ARC REVIEW The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden

 Ben Walker #2, Walker is back for another adventure. I think this can be read as a standalone since they are two separate stories but for the two returning characters a bit of character development happened in the first book; you can always go back and read the first book if you feel the need to after reading this one. I enjoy Golden's writing, for me this one was quite a bit more enjoyable to read than the first, topic-wise I have always been more interested in Pandora's Box than the arc, viruses and creepy ass ghost are more my thing.

Archaeologist Sophie Durand was leading a dig site of an underground city in the Northern Iraqi/Kurdistan area when she discovers what she thinks is Pandora's Box. Kim Seong gets called in by the UN to oversee and decide who gets custody of the item. To help her out she asks specifically for Ben Walker. Walker is use to handling stuff for the government making sure old artifacts and such end up in the right hands. But what happens no one expects. The local jihadi view this discovery as a threat to their history and religion and lead an attack at the dig site. Top side the American and Kurdish soldier are fighting to keep the jihadi from making it down into the underground city and destroying everything; while down below the scientist, researchers, and laborers are facing a horrible virus and pretty soon they are trapped there with no way out.

Overall, great read. I did tear up at one point toward the end it was one of those moments where you want to throw the book across the room, curse the author and then go right back to reading it because you have to find out what happens next. This book was creepy, morbid, and a little grotesque a few times and I loved it. I loved the characters, as large of a cast that he had it was easy to follow, each time the narrative changed perspectives he named the person it switched to within the first sentence. There were some unanswered questions at the end, so I am hoping another book comes soon and answers them, well not too soon you can tell Golden does research his stuff first and that takes time but it so worth it.     

ARC REVIEW Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong

 Rockton #4, First off it is wise to read this series in order, this book picks up almost right after the end of the last book and that ended in a way that was teasing about what would happen next. Rockton is a quiet little town in the middle of the frozen Yukon where people go to disappear, if they have enough money. It's a town straight out of the wild frontier days no T.V., no phones, no internet, and regulated electricity. Where there is no money people work on a credit basis, if you help out and do work duty you get credit to buy splurges, and if you don't work you don't eat. Because of the location there are plenty of rules to follow that are in place to keep you alive, break them at your own peril.

Casey and Eric make a quick trip to Vancouver to ask for her sister's help. One of the residents was shot in the back and the placement of the bullet is to close to the spin for either their medic or butcher to attempt. April is a neurosurgeon but she's genius and a brilliant surgeon. Reluctantly April agrees. On the homebound journey though they are followed and before they know it April isn't the only stranger in Rockton. U.S. Marshal Garcia claims he's there for a certain person who is probably more dangerous than they think. But the dickwad doesn't tell them anything and ends up getting shot before Casey and Eric find out who he is there for.

With just about everyone in town having a reason for being there and more than half of them lying about why, Casey has a hard time tracking down the truth and in the process she learns more about supposed friends and their newest resident. Armstrong once again left threads dangling parts of the story that weren't concluded in this book and left it open for the next.

Overall, another outstanding Rockton book. I love Casey and Eric they are so real to me. The whole book just weaves it's magic and transports you there it keeps you on the edge of your seat and if I had my way I would have ignored the world until the book was finished. Told in first person through Casey's perspective which help adds to the mystery of the story.

ARC REVIEW Crucible by James Rollins

 Sigma Force #14, Another hair raising, death defying, action packed, FANTASTIC read from James Rollins. If you haven't read the entire series yet I really recommend it, it's history, science, religion, and action adventure all rolled into one. Another nice thing, IMO, is I don't think you have to read the others to enjoy and follow this one. There are a few things references to a certain person in a past book but nothing to major, and the major characters are all established and there are quite a few characters to keep track of fortunately they are split into two groups, sometimes three, and with the third person POV you follow everyone, and in this books case you even follow the evolution of an AI.

Seichan and Monk's two daughters are missing, Kat is in the hospital barely hanging on, and now Monk, Gray, and their team have to track down a young woman and her AI before an overzealous group that goes back to the time of the Spanish Inquisition get their hands on it and unleash a new kind of hell on the world. Gray and Monk are torn between finding Seichan, who is pregnant with Gray's unborn baby,with Monk's two daughters and once again saving the world but the person who took them wants the AI too so in order to get them back they need the AI. It also helps that they know Seichan and what she's capable of, Monk's daughters couldn't be in better, safer hands even at eight months pregnant she's deadly.

