Book Review: Don't Let the Devil Ride

Addison McKellar isn’t clueless—she knows she and her husband Dean don’t have the perfect marriage—but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she’s repeatedly stonewalled by Dean’s friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to her father’s old friend, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes.

Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean’s affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis’s former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren’t the only ones looking for him. Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared—people who have already killed to get what they want—and they won’t hesitate to come after his family to even the score.

Book Review: Welcome to the Game

Having moved his family from England to Detroit and opened a foreign car dealership, ex-rally driver Spencer Burham’s life was derailed by the death of his beloved wife. Now disconnected from his young daughter and losing control of the cocktail of drugs and alcohol that gets him through the day, he only just keeps Child Protective Services at bay while his business teeters on the edge of bankruptcy.

Then he has a seemingly chance encounter with a charismatic but lethal gangster, Dominic McGrath. Feeling the squeeze from informants, the rise of tech surveillance, and a hotshot detective who’s made busting him a personal crusade, McGrath’s been planning a last heist that would allow a comfortable retirement, provided he can find a very special type of driver—one who’s capable, trustworthy . . . and naïve.

Book Review: The It Girl

April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford. Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.

Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.

Book Review: 24/7

Previously I had read Jim Brown's novel Boom (click here for that review) and loved it. It has taken me awhile but I finally picked up a copy of his 2001 novel 24/7.

On a small Caribbean island a woman joins the newest reality TV show: 24/7. For Dana Kirsten, winning the $2 million prize could mean saving her child’s life. But while the country watches her every move, Dana is entering a fight for her own life–and a conflict that will shake the world. . . .

Book Review: Eeny Meeny

Eeny Meeny is the first book in a thriller series by British author M.J. Ardlidge. He has worked in television for the last fifteen years, specializing in high end drama production. Arlidge has produced a number of prime-time crime serials for ITV In the last five years, and is currently working on a major adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans for the BBC. This is the first in his series starring Detective Helen Grace.

The synopsis of the book from the dust-jacket intrigued me enough to request it from NetGalley.

Book Review: Liquid Smoke

Private investigator Noah Braddock has finally found a balance in his once tumultuous life. Things are going well with his girlfriend Detective Liz Santagelo and with his alcoholic mother Carolina. But the weather for the San Diego resident turns foul when lawyer Darcy Gill shows up on his door and insists he look into a hopeless death row case. The kicker: the man scheduled to die for killing two men in cold blood is the father Noah never knew.

Book Review: Boom

What would you do if you woke up and realized you had a strange tattoo on your arm that you don't recall getting? Even worse, what if you realized the tattoo was changing by the minute, counting down the time until the final word - BOOM!

That is the premise of Boom, the latest novel by author Jim Brown (@JimBrownBooks on Twitter).