Category Archives: Dutton

July 4, 2018 · 11:58 pm

Review: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Title: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length:384 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

In the latest thriller from the bestselling author of Final Girls, a young woman returns to her childhood summer camp to uncover the truth about a tragedy that happened there fifteen years ago.

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. When the paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, she implores Emma to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor. Seeing an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends all those years ago, Emma agrees.

Familiar faces, unchanged cabins, and the same dark lake haunt Nightingale, even though the camp is opening its doors for the first time since the disappearances. Emma is even assigned to the same cabin she slept in as a teenager, but soon discovers a security camera–the only one on the property–pointed directly at its door. Then cryptic clues that Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins begin surfacing. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing mysterious threats in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale and what really happened to those girls, the more she realizes that closure could come at a deadly price.

Review:

Two truths and a Lie. The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is a suspenseful mystery.  The Last Time I Lied is a twisty-turny psychological page-turner.  The Last Time I Lied is not reminiscent of ’80s slasher movies that take place at summer camp. Can you guess which one is the lie???

Fifteen years ago, thirteen year old Emma Davis attends her first summer camp where she is befriended by her roommates Vivian, Natalie and Allison. However, instead of fond memories of an idyllic summer adventure, Emma is haunted by the unsolved disappearance of her roomies. Emma is tormented by this defining moment in her life and she tries to work through her guilt and anxiety through her paintings. She is surprised to learn Franny Harris-White plans to re-open Camp Nightingale and she wants Emma to join the staff as an art teacher. At first reluctant to return to the camp, Emma instead accepts the offer in order to try to uncover the truth about what happened to Vivian, Natalie and Allison.

Emma is off-balance as soon as she crosses the gate to Camp Nightingale and she never quite recovers her equilibrium. She is assigned to the same cabin she occupied that fateful summer and she makes several unexpected  discoveries as she explores her surroundings.  In the midst of eerie sightings and strange occurrences, Emma’s disquiet quickly turns to paranoia especially when she learns that Franny and her son Theo have been digging around in her past. This apprehension does not prevent her from trying to unearth clues that will hopefully discover what Vivian was doing before she and the other girls vanished without a trace.

Interspersed with events in the present are chapters that provide keen insight into Emma’s experiences at Camp Nightingale fifteen years earlier.  These flashbacks gradually reveal vital information about the days leading up to the girls’ disappearance. The tension increases as incidents in the present begin to mirror events from the past. Emma is not exactly the most reliable narrator and as she begins to question her sanity, the suspense builds to a fever pitch.

Weaving seamlessly back and forth in time, The Last Time I Lied is an incredibly riveting mystery with a clever, atmospheric setting and unique storyline. Emma is not quite an unreliable narrator but readers will find it difficult to completely trust her observations and conclusions. Camp Nightingale is a rustic retreat in the middle of nowhere and the ghost stories about its origins give it a very creepy vibe. With plenty of twists, unexpected turns and brilliant misdirects, Riley Sager brings the novel to a completely astounding conclusion that is absolutely unexpected. An engrossing mystery that fans of the genre are sure to enjoy.

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Filed under Contemporary, Dutton, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Riley Sager, Suspense, The Last Time I Lied

June 6, 2018 · 11:58 pm

Review: The Real Michael Swann by Bryan Reardon

Title: The Real Michael Swann by Bryan Reardon
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Penguin’s First to Read Program

Summary:

In a new novel from New York Times bestselling author Bryan Reardon, a suburban family is rocked in the wake of a terrorist attack on American soil.

On a typical late summer day, Julia Swann is on the phone with her husband, Michael, when the call abruptly goes dead. Then the news rolls in: A bomb has gone off at Penn Station, where Michael was waiting for a train home. New York City is in a state of chaos.

A frantic Julia races to the city to look for Michael, her panic interwoven with memories of meeting and falling in love with the husband she’s now desperate to find. When someone finds a flier she’s posted and tells her they may have seen her husband, her dreams seem to be answered. Yet as she tries to find him, her calls go unanswered.

Weaving between the aftermath of the explosion and Julia’s memories of her life with Michael, new developments raise troubling questions. Did Michael survive the explosion? Why hasn’t he contacted her? What was he doing when their last call was cut off? Was he–or is he still–the man she fell in love with?

Part family drama, part tragic love story, and part disaster narrative that hits terrifyingly close to home, The Real Michael Swann is a deftly plotted suspense novel with an unflinching portrait of a marriage at its heart, challenging us to confront the unthinkable–both in our country and in our own home

Review:

The Real Michael Swann by Bryan Reardon is a tautly plotted, fast-paced and suspenseful novel.

