BOOK INFO

Title: Killers of a Certain Age

Author: Deanna Raybourn

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publish Date: September 6, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.

They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.

Purchase Links: Amazon

MY REVIEW

Four female assassins are faced with retirement when they turn 60 years old. While on their retirement vacation, they realize their own organization has turned against them.

I was drawn to this book because of the “of a certain age” element. It’s a fun twist on a story of assassins. While the story is mostly told from one woman’s point of view, we get the backstory on all four of the women. When they are supposed to be retiring, they are forced back into work when they become the targets.

Killers of a Certain Age is an entertaining and unique story.

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

BOOK INFO

Title: The Finalists

Author: David Bell

Publisher: Berkley Books

Publish Date: July 5, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

On a beautiful spring day, six college students with nothing in common besides a desperate inability to pay for school gather to compete for the prestigious Hyde Fellowship.
 
Milo—The front-runner
Natalia—The brain
James—The rule follower
Sydney—The athlete
Duffy—The cowboy
Emily—The social justice warrior
 
The six of them must surrender their devices when they enter Hyde House, an aging Victorian structure that sits in a secluded part of campus.
 
Once inside, the doors lock behind them. The students are not allowed to leave until they spend eight hours with a college administrator who will do almost anything to keep the school afloat, and Nicholas Hyde, the privileged and notoriously irresponsible heir to the Hyde family fortune. If the students leave before time is up, they’ll be immediately disqualified.
 
But when one of the six finalists drops dead, the other students fear they’re being picked off one by one. With a violent protest raging outside, and no way to escape, the survivors viciously turn on each other.

Purchase Links: Amazon

MY REVIEW

Six college students compete for a fellowship. The students arrive at Hyde House, an old building on the campus, to be interviewed. They are locked inside and cannot leave until the interview process is completed. Unfortunately, one of the finalists dies. The others must figure out if there is a murderer among them, and how they will survive.

An interesting idea, but this book fell a little flat for me. I liked the setting of an old Victorian building on a small college campus. Unfortunately, the story moved along too slowly for my liking. The characters are all unlikable… everyone has secrets and is desperate for the scholarship. Unlikable characters aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do like to have someone to root for while reading a novel like this.

The Finalists was an entertaining locked room mystery. Good for fans of David Bell and locked room mysteries.

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

Books by David Bell:

1. Cemetery Girl
2. The Hiding Place
3. Never Come Back
4. The Forgotten Girl
5. Somebody I Used to Know
6. Since She Went Away
7. Bring Her Home
8. Somebody’s Daughter
9. Layover
10. The Request
11. Kill All Your Darlings
12. The Finalists
13. She’s Gone

BOOK INFO

Title: Stay Awake

Author: Megan Goldin

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publish Date: August 9, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers—a stranger who claims to live in her apartment. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing. In its place is a bloodstained knife. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget—permanently.

Purchase Links: Amazon

MY REVIEW

Liv awakens in a taxi, and has no memory of the past two years. Someone else lives in her apartment, “stay awake” is written on her hands, and she’s in possession of a bloody knife. She soon finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing.

Stay Awake is told using multiple points of view and timelines. The timelines are present day and two years earlier. The POVs are Liv and the detective investigating the murder. Liv is trying to figure out what has happened to her. The detective is trying to solve a case. Both viewpoints are interesting and add to the story.

Stay Awake is a fast-paced thriller with an intriguing plot. Recommended for fans of suspenseful thrillers and crime.

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

Books by Megan Goldin:

1. The Girl in Kellers Way
2. The Escape Room
3. The Night Swim
4. Stay Awake

BOOK INFO

Title: Two Nights in Lisbon

Author: Chris Pavone

Publisher: MCD

Publish Date: May 24, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

Purchase Links: Amazon

MY REVIEW

Ariel and her husband, John, travel to Lisbon on one of his business trips. One morning, Ariel wakes up, and her husband is gone. She contacts local authorities, but she is unable to answer some of their questions. When Ariel gets a ransom demand for John, she has to come up with the money, and that means turning to someone she was hoping to never have contact with again.

Two Nights in Lisbon has a complex and multilayered plot that took time to build. The twists and turns were unexpected, which is always enjoyable. A good read for fans of tense and suspenseful thrillers.

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

BOOK INFO

Title: First Born

Author: Will Dean

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publish Date: July 5, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Sisters. Soulmates. Strangers.

Molly Raven lives a quiet, structured life in London, finding comfort in security and routine. Her identical twin Katie, living in New York, is the exact opposite: outgoing, spontaneous, and adventurous.

But when Molly hears that Katie has died, possibly murdered, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. As terrifying as it is, she knows she must travel across the ocean and find out what happened. But as she tracks her twin’s final movements, cracks begin to emerge, and she slowly realizes her sister was not who she thought she was and there’s a dangerous web of deceit surrounding the two of them.

Purchase Links: Amazon

MY REVIEW

Twin sisters with opposite personalities. Molly lives a life of quiet and security in London. Katie lives a life of spontaneity and adventure in New York City. When Molly learns that Katie has died, and it may have been murder, she takes off for New York to uncover what happened to her sister.

First Born is told from Molly’s point of view. She is analytical and paranoid. At first, I found her eccentricities tiring, but they eventually grew on me. The characters, setting, and story are all a bit dramatic. As the story progresses, it grows more twisted and wild.

First Born is an intense and suspenseful thriller. Recommended for fans of thrillers with complex stories and surprising twists.

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

BOOK INFO

Title: The Lying Club

Author: Annie Ward

Publisher: Park Row

Publish Date: March 22, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

A tangled web of lies draws together three women in this explosive thriller of revenge, murder and shocking secrets

At an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, Natalie, an office assistant, dreams of having a life like the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke—a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother and serial cheater—and Asha, an overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair. Their fates are bound by the handsome assistant athletic director Nicholas, whom Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs.

But when two bodies are carried out of the school one morning, it seems the tension between mothers and daughters, rival lovers, and the haves and have-nots has shattered the surface of this isolated, affluent town—where people stop at nothing to get what they want.

Purchase Links: Amazon

MY REVIEW

The Lying Club is a slow-burning thriller set at an elite private school. Two bodies are found on campus, and what happened makes for a captivating mystery.

The Lying Club is told using alternating points of views and timelines. The viewpoints are from three women, Natalie, Brooke, and Asha. Natalie is the school’s office assistant. Brooke and Asha are mothers of teen girls at the school. All three women are a mess, but in different ways.

A mystery thriller full of drama, secrets, and lies. The Lying Club has unreliable and unlikable narrators, and complicated relationships. This novel kept me turning the pages to find out what really happened at the school.

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

Books by Annie Ward:

1. Beautiful Bad
2. The Lying Club