Review - Truth Stained Lies

Truth Stained Lies
Moonlighters Series
By Terri Blackstock
Publisher: Zondervan
Pub. Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0310283133ASIN:
Pages: 320

Review: 

In the murder mystery Truth Stained Lies from bestselling author Terri Blackstock, an ex-lawyer, Cathy Cramer, spends her day as a investigate blogger, writing posts on high-profile homicides. She uses her knowledge to help her brother, Jay, who is the #1 suspect in his wife's, Annalee, murder. To make matters worse, Cathy receives threatening notes on her blog.

Cathy is determined to find the real killer and enlists the aid of her two sisters, Holly and Juliet, and a private investigator, Michael. Holly is a taxi driver and Juliet is a stay-at-home mother of two little boys, but they act as private investigators to help clear Jay of murder. Michael is the brother of Cathy's ex-fiancé who was killed by a drug dealer. Together, they are determined to solve the mystery.

Review - Firefly Island

Firefly Island
By Lisa Wingate
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Pub. Date: February 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0764208232
ASIN: B00AHY0RMK
Pages: 384
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/hVNrv
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/lwingate 

Review:

Mallory Hale came from a wealthy family and pretty much had everything great happening in her life. She works on Capital Hill as a legislative assistant for a senior congressman. Out of nowhere, Daniel Webster Everson bumps into her as she is trying to grab the Clean Energy Bill papers that fell out of her grasp. Sparks fly instantly between the two. Before she knows it, she is now married to Daniel and she is now a step-mother to his three-year-old son, Nick.

Soon after the marriage, Mallory and her new family packed up their belongings and left our nation's capital for the small town of Moses Lake, Texas. Her lifestyle has completely changed as she now lives in a seen-better-days ranch full of rodents and other creepy crawlers. Mallory plans on making the ranch a home for her new husband and step-son as she adjusts to living in a small community that is full of secrets.

Review - Shattered

Shattered
Alaskan Courage Book 2
By Dani Pettrey
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Pub. Date: Feb. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0764209833
ASIN: B00AFWM28G
Pages: 368
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/hLsy9
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/dpettrey

Review:

In this exciting sequel to last year's Submerged, Piper McKenna is in for a surprise when her estranged brother, Reef, shows up at her doorsteps covered in blood. The very same night, not too far away, a young woman is found murdered and two witnesses confirm that Reef was at the scene of the crime. Despite the fact that Reef claims he is innocent of the murder, the sheriff arrests and charges him with murder.

Piper's relationship with her brother has many flaws, but she believes that he is telling the truth. She tries to get her friend, Deputy Landon Grainger, to help her prove Reef's innocence, but Landon is bound to enforce the law and is put in an awkward position.

To help her brother, Piper must uncover a mystery that will take her deep into the backcountry of Canada as she tries to unravel who the real killer is.

Review - Merry Christmas, Alex Cross

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross
By James Patterson
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date: November 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0316210683
ASIN: B007BGQBFY
Pages: 352

Review:

It’s been several years since I have read a James Patterson novel. My grandmother was a huge fan of his books and after her death I have continued to buy each new release. The latest Alex Cross novel has been sitting on my coffee table for a few weeks. With some free time on my hands, I started reading it yesterday afternoon.

In his nineteenth outing, Detective Alex Cross is looking forward to spending a quite Christmas Eve with his family, but one phone call will change his holiday plans. A distraught man, Henry Fowler, forced himself into his ex-wife's home on Christmas Eve. Henry has taken her hostage along with her new husband, Dr. Barry Nicholson, and her three children. Alex knows that man is on a short fuse and could begin killing the hostages at any second, but Alex is their only hope of surviving the night.

Just as Alex is ready to return home to his family, an enemy from his past emerges from the shadows and intends on bring deaths millions.

