BOOK INFO

Title: A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage

Author: Asia Mackay

Publisher: Bantam

Publish Date: January 14, 2025

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

I wasn’t smashing the patriarchy; I was killing it. Literally.

Hazel and Fox are an ordinary married couple with a baby. Except for one small thing: they’re murderers. Well, they used to be. They had it all. An enviable London lifestyle, five-star travels, and plenty of bad men to rid from the world. Then Hazel got pregnant.

Now, they’re just another mom-and-dad-and-baby. They gave up vigilante justice for life in the suburbs: arranged play dates instead of body disposals, diapers over daggers, mommy conversations instead of the sweet seduction right before a kill. Hazel finds her new life terribly dull. And the more she forces herself to play her monotonous, predictable role, the more she begins to feel that murderous itch again.

Meanwhile, Fox has really taken to being a father. Always the planner, he loves being five steps ahead of everyone and knowing exactly what’s coming around the bend. Plus, if anyone can understand Hazel needing one more kill, it’s Fox. But then Hazel kills someone without telling Fox. And when police show up at their door, Hazel realizes it will take everything she has to keep her family together.

MY REVIEW

Hazel and Fox are serial killers. Well, they were until they had a baby. Now, they are living dull lives in the suburbs. Hazel is bored. Fox is stressed. Hazel eventually kills someone, but thinks she can keep it from Fox.

A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage uses dual points of view, so the reader gets Hazel and Fox’s viewpoints. Hazel misses their old lives, and wants more excitement. She’s an artist. She’s passionate and impulsive. Fox is a business man. He’s organized and the one responsible for planning their kills. When Hazel kills behind Fox’s back, she’s trying to keep that hidden, but Fox is hiding his own secrets. Oh, and Hazel’s new bestie is a police officer, which does complicate things a bit.

A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage is a fun and entertaining thriller. Dark humor, secrets, and serial killers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: Out in the Cold

Author: Steve Urszenyi

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publish Date: November 12, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: Special Agent Alexandra Martel #2

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

While sailing across the Mediterranean, the megayacht Aurora is rocked with explosions, taken under siege by unknown assailants. On board are some of Europe’s wealthiest and most powerful political players, including the secretary general of Interpol, a high-ranking Finnish diplomat, and Special Agent Alex Martel—whose lethal sniper skills kick in to bring them safely to shore.

Someone is waging a ruthless campaign of attacks against Finland, one of NATO’s newest members, in an attempt to throw the Alliance into turmoil. Teaming back up with CIA agent Caleb, Alex is thrust into the middle of the fray, pursuing the villains from the waters off of Monaco to the Baltic Sea and home to American soil.

As the US is pulled deeper into the conflict, a global catastrophe seems inevitable. But who is really responsible for these escalating attacks on Finland? The Russians, or someone much closer to home? As new allies surface and old enemies reappear, Alex has no way of knowing who to trust—and she might only have one last shot to keep the world from going to war.

MY REVIEW

Out in the Cold is the second book in the Special Agent Alexandra Martel series. Alex is charming and lethal. She’s a skilled sniper, and currently working as a contractor with the CIA.

A series of destabilizing events have targeted Finland. Alex is thrown into the middle of the turmoil, and must help discover who is behind the attacks.

Out in the Cold is action packed. A fast-paced read recommended for fans of spy thrillers with female protagonists.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Special Agent Alexandra Martel series:

1. Perfect Shot
2. Out in the Cold

BOOK INFO

Title: On the Surface

Author: Rachel McGuire

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Publish Date: July 9, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

A YouTubing cruiser couple sails the world living their best lives—until one of them goes missing and their whole world capsizes, in this captivating psychological thriller perfect for fans of Something in the Water and Saint X.

Sawyer Stone III and Dani Fox, a young couple who spend their time circumnavigating the globe aboard their 42-foot sailboat and documenting it for their fledgling YouTube channel Sailing with the Foxes, have anchored in Exuma, in the Bahamas. As they wait for the price of crypto to rebound so they can provision and continue their journey, they’re partying and exploring with their fellow cruisers offshore. On the surface, everything looks perfect. But one night, Dani vanishes after a boat party, and Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance.