Julia Swann is not overly concerned about the fact that her husband Michael’s train from New York’s Penn Station has been delayed.  She is, however, mildly worried when their phone call abruptly ends and she cannot get through to him. Panic sets in with the tragic announcement that a bomb has gone off in Penn Station. Unable to wait at home for news about Michael’s fate, Julia sets off in search of her husband.

The investigation into the bombing moves at a rapid pace and the stunning announcemnt that Michael is Homeland Security’s chief suspect in the bombing sends shock waves through Julia’s family and their neighbors. Her certainty in his innocence slightly wavers as her recollections of her husband’s behavior throughout their courtship and marriage are tested by recent memories of his drastically altered behavior and opinions.  Could Michael’s desperation have driven him to such an uncharacteristic act of domestic terrorism?

As Julia frantically tries to locate Michael, a survivor of the blast whose memories are lost due to a head wound feels disconnected from the seemingly irrefutable evidence of his identity.  Driven by an inexplicable instinct to immediately leave Penn Station, he wanders around the city in a daze. He is desperate to return to the address found on the driver’s license he finds inside his briefcase and he soon sets off on his journey home. Despite his lack of memories, intuition leads him to avoid public scrutiny once he becomes aware Michael Swann is wanted in connection with the bombing.

Despite Homeland Security’s best efforts to convince Julia of Michael’s guilt, she remains steadfast in her belief in his innocence. With the help of her mother, Julia anxiously escapes from the agents trying to use her to lure Michael to them.  Thanks to the extensive media coverage, she has a general idea of his whereabouts and she recklessly tries to reach him before Homeland Security captures him. Will Julia find Michael before the authorities take him into custody?

The Real Michael Swann is an electrifying novel that could easily have been ripped from today’s headlines. Julia is a complex, well-developed lead protagonist whose faith in her husband’s innocence is nearly unshakable. Although savvy readers will most likely have a good idea what awaits Julia as she hurdles toward finding Michael before Homeland Security, Bryan Reardon brings the novel to a pulse-pounding, tension-filled conclusion that is full of clever plot twists.

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Filed under Bryan Reardon, Contemporary, Dutton, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Suspense, The Real Michael Swann

April 8, 2018 · 11:57 pm

Review: Too Close to Breathe by Olivia Kiernan

Title: Too Close to Breathe by Olivia Kiernan
Frankie Sheehan Series Book One
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 301 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Penguin’s First to Read Program

Summary:

Olivia Kiernan’s tautly written debut novel immerses readers in a chilling murder case . . . and the tantalizing, enigmatic victim at the center of it all.

In a quiet Dublin suburb, within her pristine home, Eleanor Costello is found hanging from a rope.

Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan would be more than happy to declare it a suicide. Four months ago, Frankie’s pursuit of a killer almost ended her life and she isn’t keen on investigating another homicide. But the autopsy reveals poorly healed bones and old stab wounds, absent from medical records. A new cut is carefully, deliberately covered in paint. Eleanor’s husband, Peter, is unreachable, missing. A search of the couple’s home reveals only two signs of personality: a much-loved book on art and a laptop with access to the Dark Web.

With the suspect pool growing, the carefully crafted profile of the victim crumbling with each new lead, and mysterious calls to Frankie’s phone implying that the killer is closer than anyone would like, all Frankie knows is that Eleanor guarded her secrets as closely in life as she does in death.

As the investigation grows more challenging, Frankie can’t help but feel that something doesn’t fit. And when another woman is found murdered, the same paint on her corpse, Frankie knows that unraveling Eleanor’s life is the only way to find the murderer before he claims another victim . . . or finishes the fate Frankie only just managed to escape.

Engrossing, complex, and atmospheric, Olivia Kiernan’s debut novel will leave readers breathless.

Review:

Too Close to Breathe by Olivia Kiernan is an enthralling mystery set in Dublin. This first novel in the Frankie Sheehan series is a clever police procedural with marvelous a cast of characters.

Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan’s first case when she returns to work following a work-related injury appears to be a suicide but is, in fact, murder. Eleanor Costello is a microbiologist and guest lecturer at a nearby college and her teaching assistant Lorcan Murphy is definitely shaken by the news of her death. Interestingly enough, Eleanor’s husband Peter is missing which makes him Frankie’s prime suspect. The investigation is frustratingly slow paced since there is little evidence but the discovery of another victim, Amy Keegan, breathes new life into the case.  Will Frankie and her team catch the killer before he or she strikes again?