Review - Resurrect

Resurrect
By David E. Stevens
Publisher: Monarch Books
Pub. Date:October 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0857212498
ASIN: B008M4ISD2
Pages: 384
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/faaOD
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/DStevens

Review:  

Resurrect has been sitting on my desk for a few months, as I received a free copy from Litfuse Publicity Group and Monarch Books in exchange for an honest review, and I recently got around to reading it. The book is written by Commander David E. Stevens, a navy fighter pilot, and by the fighter jet on the book cover, I thought Resurrect might be a war novel, but I was completely wrong. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, so I'll leave the synopsis short.

Navy Commander Josh Logan is the main character in Resurrect and he is testing out a new fighter jet. After a malfunction, Logan quickly avoids crashing into civilians' homes, but ejects from the jet a few moments too late.

Review - No Safe Harbor

No Safe Harbor
by Elizabeth Ludwig
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0764210396
Pub. Date: October 1, 2012
Pages: 336
Buy Links: http://ow.ly/eh4Xf
Blog Tour Link: http://litfusegroup.com/author/ELudwig

Review:

Set in the year 1897, Cara Hamilton thought that her twin brother, Eoghan, was deceased until she gets an unexpected letter from him, in which he urges her to come find him and warns her to trust no one. She boards the ship called the Servia and travels across the Atlantic Ocean from Ireland to America.

When Cara arrives in New York, she meets a stranger named Rourke Walsh. She takes refuge at a boardinghouse where she befriends most of the women whom are living there, all except Deirdre. Why would a woman that hardly knew her, hate her so much? There has to be here than meets the eye about this woman. Cara is determined to learn more about Deirdre, especially when she catches Deirdre prying in her room.

Review: Broken Build

Broken Build
By Rachelle Ayala
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 978-1480010512
ASIN: B0099MLND8
Pub. Date: October 5, 2012
Pages: 330

Review: 

From the author of Michal's Window comes a new suspenseful thriller titled Broken Build, set in the high-tech world with backstabbing and deception around every corner. The author, Rachelle Ayala, had sent me a free copy to review after I had previously reviewed her biblical romantic tale, Michal's Window. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect since this book is set in modern times.

The main character, or should I saw heroine, is Jennifer Cruz, a woman with a rocky criminal past, who has now gone to great manners (plastic surgery, etc) to disguise herself into a new identity, Jen Jones. She takes a job as a computer techno whiz for David Jewell, a software CEO, a man she deeply hurt six years ago in her past life. Of course he doesn't recognize her now. As she spends time with David, their old romantic feelings start to resurface, but she can never erase her past.

ARC Audio Review - Killer's Law

Killer's Law
By L. Ron Hubbard
Directed by Jim Meskimen and Tait Ruppert
Voice Cast: Jennifer Darling, Brooke Bloom, Corey Burton, Bob Caso, R.F. Daley, John Mariano, Jim Meskimen, Enn Reitel, Richard Rocco and Tait Ruppert
Studio: Galaxy Press
ISBN-13: 978-1592122769
Release Date: October 22, 2012
Running Time: Approx. 2 hours

Review:

The 1930s and 1940s were known as the golden age, a time when many unknown writers published their work in Pulp Fiction magazines as they were paid around a penny a word. Unlike the higher-class magazines that were printed on glossy paper with higher production values, pulp magazines were published on cheap brown pulp paper and featured adventures, science fiction tales, mysteries, and many other stories.

Galaxy Press has been releasing the short stories written by author L. Ron Hubbard that were published during the golden age under the Stories of a Golden Age line of paperbacks and audiobooks. They nicely sent me a free audiobook of the "Killer's Law" for this review.

"Killer's Law" was originally published in the September 1947 issue of New Detective Magazine, where Sheriff Kyle travels from Deadeye, Nevada to Washington D.C. to personally deliver evidence against a rich copper king to Senator Meringue. Suddenly, Kyle is knocked unconscious. When he awakes he is surrounded by policemen asking questions and reporters snapping pictures. It seems that the Senator was murdered and Kyle is holding the murder weapon.

