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After winning the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Cover of Snow, Milchman returns with her third standalone thriller set in upstate New York.

The suspense starts building right from the get go when we learn that Sandy, a therapist, and her husband Ben have built their dream home in a desolate area, which they share with their sullen teenage daughter and a sweet old dog. The fact that the desolation is emphasized immediately set the hairs on the back of my neck to tingling.

Nick has been in prison for more than twenty years, but comes up with a brilliant plan for escape, and takes along fellow inmate Harlan and they end up invading Sandy’s home. The story moves back and forth between the home invasion and Nick’s childhood, which is often a way of helping make the bad guy more sympathetic – but not in this case.

There is a shocking twist when we find out Sandy has a walloping secret she’s kept from her family, but they have no choice but to rely on her help if they are to survive.

Another excellent psychological thriller that should appeal to readers who favor authors like Lisa Gardner and Lisa Unger.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

AS NIGHT FALLS by Jenny Milchman.  Ballantine Books (June 30, 2015).  ISBN 978-0553394818. 384p.

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The “Creeper” is a stalker who has been raping and beating beautiful young women and the police have no clues. All the victims describe him as a very angry monster, but none can give any kind of physical description.

Deputy Inspector Zoe Dolan is on the case, and when the Creeper escalates and beats his latest victim to death, Zoe’s frustration is almost overwhelming. She grew up the hard way and a local cop took her under his wing and set her straight. Now he’s dying, she’s having recurrent nightmares of her past, and this serial rapist turned killer are all combining to keep her up at night.

Jane works at an anonymous hotline and thinks she has been hearing the confessions of the killer, and finally there seems to be a break in the case.

Mosby writes the dark side of British crime fiction, and his real strength is in character development; all these women are well drawn and interesting, without a cliché in the bunch. Despite that, this is a book that preys on women’s fears, a psychological thriller that keeps building suspense with every passing page and throws in plenty of surprises.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE NIGHTMARE PLACE by Steve Mosby.  Pegasus (June 15, 2015).  ISBN 978-1605987880. 336p.

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According to the FBI, in 2005 three masked men stole over 7 million dollars that was headed for the Federal Reserve from the Miami International Airport. Grippando took that idea and ran with it.

Ruban, half Russian, half Cuban, has lost his home and his business, so when the opportunity comes up to settle the score, so to speak, with the banking industry, he is on board. Unfortunately, his co-conspirators are a motley crew; his brother-in-law, Jeffrey, is a cocaine addict, his wife’s uncle Pinky is a career criminal with a penchant for violence, and Marco, their inside man at airport security, seems to have vanished.

The heist goes off without a hitch but before the dust settles, everyone is after the money, from local criminals to the FBI. Ruban manages to keep one step ahead but his wife is suspicious, his cohorts are seriously hampering his efforts, dropping thousands of dollars all over Miami, and then the kidnappings start; following the money is the only way to go.

Grippando brings back the caper in this fast paced and violent tale with a cameo by his series hero, Jack Swyteck.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

Another review:

Grippando sets up what is really a prequel to his books about Jack Swyteck an attorney working in Miami. Andie Henning, who will become Swyteck’s girlfriend and later his fiancee and eventually his wife is transferred to Miami from Seattle. She is a new member of the FBI and has evolved a liking for undercover work. Her first major assignment is to work on a theft of several million dollars in cash. The cash is part of a weekly shipment from Germany that is sent to the Federal Reserve bank. Ruban Betancourt, happily married, and apparently not mixed up in shady business, has his home and his restaurant business seized by his bank to satisfy past due debts. While Ruban has generally played by the rules he comes up with a scheme to get back at the banks, and make a lot of money doing it. He sets up a well planned theft of a part of the cash that has been shipped in from Germany. With the help of his brother-in-law and two ex cons he executes the theft getting away with about 7.4 million dollars. The four begin by agreeing to bury the money for a period allowing the heat from the robbery to die down.

Grippando is a master of following the parties involved in the heist, from the thieves and Andie Henning who gets on their trail and also the mob learning about the theft and wanting to get their hands on the money. Cause follows effect and each of the three parts involved are followed and logically contribute to the plot, it’s resolution. Obviously not all of the four involved with the job is satisfied with keeping their hands off the money while immediate desires are unfulfilled. And Andie understands that in order to get the robbers the best way to act is to follow the trail of the money.

Satisfying read with good plot and explanations of how all parties react to what is going on. The ending is logical, following the details outlined in the novel, and without divulging something totally unexpected it ends with Andie about to meet Jack Swyteck.

06/15 Paul Lane

CASH LANDING by James Grippando.  Harper (June 2, 2015).  ISBN 978-0062295453. 384p.

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Novels generally come with the disclaimer that “any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental” and so does this one, twice – once in its usual place, and once in the book within the book, and therein lies the story.

That book is on documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft’s night table, only she didn’t put it there. Catherine has a comfortable life; her husband is in law, and her son, while having problems of his own, has moved out and is living an independent life.

When she starts reading the mysterious book, she quickly realizes that she is the main protagonist, and the secret she has kept hidden is about to tear her life apart.

In a seemingly disparate story, Stephen Brigstocke is a retired teacher and grieving husband who is living a very sad life. Eventually their stories intersect with devastating consequences.

A good psychological thriller with the ever popular unreliable narrator, in this case two of them, along with lots of family drama will keep the pages turning. Sure to appeal to fans of Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

4/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DISCLAIMER by Renée Knight. Harper (May 19, 2015).  ISBN: 978-0062362254. 352p.

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The Falkland Islands makes for an unusual setting in this twisty tale of missing children.

Catrin Quinn hasn’t been the same since her two children died while in the care of her best friend Rachel. It was an accidental death, but it cost Catrin their friendship and her husband Ben; he was able to move on, she was not. Her former lover Callen feels helpless; still in love with Catrin but not sure how to reach the damaged woman, while he suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome, a holdover from the Falklands War.

When a young boy goes missing, the local police chief is hesitant to blame any local residents, and wants to keep it quiet to protect the tourism trade. But it is the third such child to go missing in a year or so, and Callen figures it has to be a local.

Callen and Catrin find a body on a shipwreck, but even that isn’t enough to convince the authorities. Then a fourth child goes missing; Rachel’s youngest boy, and Catrin becomes the chief suspect.

A pod of beached whales that need to be euthanized adds another layer of horror to the story, and animal activists will not be happy with it.

Each of the main characters has a voice here; the story unfolds in sections, each by a different character leading to various points of view and adding to this compelling novel of suspense.

Note: Sharon Bolton also writes as S.J. Bolton

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

5/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LITTLE BLACK LIES by Sharon Bolton.  Minotaur Books (May 19, 2015).  ISBN 978-1250028594. 368p.

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Elaine Kelly is a beautiful young bank teller who is supporting her dying mother, both financially and emotionally. She is a favorite of many of the banks’ customers, especially Antonio Desirio, an old gentleman who makes a weekly deposit into a savings account of over a million dollars.

When Antonio is killed by a truck right outside the bank, Elaine acts on a rash impulse and transfers most of the man’s money into her account. She’s never done anything like that before, but she’s sure he is all alone in the world and she’s barely scraping by.

The police are investigating the accident, and Elaine is cooperating with the detective and doing some snooping on her own. Then a man comes in the bank, claiming he is Antonio Desirio, and tries to withdraw the money – but it’s already gone. The police freeze the account, but there are bad men after the money and they are targeting Elaine.

This fast paced shell game of misdirection, where it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad, is reminiscent of Good People by Marcus Sakey and Found Money by James Grippando.  The author’s previous novel, Moving Day, was also terrific.

Copyright ©2015 Booklist, a division of the American Library Association.

5/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

Kindle: THE TELLER by Jonathan Stone.  Thomas & Mercer (May 12, 2015).  ASIN: B00OV403US

Paperback: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 29, 2012). ISBN 978-1250035028. 384p.

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Dead-End Job Mystery (Book 13)

The fun continues, this time at the library, in Viet’s latest entry into one of my favorite mystery series. Being a librarian, this book holds a special place in my heart.

People return the most outrageous things along with their library books and Viets mentions several of my favorites. But the mystery here is based on a John Singer Sargent painting worth close to a million dollars that is inadvertently left in a book that is donated to the library.

When Elizabeth’s father died, the family donated his collection of books to the library. When she realizes the painting was in one of the books, she hires private eye Helen Hawthorne to find it.

Helen gets a coveted volunteer position at the small city library and gets to work. But other people are aware of the missing painting and don’t necessarily want it returned to its rightful owner, and are willing to kill to keep it.

Meanwhile Helen’s husband Phil, also a private investigator, is looking for a missing ruby and diamond necklace that was stolen during a private party, along with a golf cart. Yes, lots of folks in south Florida own their own golf carts. Some are used for golf, of course, but there are also communities where they are street legal.

I love the south Florida culture that Viets always infuses her mysteries with, and this time out she also inserts lots of interesting library trivia. Any library regular will love all the inside gossip.

Another great cozy mystery with lots of laughs, warm, wonderful characters and an intriguing premise. Don’t miss it.

5/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

CHECKED OUT by Elaine Viets.  NAL (May 5, 2015).  ISBN 978-0451466327. 288p.