Review: Friday on My Mind (Frieda Klein Mystery, #5) by Nicci French

It’s just another day on the River Thames. Commuters are avoiding the Tube by taking the water ferry when a body catches the attention of the passengers.

The body is that of a man who has had his throat slashed and while he lacks any other identification, he is wearing a hospital ID tag that reads Dr F Klein.

The police quickly discover that Dr F Klein is actually a women, Dr Frieda Klein psychotherapist to be exact, and one who has helped the police in many investigations before this.

Dr Klein identifies the body as her former lover, Sandy. Dr Klein quickly becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Sensing that her arrest is imminent, Freida does the only thing she can……she runs.

Frieda knows the only way to prove that she is innocent is to find the murderer herself…..but when it’s proven that her prime suspect isn’t the murderer, she realizes she is playing a more dangerous game than she knows.

Continue reading “Review: Friday on My Mind (Frieda Klein Mystery, #5) by Nicci French”

Review: A Murder in Time (Kendra Donovan #1) by Julie McElwain

Kendra Donovan has worked hard to become respected in the FBI as one of their youngest agents ever.

She has been working tirelessly on a case that reveals a mole within the FBI itself. She is wounded during the course of duty and once she recovers she is hell bent on revenge for her team.

Unfortunately her quest for revenge is short lived as she falls through a worm hole at a castle in England only to reemerge in the early 19th century…..1815.

After having more or less come to terms with the fact that she some how time travels back to 1815, she realizes her purpose there might be more than just coincidence……maybe she was sent there to stop a serial killer.

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Special Feature: THRILLERFEST XI is coming July 5-9!

CELEBRATING 11 YEARS

THRILLERFEST XI

RETURNS TO GRAND HYATT NEW YORK

JULY 5-9, 2016

Gillian Flynn, Heather Graham, John Lescroart, C.J. Box, Walter Mosley and more!

Remember that domestic thriller about a marriage of mayhem that jolted readers with its mind-bending twist? Gillian Flynn, who took the thriller world by storm in 2012 with her New York Times #1 bestseller Gone Girl, takes her deserved place among the ranks of the world’s greatest thriller writers at the International Thriller Writers’ (ITW) ThrillerFest XI July 5-9, 2016 in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

In addition to special guest Gillian Flynn, Heather Graham will serve as the 2016 ThrillerMaster of the largest international gathering of fans and writers of the genre. Graham is the bestselling author of The Cafferty and Quinn series, The Krewe of Hunters series, and the Bone Island Trilogy. Graham also launched books for Dell’s Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette’s Shadows, and for Harlequin’s mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books. Other spotlight guests include C.J. Box and Walter Mosley. John Lescroart will receive the 2016 Silver Bullet Award for his humanitarian work.

The thrills continue with two greatly anticipated events: CraftFest, where the best authors in the business share trade secrets with peers; and PitchFest, “speed-dating” with top agents, producers, and editors.Again this year the exciting addition to the ThrillerFest roster is CareerFest. Nestled into CraftFest, CareerFest focuses on marketing, promotion, and other career-related advice, such as determining the best publishing path, social media, expanding your visibility, and building your platform.

It all culminates with the 2016 ITW Thriller Awards Banquet, during which the awards for best original paperback, best hardcover, best debut novel, best eBook, best YA novel, and best short story will be finally revealed—a riveting climax to a sensational event.

Event highlights include:

