The Necklace - Matt Witten

 

The clock ticks down in a heart-pounding crusade for justice

Susan Lentigo's daughter was murdered twenty years ago--and now, at long last, this small-town waitress sets out on a road trip all the way from Upstate New York to North Dakota to witness the killer's execution.

On her journey she discovers shocking new evidence that leads her to suspect the condemned man is innocent--and the real killer is still free. Even worse, her prime suspect has a young daughter who's at terrible risk. With no money and no time to spare, Susan sets out to uncover the truth before an innocent man gets executed and another little girl is killed.

But the FBI refuses to reopen the case. They--and Susan's own mother--believe she's just having an emotional breakdown. Reaching deep, Susan finds an inner strength she never knew she had. With the help of two unlikely allies--a cynical, defiant teenage girl and the retired cop who made the original arrest--Susan battles the FBI to put the real killer behind bars. Will she win justice for the condemned man--and her daughter--at last?

Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Harlan Coben

Optioned for film--with Leonardo DiCaprio attached as producer

What did I think?

I loved watching House MD so when I found out that Matt Witten, one of the producers and screenwriters, had made the jump from screen to page I just had to read his new thriller, The Necklace.

The novel is written in a dual timeline following the disappearance of Amy Lentigo and then twenty years later when her killer is set to be executed by lethal injection.  My heart was breaking for Amy's mother Susan as she lives with the loss of Amy every single day.  Susan's marriage was another casualty of Amy's murder and Susan rather intriguingly blames her mother for what happened to Amy.  

Susan may be penniless but she has a lot of friends and they hold a fundraiser to send her to North Dakota to witness the execution.  On several bus journeys that really portray the vast size of America, Susan encounters the full spectrum of humanity and a twist of fate sees her questioning whether the man condemned to die is really guilty of Amy's murder.

As a Brit, it was really interesting to read about an execution.  There seemed to be a buzz in the whole town and it was almost like a show: 'Roll up, roll up, see a man die by lethal injection!'  I can understand that it must bring closure for the victims of crime but I don't think I could sit and watch it happen.  Maybe I would think differently if I was in Susan's place.

The plot is excellent, it's really gripping and intriguing and I was hooked throughout.  The writing is very dialogue focussed and you can sometimes tell that it has been written by a screenwriter as it didn't evoke any mental images of the characters or scenes.  The fantastic plot kept me rapidly turning pages though and I can totally see why it has already been optioned for film.

Fast-paced, gripping and intriguing, The Necklace is a great read and I can't wait to see it on the big screen.  

I chose to read a digital ARC via NetGalley and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Devil's Advocate (Eddie Flynn #6) - Steve Cavanagh

A DEADLY PROSECUTOR

They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE

Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A FORMER CON-ARTIST

Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next? 

What did I think?

This is only the second Eddie Flynn book that I have read but I was so excited to receive a copy that it didn't linger very long on my TBR.  That's the beauty of Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn books: you can jump into any of them mid-series and they are still AWESOME!

I love New York lawyer Eddie Flynn and the way that he and his team work.  It seems like they are really up against it this time when they are called to Alabama to defend a young man against a district attorney who has a 100% death penalty conviction record.  DA Randal Korn is evil personified and Andy Dubois is his latest target; he doesn't care whether Andy is guilty or not, he just wants to watch another man die and know that he had the power to put him in the chair. 

Eddie Flynn believes that Andy is innocent but with corruption in the local sheriff's department and the whole town baying for Andy's blood he really has his work cut out to prove it.  Enter Flynn's new partner Kate Brooks, investigator Bloch (armed with her impressive gun named Maggie) and not forgetting old pal Harry and the dream team is ready to fight evil in Alabama.

Korn is so creepy he really made my skin crawl and if I thought he was evil then I was completely unprepared for 'The Pastor'.  I don't want to give away any plot spoilers but wow this is a powerful storyline.  The Pastor is the puppet master pulling the strings of the whole town to play out a shocking plan.  It's frightening to see how easily people can be manipulated and this is wonderfully portrayed by Steve Cavanagh in his breathtaking plot.

The Devil's Advocate is FANTASTIC!  I raced through it, only pausing to tell people how brilliant it is.  I may have only read two of them but Eddie Flynn is fast becoming one of my favourite series.  With vivid courtroom scenes and an incredibly sharp plot, The Devil's Advocate is crime writing at its finest.  It's so very highly recommended and don't worry if you haven't read any of the earlier books, it's exceptional as a standalone.

