Periphery - AA Dasilva

Charlotte barely survived the accident that killed her husband four years ago. Resuscitated a savant, she struggles to find meaning in her survival.

When she meets Simon, a mysteriously familiar stranger, they are drawn to each other with undeniable magnetism. But Simon is contracted to a black-ops agency.
With the agency on her heels, and Simon claiming her heart, Charlotte’s past and future collide when she's offered a chance to reconnect with her late husband.
As secrets are revealed, motives uncovered, and alliances are formed, Charlotte must choose…between the fate of the world and the fate of her heart.

My Review

Periphery is one of those books that exist in that space where science fiction almost becomes fantasy. Or at least that's how it feels to my fairly unscientific brain. The Periphery of the title is an alternate reality that some people are able to jump to when they face death. This is a complex and thrilling read that weaves together science, thriller and romance.
Charlotte is a very young widow who is faced with much more than most people more than twice her age would have to deal with. When she meets and starts to fall for Simon, it looks as though her life might actually have a chance to start again. Unfortunately, other people seem to have different ideas.
This is a gripping read and although it is a romance, it was the thriller aspect that had me on the edge of my seat and turning those pages. There are twists and turns that keep you guessing and although there is a love interest that seems to be the 'right' choice for Charlotte I was still kept guessing until the end on how things might actually resolve themselves. There were a few red flags from just about all of the men she came in contact with.
This was an entertaining and engaging debut novel and I'm keen to know what will happen next and perhaps return to the Periphery once more.

Bio

Born and raised in New England, AA DaSilva holds a degree in clinical laboratory science and brings her love of science and writing together via science fiction. When she’s not writing or identifying cells under a microscope, she can be found with a book in one hand, and a cup of iced coffee in the other. She resides in Massachusetts with her husband, two sons, and pup Didi (who looks suspiciously like an Ewok).

 

Her debut novel, Periphery, is a science fiction love story that explores fate, strength, and the choices that determine our destiny.

 

AA DaSilva has completed book two in the Periphery series and is currently working on edits. For the latest updates on new releases and events, sign up for email updates and follow her on socials.

Burial Ground - Stephen B. King

Tammy and Greg meet at a party in the Perth hills and sneak away to a disused gravel pit to be alone. They are interrupted by two men burying something who then attack Greg and chase a naked Tammy throughout the night. She is found the next day, delirious and suffering hypothermia.

She tells Detective Sam Collins and Jenny Markham what she witnessed and reports Greg’s murder. But his body is found in a car wreck, and the crash report says he died because of alcohol and speed on a sharp bend. This casts doubt on Tammy’s story and Sam wonders if she imagined the incident.

Doubting the official crash report, he and Jenny investigate further and discover two serial killers, who have been burying their victims at the gravel pit, for seventeen years. Sam must lead a huge police task force to try find them before they kill again.

My Review

Burial Ground is actually the third in the Detective Sam Collins series. I haven't read the previous ones and it really didn't matter as this can be read as a stand-alone book. In many ways, this is quite an unusual read as the book is split into three parts. To begin with we have the set up for the discovery of the murders. Then in the second part we go back into the life of the murderers and see the reasons that they have become the psychotic serial killers they are. Finally, in the third part, our detective Sam wraps everything up and solves it all. This isn't the kind of murder mystery that you can try and solve alongside the detective. We're privy to lots of information that he isn't, and things are shown through the eyes of the murderers. This does make for a gripping and disturbing read.

I enjoyed Burial Ground and liked this slightly different approach to the storytelling. I did find that at times there was perhaps a little too much back story. I wasn't sure that we needed all of the extra details that we got. Some of the sex scenes were for me, a little much for this kind of read. Overall though, I was drawn into this disturbing read and wanted to know what was going to unfold and that hopefully, Sam would figure out who was behind it all.

Author Bio

I left Perth, Australia to go East and find fame and fortune in the music business as a long-haired rock guitarist. I wrote poems and music, and my band used to open for some pretty big groups in my wild days. I gave it all up for love and got married (as you do when the right one comes along). Then, real life took over, children came along and I threatened to write a book for so many years my long-suffering wife eventually pushed me into it by buying me a laptop and said: "No more excuses, do it." And so began this amazing journey.

My first book, Forever Night, was contracted and published by now defunct Totally Entwined Group 's Evidence Press. It features a returned veteran soldier who has suffered horrifically, physically and mentally to become a serial killer while hunting for his runaway wife. As an SAS soldier he is far more highly trained to kill and survive, than the cops are trained to stop him. If you enjoy dark, Scandinavian type crime thrillers, you will love this story.