I'm an emotional reader, I will laugh out loud in public at funny parts and I WILL bawl my eyes out if the situation calls for it. The beginning of this book and the end of the book had me in tears, big fat ugly tears. The rest of the time I was at the edge of my seat and holding my breath it was intense. It stands for reason that Rollins is one of my top five favorite authors he delivers, with every single book you get an action packed, emotional, educational, entertaining read. Each new book is my favorite and this is no exception this book wrecked me in all the best ways.   

ARC REVIEW Herokiller by Paul Tassi

Every now and then I give my romance brain a rest and enjoy something non-romance, this month it was Herokiller. The blurb compares it to Ready Player One, I don't know why it's not at all like it except for the fact that it's a futuristic world where an eccentric rich old guy has done something that everyone wants to join. This dystopian world I would compare this more to Running Man, Death Race 2050, and a little bit Gamer because entertainment is violence based; and then mixed with Mortal Kombat and Gladiator. The villainous eccentric rich old guy, Cameron Crayton, is a mix between Ken Castle from Gamer, the Chairman from Death Race and Commodus from Gladiator. Tie in all that with black-ops and espionage and you have this amazingly intense story.

Mark Wei is a former CIA spy, he's probably one of the only remaining spies still alive from the Second Cold War which he was instrumental in ending. But the cost of doing so lost him everything now he just drinks until he passes out and works out until he's exhausted enough to sleep. Until his former handler calls him back onto duty. Marks job now is to infiltrate Cameron Crayton's newest reality tv show The Crucible and find out who he is where he came from and if he's working with the Chinese. The Crucible is promised to be the most violent shows ever, it's an arena sport pitting person against person. Sixteen cities, one top fighter from each city. All sorts of people from everywhere fighting bare handed in whatever style they want; the top sixteen get the fortune and glory. In the end only one man is left standing because the big event between the last sixteen fighters is gladiator style, to the death. There are three parts to the story part one is intro and start of The Crucible, introduction to the top Sixteen. The second part is the top sixteen training gladiator style where there is bonding between the characters and of course spying. Part three is the intense, emotional, white-knuckling part where The Crucible starts and people you've grown to love die. Yeah it's one of those it's what to the death means people.

I loved Mark's character, there is so much to him. Intermittently throughout the book you see another part of him who he was before the Second Cold War and what happened to him during his time as a spy and what happened after to make him who he is today and you see all this through flashbacks, old recordings and him actually telling part of the story. Crayton was a perfect villain he also reminded me of Killian from Running Man heck Crayton even had dancers like Killian did in Running Man. I would love to see this as a movie or a four part miniseries (because part three is long) I can totally see Malcolm McDowell as Crayton. Overall, I think it's pretty obvious I loved this book. Paul Tassi has a great active setting, a great narrative, and he really pulls you in and emotionally ties you to the characters; and ooh, what a twist. I would definitely read more books if they had Mark Wei in them.        

ARC REVIEW Paradox by Catherine Coulter

FBI Thriller #22, One of the on going series I love. Savich and Sherlock are two of my favorite characters. In the past these books were more Romantic Suspense but now the romance has pulled back and let the suspense/thriller aspect take precedence, which is fine because she's really good at that. Once again we deal with two distinct storylines working in tandem. Savich gets called down to a quiet little town in Maryland when the Chief of Police, Ty Christie, witness a murder out on the lake in the early morning hours and the rowboat that the murder was committed on was rented out to a friend and fellow FBI, Special Agent Sala Porto. In the search for the murder victim they also uncover bones that have been at the bottom of the lake for years. Savich and Sherlock discover that an old enemy connects them to the murdered woman in Maryland, while they deal with tracking this insane person Sala and Ty try to figure the origin of the bones.