I received an ARC from the publisher and boy did I choose to read it - just try and stop me!  All opinions are my own.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

BLOG TOUR: Fallible Justice (Wilde Investigations #1) - Laura Laakso

Today's post is something a little different for a damppebbles blog tour; it's not just crime, it's paranormal crime.  I have been reading more fantasy lately so I was delighted to join the blog tour for Fallible Justice by Laura Laasko and I'm releasing my review as part of the tour.  Scroll down to find out about the book and to see what I thought.

In Old London, where paranormal races co-exist with ordinary humans, criminal verdicts delivered by the all-seeing Heralds of Justice are infallible. After a man is declared guilty of murder and sentenced to death, his daughter turns to private investigator Yannia Wilde to do the impossible and prove the Heralds wrong.

Yannia has escaped a restrictive life in the Wild Folk conclave where she was raised, but her origins mark her as an outsider in the city. Those origins lend her the sensory abilities of all of nature. Yet Yannia is lonely and struggling to adapt to life in the city. The case could be the break she needs. She enlists the help of her only friend, a Bird Shaman named Karrion, and together they accept the challenge of proving a guilty man innocent.

So begins a breathless race against time and against all conceivable odds. Can Yannia and Karrion save a man who has been judged infallibly guilty?

What did I think?

I don't read a lot of fantasy but I do read a lot of crime so with a foot in both camps, Fallible Justice intrigued me.  I'm so glad that I decided to read it as it turned out to be just the kind of brilliant escapist fiction I needed to take my mind off current events.

With a gifted protagonist and a magical setting, Fallible Justice is certainly a crime novel with a difference.  Yannia is a fantastic main character; she has an intriguing back story, an affinity with animals that allows her to channel their attributes and she's an amazing private investigator.  Taking a case that other private investigators wouldn't touch, she sets out to prove the impossible: the innocence of a man who has been judged guilty by an infallible Herald of Justice.  Racing against the clock, she only has 4 days to prove Jonathain Marsh's innocence before his death sentence is carried out.

What an outstanding story.  The way the crime itself is carried out is good but the investigation into the infallibility of the Heralds is exceptional.  It's very clever indeed and deserves a virtual round of applause as well as a standing ovation.  I did an actual gasp out loud and my jaw did actually drop.  Just as well there was nobody around while I was reading that part!

With a clever and cunning plot, Fallible Justice is an exceptional debut from Laura Laakso.  I loved how the story was wrapped up with a few threads dangling to lead us onto the next book in the series and I can't wait to read more.  I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for Wilde Investigations #2, Echo Murder.  If you're looking for something unique and different to read in the crime genre, look no further.  I unreservedly recommend Fallible Justice.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Louise Walters Books
Hive

About the author:

Laura Laakso is a Finn who has lived for most of her adult life in England. She is an accountant, dog trainer and author. Fallible Justice is her debut novel and the first in her paranormal crime series Wilde Investigations. 

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LLaaksoWriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauralaaksowriter/

Website: https://lauralaaksobooks.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauralaaksowriter/

Follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR: Hiding - Jenny Morton Potts

Even before I was invited to read a review copy, I had earmarked Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts as a book I definitely wanted to read this year.  There was something so very alluring and mesmerising about the cover: the unsuspecting lone woman and the hypnotising eyes of the man who has her in his sights, who I have to say looks rather dishy.

So I leapt at the chance to join the blog tour and I am delighted to share my review of this spectacular book, along with your chance to win an e-book for yourself.

A gripping psychological thriller with chilling twists, from a unique new voice.  

Keller Baye and Rebecca Brown live on different sides of the Atlantic. Until she falls in love with him, Rebecca knows nothing of Keller. But he’s known about her for a very long time, and now he wants to destroy her.

This is the story of two families. One living under the threat of execution in North Carolina. The other caught up in a dark mystery in the Scottish Highlands. The families’ paths are destined to cross. But why? And can anything save them when that happens?

What did I think?

Hiding draws you in immediately with two very strong and intriguing main characters: Rebecca Brown and Keller Baye.  The reader is catapulted into such pivotal points in each character's life that it made me sit up and take notice, rubbing my hands in glee, at such juicy bait dangling from the line cast by Jenny Morton Potts.  Now that's what I call hooked from the start.

Rebecca's story starts in 2007 when she becomes an orphan along with her older siblings: brother, Austen, and sister, Colette.  When their parents are killed in a car crash they are sent to live with grandparents in Scotland at the family home called Taransay, or The Orphanage as the siblings refer to it.  As Rebecca gets older she wants to know what happened to her parents but her family won't talk about it.  Why?  What are they hiding?

Fast forward to the not too distant future of 2021 and Keller Baye is heading to the prison to watch his father be put to death by lethal injection.  Keller is already severely damaged as his time spent living with his cruel Aunt Joya has made him into the man he is today.  The event that started all this was the moment his father shot a man in a failed bank robbery and now Keller is out for revenge.

