Tropical Girl Reads

A MAN MURDERED, LIVE ON CAMERA

When a DVD is delivered in the dead of night, DCI Cara Elliott hits play on a horrifying showreel of violence… This is death, on demand.

A KILLER COUNTING DOWN

Avid viewers are paying for the killings, with twisted specifications. A request, an abduction, a murder. And always in a forty-eight-hour pattern.

A MISSING DETECTIVE

But when the killer finds out they’re being investigated, they reveal their next target. In forty-eight hours, a police officer will be the one in front of the camera. The hunters have become the hunted, and the clock is ticking…

This is the fourth book of the Major Crimes series. You do need to read the first book The Echo Man to keep up with some of the incidents that are mentioned in the book.

Cara gets a DVD in the middle of the night at the precinct. While watching the DVD, she finds that she is watching an actual live murder happening in the footage. They realize that they are handling one of the most dangerous murder crime cases that they had ever solved in the lives. These murder victims were once involved in incidents where the law has let them go scot-free. And as such, a group of murderers kidnap them and let them taste their own medicine by filming out the murder.

This was a fast paced thriller and is unputdownable. The main characters Cara and Griffin were likable. I really like the author’s style of writing as the author manage to keep the reader at the edge of the story. There were some gory details in the book and of course as expected in the most thrillers, there were twists and turns. The ending was unexpected and shocking. Sam Holland is one of my favorite psychological thriller authors and ever since I read the Echo Man, which was fast paced and intriguing and horrifying, this one was also intriguing and unputdownable thriller. Not too sure if there will be a fifth book of the series but none the same, I cannot wait to read more books from this author–worth 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

My heart is hammering furiously as the bedroom door creaks open. The second I see my husband’s lifeless body, I know I have to run. And no-one can ever find us.

There are three things I know to be true.

ONE. My husband knew my secret.

TWO. Now he’s dead, my daughter and I are in danger.

THREE. I will do anything to protect my child, whatever the cost.

We need to vanish. But first, it has to look like we were taken.

I move through our house, pushing over chairs and rummaging violently through drawers. I pull out items Robert and I bought together and throw them across the room. As a final touch, I leave Avery’s sneaker abandoned on the ground outside.

It’s important there’s no trace. But if I could leave a message behind, it would be this:

If you look for me, you won’t like what you find.

Content warning: This book includes the discovery of a suicide and the discussion and portrayal of suicidal ideation.

Wendy Dranfield writes amazing psychological thrillers that will make you read in one go. Please Don’t Find Me is another one of her latest works that will keep you up all night.

Julia Bowers returns home after a long spa and was horrified to discover her husband has committed suicide. She discovers a picture that he was holding and when she saw what he was holding, Julia immediately takes her daughter Avery and leaves the house. Meanwhile, Scott is a police officer and when he hears the news about Julia’s sudden disappearance, he knows that something is up as he has dated Julia and knows what Julia is capable of.

This was an unputdownable and fast paced thriller. We get to know that Julia is in fact a psychopath with an addiction of killing people that she kidnaps her own therapist to help her to overcome the urge. There are so many twist and turns along the way and it really makes you feel like you are at the edge of the seat while reading this. The ending was quiet unexpected. Overall, I actually enjoyed reading this and looking forward to read more standalone psychological thrillers from Wendy Dranfield. Overall worth 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

The invitation is anonymous. It doesn’t say whose funeral I must attend. I don’t want to go. But I have no choice if I want to keep my terrible secret safe…

As we gather by the graveside, prying eyes behind designer sunglasses take in my every move. I don’t recognise anyone. I pull at my dress, wanting to run, but the words on the invitation keep me frozen in place. I can’t leave without discovering who sent it. And why.

And then I see it – the name on the Alice Anderson. My blood turns to ice.

That’s my name.

I haven’t used it for three years. But somehow, someone here knows who I really am…

I can’t fall apart now. I can’t lose everything I’ve worked for. So I force my hands to stop shaking and start studying each face in the congregation.

I don’t know who the woman in the grave really is. But I have planned for this very moment, and I know exactly what’s going to happen next…

This totally addictive page-turner from bestselling author Helen H. Durrant is perfect for fans of The Housemaid, Gone Girl and The Perfect Marriage. Prepare to be hooked from the very first page.

This book was not as good as I thought it was going to be.