  • Master CraftFest: Tuesday, July 5, a pre-ThrillerFest event that is a thriller writer’s dream come true. This intensive, one-day seminar features the bestselling masters of the craft: Steve Berry, David Corbett, Grant Blackwood, Andrew Gross, Meg Gardiner, Heather Graham, Richard Krevolin (screenwriting) and Gayle Lynds. Master CraftFest features small groups and personal instruction.
  • CraftFest: Called the greatest opportunity for professional growth at ThrillerFest, everyone from aspiring authors to published pros have the opportunity to improve their craft from the best in the business.
  • PitchFest: PitchFest changes writing careers with more than 60 agents waiting to discover the next hot talent. Writer John Beatty attended ThrillerFest/Pitchfest, found an agent and received a contract with a major New York publisher: “One of the things I love about PitchFest is how intense, time-efficient, and concentrated it was. I ended up pitching my story to 10 agents in one day. A few months later, we landed a contract with Disney Hyperion. Two years later, when Serafina and the Black Cloak launched, it became a New York Times bestseller.”
  • CareerFest: A slate of industry insiders will help pave the road to publication. “Discoveries” this year include, Discover Indie Publishing from A to Z, Discover the Road to Hollywood, Discover the Road Map to Success in Traditional Publishing, Discover the Successful Author in You, and Discover How to Get an Agent and What to Do after You’ve Got One.
  • Today’s FBI: Crime Essentials for Writers.  Everything a writer ever wanted to know about the FBI but didn’t know whom to ask. Authors will hear from experts in cyber-crime, international terrorism, criminal investigation and much more.
  • ITW ThrillerFest Awards Banquet: The envelope please! Talent will be recognized on Saturday, July 9 when Thriller Nation assembles to shine a light on their brightest stars including 2011 ThrillerMaster R.L. Stine who will present the title to 2016 ThrillerMaster Heather Graham.
  • John Lescroart, Silver Bullet recipient: Will be honored for his humanitarian philanthropy at the Awards Banquet. Lescroart, a founding member of ITW and a New York Times bestselling author of legal thrillers, is known for his charitable work. He has donated funds from character-naming auctions to support libraries, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, diabetes research, the First Amendment Project, and many others. He’s also been involved in the Authors on the Move fundraiser for the Sacramento Public Library Foundation, and he donated $150,000 to the graduate program in creative writing at the University of California, Davis, even though UC Berkeley is his alma mater.
  • Cocktail parties: ThrillerFest is famous for opportunities to mix and mingle with the stars, get books signed and make new friends within the profession.
  • ThrillerFest panels, workshops, and lectures—oh my! Top authors and industry experts offer thought provoking commentary and instruction. Events Schedule

INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS is an honorary society of more than 3,700 authors in 42 countries with three billion books in print. One of the main purposes of the organization is to provide a way for successful, bestselling authors to help debut and midlist authors advance their careers. In addition, ITW promotes literacy, gives money to worthy organizations, supports libraries, and advances the genre.

To make a reservation for the suspense-inspired, five-day adventure, please visit www.ThrillerFest.com.

Special Feature: UNDER THE HARROW by Flynn Berry

This summer has been a major in-house favorite at Penguin Books and it’s also been getting rave reviews from early reviewers!

I love a good thriller as much as the next person and I am so mad that I couldn’t fit this one into my review schedule for the summer but I wanted to make my readers aware of this new release that sounds unbelievably chilling and haunting!

Claire Messud said, “It’s like Broadchurch written by Elena Ferrante. I’ve been telling all my friends to read it — the highest compliment. Flynn Berry is a deeply interesting writer.” Beneath the mystery of UNDER THE HARROW is a heartbreakingly honest portrait of sisterhood’s contradictions and complexities, and a keen understanding of grief and trauma, what Kirkus called “the deep, all-encompassing loss felt by those left behind.”

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Review: Midnight in Berlin by James MacManus

I am a sucker for war romances…..and that’s sort of what I thought I was getting with this book.

While it does have elements of romance, it’s more of a book about the beginning days of WWII and what was going on behind the scenes with diplomatic discussions etc.

Berlin, 1938. Newly-appointed diplomat, Noel Macrae and his wife Primrose arrive at the British Embassy in Berlin.

Prime Minister Chamberlain is intent on placating Nazi Germany, but Macrae is less so.

Convinced Hitler can be stopped by other means than appeasement, he soon discovers he is not the only dissenting voice in the Embassy and finds that some senior officers in the German military are prepared to turn against the Fuhrer.

Gathering vital intelligence, Macrae is drawn to a Nazi bordello and its enigmatic Jewish hostess Sara Sternschein. Sara is a treasure-trove of knowledge about the Nazi hierarchy in a city of lies, spies and secrets.

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