The development of both main characters in Hiding is exceptional.  I felt like I could see inside their heads and know what they were thinking and how they were feeling.  I actually felt so sorry for both of them as they seemed so unhappy with their lives that they invent a new persona to escape who they really are.  Rebecca reinvents herself as a comedian after a life spent feeling as if she didn't belong, her family has even taken her name away as they refer to her as 'Youngest Brown'.  It might seem affectionate to them but I felt like it stole her identity.  Meanwhile, Keller becomes quite the charmer with the ladies but he is not as controlled as Rebecca as his emotions can change at the flick of a switch.

I was wondering what the link was between Rebecca and Keller from the start and after some nicely built suspense, the pieces all start falling into place.  The title of the book is woven so cleverly into the story, meaning very different things for Rebecca and Keller, but ultimately every character is Hiding something. 

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Hiding; it is so intriguing and compelling that I lost track of time while I was reading (I could have easily read it in one sitting if I'd picked it up on a weekend rather than a work night).  Reading Hiding is like doing a jigsaw; you have all of the pieces but you can't see the full picture until the final piece is slotted into place.   Hiding is an exceptional book that hooked me from the start and kept me riveted throughout; a well-deserved five stars.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon


About the author

Jenny is a novelist, screenplay writer and playwright. After a series of 'proper jobs', she realised she was living someone else's life and escaped to Gascony to make gîtes. Knee deep in cement and pregnant, Jenny was happy. Then autism and a distracted spine surgeon wiped out the order. Returned to wonderful England, to write her socks off. 

Jenny would like to see the Northern Lights but worries that’s the best bit and should be saved till last. Very happily, and gratefully, settled with family. 

She tries not to take herself too seriously.

Social Media Links –

www.jennymortonpotts.com

https://twitter.com/jmortonpotts

www.facebook/jennymortonpotts

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour:

Nameless (The Hellbound Anthology) - David McCaffrey

'There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.’

Ernest Hemingway

One serial killer terrified the world. Imagine what an army of them could do...

A cult member is arrested at the scene of a brutal murder. She will only speak to former crime reporter, Joe O'Connell.

Joe's obsession with Obadiah Stark a.k.a The Tally Man cost him everything. 

He is about to learn that Stark's message did not end with his death.

They believe in what The Tally Man stood for.

They believe in what The Tally Man did.

But he was one, and they are many.

Once they have you, they will never let you go...


What did I think?

I have previously read Hellbound and In Extremis by David McCaffrey, so I didn't hesitate when the opportunity arose for me to read Nameless.  All three books revolve around Obadiah Stark, so I would definitely recommend reading the first two books before embarking on this one.  You could probably read Nameless as a standalone but I think it makes a lot more sense, and is more enjoyable, when read as part of the trilogy.

Crikey!  I thought Obadiah Stark, aka The Tally Man, was creepy but now that he's dead he has been elevated to cult status and there are a group of followers who are ready to continue his work.  The apparent leader of the Branch Obadians, Lamont Etchison, has instructed Stark's followers to replicate the twenty seven murders that Stark committed, but on a much grander scale so that the world fears the name 'Obadiah Stark' once again.  

Joe O'Connell is so obsessed with Obadiah Stark that it nearly cost him his life.  As much as Joe can't help being dragged into investigating this cult, the cult is pulling him into their web and they will stop at nothing to silence Joe once and for all.

I have absolutely loved the whole Hellbound series and each instalment has oodles of shock factor to make you sit up and take notice, but Nameless feels so much more menacing.  It was quite bloodthirsty at times, and necessarily so, but I didn't find it too graphic - just enough to make my stomach clench.  There's a lot of action in such a short book, at only 154 pages, but it's so fast-paced that you could very easily read this in one sitting.

I'm definitely going to re-read the whole Hellbound Anthology.  Parts of Nameless reminded me of the TV show, The Following, and even though you might now know how it ends, it doesn't stop you watching it again.  So I will definitely be reading all of the Hellbound books again sometime, and I wouldn't be surprised if I enjoy them even more the second time around.  

Pick up Hellbound, In Extremis and Nameless if you have the guts to enter the dark and dangerous world of Obadiah Stark.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

A Twist of the Knife (Brigid Quinn #3) - Becky Masterman

It takes a strong woman to be able to watch someone die.

Brigid Quinn is tough, determined, steely and sharper than sharp. As an ex-agent of the FBI she has seen it all, and survived. But nothing can cut her closer to the bone than family...

When Brigid gets a call from her mother saying her father is in hospital with pneumonia, she decides to check on her former colleague Laura Coleman who is living nearby. Having saved Brigid's life, Laura is now working on an 'innocence project', investigating cold cases. And one in particular seems to have caught her attention. Fifteen years before, Marcus Creighton was accused of killing his wife and three children. Now the state governor has signed the warrant for his execution.