I really did enjoy this one the going back and forth between the stories and the characters it flowed pretty easily. Both stories were exciting, intriguing, and really good reading. I love Catherine Coulter's writing style, I wouldn't have read all 22 books in the series if I didn't, the characters are easy to connect with and empathize with Sala and Ty have the start of a romance but it is not the main focus of the story. I hope we can see more of Leigh "Gunny" in the future she was a special character I liked her. Overall this was a great read, out Coulter's recent books in the series this is a favorite.       

ARC REVIEW This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong

This Fallen Prey is book three of Kelley Armstrong's Rockton series. I recently just back into reading Kelley Armstrong, I fell in love with her Women of the OtherWorld series when they first came out but lost track of her book releases. I saw this up for review and I nabbed it, when I saw it was book 3 I quickly hopped on Amazon and ordered the first two. That's how much faith I have in Armstrong I knew without a doubt these books would be amazing, and the freakin' are. Armstrong has such a way with words, her active setting pulls you in and everything else around just falls  away and you are completely immersed in this town and tied to these people. This is one of those series where I think it best to read them in order just because background for all the major characters and the town happened in the first book and events of the second book are mentioned.

Spring has arrived in Rockton, the isolated Canadian town where people go to disappear, where Casey Duncan has become Casey Butler. But that's not the only thing that has arrived. The council has send up a serial killer for them to keep safe for six months. Completely unprepared and unsure of how to handle a person like this Sheriff  Eric Dalton, Deputy Will Anders, and Casey struggle on what to tell the rest of the town and what to do with Oliver Brady, serial killer, especially when their holding cell isn't big enough to keep him for six months and whenever he gets the chance he's spouting off his innocence. Things only get more convoluted the longer he's there and when he manages to escape it all goes to hell in a handbasket. Casey and Eric have to not only track down Oliver, but face the elements, the wildlife, find Eric's missing brother, a sniper, a traitor, deal with the primitive First Settlers, the string of dead bodies they seem to keep running across, and unravel the mystery of Oliver Brady.

Overall, OMG this book. It's one of those books where I just have to sit back after I'm done reading it and just let my brain absorb everything that happened and the ending, oy vey. I know it's only February but it's going to take a lot to knock this book down from my favorite read for this year. 

ARC REVIEW Darkness at the Edge of Town by Jennifer Harlow

Book Two of Jennifer Harlow's Iris Ballard thriller series. It picks up a couple months after the events of the first book, Iris has achieved some fame and fortune and even hopefully a spot as a consultant for CNN. She's even signed a book deal to tell her story but before she can settle back down at home and start writing her book she gets a frantic call from her Mother saying her brother is missing. The past internal problems Iris faced in Beautiful Maids All in a Row for the most part have been handled, she no longer drinks and has stopped abusing prescription drugs, but she still dealing with the death of her husband especially now that she is looking at Luke as someone who is more than a friend. Now she's dealing with a whole new/not so new batch of internal and external conflict in the form of her mother. Then there is the whole issue with her brother being suckered in by a con artist and his cult. 

Mathias Morning and his New Morning Movement say all the right things the cater to the people who are at their weakest, recovering addicts who want someone else to blame for their decisions. After his fiancee miscarried, Iris' twin Billy was at his weakest and after he cleaned out their joint bank account and disappeared Iris knew nothing good was going ot come of it especailly the deeper she dug. While this is the main storyline of the book Iris family drama almost overshadows it, it does play a big part her interaction with her brother and mother and their past histories and in turn how Mathias is able to manipulate them because of it. Luke is seriously Iris' rock, he is there when she needs him and reminds her of her self worth and he just awesome. 

Overall, this was a really good read. The internal conflict is even more important to the story than with the first one the family dynamics and all the past drama finally comes out with some revelations and closure. I really enjoyed  how the story played out, it was a slow build up but a good one.   

ARC REVIEW Enigma by Catherine Coulter

Book 21 of Catherine Coulter's FBI thriller Savich/Sherlock series.

Dillan and Lacy are back for a thrilling and mysterious case, and why not it's what they do best. Once again we have two cases going on in this book The first one Dillan and Lacy's main story Dillan saves a young pregnant woman from a crazy man who kept telling her someone was coming for her baby and only he could protect her. Dillan managed to subdue the man but shortly afterward he slipped into a coma. The pregnant girl Kara Moody went into labor and had a healthy baby boy who was then kidnapped from the maternity ward. Dillan can't leave it alone something has been bugging him about it from the beginning. Lacy and Dillan join forces with the CARD agents to help track down Baby Alex and why he was taken in the first place and how the John Doe in a coma is part of it all.