That was followed by a trilogy, about the rise of a cop through the ranks from Detective to Detective Inspector, when his world falls apart. Domin8, is about a married man who is drawn into the dark world of online dating, until someone starts murdering his lovers. The Vigilante Taxi features a man who knows tragedy, his life has been full of it and with nothing to live for he becomes a vigilante during the night shift while driving his cab. When he falls in love, and wants to stop, it's too late; the cops and an underworld figure are closing in. Burial Ground, is about newly appointed Detective Inspector Sam Collins, who is handed the job of finding a serial killer who has been killing and burying his victims in an old disused gravel pit for seventeen years. He is a close to a pure psychotic evil as you will find, worse then Hannibal Lecter, or anything from the mind of the great Stephen King.

Repo saw me return to two characters from Forever Night. New private investigator husband and wife sleuths trying to save a man from jail for a murder he did not commit. He returns home from working in a mine to find his wife gone, bank accounts empty, and fully restored classic muscle car repossessed. When his wife's body is found, he is arrested for murder. Dillon and Jayne enter a world of illegal poker games, protected by the underworld, to find the real killer and free their first client.

Next, I wrote a beautiful love story/thriller about Jenny, who travels in time to save the world from an all consuming blight that was genetically modified. She falls in love in the past, but can only stay for thirty-three days. This was picked up by my new publisher: The Wild Rose Press of NY. They have also contracted a trilogy, called The Deadly Glimpses. Book 1 is called Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer, and Book 2, Glimpse, The Beautiful Deaths have been released. Book 3, Glimpse, The Tender Killer will be released in three months. The trilogy follows the fortunes of two married colleges who are attracted to each other while working together to track down three serial murderers. What will the effect be on their marriages, and their relationship if they act on the desires they have?

Thrillers and crime genres have always fascinated me, and in particular, the dark world of serial killers. I love a good, unputdownable, thriller. You know, the kind you just want to read one more chapter of at three in the morning before bed, but you have to be up at six to go to work. Have I succeeded in creating stories that can take people to that place? Boy I hope so.

Check out my website and blog for fee stories and previews. www.stephen-b-king.com

Broome Enigma - Meryl Brown Tobin

On a working holiday in Australia's cosmopolitan Outback town of Broome in 1986, Jodie, a young book designer is open to romance and adventure. At the holiday village where she is staying, she meets Joe, a young man who works there. Despite the strong attraction between them, the many unknowns about his earlier life keep them apart. To try to uncover his mysterious past, they travel to Perth and back to Broome and are drawn into not only bizarre but also dangerous situations. Is Joe the person Jodie thinks he is, or is he some alter ego? Can she stop their relationship from developing until she knows whether he is free to love her?

My review

It's difficult to decide exactly what Broome Enigma is. There are romance elements here, but also a thriller. Joe is a handyman at a camp site in Broome. He seems standoffish with the two sisters who come to stay, but both find themselves immediately attracted to him. Older sister, Jodie, finds herself falling for this mystery man and while he at first seems to want to keep his distance from her, they soon become close. But, as they become close, she finds herself thrown in to the danger that is stalking him.

There were so many twists and turns in this book. we follow Joe and Jodie as they try to find out who is after Joe and how he lost his memory. As I mentioned there are romantic elements here, but I really don't think that romance is the main part of this story. It's more to do with the couple finding out what's going on and who is behind it all.

Jodie is a little wet at times, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book. Perhaps a little less of the internal dialogue might have helped and sped things up a bit. This is a fascinating read as you try and find out where it's going, but it's not a fast-paced, edge of your seat one.

Overall, a good story with plenty to keep you guessing.

Extract

A big gust of wind rocked the van and flung Jodie

hard against Joe. He pushed her off.

“Joe, it’s me, Jodie! Wake up, wake up!”

“Jodie, is that you?” He threw his arms around her

and buried his head in her chest.

She brushed his hair back from his sweating face.

“Take it easy, Joe. Take deep breaths. It’s okay. It’s

going to be okay.”

He stopped shaking and pulled back from her.

“What’s happening?”

“It’s the cyclone. Don’t you remember?”

Another huge gust shook the van and sent Jodie

sprawling on Joe’s bunk and into the wall. “Ow, that

hurt!” She picked herself up and rubbed her head.

The van rocked violently again. Joe and Jodie

grabbed for handholds.

