The Gathering – C.J. Tudor

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

When I saw that C.J. Tudor has a new book I immediately knew that I want to read it. If I knew it was about Vampires, I would have thought twice. I am not a fan of vampires. But I did not know that, so I got the book and of course I read it. What I got is a decent thriller with, well, vampires in it. 

Detective Barbara Atkins is a Forensic Vampyr Anthropologist. She is called to a small town in rural Alaska where a murder happened and a young boy is missing. The town is near a Colony of vampyrs and of course everybody in the town is sure the vampyrs are the culprits. They want Barbara to call a cull so they can take matters into their own hands like they used to do the last time someone got killed. For them vampyrs are like animals. You should hunt and kill them. And maybe hang up some trophies above your mantlepiece.  

Imaging a story about racism but with vampyrs as the victims. The author kept the balance between showing that vampyrs are outcasts and suffered abuse but they can be also dangerous of course. The story is well crafted but unfortunately not all characters are equally well developed. Barbara, the main character, is refreshingly different to other female MC. She is over fifty, overweight and average looking. Not that kind of twentysomething beautiful heroine we meet most of the time. But she is smart and witty and a good character to connect with. Towards the end I got a bit confused with all the names and had a hard time remember who was who. But the book held my interest. After I got over the fact that I had to read about vampires I enjoyed the story and even was impressed by the idea.

 

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Her Last Summer – Emily Freud

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

This book captivated me from page one. While it is not written as a podcast it almost feels like one. 

Cassidy is a documentary film maker and came into a bit of fame with her last film where they found the real culprit because of their research. Out of the blue she is approached by a man, Luke, who went lost together with his girlfriend twenty years ago while they were hiking in the jungle of Thailand. He was found weeks later claiming that a strange man took his girlfriend. But the police and the public always thought he may have killed her. He was never charged because Mari, his girlfriend, was never found. But his life was ruined. Now he finally wants to tell his side of the story and what really happens in the jungle. And he wants Cassidy to help him. Cassidy is thrilled by the opportunity to solve this case and she is soon charmed by handsome and vulnerable Luke. But he seems to be holding back and keeps delaying the big reveal. When they travel to Thailand to reconstruct their journey things get complicated. Cassidy is torn between her being professional and making this important film and her feelings for Luke. She is drawn to him but on the other side she does not trust him. Is Luke a master manipulator or a victim? 

This is a gripping read with an unexpected twist at the end. I could see how Cassidy was conflicted about whether to believe Luke or not. The story about the lost girl is interesting and we get some insight of how such a documentary is filmed. I enjoyed this book very much. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Daughter of Mine – Megan Miranda

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

“Daughter of Mine” is a slow burner but it sneaks up on you. With each page the feeling of unease grows.  

Hazel returns to her small hometown at Mirrow Lake in North Carolina after the sudden dead of her father, Perry. To her surprise he left her the house despite she is not his biological daughter and there are two brothers who are his. Gage, the eldest, she felt close. But with Caden, who is her age, she never got along. He always let her feel that she was an intruder. Her mother left their father after emptying his bank account, but Perry always treated Hazel like his own. But she wonders why he left the house only to her. Her brothers are not amused about the situation. When two cars are found in the lake, abandoned there years ago, long held secrets begin to unfold. 

This mystery/suspense thriller has a growing sense of unease that kept me on my toes. You can feel that there is something not right in this family and at some point you think everybody could be interested in harming Hazel. The characters are all very well written except for Hazel. This is something I came across a lot recently in the books I’ve read. Very often the main characters are so dull or stupid and they are only created somebody has to narrate the story. I can’t remember the last time I really liked the main character and felt for them. Is this a new trend? Nevertheless, I enjoyed the eerie atmosphere and the compelling story. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Escape – Ruth Kelly

⭐⭐

Bewertung: 2 von 5.

The Escape started quite strong. Adele is a struggling young woman who is trying to become famous on the internet with her vlog. In a moment of great stupidity she uploads a video in which she begs her followers to crowdfund her dream to by a castle in France. It’s an absolutely ridiculous idea which kickbacks immediately. But to everyone’s astonishment an anonymous philanthroper comes forward via their lawyer and offers to buy Adele the castle. But the contract comes with some strange rules. But Adele and her equally stupid husband Jack are blinded by the greedy idea to live of other people’s money don’t think to much about it. So in a hurry they move to France to live in a French chateau leaving behind Adele’s sister Erin and their terminal ill mother. Adele starts her new vlog describing to her rising group of followers her beautiful castle while Erin cares for their mother alone. When her health continues to decline Erin decides to travel to France and get Adele back to their dying mother.