Meanwhile new to the CAU Cam Witter works with New York's Criminal Division's Jack Cabot to help track down international criminal Liam Hennessy aka Manta Ray who escaped police custody during his prison transfer. Cam and Jack follow a lead to the Daniel Boone National Forest. Hennessy didn't work alone he knew it was coming and the two people who got him out were working for a powerful person and when it ties to the murder of a young woman things get messier. Mia Prevost was dating the President's Secretary of State's only son and all the circumstantial evidence pointed right to him. Cam and Jack work together to find the connection and a way to get Hennessy back in police custody. 

Overall, this was a really good read. Both storylines were intriguing and they pull you in and have very satisfying stories. The case of the missing baby Alex deals with a mad scientist and the escape prisoner Liam Hennessy is a big political snafu. I've been a fan of Coulter and this series for over ten years I think I've only missed one book in the entire series. Sherlock and Savich are some of my all time favorite characters, I'm not to crazy about the dual storylines but this one was a really good one. I liked the slight romance brewing between Cam and Jack the light flirting that goes on between them is nice but not to distracting.       

ARC REVIEW Pretend You're Safe by Alexandra Ivy

Pretend You're Safe is the first book in the new series The Agency. Alexandra Ivy spun a web of misdirection, she had me second guessing my second guesses, although the red herring was fairly obvious. This was a great first book for the series it introduces you to the characters and sets it up for more. It has some really good suspense but it's not very dark. This book really hooked it me it was hard to put this one down.

Jaci started to receive creepy little tokens when she was a teenager, but no one believed that these lockets meant anything bad. They finally stopped when she left for college and didn't start up again when she returned to her grandparents farmhouse. Jaci has successfully started her own bakery business, baking for local restaurants and cafes. This year the rains have been particularly bad, constant enough to start flooding the river and with the flooding comes the appearance of dead bodies.

Rylan is back in town to help his father with the house after the basement got flooded. He left to go to college and then go into the FBI but in college he met Baldwin and together they created a new program for security systems and made a butt load of money and started their own business. At the time Rylan didn't take the lockets Jaci was getting seriously, when she approached him he was working deputy and thought it was just her looking for attention; he had no idea that this went on for years. The appearance of the Jane Doe also brings a new locket on the door. Rylan understand his mistake and isn't going to make it again, he has an overwhelming urge to protect Jaci at all costs. But Rylan showing interest in Jaci makes the stalker escalate and starts kidnapping woman and leaving the bodies where Rylan can find them. Rylan and the Sheriff are forced to work together to track down the serial killer before he gets to Jaci.

Jaci and Rylan, I liked that romance. Jaci always had a crush on Rylan and Rylan always liked Jaci but she was too young for him; now that they are adults Rylan finally admits Jaci is the one. Once it becomes obvious where things are going they just sort of accept it, Jaci knows she can trust Rylan and that he will protect her. The only thing she is not sure if he's going to stay or go back to California when all this is over.

Overall, this was another great one by Alexandra Ivy.  

ARC REVIEW Pieces of Me by Shiloh Walker

Pieces of Me is an odd one. If you know Shiloh Walker's writing you know she can get really dark and this one is no exception. Shadow Grace Harper was a young artist who met an older man and fell head over heals, as the years pass she finally break out of his controlling hold, he has manipulated her and abused her to the point she is no longer the person she once was. She has become so paranoid he'll come and force her back that she has become obsessive compulsive about her locks, windows and everything else. It's been three years and she is just starting to feel in control of her life, sort of. She has a routine she follows and any deviation will cause severe panic attacks.

One morning as her usual she spend down at the beach drawing, the man she nicknamed Lobo because his tattoo spoke to her. Caught completely by surprise she panics, it's only late she realizes she left her notebook, the same one she's been drawing very suggestive pictures of him. The whole day she spent worrying about her notebook absolutely certain it would be gone forever. But the next morning she finds it sitting at her usual spot but on one of the pictures her mystery guy wrote something.  She continues the morning as usual except this time he sits with her introduces himself, Dillian Jenkins.