“Quick, come into my bed with me, Joe. It will be

safer there.” Tripping and feeling their way along the

wall, the two made their way to the double bed and

clambered in.

Her breathing coming in short spasms, she lay on

her back and took deep breaths. The storm whined and

screeched about her, and the roof creaked and scraped.

“Oh, my god, the roof’s going to take off any minute!”

Joe’s arms enveloped her. “Hush, everything will

be all right. But will you be okay if we have to make a

run for it?”

“Yes.” She let out a sob. “But I like our chances

better in here than out there.”

Joe kissed her forehead. He pulled her closer and

they lay locked against each other while the storm

raged around them.

 Bio

Meryl Tobin, writing name Meryl Brown Tobin, is an Australian writer of short and long fiction for adults and children, non-fiction, especially on travel and the environment, poetry and educational puzzles. She has had 22 books published. These include puzzle/activity books, black-line masters books of educational puzzles, workbooks for primary students, a travel book, a children’s picture storybook, a poetry collection and a haiku collection with four other poets of The Society of Women Writers Victoria. She has also edited one book and co-edited two others. In total, nearly 300,000 copies of her first four puzzle books, which were published by Ashton Scholastic, were sold in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Hundreds of her poems, puzzles, short stories and travel and other articles, and some cartoons and comic strips have appeared in more than 150 magazines, newspapers and anthologies in Australia and overseas, including India, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the USA. Some of her stories and poems have been broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission and other radio stations while others have been published on the Internet. As a guest on the set of Ch7’s children’s program The Book Place, she read her story LEFTY with regular presenter, Lynn Weston.

 

2.      Places selling ‘Broome Enigma’

‘Broome Enigma’ is on sale on about 40 websites in at least 16 countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and USA, including Amazon.com : broome enigma and Broome Enigma eBook : Tobin, Meryl Brown : Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store  (Australia).

 

Social media links

https://sites.google.com/view/merylbrowntobin-author

https://www.amazon.com.au/Broome-Enigma-Meryl-Brown-Tobin-ebook/dp/B0CHWLFTSZ/#customerReviews

https://www.facebook.com/meryl.tobin.18

 Selection of readers' comments from https://sites.google.com/site/merylbrowntobin - NOVELS

1.     Readers’ comments about ‘Broome Enigma’

A.    Felicia Di Stefano

Finished your book. Very much a page turner kept me up till 1.30 am one morning. 

Wow what a thriller. Would never have worked out the end!

B.    Chrissie Michaels, Australian author 

Congratulations on such a well crafted story, full of page turning suspense, fast pace and strong dialogue! I enjoyed the read immensely. 

C.    Michele Tobin

'Broome Enigma' takes the reader on a scenic, cultural and historic visit to one of Australia's fabulous, renowned destinations. As a backdrop to the novel, it is a perfect setting for an enigmatic storyline with its melting pot of characters to take form.... 

D.    Roberta Ashby

An easy read and the characters were great to follow. Just when I thought I’d sussed out a bad guy or two, I hadn’t so it certainly is not predictable!  Your research was extensive.

E. Anna Sput Stern, author and poet

Congratulations!!! Considering that the novel is written for young people, I admire the style fitting so well their personality. Many thanks for sending it to me; I’m going to treasure it. 

E.    Jill Sutton

Congratulations! I’ve just finished ‘Broome Enigma’. You are an amazing writer. I very much enjoyed joining all the characters in their exciting adventures. 

F.     Hartley Tobin

Because I’m familiar with Broome at the time of the setting of this story, I readily imagined the people in the various settings. When I got to the last four chapters I could not put the book down until I had finished.

G.   Lynette Burton:

I loved it; I was really sucked into the read. I read the first two chapters on Sunday but yesterday [Monday] I had to force myself to put it down to get my housework done. I finished the last two chapters in bed with a coffee this morning, I have not done that for years and it felt like a little luxury.  I am yet to visit Broome but it’s on my list and now when I do I will be able to reference all the true to life landmarks and history in your book all over again.

Can’t wait for the next one.

H.   Kathy McKean

I really enjoyed it. I found it easy to read; I am not fond of novels you need to over think to understand them. I was time poor when I got ‘Broome Enigma’ and felt frustrated every time I would see it on my bedside table. I managed to get one chapter read and couldn't wait for the next opportunity so I could continue. I had one morning that I had put aside to do housework but picked up ‘Broome Enigma’ whilst having my early morning cuppa; needless to say not much housework got done. 