Frankie is a tenacious investigator with keen instincts which has contributed to her swift rise through the ranks. Although she has mostly recovered from her physical injuries, she does suffer from PTSD.  She has an excellent working relationship with Assistant Commissioner Jack Clancy and her partner on the case, Detective Baz Harwood.

The investigation into Eleanor’s murder reveals a few surprising details that are rather perplexing. What is the significance of the Prussian blue paint on the victim’s body? Where is Peter and does his disappearance have any connection to his wife’s murder? Is he responsible for some of the healed injuries that are discovered during Eleanor’s autopsy? What are Eleanor and Peter doing on the Dark Web? Is Lorcan being completely honest during his interviews? And if not, why? And last, but not least, why can Frankie not shake the troubling feeling that the current murders are somehow linked to a prior case?

Although initially a little slow paced, Close to Breathe is an engrossing mystery. Frankie Sheehan is an outstanding lead protagonist whose dedication to her job sometimes leads to impetuous decisions that put her in jeopardy. Baz is a fantastic partner who is extremely supportive even when he does not agree with Frankie. The investigation is fascinating and delves into the murky world of the Dark Web and the BDSM community. Olivia Kiernan brings the novel to a twist-filled and exciting conclusion. Fans of the genre are sure to enjoy this first installment in the Frankie Sheehan series.

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Filed under Contemporary, Dutton, Frankie Sheehan Series, Mystery, Olivia Kiernan, Rated B, Review, Suspense, Too Close to Breathe

January 14, 2018 · 11:57 pm

Review: Into the Black Nowhere by Meg Gardiner

Title: Into the Black Nowhere by Meg Gardiner
UNSUB Series Book Two
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Penguin’s First to Read Program

Summary:

In this exhilarating thriller inspired by real-life serial killer Ted Bundy, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix faces off against a charming, merciless serial killer.

In southern Texas, on Saturday nights, women are disappearing. One vanishes from a movie theater. Another is ripped from her car at a stoplight. Another vanishes from her home while checking on her baby. Rookie FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix, newly assigned to the FBI’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, fears that a serial killer is roaming the dark roads outside Austin.

Caitlin and the FBI’s serial crime unit discover the first victim’s body in the woods. She’s laid out in a bloodstained, white baby-doll nightgown. A second victim in a white nightie lies deeper in the forest’s darkness. Both bodies are surrounded by Polaroid photos, stuck in the earth like headstones. Each photo pictures a woman in a white negligee, wrists slashed, suicide-style–posed like Snow White awaiting her prince’s kiss.

To track the UNSUB, Caitlin must get inside his mind. How is he selecting these women? Working with a legendary FBI profiler, Caitlin searches for a homology–that elusive point where character and action come together. She profiles a confident, meticulous killer who convinces his victims to lower their guard until he can overpower and take them in plain sight. He then reduces them to objects in a twisted fantasy–dolls for him to possess, control, and ultimately destroy. Caitlin’s profile leads the FBI to focus on one man: a charismatic, successful professional who easily gains people’s trust. But with only circumstantial evidence linking him to the murders, the police allow him to escape. As Saturday night approaches, Caitlin and the FBI enter a desperate game of cat and mouse, racing to capture the cunning predator before he claims more victims.

Review:

In the second installment of Meg Gardiner’s UNSUB  series, Into the Black Nowhere, rookie FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix matches wits with a suspected serial killer.  This latest release works well as a standalone, but I highly recommend the first book in the series as well.

After another young, blond woman is abducted from her home, the Solace, TX police call on the FBI to help catch the person responsible for a total of six missing women. The kidnapper is brazen and snatches women not only from their homes, but public places as well. Caitlin, along with fellow agent Brianne Rainey and their boss Special Agent in Charge C.J. Emmerich, travel to the small town where they hope to glean enough information to form a profile of the suspect. Following a grisly discovery, the agents now know the kidnapped women are being murdered and even worse, they are not the killer’s first victims.  With the help of a former soldier, Caitlin is certain she has found the serial killer. However, with no evidence to support her theory, the police are unable to make an arrest. Caitlin hopes to force the suspect into making a mistake, but will she arrest him before he strikes again?