Review - Submerged

Submerged
By Dani Pettrey
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0764209826
Pub. Date: May 1, 2012
Pages: 320

Review:

In this debut novel by Dani Pettrey, Bailey Craig finds herself returning to her hometown of Yancey, Alaska to attend her aunt's funeral, who died in a plane crash. Coming back home is not easy thing to do as she had a bad reputation of being "easy" when she left. She turned her life around after leaving Yancey and now is a devoted Christian, but forgetting her past mistakes is a difficult thing to do.

While she is grieving for her sudden loss, she runs into an old flame, Cole McKenna. She broke the guy's heart years ago. Cole is now a devoted Christian himself, but he can't come to forgive Bailey for the way she treated him. He owns a successful business with his siblings and he also helps out with the local Search & Rescue crew as a diver.

Two more bizarre deaths occur and Cole suspects that the deaths are related to her aunt's murder. The police then determined that her aunt's plane was tampered with. Bailey and Cole work together to unravel the mystery that is behind the murders, but in order to this they must resolve their feelings for each other.

Review - The Twisted Window

The Twisted Window
by Lois Duncan
Publisher: Open Road Young Readers
ASIN: B008L8GHT6
Pub. Date: August 28, 2012
Pages: 194
Buy Link:
The Twisted Window (Laurel-Leaf Suspense Fiction)

Review: 

The Twisted Window is written by the teen thriller-master, Lois Duncan. The book was original published back in 1987, but has been released onto Kindle with a few minor changes, the mention of cell phones, DVDs, etc. I've been a Lois Duncan fan every since I read I Know What You Did Last Summer (the book, not the movie) when I was a teenager, so when I saw this book up on Netgalley, I had to review it.

Tracy Lloyd had recently lost her mother, her father practically abandoned her, and she now resides in a small town with her aunt and uncle. The plot begins with a strange boy named Brad started staring at her during lunch hour at school. Brad is from Albuquerque, but he doesn't exactly go to her school. He follows her around and eventually asks her out. She thinks it is a date, but it isn't what he had in mine.

ARC Review - The Malice of Fortune

The Malice of Fortune
By Michael Ennis
Publisher: Doubleday
ISBN: 978-0385536318
Pub. Date: September 11, 2012
Pages: 416
Buy Link: Amazon

Juan, Duke of Gandia, was murdered while on his way to visit his love, Damiata, causing Pope Alexander VI to become emotionally drained as Juan was his favorite son. In another twist, Damiata also went missing the night of Juan's murder, having witnessed her lover's death.

Five years go by and the Pope Alexander VI sends Rodrigo Borgia to find Damiata and bring her to him. The Pope believes that she is responsible for his son's death, but gives her a chance to prove her innocence by finding the real killer. Thinking that she will just run off and hide again, he takes her son Giovanni as leverage.

Damiata heads to Imola, where she finds out there have been a string of similar murders. The bodies have been buried throughout the city and the bodies' parts were specifically arranged to resemble a geometric design. Soon she meets a Florentine diplomat named Niccolo Machiavelli who assists her efforts in finding the killer or killers. Now here is another twist, the one and only Leonardo DaVinci, the famous Renaissance painter, is also investigating the murders and DaVinci eventually teams up with them.

Audio Review - The Chee-Chalker

The Chee-Chalker
By L. Ron Hubbard
Director: Jim Meskimen
Starring: Tamra Meskimen; Bob Casco, R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, Tait Ruppert, and Josh R. Thompson
Studio: Galaxy Press
ISBN-13: 978-1592121748
Running Time: Aprox. 2 hours 

Pulp fiction magazines were extremely poplar during the 1930s and 1940s covering any genre you can think of. There was no internet and cable television to occupy your free time with, so people read pulps and cheap novels for entertainment, not to mention listening to radio serials. Author L. Ron Hubbard wrote hundreds of short stories in about every genre during these years. Now Galaxy Press is bringing out these great stories through their new audiobooks line called Stories from the Golden Age.