 I liked the innocence of the main characters, the setting and the suspense and I always love a happy ending. I felt sad to finish the novel. I felt like I had lost some new friends that I had made and whose company I enjoyed. 

I.      Anonymous

Just as well...[for the ending] as the sexual tension had built up unbearably!!

J.     Janice Williams, author and poet

Congratulations to Meryl for her page turner, ‘Broome Enigma’. Having recently stayed in Broome, I found it was interesting to pick out the various features.

K.   Rose Chapple, author

Congratulations! 

I can imagine it as a movie or series, but I guess that's another thing altogether. I hope it's doing well, and that the American market is taking off. You might be personally responsible for an increase in tourism!

Well done again!!!

L.    Mervi Cahill

I really enjoyed reading 'Broome Enigma'. It was an easy read and you made the characters come to life. I enjoyed the inclusion of history and tourist spots as I haven't travelled there but could picture myself visiting the sights as I'm reading.  Congratulations on your first novel and hopefully not your last. 

M.  Eunice Frazer

Enjoyed your novel––well written, entertaining, interesting characters and plenty of action set against a beautiful West Australian landscape.  

N.    Gwenda Mathieson

I enjoyed your book so much so that I read it in two sittings, initially dipping in to it then sitting until I finished it.

I was happy that Jodie and Tiffany showed maturity as the story developed and particularly as Jodie felt that she knew Joe but needed to get to know....

 Now I look forward to the next book.  Is it already under way?

O.   Valwyn Beggs

I was transported into another world, the Broome Underworld, in your novel. What a thriller! So many twists and turns!

P.     Moira Wood

I love the cover of ‘Broome Enigma’ which is attractive to potential readers.

 As a once single and vulnerable person meeting a young man and having an instant attraction, but an unresolved feeling about his previous life, I could immediately relate to the main character Jodie. As events unfolded, the story became even more intriguing with ongoing sagas.

 A great read with lots of suspense and a beautiful ending.

Q.   Janne Morrison

I have just finished reading 'Broome Enigma' and absolutely loved it!!!  I could not stop reading it and was disappointed when it finished––I hope there is a sequel in the pipeline!! Such a great assortment of very relatable characters and plausible and fascinating storyline.  Totally unpredictable and so many twists and turns made it such very enjoyable reading - thank you!!!!

R.     Eric Hornsby

It gets into the story quickly and I love the way you get into the love story. It starts with a suggestion of a love story then the difficulty of mixed tensions, a man who is living like a tramp with no direction and then you have involved a doubtful group of characters of all types, suspect and otherwise....It has humour, fear and characters interacting. I thought it a very good story that was engrossing. It doesn’t waffle....It is a good read––about real life and real people––and one that will suit most readers.  It really is a thrilling read. Not to forget the humour you placed along the way. There is no doubt 'Broome Enigma' will appeal to most age groups.

S.     Annie Chisholm

This is a great read! I felt like I was actually there, in beautiful Broome.

The writer builds up the suspense as she develops the characters. The aftermath of the cyclone and the Festival of the Pearl and they are painted cleverly. I read the book to my husband and both of us enjoyed it thoroughly.

Cruel Lessons - Randy Overbeck

On a school camping trip, fifth graders experiment with a dangerous new hallucinogen and die in a horrific accident, their deaths shattering the quiet town. Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks, hoping to redeem a fatal mistake from his past, grasps the opportunity to conduct the district investigation of how students are getting the drugs. Almost before he begins, the cops make a stunning arrest. But Parks battles on, convinced the real pusher is still out there, poisoning more kids until he receives an anonymous threat: if he continues, those close to him will pay. Is Parks willing to risk those he loves for a chance at redemption?

Four kids dead. Can Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks unmask the drug dealer poisoning his students before more kids die?

My Review

Cruel Lessons is a thriller with a mystery at the heart of it. It isn't a murder mystery as such, although there are certainly deaths and ones related to the mystery. It's the kind of read that will keep you turning the pages and guessing (often wrongly) where it will go next. 

There perhaps should be a warning with this book, the victims are children, mostly pre-teens who are engaging in troublesome but not entirely unexpected teenage behaviour. Someone is taking advantage of that though and putting them at serious risk.

I considered various people that might have been behind it as I read this book. I did settle on the right person once or twice, but not firmly and I changed my mind a few times. It was a gripping read though and one that kept me guessing.

I was a little confused about the period, I believe it was the mid-nineties which mostly made sense. There were a few things that seemed to be too modern, with the internet and email playing a big role here. I know that it was around back then, just not quite as wide spread and accepted as it appears to be here. Or perhaps that's my memory playing tricks on me.