Dillian is patient and kind to Shadow, he pushes her comfort zone but yet she feels safer with him than she has in the last eight years. But Shadow's ex-husband hasn't left her alone completely he has been paying someone to watch her and when Dillian comes into the picture he comes back to torment Shadow once again. But can Dillian offer her the much needed strength so she can finally get rid of her ex for good or will Dillian's own secret betray that trust.

Overall, the story was heartbreaking. The insta-lust between Shadow and Dillian was hot; sexual chemistry up the wazoo. Unfortunately this has one of those non-end kinda endings, it could be a cliffhanger but it doesn't feel like it. I enjoyed it it was an emotional journey for Shadow. Shiloh Walker knows how to write heroes I love.          

ARC REVIEW You Will Pay by Lisa Jackson

You Will Pay is a stand alone (as far as I know) book by Lisa Jackson. I'm big on Lisa Jackson, I have read a bunch of her older stuff. You Will Pay reminds me of a couple of things the video game, Until Dawn, and the movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer. (it's way better then the movie but the video game is so good it's hard to compete with it.) The main difference between these two and this book is that revenge is a dish best served cold, very cold, twenty years cold. It is very complicated story that has you guessing and a decent twist at the end, it also kind of dark, I like that. Unfortunately the pacing and character introduction was not to my liking, it was interesting how she did it, it not unusual for LJ to do the flip flopping between past and present, alternating to different POVs in the past to get the different sides of the story, it was nice but there are seven to nine different POVs to keep track of and I just had a hard time getting into the story especially since most of the characters are really annoying.

It starts off with a young woman standing on the edge of a cliff ready to commit suicide, she's a very religious and young with no idea what to do she has her epiphany and chooses not to go through with it, just then someone comes out of the woods and pushes her over. Her body is never found. A day later two more people disappear, many lay the blame of the disappearances at the hands of the convict that escaped and went missing. This all happened on the grounds of a religious summer camp and the three people who went missing were all camp counselors. Twenty years later remains are found on the beach.

Lucas was there that summer, he was a counselor and is the son of the preacher who ran the camp. He dated the first girl who went missing, it was a very bad summer for him and he prefers not to remember it, but he's a sheriff's deputy and with the skeletal remains showing up on the beach he knows it's all going to come up again. Bernadette was also a camp counselor back then and she fell in love with Lucas but after what happened she wanted to put it all behind her and never contacted him again, but now not only is the Sheriff's department asking her to come in for questioning about what happened back then but an independent journalist, who also happened to be one of the kids at the camp that year is also hounding her for questions. Jo-Beth was the self appointed leader of the counselors back then she devised the story everyone would tell, a story she devised to cover her own ass in the prank she played on one of the other counselors, because after all Monica deserved it but then Monica herself went missing. The secrets are all coming out whether people want them to or not and old romances are being revised.

Overall, it was a good read, not my favorite of her but it was a good read. I didn't predict the ending but it wasn't all that surprising.        

ARC REVIEW No Easy Target by Iris Johansen

No Easy Target by Iris Johansen a spin -off novel of the Eve Duncan series. The main character Margaret was previously in an Eve Duncan novel. I use to read Eve Duncan but I got burned out because it seemed just the same ole same ole. It really feels like this is suppose to be the replacement for Eve, especially with the ending. (that's all I'm sayin' on that, draw your own conclusions). It started off really good, very exciting a bunch of sexual tension tied with animosity. John and Margaret don't like each other at the start. Margaret is on the run from a sadistic sociopathic arms and drugs dealer and she will do anything to not go back to Nicos. To John, Margaret was just suppose to be a means to an end; the key to getting back his mentor back from Nicos who is holding him to torment John and to teach him a lesson.

John learned everything he could about Margaret, he tracked her down and planned on trading her for Patrick, the one person who understood John and helped put him on the path of special forces to CIA to multi-millionaire. But once John finally caught Margaret and understood how scared she was to go back he changed his plans to that she would never have to go back to Nicos. Margaret's empathic ability that allows her to communicate with animals also lets her feel powerful emotions from people so when she feels the terror and desperation coming from John she agrees to help, but she tells him she will never return to the island, unfortunately sometimes things can't go the way they are planned.