Caitlyn has settled into her new job at Quantico and although she is new to profiling, she is an experienced cop.  She is meticulous and insightful with keen instincts that rarely steer her wrong. She loves her career, but she and her ATF boyfriend Sean Rawlins are quickly discovering the downside to their long distance relationship as their busy careers conspire to keep them apart.

The investigation into the missing women is intense and Caitlin and her fellow agents feel the pressure to find the person responsible. Caitlin has no doubt she has located the killer, but he is quite clever and rather adroitly and arrogantly evades surveillance. The suspect knows how to get to under her skin which shakes her confidence, but she quickly recovers from the momentary slip. Trying to stay one step ahead of her confident and  supercilious suspect, Caitlin manages to trap her quarry, but once again, he out plans and outmaneuvers the FBI.

Into the Black Nowhere is an incredibly well-written and quite clever police procedural.  The plot closely mirrors the Ted Bundy case but Meg Gardiner keeps the storyline fresh and interesting. The novel comes to a nail-biting, edge of the seat conclusion.  While the current case is completely wrapped up, this latest addition to the UNSUB  series ends with a shocking cliff-hanger that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the next installment.

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Filed under Contemporary, Dutton, Into the Black Nowhere, Meg Gardiner, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Suspense, UNSUB Series

June 26, 2017 · 11:58 pm

Review: UNSUB by Meg Gardiner

Title: UNSUB by Meg Gardiner
UNSUB Series Book One
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 381 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Penguin’s First to Read Program

Summary:

A riveting psychological thriller inspired by the never-caught Zodiac Killer, about a young detective determined to apprehend the serial murderer who destroyed her family and terrorized a city twenty years earlier.

Caitlin Hendrix has been a Narcotics detective for six months when the killer at the heart of all her childhood nightmares reemerges: the Prophet. An UNSUB—what the FBI calls an unknown subject—the Prophet terrorized the Bay Area in the 1990s and nearly destroyed her father, the lead investigator on the case.

The Prophet’s cryptic messages and mind games drove Detective Mack Hendrix to the brink of madness, and Mack’s failure to solve the series of ritualized murders—eleven seemingly unconnected victims left with the ancient sign for Mercury etched into their flesh—was the final nail in the coffin for a once promising career.

Twenty years later, two bodies are found bearing the haunting signature of the Prophet. Caitlin Hendrix has never escaped the shadow of her father’s failure to protect their city. But now the ruthless madman is killing again and has set his sights on her, threatening to undermine the fragile barrier she rigidly maintains for her own protection, between relentless pursuit and dangerous obsession.

Determined to decipher his twisted messages and stop the carnage, Caitlin ignores her father’s warnings as she draws closer to the killer with each new gruesome murder. Is it a copycat, or can this really be the same Prophet who haunted her childhood? Will Caitlin avoid repeating her father’s mistakes and redeem her family name, or will chasing the Prophet drag her and everyone she loves into the depths of the abyss?

Review:

The first book in a new mystery series, UNSUB by Meg Gardiner is a high-octane police procedural about the search for a chilling serial killer known as the Prophet.

When a gruesome murder scene appears to indicate the Prophet has inexplicably begun killing after a twenty year absence, homicide detectives turn to narcotics Detective Caitlyn Hendrix for assistance.  Caitlyn’s father, Mack Hendrix, worked the original investigation so police hope she can offer insight into the current case.  Caitlyn is soon hard at work attempting to solve the cryptic message the killer leaves behind but can she succeed where her father failed and bring the killer to justice?

Caitlyn is incredibly smart but she is still an inexperienced detective.  She also has a personal connection to the case which has the potential to cloud her judgment during the investigation. The first order of business is to figure out if the current murders are the work of a copycat and if not, why did the murders stop?  Caitlyn is extremely focused as she attempts to figure out the meaning of the Prophet’s messages but she has made little progress when he strikes again.

The investigation has barely begun as the Prophet claims more victims.  The murders are increasingly violent and carefully staged.  Caitlyn is having a difficult remaining detached as the pressure mounts to understand the reason for the murders.  The case takes a personal turn when Caitlyn’s boyfriend, ATF agent Sean Rawlins, goes missing right after she finally discovers the Prophet’s motivation for the murders, the cryptic messages and the elaborate staging at the crime scenes. With very little information to go on, Caitlyn, Mack and the rest of the team are in a race against time to locate Sean before it is too late.

UNSUB is an unbelievably fast-paced and engrossing police procedural. Meg Gardiner ratchets up the tension with back to back murders, enigmatic clues and increasingly grotesque staging at the crime scenes. The novel comes to an adrenaline-filled, pulse pounding conclusion that neatly sets up the next book in the series.