Donna receives a mysterious email to attend a funeral and that she must attend if she does not want to reveal her secrets. Donna has no choice but to attend the funeral. However, when she reaches the funeral parlor, the name of the deceased person is Alice–Donna’s real name. Now Donna works for a family and takes over the role of an assistant–the same role that the deceased person used to have. And as Donna is working, she finds many disturbing secrets about the family.

The story actually started out great, creating a tense and eerie atmosphere and there was something going to happen in the story. However, as the story subsided, the story kind of got boring in my opinion. It was slow paced, and the story in my opinion kind of seemed to be out of order or rather, the writer didn’t execute the story well to an amazing plot. Nonetheless, I think I would like to give this author another chance and try out her future books. The pacing was slow and there wasn’t too much twists and turns that you would expect in a thriller book. Overall this book is worth three stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture fo the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Her father was one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. Now Detective Margot Phalen must face a chilling what if it runs in the family?

As the daughter of notorious serial killer Ed Finch, Margot has spent decades escaping her past—changing her name, her appearance, and building walls no one can breach, except her partner, Detective Wes Fox, whose growing closeness threatens the isolation she depends on.

When her troubled brother shows up needing a place to stay, pressuring her to participate in a true crime documentary about their father, Margot’s carefully controlled world begins to unravel. Then she notices blood on her brother’s shoes just as a body is discovered in a dumpster near her home. Is she being paranoid, or might the monstrous legacy of her father be closer than she ever imagined?

A visit to her imprisoned father delivers another Ed had an accomplice who’s still free—and still hunting. As Margot investigates, she must confront the question that’s haunted her entire how much of her father’s darkness might she carry within herself?

Dark, gripping, and emotionally raw, this taut thriller will have you reading late into the night. Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Tana French, and Lisa Gardner.

This is the fourth book of the Detective Meghan Phalen series and boy I simply couldn’t put the book down.

Detective Margot Phalen is the daughter of America’s most prolific serial killers Ed. Her father is incarcerated but someone is copying what her father had done many years ago. Meanwhile, Margot and her partner are set to investigate an arson case where a woman was almost burned to death and Margot and Wes must find the person responsible for the arson.

I couldn’t follow up with most of the characters since I haven’t read the first three books but it didn’t really matter to me. I really liked the pacing–it was fast paced and unputdownable in my opinion. There are some twists and turns and I like how the author managed to put the reader on the edge. I really enjoyed reading this book and couldn’t wait for the fifth book to come soon.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Storm publishing for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda returns with a gripping and propulsive thriller that opens with the disappearance of a journalist who is investigating a string of vanishings in the resort town of Cutter’s Pass—will its dark secrets finally be revealed?

Ten years ago, Abigail Lovett fell into a job she loves, managing The Passage Inn, a cozy, upscale resort nestled in the North Carolina mountain town of Cutter’s Pass. Cutter’s Pass is best known for its outdoor offerings—rafting and hiking, with access to the Appalachian trail by way of a gorgeous waterfall—and its mysterious history. As the book begins, the string of unsolved disappearances that has haunted the town is once again thrust into the spotlight when journalist Landon West, who was staying at the inn to investigate the story of the vanishing trail, then disappears himself.

Abby has sometimes felt like an outsider within the community, but she’s come to view Cutter’s Pass as her home. When Landon’s brother Trey shows up looking for answers, Abby can’t help but feel the town closing ranks. And she’s still on the outside. When she finds incriminating evidence that may bring them closer to the truth, Abby soon discovers how little she knows about her coworkers, neighbors, and even those closest to her.

Megan Miranda brings her best writing to The Last to Vanish, a riveting thriller filled with taut suspense and shocking twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.

I like reading Megan Miranda’s books and so this book is no exception. A unique plot like, about hikers going missing through the Appalachian trail. A journalist, who comes to this small town starts to investigate the missing case but he himself also disappears. Abby Lovett has been working in the inn for almost ten years and when the journalist’s brother Trey comes back to look for the answers about his brother’s disappearance, Abby also start investigating on her own.

The pacing was a bit slow but I really like the plot of the story. Did something happen to those hikers? Or is a serial killer on lose? This was to me an OK read in my opinion. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. The twist at the end wasn’t great as I thought it will be. To me, this book was more an emotional thriller than a psychological thriller in my opinion. It wasn’t unputdownable like most thrillers should have been but it was OK.

Overall this book is worth 3.5 stars in my opinion.