This was a well-written and entertaining read. I'd certainly be interested in more from this writer in the future.

Bio

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades and has turned that experience into captivating fiction, authoring the bestselling series, the Haunted Shores Mysteries, winner of nine national awards. This past fall, the Wild Rose Press released his newest work, an atmospheric amateur sleuth mystery, CRUEL LESSONS, which has captured two national awards already. He hosts the popular podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual and sometimes strange backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” “A Few Favorite Haunts,” and “Everything You Wanted to Know About Publishing” with audiences all over the US. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop.

 

More info about his novels, programs and podcast can be found at his website www.authorrandyoverbeck.com .

randyoverbeck@authorrandyoverbeck.com

513-633-2838

 

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorrandyoverbeck

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OverbeckRandy/media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorrandyoverbeck/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/randy-overbeck

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Randy-Overbeck/e/B07QQHW7DM

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4825632.Randy_Overbeck

 

Buy Links:

https://books2read.com/u/3GGGvK

Tip the Piano Man - Rosetta Diane Hoessli

When little Piper Callaghan appears at Hope’s Home, too traumatized to speak after discovering her murdered mother’s body, Dr. Madison Wagner hopes to make the child’s possible father, writer Luke Callaghan, take responsibility for the bloody chaos he’s apparently created. For his part, Luke has his own story and refuses to be patronized.

But when they discover Piper is the victim of prominent citizens profiting from an online international child sex ring, Madison and Luke understand they’re in this fight together. And guiding them from beyond the grave is a murdered young mother seeking retribution…and atonement.

Madison and Luke must prevail against overwhelming odds, or their relentless pursuit of truth will hurtle them toward a shocking reality neither ever anticipated.

My Review

What a story this is. It left me both gripped and completely unsettled at the same time. This thriller deals with one of the most unsavoury and sick crimes, that of child molestation.
The book follows Madison, who runs a home for vulnerable children and Luke, who finds out after the death of his estranged wife that he has a daughter. Between them they grow closer as they discover all that Luke's daughter Pipper and other children have suffered at the hands of these evil characters.

This book won't be for everyone. It doesn't shy away from the terror and pain that children can and do suffer at the hands of such people. This is a story of evil. The darkest, purest and most horrifying evil. But of course, you can't help but read and find out if Madison and Luke can track down the men behind this.

Tip the Piano Man is a horrifying, yet gripping read. It's well worth a read.

Rosetta Diane Hoessli

Rosetta Diane Hoessli has been a freelance writer since 1985. A winner of national and state-wide writing contests, she has served as senior feature writer, columnist, and executive editor for three (3) regional publications – two in San Antonio and one in Houston, Texas.

Rosetta also collaborated with New York socialite Jeanette Longoria in Longoria’s self-published book entitled Aphrodite and Me: Discovering Sensuality and Romance at Any Age, co-authored biographical novel Falling Through Ice with Carolyn Huebner Rankin, and edited a book of short stories, Working On the Wild Side, compiled and written by Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Jeff Gager.

WHISPERS THROUGH TIME (2021) was Rosetta’s first solo novel, and was Book One in a series by the same name. TIP THE PIANO MAN, a mystery/suspense novel, is her second book and was released by The Wild Rose Press in 2024.

Today, Rosetta focuses most of her attention on writing historical fiction and traveling with her husband, Kevin. They reside in San Antonio, Texas with their two rescued fur-kids, near their daughter and two grandchildren.

 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RonniHoessli

 

Facebook Author’s Page: https://www.facebook.com/RosettaDianeAuthor

AllAuthor Landing Page: https://allauthor.com/page/rosettah21/3/

Follow me on Twitter (X)! My handle is @DianeThomp3419

Buy Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tip-Piano-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli/dp/1509254412/

AllAuthor: https://allauthor.com/page/rosettah21/3/

The Wild Rose Press: https://www.thewildrosepress.com

Barnes & Noble Book Store: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tip-the-piano-man-rosetta-diane-hoessli/1144905691?ean=9781509254415

BooksAMillion: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781509254415

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/tip-the-piano-man-rosetta-diane-hoessli/21260577?ean=9781509254415&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwildrosepress.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/tip-the-piano-man/id6478547553

The Party at No.12 - Kerry Wilkinson

 Everyone’s invited. Someone will never leave.

In a grand townhouse rented specially for the evening, Hannah beams at her guests under the sparkling chandelier. Her sisters, her mother and aunt, her best friends… although she’ll miss them all so much when she moves away, tonight is about celebrating the happy times and raising a toast to the future.

