Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Mystery Suspense

BANISHED THREADS by Kaylin McFarren – a standout romantic thriller

Chase and Rachel travel to England on board the Stargazer, intent on enjoying a week of vacation and receiving her uncle’s blessing for their marriage. Though this should be a joyous time for the couple, all is not well.

Rachel is four months into a difficult and unintended pregnancy, and she’s feeling ambivalent about becoming a mother. Chase, though pleased about the baby, is having mixed feelings about his proposal of marriage, regardless of how much he loves Rachel. Rachel is acting distant, and he’s wondering whether a marriage with someone who doesn’t seem as committed as he is has any hope of succeeding.

In addition to his troubled thoughts surrounding their relationship, Chase knows he faces an uphill battle with regard to receiving Paul Lyon’s blessing. Paul blames Chase for the drowning death of his brother, Rachel’s father, and odds are good that he’ll never forgive Chase. Chase is well aware that Rachel holds the power to persuade her uncle to approve of their marriage, but to do that, she’ll have to convince him that she’s truly in love with Chase, a fact even Chase isn’t all that confident of.

When a thief makes off with a priceless collection of paintings from Paul Lyon’s estate, Chase seizes on the opportunity to help solve the crime and win back the good graces of his soon-to-be uncle-in-law. But the theft becomes complicated by unsolved murders, both in the present and from the past. The police are taking a close look at Paul Lyons and his wife, Sara, for those murders, and Chase is terrified that Rachel and the baby will be the killer’s next victims.

In Banished Threads, McFarren proves that relationships can be just as treacherous as international treasure hunting, and that evil exists everywhere, not just in the form of the criminal organizations. McFarren has a gift for portraying complex family dynamics, the baggage people bring into relationships, and the unintended consequences of dysfunctional behavior.

The author deftly immerses the reader in those complex relationships, revealing the real killer in a surprise ending that will leave the reader gasping. Family secrets, a need for revenge, the heat of romance, a cerebral intriguing plot, and a ticking clock with a killer who needs to exact a unique form of revenge makes Banished Threads a gripping psychological thriller.

March 27, 2016
DEADLY THYME by R.L. Nolen — a British whodunit psychological thriller

A little girl is missing, but her mother is reluctant to talk to the police detectives who can help find her, leaving a twisted psychopath free to terrorize a Cornwall village with increasingly bloody deeds.

Ten-year-old Annie Butler goes seashell gathering one Sunday morning and does not return. Her mother, Ruth, is fearful of reporting Annie missing to British law enforcement because of her own dark past. The fear of the possible fate of her missing daughter overrides any of Ruth’s own fears.

Once Ruth levels with the police, she enlists the sympathy of Inspector Jon Graham, who has come to Cornwall on an entirely different assignment—to find out if corruption is the reason why the local police chief has suddenly come into a large sum of money. The search for Annie moves agonizingly slowly for her mother.

The novel unfolds in stages, introducing Annie as a brave little soul and her mother as loving, but embattled. Ruth is convinced her own dark past has caught up with her. The locals include a steely-eyed police chief with a heart of gold and a bank account to match, and a plodding, plump but persistent cop who complains humorously about “Her Indoors” (his wife).

Several people emerge as suspects in the kidnapping of Annie, even the aforementioned plodding policeman on whose property (a rundown trailer) visiting Inspector Jon Graham is staying in while on his assignment.

Technology plays a vital role in the case, leading ultimately to an eerily recognizable shadow on a video. There are brief vignettes of the perpetrator, showing how deep into madness and sadism he has sunk; of Annie bravely trying to figure out how to send a secret message to her mother; and of Ruth herself, as she deals with her deepest dread.

This is Rebecca Nolen’s second full-length mystery novel, and she writes dialogue like an old hand. She has mastered both the nuances of British English, including some rustic dialects, and the laid back American drawl of Ruth and her fresh-off-the-plane-from-Texas mother.

The setting, a quaint West Country village in Cornwall by the swirling sea with high cliffs aplenty for falling off, is almost a character in itself. Offering a plethora of red herrings to confuse even the most diligent mystery buff, Nolen’s engrossing complex storyline throws two budding love affairs and some exceedingly ghoulish crimes into the mix into this suspenseful whodunit.

An intriguing British mystery with a slight Texas twang, Deadly Thyme is a psychological chiller with a myriad of plot twists, layered personalities, and at its center, one unusually clever, courageous little girl that will keep readers guessing to the very end.

March 23, 2016
THE RED RIBBON by Rachel B. Ledge, an 18c. British historical thriller

Julia King has begun to have haunting visions of the horrific event she witnessed at the last masquerade ball of London’s 1772-1773 social season, a scene she has been trying ever since to forget—her lover, Roland de Claire, murdered her best friend Annie in cold blood.

Julia considers herself lucky to have found someone willing to wed her after being embroiled in the dreadful courtroom drama surrounding Roland’s crime, in which she was tapped as the only eyewitness.

Now comfortably, if not precisely happily, married to successful, socially acceptable Charles King, she roams her idyllic estate with her sister Lennie, trying to discourage the younger girl’s obvious interest in a dashing sea captain, and suppress her own romantic memories of Roland. Recurring visions of Annie’s murder, however, give Julia the discomfiting sense that all is not as it seems.

When Lennie falls pregnant and has to leave the country in disgrace, Julia is alone with Charles, who is gradually revealed as cunning, ruthless, and utterly domineering. He claims he is the long-estranged brother of her now hung sweetheart Roland, and takes her to the de Claire estate to prove it. There, driven by her nightmares, her suspicions of his motives become so apparent that Charles has her locked in a madhouse.

Author Ledge has constructed a stirring, twisted tale in which something unexpected occurs in almost every chapter. Some readers may find that the beginning of the story moves slowly, but they will be rewarded for their patience when the suspense builds the work into a page turner. She writes equally vividly of grand masked balls, scurvy goings-on in London’s back alleyways, and the creaking decks of a ship at sea. And she neatly ties together all the plot threads into a satisfying ending.

The Red Ribbon proves a satisfying romp for fans of historical fiction, with its glittering ballrooms, bloody frays, mysterious subplots, mistaken identities, and voices from the grave.

February 27, 2016
SMALL TOWN STORM by Elise K. Ackers – a chilling and dark contemporary thriller

Aptly titled, Elise K. Ackers’s Small Town Storm is an intriguing and electric mystery set in contemporary Olinda, Australia. Jordan Hill and Erica Lawrence were inseparable childhood best friends until one fateful night when Erica’s family was torn apart and Erica disappeared without a trace.

Jordan has always assumed she died. Nineteen years later, Jordan is the new senior constable in his hometown. He has several issues to contend with, including catching up on the small town gossip he has missed out on over the years while living in Melbourne. But when he runs into Erica, a ghost from his past, things take a turn for the worse.

Erica, too, is newly returned to Olinda, taking a position as a veterinarian in the same town where she disappeared from all those many years ago. Jordan, who has spent years devastated by her supposed death, is shocked and angry when he encounters her—doesn’t she understand the pain she caused him? Erica, too, is saddened by Jordan’s less than warm response. To make matters worse, a murder has shaken the peaceful town and Erica is the sole suspect. Erica and Jordan must put aside their differences in order to find answers.

Ackers takes a fascinating premise and enlivens it with sparkling dialogue, small town details, and excellent characterization. Readers will be immediately captivated by both the mystery plot and the burgeoning romance between Erica and Jordan.

Additional layers of intrigue surrounding why Erica left town nineteen years before and what happened to her family add depth and complexity to the plot. Even secondary characters are well-drawn, lending the story an authentic voice and making the menacing plot palpable and chilling. The novel moves at a brisk pace ratcheting up the suspense level to a crescendo on all fronts. Fans of mysteries and suspense novels will be sure to be captivated by Small Town Storm, but be warned that this is a darker mystery complete with serial killers and gruesome acts.

Fans of mysteries and suspense novels will surely be captivated by the engrossing Small Town Storm, an intriguing and well written mystery page-turner that will have you double-checking your locks and looking over your shoulder. Elise K. Ackers is certainly one to watch.

December 4, 2015
GOD’S HOUSE by John Trudel, an international thriller

Jack Donner can’t get a break. He blames himself for the deaths of those he was close to, and even one he was hired to protect. While bringing the body home from the Middle East, he gets detained in the United States by low level agents over a missing stamp in his passport. Worse yet, he has to use his real identity this time. While his CIA connections eventually get him out of hot water, his troubles are only beginning.

The body Jack brings home belongs to a man who had the technology that could change the world’s power balance forever. A system that produces efficient, clean energy, but could also be used as a weapon of mass destruction. The company behind it, Enertech, was attacked in Lagos where it lost most of its staff.

A young, attractive widow, Anne, is left with the assets, but she wasn’t involved with operations. She has no idea what her husband was working on. Jack planned on retiring, but is talked into staying on as a private citizen commissioned to recover Enertech’s technology along with trying to keep Anne safe during the process.

Anne and her late husband, Bob, were members and supporters of a local mega-church called The Sanctuary, run by a charismatic woman, Liz, with ties to nefarious foreigners. Liz speaks at the United Nations, visits the Dalai Lama frequently, and spreads the gospel of wealth, non-violence, and world peace.

Anne turns to Liz and a few close friends for emotional support during this difficult time. She also turns over everything she knows about the company to Jack. This leaves him with a lot of data and few answers, and puts him under the scrutiny of watchful eyes at The Sanctuary.

Things are not right around Anne’s empty estate. Jack needs help to keep her and himself safe, but there are never quite enough resources at his employer’s disposal to do so. While trained in firearms, he’s not a huge fan of them. He’s more of a technologist than a soldier.

Enertech faces bankruptcy. The pressure to sell to a foreign investor is on, starting a race against time. Problem is, Jack can’t find the answers needed to unlock the key to the technology. One clue keeps him going: a message from Bob to his late wife that is hidden in some kind of cipher, tucked away in the pages of a cheesy novel.

Anne and Jack start developing their own story, though Jack has reservations about getting romantically involved. Everyone he cares about ends up dead. He’s seen too much bloodshed to risk another loss. He about earns a frequent-user pass to the ER trying to protect Anne, and now he has to keep both her and her only close relative out of danger in Brazil.

Will Jack be able to come through for Anne and Enertech? The stakes are high in both cases.

Those Anne trusts raise doubts about Jack. He has doubts about himself, recalling many episodes revealing the horrors of non-staged, real life gunfire and bloodshed, losing friends in wartime.

One of the character’s German accent reads so spot-on you almost hear it. Those who follow events in the Middle East will resonate with John’s novels. His novels seem more fact than fiction; they lend credence to Trudel’s tagline: “Thrillers are fiction until it happens.”

This fast-paced thriller will have you turning pages quickly to piece together puzzles with surprising twists. You would never know that John Trudel’s God’s House is his debut novel. It reads like it was written by a seasoned author.

November 11, 2015
The ARIADNE CONNECTION by Sara Stamey, a SciFi Thriller set in Greece

The year is 2027 and planet Earth is angry. Pollution has gone viral, ravaging the global environment while corporate technocracy has invaded all aspects of the media using its sensory-loaded “NeuroLink” productions to commandeer the thoughts and will of the masses.

Radical climate swings, drought and famine, flood and pestilence take on Biblical meaning. And deep inside its core, the bowels of the earth are being rocked by a violent shift of its geomagnetic poles – a shift paired with cataclysmic seismic activity.

With planetary life headed for extinction, mankind reaches out to its “Gods,” both secular and non-secular, for salvation. At the same time whisperings on the NeuroLink claim that there is a savior among them. Saint Ariadne.

With the story of a lifetime in her sghts, NeuroLink celebrity Leeza Conreid calls upon “freelance import expediter” Peter Mitchell to take her into the dark heart of the militarized Mediterranean League’s territory. She’s confident that her history with Ariadne will give her the access she needs, but Leeza has more than a hot story on her mind. Broken promises and a perceived betrayal have warped her soul, launching her on a revenge-driven mission to expose and destroy Ariadne.

“Saint” Ariadne has her own plan. After pushing into alternative scientific frontiers using pulsed laser, electronic stimulation and a mysterious “tonic” water, she’s on the verge of finding a cure for a rapidly-progressing form of leprosy. But the ongoing electromagnetic upheaval is tapping into something primal in her DNA, and her life’s work as well as her “healing abilities” are under attack. With global salvation at stake, Ariadne must escape from the exile of her father’s house and place her trust in the talents of hard-drinking smuggler Peter Mitchell.

Destined to be a classic in the Speculative Fiction genre, Sara Stamey’s Cygnus Award-winning novel, The Ariadne Connection, takes the reader on a visual feast through the azure waters and rugged Mediterranean landscape of the Greek Islands while tapping into the deep roots of mythological tradition. And her use of well-defined, believable characters invites us to cinch our seatbelts tight and come along for the ride of a lifetime.

With a clever nod to movie blockbusters such as “The Fifth Element” and “Transporter,” Sara Stamey’s near-future novel The Ariadne Connection is a rocket-paced thrill ride that delivers complex, engaging characters in a laser-sharp plot.

October 30, 2015
Three Spine-Tingling Reads that Will Get Your Heart Racing

Three spine-tingling, psychological thriller novels reviewed by Chanticleer Reviews. (Warning: Each one of these novels was assigned to more than two reviewers due to their intensity.)

Check the locks and turn on the lights when you read these selections:

Poe: Nevermore by Rachel Martens

Be warned; Poe: Nevermore is not a cozy mystery. Ms. Martens succeeds at painting dark, suspenseful, sometimes horrific pictures. It is the type of psychological horror that locking the doors and windows and reading with the lights on will not keep out.

I highly recommend this book for my fellow edge-of-our-seat junkies—those of us who are constantly seeking the book we ever so briefly fear picking up, then can’t put it down in the relentless pursuit of discovering whatever comes next! Martens’ Poe: Nevermore deliciously feeds these cravings along with satisfying those with classical literary interests. – Chanticleer Reviews

The Grave Blogger by Donna Fontenot

The Grave Blogger is a murder mystery that is not for the faint-hearted. The horrors of the torturings and killings detailed within its pages are definitely not for those who prefer their mysteries to be the cozy kind. This story, complete with a psychotic psychiatrist, takes place in the Deep South where a special kind of macabre is required to send chills up your spine….Fontenot’s style allows the reader to see through the eyes of the main characters, which is especially chilling from the killer’s perspective. Readers’ hearts will be racing as the story twists and turns and the suspense rapidly intensifies in this creepy “OMG-this could really happen” page-turner. Prepare to devour this fast-paced thriller in one sitting with the lights on and the doors locked. – Chanticleer Reviews

Anonymous by Christine Benedict

“No one suspected the things her mother had done,” but Debra Hamilton knows full well what skeletons lurk in her past, and she’s spent a lifetime putting distance between herself and the crimes of her schizophrenic mother.”

With a new plot twist around every corner, the author delivers a complex story of obsession and jealousy that will keep the reader turning page after satisfying page of this psychological thriller….As to the genesis of the anonymous stalker, his history will leave readers wondering about things that go bump in the night. It’s chilling to know that all the letters in the novel are from the man who stalked the author, Christine Benedict, twenty-plus years ago, and he still remains anonymous as of today.

You’ve been warned….

October 27, 2015
ENEMY of EXISTENCE by Yuan Jur, a science-fiction novel

Brimming with a fully dynamic set of characters and otherworldly energies, Enemy of Existence is the strong and inventive debut novel that introduces Juan Yur’s science-fiction space opera series Citadel 7.

Uniss and Dogg turn literary style on its head by greeting and then involving the reader in their story. Coming to Earth from the Superverse, they home in on 1960s outback Australia to seek out and commandeer the help of young Ben Blochentackle.

Uniss and Dogg engage and prepare Ben for the realities of the Superverse until he is able to digest the psychological and physical demands of the looming war. At the same time, Uniss and Dogg must find a way to satisfy the coercing unit of the Evercycle council, who are the creators of existence.

Ben’s human life changes forever when he joins Uniss and Dogg, right when he’s about to disclose his feelings towards his lady friend. Dogg’s painful timing in bringing Ben out to the Superverse is made worse when both Uniss and Dogg come to realize that Ben might not be who they thought he was. The reader finishes Enemy of Existence deeply satisfied but simultaneously left with many questions about what the future holds for the characters.

Yuan Jur utilizes his skillful craft of writing as he uses different perspectives throughout the book to open up various characters and their environments to the reader’s viewpoint. This particular development in Yuan Jur’s writing provides the reader with a well-rounded insight into the Superverse. The author is no stranger to breaking conventional norms with his quirky, unique writing style that will captivate readers.

Enemy of Existence breaks new ground in the science-fiction universe as readers are required to actively participate in unraveling the novel’s plot.

October 16, 2015
TARNISHED HERO by Jim Gilliam, a military thriller

Tim Kelly grew up in 1960s Galveston, Texas, a border city with a long history of being terrorized into lawlessness by drug cartels from Northern Mexico. He left home at the age of fourteen to escape the unacceptable behavior of a ne’er-do-well father. While conjuring up his street smarts, Kelly learned about the value of choosing loyalty to friends over that of authority from a couple of highly disparate mentors: Rodolfo Guzman, a cartel leader, and Dave Holt, a local sheriff.

Kelly shouts the sixties mantra of “question authority” with the consequences-be-damned recklessness of a young man who will be true to his heart, even if it lands him into chaos. Indeed, trouble will stick to him like maggots to a dismembered body in Jim Gilliam’s sweaty guns n’ ammo action thriller Tarnished Hero.

As a Petty Officer in the United States Coast Guard, Kelly demonstrates his lack of respect for authority with extreme prejudice, enough to land him in a courts-martial. It is only with reference to his acts of bravery in Vietnam that his defenders are able to keep him out of prison.

That will not be good enough for his accusers who, in a wink toward the military-industrial complex, decide to splice this knowledge of his grace under pressure into an offer that he cannot refuse: Kelly can walk free after completing the dangerous mission of infiltrating and destroying a drug cartel, that of Rodolfo Guzman, the man who had always been like a father to him. At the same time, Kelly’s fiancée is in a coma after becoming collateral damage in a brutal combat between the Campechee and Sineloa drug cartel.

It is when Kelly accepts an open invitation to spend some time in Guzman’s drug palace in Northern Mexico that his code of “trusting friends first” will force him to face not only the dilemma of a loyalty to be divided between Guzman and Dave Holt, but also of being thrust into a senseless and bloody border war that has more than a few parallels to the Vietnam conflict. As such, Gilliam’s novel stands not only as a complex and intriguing “band of brothers” romp, but also as a reflection on the evils of unquestioned authority and corruption.

Tarnished Hero is abundant with colorful heroes and villains. The author is deft at offering them various poses on his good-guy to bad-guy continuum and he paces his quick narrative with enough twists and surprises to sustain interest. However, it is important to point out that this will be for most people a “guy” book, one that offers up the kind of violence and gore that its subject requires for credibility. Also, readers are warned that some female characters are portrayed as rather one-dimensional boy-toys, perhaps as a nod to that common stereotype of the era.

That being said, Tarnished Hero is a thriller that can more than holds its own as an engrossing entertainment for fans of the genre.

October 9, 2015
MURDER AT THE LEOPARD by R.M. Vassari and Lucia Olivia Lampe, a historical mystery novel

Many times, collaborative efforts by authors—especially with regard to their debut novel—suffer from fledgling attempts to master both the craft and the melding of two writing styles. Not so for this stunningly well-written, debut historical mystery.

Murder at The Leopard, the first book in the Vespers Series set in Palermo, Italy during the thirteenth century, brings to life a fascinating time in European history. Vassari and Lampe have captured the essence of this era, providing a wonderfully complex tale of greed, past betrayals, revenge, and murder.

With a deft hand and a talent for storytelling, the authors introduce you to a rich cast of characters, from local tavern owners to spies under the employ of a despot ruler. A simple farmer and his very pregnant wife travel to Palermo, hoping that God will grant their wish for a boy.

A long-lost brother, an old crusader who has returned home after decades and harbors old secrets, accompanies them. A wealthy merchant sends his ne’er-do-well nephew to guide them on their journey whilst placing him under orders to spy on King Charles’ preparations for war. Local tavern and inn owners hope for good commerce during the upcoming Holy Week celebrations. Against this backdrop, an engaging and entertaining murder mystery unfolds.

The main heroes of the Vespers Series are the tavern owners Ysabella de Rogerio and her charming husband Amodeus. In this first novel, they’ve timed the opening night of their new neighborhood tavern with Holy Week, to take advantage of the pilgrims who are flooding into Palermo. Unfortunately, the religious holiday also brings together old enemies, and the celebrations at The Leopard quickly turn serious when a wealthy merchant, Ludovico, is murdered. The sheriff arrives, and after a brief investigation, wrongfully arrests Amodeus for the crime.

Soon after, a second murder occurs, further jeopardizing the reputation of The Leopard and the life savings Ysabella and Amodeus have poured into their tavern.

It’s up to Ysabella to prove Amodeus is innocent, find the real killer, and save their business. As she begins to dig deeper into the lives of those involved, she uncovers past betrayals, greed, a thirst for revenge that hasn’t faded in the forty years since the Crusades, and even the dirty deeds of spies working to topple the current king.

Vassari and Lampe have employed accurate historical detail—along with likable and complex characters that quickly become old friends—to give readers an entertaining and engaging read from the very first page. Highly recommended for those who love historical fiction or a good rousing mystery!

September 23, 2015