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Brigid Quinn Series, Book 3

Brigid Quinn is a retired FBI agent that has turned into a bit of a rogue, to say the least. In this story she heads to Florida when her father ends up hospitalized. Brigid and her parents are not exactly close, none of the family is. Her father was a cop who shared completely inappropriate information and pictures from his cases with his very young children and all of them went into law enforcement. Brigid’s brother Todd is a Florida cop and their sister Ariel is in the CIA – and completely out of contact.

Brigid has another reason for heading to Florida. Her former protege/partner, Laura, asks for her help. She’s left the FBI and is working as an investigator with an appeals attorney on a death row case. The case has renewed urgency thanks to the governor signing a hurry up and die type law into effect and the clock is ticking.

Getting several law enforcement agencies to work together towards freeing a man on death row has as many hurdles as it sounds like, but makes for a really compelling read. I missed Brigid’s late in life relationship with her ex-priest husband  – he barely puts in an appearance here, but other than that I really enjoyed this latest entry in the series.

5/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

A TWIST OF THE KNIFE by Becky Masterman. Minotaur Books (March 21, 2017). ISBN 978-1250074515. 320p.

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Two women and their interwoven story lines come together in the latest from thriller writer extraordinaire, Lisa Unger.

Claudia and Ayers are happily married and trying to get pregnant when an intruder rips their lives apart. Claudia is raped, and a month later is pregnant but determined to get on with her life. But the marriage falls apart and eventually Claudia and her daughter move out to an old farmhouse she inherits. The place is literally falling apart, and Claudia decides to renovate the property and blog about it, mistakes and all.

Zoey Drake was a teenager when her family suffered a home invasion. Her father was a cop and the men who attacked them were after some money. He denied any knowledge of it, and the family was tortured and left for dead. The men were never caught.

Somehow Zoey survived, and her uncle raised her, bringing her to adulthood a strong – very strong – woman. Zoey studied martial arts and eventually decides to seek her own justice.

This is a story about women who refuse to be beaten down and instead, rise up to the challenges of life. The characters are so relateable that the reader can’t help but be drawn in, making the book unputdownable until the stunning ending. If you haven’t read Lisa Unger, this standalone thriller is a terrific place to start.

5/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE RED HUNTER by Lisa Unger. Touchstone (April 25, 2017)). ISBN 978-1501101670. 368p.

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After a day trip for work, Hannah returns home to find that her boyfriend, Matt, has left her. Not only has he left her, he’s stripped their shared home of any and every item he brought to it: his dvds and cds are gone and Hannah’s previously packed away books have replaced them on the shelves. His art is missing from the walls. Even the comforter and sheets, his before they were together, have been replaced on the bed. But the worst part? Every trace of Matt has been removed from Hannah’s phone, tablet, and social media – no contact information remains, no texts between the two of them, and every photo of Matt has been deleted.

Hurt and confused, Hannah becomes determined to try and find out what happened – why Matt left her and where he’s gone. But as the days and weeks become months, Hannah becomes convinced Matt is following her, sneaking back into their home and leaving messages on her phone. But why? Why would he leave? And why would he torment her so?

Mary Torjussen’s debut is a twisty psychological thriller that begs the question – just how far would you go to get answers if the person you loved most left you? It begs other questions, too, but those would give too much away.

Hannah is understandably devastated to find that Matt has left her. To her mind, everything had been going great between the two of them. Work was looking up too, but that begins to fall apart as well as she tries to find answers.

As a reader, given the information that Torjussen conveys through Hannah, all kinds of possibilities crossed my mind. Was Matt behind the messages in the first place? Did he leave willingly? And most importantly, what’s missing from this story?

I did not see the end coming. The clues are there, but I didn’t guess at all. Torjussen builds a story that is packed with tension, so much so that getting through it is both frustrating and thrilling. And worth it.

4/17 Becky LeJeune

GONE WITHOUT A TRACE by Mary Torjussen. Berkley (April 18, 2017).  ISBN 978-0399585012. 352p.

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It’s always a happy day in my house when a new Lisa Scottoline book appears on my doorstep. While my heart truly belongs to her series (Rosato & Associates which turns into Rosato & DiNunzio) I also enjoy the nonfiction books she writes with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, which are collections of the columns they write for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Then a few years ago (probably more than a few at this point) Lisa started writing standalones, sort of ripped from the headlines thrillers and family dramas that are most reminiscent of Jodi Picoult books. This one is a real suburban thriller, so if you like Harlan Coben or Jodi Picoult, add Scottoline to your reading list.

One Perfect Lie starts out one way and then takes a sudden, shocking turn. Set in a small, Pennsylvania town, Chris Brennan applies for a teaching position, taking over for a teacher out on leave. He also applies to be the assistant coach of the baseball team, and through the application process and then his starting days at the high school, he comes across as creepy and evil.

The story really focuses on some of the kids on the baseball team. One of them is suspected of stealing fertilizer that is used for explosions. And this is just days before the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. There’s Raz, who lost his father earlier that year and whose mother is having trouble adjusting. Jordan’s mom is a struggling single mother, but he never knew his father. And Evan is the golden child, son of a surgeon and a mom who lives for Facebook, posting one perfect family picture after another.

The teachers, students and their families all accept Chris and for the first time in his life – a life that seems to have been very difficult – he feels a sense of being at home. But it may all blow up – literally and figuratively.

Scottoline excels at character development and they propel the story along. And the ending was exceptionally gripping. This was a one night read for me and I really enjoyed it. Another winner from one of my favorites.

4/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ONE PERFECT LIE by Lisa Scottoline. St. Martin’s Press (April 11, 2017). ISBN 978-1250099563. 368p.

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It’s been just over two years since Betty and her girlfriend, Jackie, relocated from Brooklyn to Dallas. Betty, a narcotics officer with Dallas PD, has finally been given lead on a huge case: a local has been in contact with one of the big Mexican cartels and a drop has been scheduled. Betty and her team have spent hours staking out the location where it’s to take place, but an incident with a bystander throws everything off kilter. As bodies stack up, the case becomes more complicated – worse so when it becomes clear that Betty herself has become a target. But a target of exactly what is unclear.

While this is by no means Kathleen Kent’s first rodeo, it is her first crime novel. And I have to say it’s a resounding success.

Betty Rhyzyk is a tall redhead, born and bred in Brooklyn. And she’s just the latest of a string of cops in the family. Her Polish roots run deep and the narrative is peppered with pieces of translated family wisdom. By the time the meat of the story begins, however, Betty is the only surviving member of the Rhyzyk clan.

Not that she’s alone in the world by any means. Her girlfriend, Jackie, a nurse who spends much of her time worrying over Betty’s diet, is steadfast and supportive even when the story begins to take a nasty turn. And Betty is supported by her fellow police officers as well, more or less. Kent does a fantastic job portraying the difficulties of being a female cop in what is still a very male centric career.

She also does a wonderful job bringing Dallas and Texas to life in this tale, so much so that the city becomes more than just a setting. The sense of place is true to its inspiration, as I’m sure anyone in the DFW area can attest (which makes sense because it’s the place Kent calls home.), imbuing the story with a distinct flavor and characteristic.

The Dime is the kind of book that begins with a bang and still manages to become increasingly intense. And the pacing and plot never falter. It is a dark one, so do be warned, but definitely one that’s joining the ranks of my own personal favorites. No word yet on whether Betty will be a new series lead, but I for one certainly hope that will be the case.

3/17 Becky LeJeune

THE DIME by Kathleen Kent. Mulholland Books; First Edition/First Printing edition (February 14, 2017).  ISBN 978-0316311038. 352p.

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