Margaret has to face the man who causes her nightmares. Margaret thought she learned her lesson about getting close to people but Nicos reinforces that lesson in a way she will never forget. It didn't work like Nicos planned however Margaret didn't break she got stronger. Face to face with him again she is stronger than she has ever been. She has keep people at a distance however for her to escape Nicos she must rely on John to help her out. Despite the rocky start Margaret knows she can count on John and his team of security experts to pull her out safely.

Overall, I enjoyed it but it almost felt like I had read the book before the characters reminded me way too much of Sarah Patrick and John Logan and the overall situation reminded me of The Search. I found myself asking if the Eve Duncan series was being rebooted or on an alternate timeline or something.

ARC REVIEW Ararat by Christopher Golden

Ararat is a horror, mystery, monster-ish book. It's not what I thought it would be, but that is not a bad thing. It was well written and even though I really didn't like the overall plot it was written engaging enough to keep me wanting to read it and finding out what happens. It wasn't bad just not my usual cup of tea. Don't get me wrong I love creepy, scary, paranormal, and horror stories but demonic possession stories don't really do it for me. I was expecting something a little more monstrous and abominable, so yes I was disappointed there. I did like the creep factor Christopher Golden inserted into the whole Noah's Ark story, that was a good twist. I halfway expected all the characters introduced in the first chapters to die at the end of the those chapters.

Earthquake in Turkey reveals a cave opening with a giant ship inside it. Locals and scholars believe it to be Noah's Ark. Advanced teams are sent up the mountain Ararat to discover the truth.

Adam, Meryam, Feyiz, and Hakan made a deal with the Turkish government that who ever made it to the cave first would have the rights to the cave. Adam and Meryam are adventurist and authors, they record all their adventures and put them out on the internet and finding Noah's Ark, if it is indeed The Ark, would be the big break they needed. Feyiz and Hakan are sherpas they know the mountain better than anyone else. In a race against time these four start ascending the mountain hopefully to get their before the other team. Three weeks later specialist Dr. Ben Walker, Dr. Kim Seong, and Father Cornelius Hughes are called up the mountain for their expert opinion, but on what they don't know yet. Once they get there it's immediate, a dark feeling surrounds them. Something isn't right with the cave or the ruins of the ship. Once they see what Adam and Meryam found in the ruins of the ark strange things start to happen. The sarcophagus with a demonic looking corpse makes everyone uncomfortable. Rumors are running rampant and the workers are getting scared of the creature but a blizzard she them trapped inside the cave until the next morning at least. But people start disappearing and people keep behaving out of the norm. Can the crew make it past nightfall or will they be forced to leave the cave and face the blizzard instead of the thing inside it.

Overall, like I said not normally my kind of read but was written in a way I needed to find out what happened.      

ARC REVIEW The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello

I've always loved the story of Jekyll and Hyde and this was a fantastic interpretation of the story. Interweaving Hyde, Jack the Ripper, and the real life of Robert Lewis Stevenson. The back and forth jumping from modern times to Victorian times, from the third person POV of environmental scientist, Rafael Salazar, to the first person journal of Stevenson, it was an outstanding concept and as annoying as it got sometimes with the mini cliffhangers at the end of the chapters it was a really good read. As slow as it was at times it made up for it by the intense situations the characters got into, a good almost horror suspense.

It all start with a foreboding open chapter from the journal of Stevenson telling that something followed him from London, something he thought he left far behind. The next chapter jumps to modern day California Topanga county and Rafael tracking the coyotes the has been researching and documenting. It also introduces the trouble makers that make Rafael's life hell and the woman he can't stop thinking about. The Stevenson journal entries follow him from the time he visits a doctor in the mountains of the Alps to try and cure or control his tuberculosis. The treatments are unconventional and Stevenson ends up suffering from some unusual side effects. Rafael's side of the story just spans a few weeks it follows him from the discovery of an old trunk full of a noxious smell, a set of gentleman's Victorian suit, a flask, and an old journal. As Rafael reads the journal he finds out the startling truth behind Jack the Ripper and the real story of Mr. Hyde. And with every other chapter the reader also slowly discovers the truth.