When Erin arrives at the chateau Adele and Jack are nowhere to be found. The castle is empty, no sign of them. And in the village nobody seems to know anything about them. The atmosphere is creepy and there is a sense of something sinister lurking in the chateau. Until then the book was quite good. I liked the eerie setting. Adele being a self-centered and shallow character seems fitting. But it turns out Erin is as stupid as her sister. At that point the mysterious story unfolds and you get an idea what is going on. But somehow the storytelling went south.

SPOILER ALERT!!

The whole idea of Adele and Jack as pawns for the rich and mysterious philanthropist is not very realistic. But Erin became the bigger problem for me to stay connected to the story. She turns into a kind of superwomen, gets hurt and concussed while fighting to find her estranged sister and fighting also against the corrupt French police. That does not keep her, as I said, hurt and concussed, to run and jump and fight, getting her sister from a cellar of a stalker and after their rescue almost immediately into her car and driving twelve hours home to England. Adele, being held captive and drugged for ten days, malnourished and dehydrated, just gets her ankle in a cask and off she goes in the car with Erin. Staying in a hospital after all of that? That’s only for weaklings. Erin has the annoying habit of storming off doing something stupid and realizing soon afterwards what a huge mistake that was. Telling somebody, f.e. her new friend with the local police and love interest that she goes looking into the cellar of someone who possible had something to do with her sister’s disappearance? No need for that Erin. Staying put in the car as your police friend begs you to because he can lose his job for taking you to the side where bodies are found (he should have definitely not taking her there)? Nonsense, just jump out and run all over the crime scenes and make a spectacle out of yourself. I almost got a concussion myself shaking my head so violently because of these hilarious situations. And there are a lot more of them.

So the first half was absolutely fine, entertaining and a bit creepy, as I like it. But the storytelling, the stupid characters and simply the unrealistic way of developing the story further on did not work for me.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Midnight Is The Darkest Hour – Ashley Winstead

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 5 von 5.

Unsettling and disturbing. This southern gothic kept me on edge. Ruth, a twentysomething, is the daughter of the local preacher who also holds the power over the little city. He founded a fundamental church and everybody admires him. Ruth feels like an outsider. Her only friend is the town’s outcast. When a skull is found in the swamp a search begins to find out what happened to that man. Then another skull is found and rumours about a serial killer or the mystical local boogeyman called the Low Man begins to spread among the townsfolk. But Ruth has her own secrets to keep. Soon there is a manhunt going on and Ruth is right at the center of it.

Seems I have a new author to put on my favourite-writer-list. This is my second book from Ashley Winstead. I liked “In My Dreams I hold A Knife” but I was absolutely captivated by this one. It gave me a strange and unsettling feeling. I liked the unlikely and weird friendship between Ruth and Everett. They are bound by secrets and lies and love and being different and their different moral sights. At first I thought the story was set in the past because the thing with the fundamental church felt so anachronistic but it is actually set in the present. Ruth tries to live up to her father’s high expectations of her being a good girl and a devoted Christian. But when she finds the book “Twilight” (I never read the Twilight-Saga but loved that it triggered Ruth in so many ways) in her local library she discovers that she has also a dark side (a very very dark side) and different desires to what her father wants her to feel. I would like to say much more but I would wander into spoiler territory and I don’t want to ruin this book for you. I loved the writing and the differentness of the story. It is a very unusual book and I savoured it. Even the ending could not ruin it for me. In fact, it suits this weird story.

If you want to read something different and good, go for this book!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Lesson In Malice – Catherine Kirwan

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

When Finn Fitzpatrick is invited to a conference at her old alma mater she is a bit surprised. She is busy with her own private problems and her job as a solicitor and she is no academic. But she accepts the invitation. When one of the guests is found dead three days later she is asked to work as a liaison officer between the police and the University. Soon she is deeply involved in the murder case.

When I got the book I was not aware that it is the third one in a series about Finn and her work as a sleuth/solicitor. But you can easily read it as a stand-alone although there is some talk about a case on which Finn worked before and that is the reason she is asked to look into the murder. Finn is a well developed character. She has her flaws and she makes quite a few stupid decisions but this makes her a very reliable and realistic character. The story itself is a classic who-done-it mystery with a lot of red herrings and everyone is a suspect at one point. It is an easy read and it keeps you guessing. For me there was a bit too much detective work on Finn’s side. I am not a fan of descriptions of every move and every cup of coffee in elaborate detail.  

This is a well plotted murder mystery which held my interest and put Cork on my list of cities to visit when I am traveling to Ireland.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Blackhouse – Carole Johnstone

⭐⭐

Bewertung: 2 von 5.

I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the authors last book “Mirrorland” although it was a challenging read. But it was worth the effort. Unfortunately this time it was not.

When Maggie was five years old she claimed to be the reincarnation of a man who lived on a small Scottish island and who was murdered there. Her mother was a psychic and she took Maggie to this island and made a big show about it. Now Maggie is twenty-five and her mother recently died. Maggie is a nervous wreck and was diagnosed to be bipolar. She does not remember that time when she was five but she wants to know what happened then and if her claim was true. So she travels again to this island but the people there are not happy to see her.

I try to express what I did not like about the book without any major spoilers.

• The story is not very complex, although it seems like it at first. But after finishing it I think the story is too thin to carry through all those pages.
• The pace is painfully slow. There is too much back and forth in Maggie’s head.
• Too many characters. I could not tell most of them apart until the last page. There is a glossary at the end and I wish I knew this from the start.
• Maggie is not a character I could warm up to. And all other characters are not very well developed. Maybe because there are so many of them.
• The final “twist”. Well, what shall I say? I did not like it.
• Maggie is diagnosed as bipolar. I do not have experience with this but for me Maggie is her chaotic self the whole time. There is no change. She is just inconsistent.
• I hate it when people in a book come together to talk and then they don’t. They lie, don’t tell anything important or just speak in riddles and it just fills page after page. That happens here all the time.
• All the people of the island. They are a special breed, maybe it is like this on remoted islands. But how they treated Robert, the second narrator of this book, is despicable. He needed help but they just made him worse. And they did not learn. They are playing games with Maggie all the same.

The setting on the island is eerie and atmospheric. But the story itself could not win me over. This was a weird book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Woods Are Waiting – Katherine Greene

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

If you are looking for a slightly creepy story that is not too scary, look no further. The atmosphere is eerie and sinister and you keep asking yourself is there something supernatural in the woods or is it something even more disturbing.

Blue Cliff is a rural village with a long history of missing children. The families there are a tight knit community and they look out for each other. They all know about the obscure figure of the Hickory Man who roams the woods and sometimes gets bloodthirsty and snaps children away. Cheyenne Ashby fled the village years ago. She belongs to a family whose task it is to protect the people of the Hickory Man. Chey’s Mum throws herbs wherever she goes and gives handmade protection symbols to everybody she meets. When a child goes missing again Chey is called back to Blue Cliff to look after her mother who clearly can’t cope anymore with it. There she has to face her old friends she left behind and the dark history that surrounds Blue Cliff – and her family.

This book is a slow burner. The tension builds up slowly but it increases from chapter to chapter. The setting is claustrophobic and just enough spooky to keep you on toes without being afraid to put the lights out at night. I grew up in a city and always was a bit afraid of walking in the woods alone. And after reading this book I will stay afraid of it. You never know who or what is lurking inside.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Woods Are Waiting – Katherine Greene

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

If you are looking for a slightly creepy story that is not too scary, look no further. The atmosphere is eerie and sinister and you keep asking yourself is there something supernatural in the woods or is it something even more disturbing.

Blue Cliff is a rural village with a long history of missing children. The families there are a tight knit community and they look out for each other. They all know about the obscure figure of the Hickory Man who roams the woods and sometimes gets bloodthirsty and snaps children away. Cheyenne Ashby fled the village years ago. She belongs to a family whose task it is to protect the people of the Hickory Man. Chey’s Mum throws herbs wherever she goes and gives handmade protection symbols to everybody she meets. When a child goes missing again Chey is called back to Blue Cliff to look after her mother who clearly can’t cope anymore with it. There she has to face her old friends she left behind and the dark history that surrounds Blue Cliff – and her family.

This book is a slow burner. The tension builds up slowly but it increases from chapter to chapter. The setting is claustrophobic and just enough spooky to keep you on toes without being afraid to put the lights out at night. I grew up in a city and always was a bit afraid of walking in the woods alone. And after reading this book I will stay afraid of it. You never know who or what is lurking inside.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hazard Night – Laura Vaughan

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bewertung: 4 von 5.

„Hazard Night“ is a murder mystery set in a private boarding school. Eve’s husband Peter went to Cleeve himself. When he is offered a job as a housemaster there they leave their London life behind. But Eve soon feels isolated and even the birth of her son does not make her happy. But then a new teacher arrives at the school with his wife Fen in tow. Fen likes to break the rules, she is free-spirited and artistic and full of mischievous ideas.  Eve is drawn to her and soon they become friends. But Fen has a dark side, too.

The book is told from two POV. Alice, the daughter of the school chaplain is the second narrator and she gives us a bit of an outsider look into the school. The story captivated me right from the beginning. You can feel that something bad is going to happen. It is also a slow burn read. The book takes its time, which is not always something bad. I liked the setting in the boarding school (I do love Dark Academia). The only thing that I would criticize was the ending. It is too nicely wrapped up in a bow and it left me a bit unsatisfied. But overall it is a well-constructed story and the writing is flawless. This is my first book from the author but I will look out for other books from her.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.