Galaxy Press was nice enough to send me a free copy of The Chee-Chalker that first appeared in the July/August 1947 issue of Five-Novels Magazine.

Audio Review - Dead Men Kill

Dead Men Kill
By: L. Ron Hubbard
Voice Cast: John Mariano, Jennifer Aspen, R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Jim Meskimen and Matt Scott
Publisher: Galaxy Press
ISBN: 978-1592123506
Pub Date: January 1, 2010
Approx: 2 hours 5 minutes

Stories from the Golden Age from Galaxy Press are a line of audiobooks and paperbacks, in which all titles are by the short stories written L. Ron Hubbard in the 1930s and 1940s. The stories appeared in Pulp Magazines. Galaxy Press was nice enough to send me several free audiobooks in exchange for an honest review. Yes, I'm aware that L. Ron Hubbard is the founder of Scientology. People tend to ignore his writings because of his religion. I'm a Christian and it doesn't bother what religion L. Ron Hubbard believed in as he was a talented author, writing in many genres.

All 150 short stories written by the author are being released in both audio and paperback from Stories from the Golden Age. For each story they use a variety of talented voice actors, such as John Mariano, Jennifer Aspen, R.F. Daley, Lori Jablons, Jim Meskimen and Matt Scott. 

ARC Review - A Plain Scandal

A Plain Scandal
An Appleseed Creek Mystery
Written By: Amanda Flower
Publisher: B&H Books
ISBN: 9781433676987
Pub. Date: February 15, 2013
Pages: 336
Pre-Order: Amazon.com

Chloe Humphrey is enjoying her life working at a college in Appleseed Creek, Ohio, but her life is turned upside down when she is informed that house that she rents with her roommate Becky has a new owner who plans on remodeling and selling the house.

Someone is going around the community grabbing Amish girls and cutting their hair. Chloe finds a body of an Amish man. He had been murdered and his beard has been shaved off. An elderly Amish man is pushed up against his own horse & buggy and someone cuts his beard off!

Review - Tidewater Inn

Tidewater Inn
Written by: Colleen Coble
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ASIN: B007D1TNYS
Pub Date: July 17, 2012
Pages: 320 

While on a video call with her business partner and friend, Nicole, Libby Holladay witnessed the kidnapping of Nicole. She drops everything and travels to Nicole's last known location - Hope Island, a small fishing town.

Her missing friend is not the only mystery for her as she learns that her father has recently passed away, but as far as she knew her father died when she was a child. Apparently, her mother had hid the truth from her. Her father had a life on Hope Island and had other children. Libby's father must have loved her as he leaves his Tidewater Inn to her in his will.

Review - Inescapable

INESCAPABLE
Written by: NANCY MEHL
Published by: BETHANY HOUSE
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0927-7
Pages: 336
Pub Date: 2012

    In book one of the Road to Kingdom series, Lizzie Engle is a single mother living in Kansas City working at the Harbor House. Money is tight, but she is able to get by. When her boss becomes ill and takes a leave from work, the new boss, Reba, accuses her of stealing money, in which she did not take. To make things worse, there has been a stranger following her and leaving her strange notes.

    Afraid that charges will be pressed against for the crime she did not commit, Lizzie and her five-year-old daughter Charity pack up their belongings and drive to the small (really small) Mennonite town of Kingdom, Kansas. Five years earlier Lizzie promised herself that she would not return home, as her elder father was very strict in the old school Mennonite ways.