Worried that her friend is getting in too deep, Brigid promises to help. But what if her instincts are betraying her? If she can't even trust her memories of her own childhood, how can she make a call on some stranger's story that took place over fifteen years before?

What did I think?

Although A Twist of the Knife is the 3rd book in the Brigid Quinn series, I decided to jump straight in and I'm really pleased that I did. For me, you can tell that this is part of a series as the characters are already very well developed and I think I missed out a little bit by not reading the first 2 books (something I do intend to remedy very soon).  Putting that to one side, this is a great book and there is so much going on that your head will be in a spin until the cleverly drawn out conclusion.

A Twist of the Knife has one of the most chilling prologues I have ever read, as Brigid witnesses her first execution.  35 years later Brigid heads to Florida as her Dad is in hospital and whilst there meets up with Laura Coleman.  Laura is working on a death row case, that of Marcus Creighton who was convicted of killing his wife and children.  The bodies of the children were never found, which has caught the attention of Alison Samuels who works for an organisation specialising in locating missing children.  With four days left before Marcus Creighton is executed, can Laura, with help from Brigid, prove that he didn't kill his family and will Alison Samuels find the missing Creighton children?

Brigid Quinn is such a feisty character.  She keeps her emotions very close to her chest and I loved her interactions with her very dysfunctional family over her father's hospital bed.  The Quinns know just which buttons to press in each other and you can almost feel them fizzing with barely controlled emotions.  It was while enjoying such scenes that I realised how much of the building up of Brigid's character that I had missed by not reading the first 2 books.  Not that it spoiled my enjoyment of the story at all, I just think it would have been enhanced by knowing more about her in advance.

The story of Marcus Creighton was excellent.  Not that I could say whether it was accurate or not, but the police procedural element appeared to have been meticulously researched.  I felt like I was in a race against time as the countdown to Marcus's execution began and I truly believed that he was as innocent as Laura claimed him to be.  Will Brigid be able to uncover the truth before it is too late? You will just have to read it and see!

This definitely has the potential to be a 5 star book but, through no fault of the author, I have awarded 4 stars purely because I felt that I was missing something.  Totally my fault by not reading the books in order, but it is the mark of a good book when I am looking to add the earlier books to my TBR pile in order to catch up with Brigid's story.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Hellbound: The Tally Man - David McCaffrey

His crimes - unforgivable. His death - inevitable. His suffering - just beginning.

Obadiah Stark aka The Tally Man, is executed at ADX Absolom, his death sentence watched by the world's media, victim relatives and one investigative reporter, Joe O Connell. Penning an account of Stark's personal history and subsequent crimes in the hope of determining what elements make the sociopathic mind tick, Joe discovers clues and inconsistencies which cause him to investigate Stark's execution.

While this is happening in the real world, Obadiah Stark awakens to an afterlife where he has a wife and daughter bound to his childhood hometown. Following his natural predatory instinct, Obadiah proceeds to torment the town, committing multiple murders before being gunned down by the police. He awakens to find that everything has reset, with no one recalling his murderous spree a reality which offers no escape. As the scenes repeat, he is forced to submit to emotions he has never experienced before... and with it, a poisonous dose of morality.

What did I think?

This book really got under my skin and it was so unique in the way that it was more about the punishment than the crime.  Obadiah Stark is a chilling sociopathic killer who has a tattoo on his back keeping count of his victims.  When his killing spree moves from America to Ireland he is finally captured and sentenced to death by lethal injection.  One of the people in the crowd at the execution is reporter Joe O'Connell, who is writing a book on Stark.  As he continues researching his book, he finds that something wasn't quite right with the execution and relentlessly digs until he finds out the shocking truth.

I really enjoyed Hellbound.  It was so completely unique and had my brain in a bit of a tizz.  I alternated between thinking either Obadiah is in the afterlife or something really freaky is going on.  As Obadiah relives the same day over and over again (which to some would be punishment enough) you can feel him gradually becoming more human and less killer as he forms an attachment to his family.  As Joe's investigation gets closer to uncovering the truth, Obadiah's real punishment is ready to be doled out.

This is a book that you definitely can't stop thinking about or talking about long after you've finished it.  There are so many moral and ethical questions to dissect and discuss.  Hellbound has given me a cracking moral question to mull over and discuss over a few beers: is one death adequate punishment for taking 27 innocent lives?  I think not.

Hellbound is intelligent and unique; I will definitely be adding the prequel, In Extremis, to my kindle without delay!

I received this e-book from Booklover Catlady Publicity, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon