelle Bliss
Settings: Florida, USA Pages: 300 Published: 2015
Genres: romance, contemporary, suspense
My rating: 1/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The ALFA Private investigation series.
6858Hot six – Janet Evanovich
Settings: Trenton, New Jersey, USA Pages: 336 Published: 2000
Genres: Chick lit, romance, mystery, humor, funny
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 6 in The Stephanie Plum series.
25476363Midnight revenge – Elle Kennedy
Settings: – Pages: 363 Published: 2016
Genres: Romance, suspense, military, contemporary.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 7 in The killer instincts series.
26495964The boat man – Dustin Stevens
Settings: USA Pages: 285 Published: 2015
Genres: Mystery, thriller, suspense
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Reed & Billie series.
17345748.jpgAnd the mountains echoed – Khaled Hosseini
Settings: Afghanistan, USA, Paris Pages: 480 Published: 2012
Genres: Historical fiction
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
25883848The hating game – Sally Thorne
Settings:
– Pages: 387 Published: 2016
Genres: 
Chick lit, romance, contemporary, adult.
My rating:
 5/5
Links:
Review
34275222Force of nature – Jane Harper
Settings: Australia Pages: 326 Published: 2017
Genres: Contemporary, mystery, thriller, crime
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in The Aaron Falk series.
32148091The Silent corner – Dean Koontz
Settings: USA Pages: 464 Published: 2017
Genres: Suspense, thriller, horror, mystery
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Jane Hawk series.
450619The Island – Heather Graham
Settings: Florida, USA Pages: 384 Published: 2005
Genres: Romantic, suspense, mystery.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
27252717The Score – Elle Kennedy
Settings: USA Pages: 361 Published: 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Sports, contemporary.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in The off-campus series.
1412138Iron kissed – Patricia Briggs
Settings: Kennewick, Washington, USA Pages: 287
Published: 2008
Genres: Paranormal, romantic.
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in The Mercy Thompson series.
32757849Badd Motherf*cker – Jasinda Wilder
Settings: Alaska, USA Pages: 354 Published: 2016
Genres: Romance, contemporary, adult, erotic.
My rating: 1/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Badd brothers series.
18246040The Gamble – Kristen Ashley
Settings: Colorado, USA Pages: 679 Published: 2011
Genres: Romance, contemporary.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Colorado mountain series.
25596593Known – Kendra Elliot
Settings: Portland, USA Pages: 348 Published: 2016
Genres: Romantic, suspense, thriller, mystery.
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
Book 5 in The Bone Secrets series.
14769803Plea of insanity – Jilliane Hoffman
Settings: Miami, Florida, USA Pages: 608 Published: 2007
Genres: Thriller, crime, mystery
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
15752757Roch Chick revolution – Kristen Ashley
Settings: Denver, Colorado, USA Pages: 530 Published: 2013
Genres: Romance, contemporary
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 8 in The Rock Chick series.