The search for Dani is initially fueled by concerns that she drowned during one of her daily ocean swims, but Dani’s prescheduled video posts, recorded before she went missing, soon reveal a darker side to her relationship with Sawyer. Meanwhile, Royal Bahamas Police Force Inspector Veronique Knowles has her hands full trying to keep the investigation on course as the story of the American woman missing in the Bahamas goes viral and the internet sleuths unearth secrets from Sawyer’s past. Sawyer Stone is far from perfect, but is he a murderer? 

MY REVIEW

Dani and Sawyer have a YouTube channel chronicling their adventures sailing around the world. One morning, Sawyer wakes up to discover Dani is missing, and he has no memory of what happened. Soon, a prerecorded video of Dani is posted, and Sawyer is the prime suspect in her disappearance.

On the Surface is told through multiple points of view. The characters are complex and mostly unlikable. The setting is unique and atmospheric. The writing flows well and makes for an enjoyable read.

An intriguing and twisted thriller. On the Surface is good for fans of domestic and psychological thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Hollywood Assistant

Author: May Cobb

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: July 9, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Offered a dream job in Hollywood with a famous director and his actress wife, an insecure woman becomes their personal assistant where their secrets and lies place her in the crosshairs of a murder investigation.

Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny LA.

The Sterlings are warm and welcoming. A perfect couple. All Cassidy has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury: Designer clothes. A sparkling pool. Great pay.

When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Nate is sexy and talented, and Cassidy can’t believe her luck. Clearly, Marisol doesn’t know what she has. Maybe that’s why the two are always fighting when they think Cassidy isn’t around. 

But Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.

MY REVIEW

Cassidy accepts a job working as a personal assistant for a famous couple. The perfect couple facade fades once Cassidy gets to know the couple more.

The story is told from Cassidy’s point of view and alternating timelines. One is the present day and the other is four weeks later. This gives the reader insight into what is to come, but there is still a lot of mystery in the story.

The Hollywood Assistant is a slow burning thriller. Dramatic, scandalous, and entertaining.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by May Cobb:

1. The Hunting Wives
2. My Summer Darlings
3. A Likable Woman
4. The Hollywood Assistant

BOOK INFO

Title: Love Letters to a Serial Killer

Author: Tasha Coryell

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: June 25, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

An aimless young woman starts writing to an accused serial killer while he awaits trial and then, once he’s acquitted, decides to move in with him and take the investigation into her own hands in this dark and irresistibly compelling debut thriller.

Recently ghosted and sick of watching her friends fade into the suburbs, thirty-something Hannah finds community in a true-crime forum that’s on a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta. After William, a handsome lawyer, is arrested for the killings, Hannah begins writing him letters. It’s the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her, and even feels healthy at first.

Until William writes back.

Hannah’s interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession, leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and befriends other true-crime junkies like herself. When a fifth woman is discovered murdered, the jury has no choice but to find William not guilty, and Hannah is the first person he calls upon his release. The two of them quickly fall into a routine of domestic bliss.

Well, as blissful as one can feel while secretly investigating their partner for serial murder…

MY REVIEW

A woman writes letters to an accused serial killer. After he is acquitted, she moves in with him and starts investigating the murders.

An intriguing mystery about a woman obsessed with true crime and a serial killer. She is consumed with the mystery, and driven to solve it.

Love Letters to a Serial Killer is a slow burning mystery. A compelling debut novel.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: Assassins Anonymous

Author: Rob Hart

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Publish Date: June 11, 2024

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

In this clever, surprising, page-turner, the world’s most lethal assassin gives up the violent life only to find himself under siege by mysterious assailants. It’s a kill-or-be-killed situation, but the first option is off the table. What’s a reformed hit man to do?

Mark was the most dangerous killer-for-hire in the world. But after learning the hard way that his life’s work made him more monster than man, he left all of that behind, and joined a twelve-step group for reformed killers.

When Mark is viciously attacked by an unknown assailant, he is forced on the run. From New York to Singapore to London, he chases after clues while dodging attacks and trying to solve the puzzle of who’s after him. All without killing anyone. Or getting killed himself. For an assassin, Mark learns, nonviolence is a real hassle.

MY REVIEW

A former assassin has changed his ways, and joined a twelve step program for reformed killers. After he is attacked, he goes on the run and tries to uncover who is responsible for the attack on him.

Assassins Anonymous is a unique thriller. Quirky characters and a fast-paced story. A mystery with a combination of humor and violence.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.