Tag: thriller

Book review: Dead in the Water by Stuart Woods (9780061711916)

~ Sharon Clayton ~ Leave a comment

0061093491.01._SX53_SCLZZZZZZZ_In St. Marks, death by murder is punishable by hanging. Little did Stone Barrington know that his long-awaited vacation was going to be interrupted by a legal case from Hell.

Stone Barrington is a retired cop and a New York lawyer on a beautiful Caribbean island alone. He has been stood up by his girlfriend who has an exclusive interview in the States with her ex-boyfriend and Hollywood’s top leading man. Just when he starts to relax and enjoy his vacation, Allison Manning sails in on a huge yacht, alone, claiming she buried her husband at sea after he suffers a fatal heart attack, but is that the true story? The minister of justice, Sir Winston Sutherland charges her with murder, but Stone is not convinced.

Allison Manning is a beautiful young American widow who is fighting for her life in a foreign land, but will she have a chance with the help of an aging barrister on the island and Stone Barrington? Is her attraction to Stone a ruse? Is she telling the truth about what happened to her husband?

Sir Winston Sutherland is a power-hungry official who will stop at nothing to make a name for himself by prosecuting Allison Manning for the murder of her husband. With St. Mark’s justice system on his side, it’s a huge possibility.

With all of the books I have read, I’m surprised that I have missed Stuart Woods’ Stone Barrington series. This was a fast-paced, suspense thriller with plenty of plot twists and surprises right up until the end of the book. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, it throws you for a loop. A great read that will keep you entertained until the end.

Book review: Lords of Corruption by Kyle Mills (9781593154998)

~ Sharon Clayton ~ Leave a comment

ff4849842aa539ffd71bc2d5e4a80b3cWhy was a project manager for New Africa, an obscure charity organization, murdered?

This is one gut-wrenching thriller that seizes you and won’t let go. Josh Hagarty’s past is keeping him from getting his dream job to help his family when suddenly he’s offered an opportunity to work as a project manager for New Africa. However, he finds out his predecessor was murdered and the organization isn’t what it appears to be.

Josh Hagarty has honor, integrity and tenaciousness which he needs in order to survive a formidable enemy who is out to destroy him.

Annika Gritdal is an intelligent, compassionate Norwegian aid worker who wants to protect the people in her small African village from a war-torn region.

J.B. Flannery is a coarse, tell-it-like-it-is journalist who has seen it all and is out to expose New Africa.

Josh teams up with Flannery, and Annika to expose the death and corruption that are running rampant in the region ruled by the formidable President Umboto Mtiti and backed by New Africa’s “CEO” Aleksei Fedorov, a Russian drug smuggler and assassin.

Kyle Mills really knows how to immerse you in a story that takes you through a rough, unkempt, war-torn region of Africa. The suspense is palpable and the characters are sharp and well-defined. A book you will read in one sitting.

Book Review: A World I Never Made by James LePore (9780981608723)

~ Sharon Clayton ~ Leave a comment

0981608728.01._SX50_SCLZZZZZZZ_It’s January 2004 and Pat Nolan has received a call from Paris informing him that his estranged daughter Megan (well-travelled, freelance journalist) has committed suicide. When he gets to Paris it is revealed that the body is not Megan and she has left behind a strange suicide note to stage her death. The plot thickens when he finds out she had been staying in Morocco for some time with an extended diplomatic visa and she is hiding from a powerful enemy who stops at nothing to exact revenge.

Pat’s all consuming quest is to find his daughter before her enemies do. He is aided by Officer Catherine Laurence, a hauntingly beautiful and competent Parisian detective who finds corruption in her department and puts her career on the line to help solve the mystery.

Intermixed with Pat’s story is Megan’s quest to stay alive. It starts in January 2003 with her visit to Morocco to do research and she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. With all her worldliness and experience with men, she has met her match and has made a dangerous mistake. Megan is running for her life, but can her father save her?

LePore’s first novel takes us to Paris, Morocco and the Czech Republic and is packed full of raw suspense, terrorism, corruption, and the love of a father who wants to save his daughter. I was hooked at the beginning and was not too surprised at the end, but I enjoyed the unique plot, diverse characters and exotic settings.

Book Review: Humpty Dumpty was Pushed by Marc Blatte (9780980139419)

~ Sharon Clayton ~ 2 Comments

41derFTl+ZL._SS500_“Humpty Dumpty was pushed.  Nothing happens by accident and lightening can strike twice in the same spot.”

Who murdered the big man with the yellow socks?  This story takes us from a hip-hop recording studio to a New York City nightclub to a socialite’s home in the Hamptons.

Detective Salvatore Messina, aka Black Sallie Blue Eyes, is a smart cop with a criminal profiler mind.  He dreams of keeping the streets safe, but this case has got him working to keep his captain, the record producers and the socialites from breathing down his neck AND, as fate has it, his ex-wife is back in New York City.

Scholar, gritty ex-con, has a dream to be a top hip hop executive, but money and the higher ups are getting in his way.  Even his cousin Biz, record producer, can’t help him reach his goal.

Vooko, Albanian nightclub bouncer, dreams about finding his cousin’s killer.  Moving from a war torn country to the streets of New York City wasn’t much of a transition.  It’s bad enough with the language barrier, but the traditions and ways of life are even more challenging.

Kal Kessler, wealthy socialite drug addict, dreams of earning his father’s approval.  Unfortunately, he hangs with “the boys”, enjoys fast cars and hard drugs.

Marc Blatte’s first novel is “da bomb”.  The suspense, colorful hip-hop slang, character nicknames and humorous banter kept me turning the pages.  He has created the first “wonderful hip-hop noir mystery” that even a farm girl from Iowa couldn’t put down.