But the next morning, one of the guests is found cold and lifeless in their pristine white bed.

Hannah is desperate to call the police. After all, it must have been an accident. Perhaps too much wine, on a night where emotions were running high. But it soon becomes clear that every single person at the party has something to hide.

A mother who’ll do anything for her daughters.
Best friends with dark secrets between them.
A sister with a jealous streak.

What if one of them is a killer?

And what if this is just the first victim?

An absolutely unputdownable thriller that won’t let you sleep until you’ve reached the final page! Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, The Hunting Party and Shari Lapena.

Author Bio:

Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.

He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.

https://kerrywilkinson.com/

https://www.facebook.com/KerryWilkinsonBooks/

https://twitter.com/kerrywk

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09NRYYT9Lsocial

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/uMg32XgsgsXF
US: zpr.io/8mGbXF9aWYD7

Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-party-at-number-12-by-kerry-wilkinson-narrated-by-tamsin-kennard-and-andrew-kingston

My Review

The Party at Number 12 is a bit of a mystery/thriller. After Hannah hosts a party before heading off around the world travelling, but something goes wrong and one of the guests is found dead the next morning. How Hannah and her guests deal with this and get to the bottom of what actually happened throws everything into question for Hannah.
There were quite a few twists and turns in the plot of this book. I did see some of them coming before they happened, but it was still a gripping and entertaining read. I wasn't entirely convinced about the way that some of the characters acted and behaved once one of them was found dead, but that didn't detract from the story itself.
I enjoyed the way that the story unfolded and despite seeing some of the twists coming, I still hadn't figured it all out by the end.
Overall a good read and one that I would recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

The Invite - Sheryl Browne

Kaitlin has been looking forward to her engagement party for weeks. She’s finally introducing her fiancé Greg to her best friend Zoe, but as the champagne corks pop, her dream party soon becomes her worst nightmare…

Staring at the stunning diamond solitaire on her finger, Kaitlin knows her relationship has been a whirlwind… but Greg looks after her, and he loves playing dad to her young daughter. How could she refuse when he’s already planned their romantic elopement?

As the guests arrive, Kaitlin wonders why Greg is suddenly acting so shifty. Is that a flicker of recognition on Zoe’s face? And why does she look terrified every time her phone rings?

Kaitlin watches as Zoe knocks back her white wine and makes a beeline for Greg. Then, after a heated conversation, her best friend stumbles outside without looking back.

Days later, the police knock at Kaitlin’s door – Zoe is missing.

When the police question Greg about the night of the party, Kaitlin knows he’s telling lies. But why would he? Can she really trust the man she’s marrying? And could her precious daughter’s life now be in danger too?

The Invite is an absolutely unmissable psychological thriller, perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife. You’ll be hooked from the first page!

Author Bio:

Bestselling Author, Sheryl Browne, writes taut, twisty psychological thriller. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. Sheryl has also obtained a Certificate of Achievement in Forensic Science and – according to readers – she makes an excellent psychopath. Sheryl’s latest psychological thriller THE INVITE comes to you from BOOKOUTURE. Her previous works include the DI Matthew Adams Crime Thriller series, along with contemporary fiction novels, The Rest of My Life and Learning to Love.

 

To find out more about Sheryl. go to www.sherylbrowne.com

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09NNJQSWWsocial

Apple: http://ow.ly/qYPx50HVB4x Kobo: http://ow.ly/Y1V550HVB4v Google: http://ow.ly/xSPv50HVB4w

Audio:

UK: zpr.io/4JRwCMdLNFwv

US: zpr.io/xbB9FjHnbDbG

Listen to a sample here:

https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/the-invite-by-sheryl-browne-narrated-by-tamsin-kennard

My Review

The Invite is a gripping thriller that weaves together a number of different stories and threads. Zoe has returned home from Portugal after being betrayed by the man she thought loved her. Then she goes missing. Her friend Kaitlin is worried about what has happened, but as things unfold, it's clear that it's not only the people in Zoe's life who have been lying and perhaps Kaitlin is in as much danger as her friend.

I enjoyed this read and although I guessed a few things that happened, I wasn't really sure where it was all going to go. Both Zoe and Kaitlin seem to have had terrible luck with the men that they have been involved with and their life in general. I did feel that at points the plot does seem to jump a little and it took me a second to catch up, but that didn't really detract and the pace of this book worked really well. Overall it was a great read and one that I would recommend.