Category: Literary Criticism

Do you ever read and book and think to yourself—-wow this didn’t age well. I love Laura Griffin and have nearly read every single one of her books. I have loved them all for different reasons. Sometimes in her Tracer books, the technology has changed so much from the mid 2000’s and sometimes it feels a little antiquated or old but I still always find something to love in the mystery itself even if the technology might be out of date. But in this one, it isn’t the technology that’s out of date.

I will get more into that in a minute. What made me want to read this particular book is seeing Fiona in other books by Griffin. I thought she had a pretty cool job being a police sketch artist. That’s a job I never thought too much about but when I read about her in some of the other books I was really intrigued by how one becomes a police sketch artist and how they come up with their drawings etc. In this book as well as another, Griffin does a really good job of explaining how artists work with the victim. Now I have no idea if that’s legit but it sounds plausible and believable so that was the big thing that appealed to me about this book.

I was going to take a break after reading all the Griffin standalones, but who am am I kidding, I won’t stop until I have read ALL of her books at this point. So here we are, I am almost there and so far have yet to find a book that I truly haven’t liked. There were some parts or characters that I like and didn’t like for various reasons but overall I have loved all of Griffins books!

Continue reading “Review: Thread of Fear (The Glass Sisters #1) by Laura Griffin” →

I picked up this standalone after I read Last Seen Alone, another standalone by Laura Griffin fully ready to devour another outstanding thriller. I have loved all of Griffin’s books even if some were better than others, overall I can say her books are all well research, fast paced, complex, with will developed characters. Sometimes the romance is better in some than others and sometimes I like other characters better independently, but I never finish one of her books feeling like the mystery was wanting in any way. She always does an outstanding job with her mysteries!

I feel like I have said this a million times but I will say it again incase you are new around here—all of Griffin’s books can be read as standalones, even the series. This book is actually a standalone book but if you are worried about what book to pick up, you should know that any book can be picked up at any time and you will be getting a unique mystery, character and story so don’t feel like you need to read her books in order etc.

While I look on all of Griffin’s book fondly, this one was my least favorite character wise. I didn’t like the main character, Andrea. I found her frustrating and her dedication to her brother was way too over the top for me and I had a really hard time relating to her, but I did love the plot in this one and I was really excited to see how it all came about and resolved. If you are looking for a solid well written thriller, Laura Griffin is it all around. Even if I didn’t love the main character, I did love the plot and couldn’t wait to see how it resolved.

Continue reading “Review: Far Gone by Laura Griffin” →

After finishing the Tracers series and a short segue into the Wolfe Security series, I had a moment where I thought about switching to something else, but I just couldn’t bring myself to look for something else to read so I decided to stick with something I knew would be good and that is basically any book by Laura Griffin! I picked up this standalone book and was eager to dive back into another murder mystery that I knew would be solid and well researched.

All of Laura Griffin’s books can be read as standalone book, even in the series even with a few appearances of other fringe characters from other books. Everything is bluring together now but I feel like this book might have Fiona Glass in it and she was in the Wolfe Security Series and the Tracer books as well as having her own series. I love getting to explore characters with in Griffin’s various worlds. It makes it feel connected and realistic like these people and events could be happening in real life.

Griffin does such a great job creating realistic plots, stories, and characters. All of her research and vast knowledge of police procedures, law, and forensics is staggering and I am always in awe of her ability to write so knowledgeably about so many different topics. This book had a little bit of everything and definitely had a more modern plot and had an interesting take on attorney client privilege.

Continue reading “Review: Last Seen Alone by Laura Griffin” →

When I was first introduced to the Wolfe Security team, Jeremy was the one I was interested in. I always like a strong silent type and I thought that Jeremy fit the bill. I also liked the hint of a romance for him in one of the Tracers books—even if it didn’t go anywhere in the book. I was really excited to see he got his own story in this book but I was surprised that his wasn’t the first one of the series since we met him in other books in the Tracer series. That’s probably why I accidentally read this book first!

The Wolfe Security books can be read out of order, I know because that’s what I did! But to be fair, all of Griffin’s books can be read out of order as well. Characters are introduced from other series but almost always have no impact on the larger narrative. For example, we might meet police sketch artist Fiona Glass in various books throughout the Wolfe Security and Tracers books but we never actually interact with her more than in passing, though she does end up with her own book series later on. Griffin always does a fantastic job at introducing new and old characters without confusing readers or muddling the plot from previous books etc.

When I picked this one up, I was eager to get to know Jeremy more—-that was my only motivation, though I have to say the idea of a bodyguard romance appealed to me ever since the first time we meet the Wolfe Security team in one of the Tracer books. It was the romance troupe I didn’t know I needed. I love the intimacy and connection that bodyguard and client must have. Even if it isn’t necessarily romantic, I am sure there is a level of trust and intimacy that they must have in order to have a successful partnership—-and leave it to Griffin to add the romantic layer though!

Continue reading “Review: Her Deadly Secrets (Wolfe Security #2) by Laura Griffin” →