ARC Review and Giveaway - The Pigeon Pie Mystery

THE PIGEON PIE MYSTERY
Written by: JULIA STUART
Published by:  DOUBLEDAY
ISBN: 978-0-385-53556-4
Pages: 335
Pub Date: AUGUST 7, 2012

    After the scandalous death of her father, Maharaja of Brindor, which involved him in a private situation with a maid in his bedchambers, the Indian Princess Alexandrina, nicknamed Mink, is left with nothing as her father left her with several debts. Within a year everything she owned was repossessed, leaving her with only her lady’s maid, Pooki. Queen Victoria hears about Mink’s situation and gives her permission to stay at the Hampton Court Palace.

    Upon arriving at the Hampton Court, both Mink and Pooki are shocked to see the condition of their new so-called home, which has seen better days. With nowhere else to go, they try their best to adjust, with Pooki doing most of the cleaning. Before long, Mink is invited into a new circle of wacky acquaintances, which includes The Countess of Bessington, The Hon. Dowager Lady Montfort Bebb, and The Lady Beatrice Fisher, all whom are widows.

Review - Cynthia's Attic: The Magic Medallion

CYNTHIA’S ATTIC: THE MAGIC MEDALLION
Written by: MARY CUNNINGHAM
Published by:  Echelon Press Publishing
ISBN: 978-1590804605
Pages: 160
Pub Date: 2006

    Picking up shortly after first book in the series (set in 1964), Augusta Lee, or as everyone calls her - Gus, and her best-friend Cynthia (both twelve-year-old) are eager to return to Cynthia’s magical attic that took them back in time, where they resembled and was mistaken for their grandmothers. Once again they climb up to the cobweb invested attic and open the mysterious trunk that throws them back to the year 1914, where they hope to go to the circus with Gus’s great-grandfather, Charles, but their plans drastically change as their grandmothers, Clara and Bess, hide inside a crate that is in the back of the wagon. They might be able to fool Gus’s great-grandfather in believing they are their grandmothers, but their grandmothers will probably hear their voices from the crate causing an awkward situation that they would probably want to avoid.

    Gus and Cynthia return to the attic where they find two clown costumes left there. They slip the costumes on and are magical transported to the circus, where they are mistaken to be new clowns by Blackie, the evil hobo clown and circus leader. They befriend a girl about their age named Annie. She was left as a baby at the circus and was raised the by an acrobat named Lilly.

ARC Review - The Reckoning by Alma Katsu

The Reckoning
AUTHOR: Alma Katsu
PUBLISHED BY: Gallery Books
ISBN: 9781451681536
RELEASED DATE: June 2012
PAGES: 348

    In book two of the Taker Trilogy, the immortal Lanore, aka Lanny as he friends call her, is wanted for murder in the United States for the unknown man (her love, Jonathan St. Andrew) that was found in the small town of St. Andrew, Maine. She barely escaped with the help of her now lover Dr. Luke Findley, who has left his children and his life for her.

    They reside in London, where Lanny has decided to giveaway all of the wonderful treasures she has collected, some stolen, over the years. After the death of Jonathan, she wanted to start anew by uncluttering her life. With Luke’s help, she has boxed up the treasures and donated them to different museums around the world. Lanny was looking forward to having a life with Luke, but then she gets a strange feeling that her taker Adair has been awaken from his confinement, the very one that she personally put him in, and she knows that nothing will ever be the same.

Review - The Caves of Etretat

The Caves of Etretat
AUTHOR: Matt Chatelain
ASIN: B005TJ9CT2
RELEASED DATE: 2011
PAGES: 293

    Paul Sirenne owns a small bookstore in Canada and is just living a normal life until his parents are brutally murdered, leaving him with one clue - H.N.  His father had prepared for such tragedy and had sent Paul a note before their untimely demise. The content holds a long, hidden family secret which sends Paul to Etretat, France where a hundred year old family mystery lies within the book “The Hollow Needle” by Maurice Leblanc.

    He isn’t alone on the mystery hunt as he is assisted by Leblanc’s great-granddaughter, Raymonde. Together they try to unravel the puzzle that has been unleashed before them, which takes them to the caves in Etretat’s chalk cliffs.