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Filed under Contemporary, Dutton, Meg Gardiner, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Suspense, UNSUB, UNSUB Series

January 15, 2017 · 11:57 pm

Review: Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner

Title: Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
Quincy & Rainie Series Book Seven
Publisher: Dutton
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 400 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Penguin’s First to Read Program

Summary:

Lisa Gardner’s next thriller following her runaway New York Times bestseller Find Her takes her wildly popular brand of suspense to new heights.

Is he a hero?

Eight years ago, Sharlah May Nash’s older brother beat their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Now thirteen years old, Sharlah has finally moved on. About to be adopted by retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, Sharlah loves one thing best about her new family: They are all experts on monsters.

Is he a killer?

Then the call comes in. A double murder at a local gas station, followed by reports of an armed suspect shooting his way through the wilds of Oregon. As Quincy and Rainie race to assist, they are forced to confront mounting evidence: The shooter may very well be Sharlah’s older brother, Telly Ray Nash, and it appears his killing spree has only just begun.

All she knows for sure: He’s back.

As the clock winds down on a massive hunt for Telly, Quincy and Rainie must answer two critical questions: Why after eight years has this young man started killing again? And what does this mean for Sharlah? Once upon a time, Sharlah’s big brother saved her life. Now, she has two questions of her own: Is her brother a hero or a killer? And how much will it cost her new family before they learn the final, shattering truth? Because as Sharlah knows all too well, the biggest danger is the one standing right behind you.

Review:

Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner is an enthralling mystery about a police hunt for a suspected spree killer. Although this latest release is the seventh installment in the Quincy & Rainie series, it can be read as a standalone.

Following the discovery of two murder victims at a local convenience store/gas station, Sheriff Shelly Atkins calls on retired FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy to help put together a profile of the suspected killer.  Quincy is stunned to learn the identity of the suspect is his soon to adopted foster daughter Sharlah’s seventeen year old brother Telly Ray Nash.  After learning that Telly’s foster parents, Frank and Sandra Duvall, have also been murdered,  Quincy fears Sharlah might become his next victim.  With a massive manhunt for  Telly underway, Quincy, Rainie and Sheriff Atkins try to piece together a possible motive  for Telly’s apparent rampage.  Why would Telly want to murder his foster parents?  What reason could he have for gunning down two apparent strangers?  And the biggest question of all: can they capture Telly before he harms Sharlah?

Eight years earlier, Telly killed his drunk and abusive father during a violent attack in which both Telly and Sharlah feared for their lives.  With their mother also dead, Telly and Sharlah became wards of the state and they were sent to live with different foster families.  Now, after bouncing from one bad home to another, both Sharlah and Telly are living with good families who care about them.  Although she has been unable to verbalize her feelings, Sharlah is happy that Quincy and Rainie are adopting her. Meanwhile, Telly is less than a year away from aging out of the foster system but Frank and Sandra are making progress in preparing him for this next stage of his life. So everyone wants to know: what precipitated Telly’s suspected killing spree?  And after discovering evidence that he has apparently been stalking Sharlah, what does he plan to do to his sister?  There are no clear cut answers to any of the investigators’ questions and they are frantic to capture Telly before he kills again.

Initially, Sheriff Atkins and Quincy’s suspect that Telly’s killing spree has something to do with his and Sharlah’s past.  However, the deeper they dig into Telly’s life with the Duvall’s the less certain they are that his troubled childhood has anything to do with  the current crimes.  A few incongruous details turn the investigation in a completely new direction but Telly remains the focus of their investigation.  As the manhunt for Telly continues, will newly discovered information prove he is innocent?

With fiendishly clever twists and turns,  Right Behind You is a spellbinding police procedural that fans of the genre are going to absolutely LOVE.  The storyline is intriguing with plenty of suspense as the chapters alternate between different perspectives including enlightening chapters from both Telly and Sharlah’s points of view.  The investigation moves at a fever pitch as Sheriff Atkins and Quincy feverishly follow every new lead while at the same time, the manhunt for Telly adds increased urgency to the storyline.  Lisa Gardner brings the novel to a very dramatic and quite shocking conclusion with a plot twist that is impossible to predict. An absolutely outstanding mystery that I highly recommend to old and new fans of  the Quincy & Rainie series.

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Filed under Contemporary, Dutton, Lisa Jackson, Mystery, Quincy & Rainie Series, Rated B+, Review, Right Behind You, Suspense