Overall, this was a great read and if you can stand the slow progression of the story and the back and forth POV it really pays off in the end.      

ARC REVIEW Race the Darkness by Abbie Roads

This book takes paranormal to a new level. It is a paranormal mystery thriller with a touch of  Dark Fairy/Folk tale. I loved this book! I thought Abbie Roads was just brilliant with the story. I will sing it's praises from the rooftops. Very rarely has a debut author surprised me with the awesomeness of her first book. (Both other debut books were earlier this year). The Romantic Suspense aspect is wonderfully creepy and suspenseful from the repeated attempts on Isleen's life right to the crazy religious zealot doing it. The Paranormal and the Dark Fairy Tale fit in together. Xander and Isleen are tied together, bound by some mystical ancient story. Even before they meet Isleen and Xander know that there's something someone out there, like they are missing a piece of themselves. Xander a bit of an ass and that pretty obvious from the very beginning. I love how the book started it was a great introduction to Xander and how and why he's so damn special. Isleen and her grandmother were kidnapped and for the last several years held in a trailer in the middle of nowhere starved and tortured pushed to the verge of death and brought back. Until one night when Isleen is sure she's going to die, Xander finds her.

Xander was struck by lighting and the result was Lichtenberg figure, which means he's horribly scarred on half of his body. He also became able to hear what others do not, what others are thinking. He has become the BCI's troubleshooter at integrations. To Xander it almost seems like there's someone else living in his head whom he refers to as The Bastard in His Brain. Tonight the bastard is restless and there is another voice in his head, a female calling out for help, on the verge of death. Xander follows his gut it's something the Bastard is telling him to do where to go and it leads him to a trailer in the middle of nowhere. Inside the trailer Isleen lies emaciated and half dead. Once Xander finds Isleen he's never going to let her go again and nothing bad will ever happen to her again, but something things are even out of his control.

When Isleen is better she starts having dreams strange vivid dreams. After three of these strange dreams Xander realizes what they are, prophetic dreams of what can or is happening. Once Alex, Xander's father, realizes what's happening he fills them in on a Legend of Fearless and Bear. There is so much to this book it really is one you have to read yourself to get the whole impact of the story. But what a story it is. Overall, read this book.  

ARC REVIEW With Every Breath by Maya Banks

I have to say I have never read Maya Banks before and as this is book four in the Slow Burn series I must remedy that and I will definitely keep track of the next books in this series. I did feel like I didn't get to know Eliza and Wade as much as I could because so much of their personal background is in the previous books. I really liked Eliza, she's strong and loyal so much to the point she's willing to risk her own life to protect those she loves, even the one she doesn't want to admit she loves. Wade, sexy! He was a bit of a mystery for me, I don't know if it revealed it in the previous books what he really does but it drove me crazy that I never found out.

I love serial killer thrillers throw in the paranormal/psychic aspect and wooo, yeas!I kind of wanted more serial killer in the book as it is there is a lot of talking and sorting out emotions and preparing for the big show down. I loved how Eliza's past helped shape how she is, her need to help the victim and a strong sense of justice. I really enjoy hate/love books. It's that thin line between love and hate where the emotions are so strong you think it's one but really it's the other. In Eliza's case she thinks Wade hates her but she can't see the difference she's never felt love that strong before that she doesn't know it when she sees it.

Ten years ago Eliza was an orphaned teenager with no one. She believed the words of love spoken to her by an older man. It's something she regrets now and she blames herself for the lives that were lost because of his obssession. She moved on and tried to put her old life her old name  behind her safe with the knowledge that he was serving his prison sentence far away, until she gets the call that he's being released. Eliza has three weeks to say goodbye to her friends who have become the family she always wanted and to form the perfect plan to keep him off the street and from killing again, even if it means sacrificing her own freedom or life.

"He was drawn to her like a magnet, not wanting to be caught in her web but not having any damn choice in the matter."

Wade is tired of pushing Eliza away, something is going on with her and he aims to find out what. When Eliza's partner, Dane, calls him and asks a favor of keeping an eye on Eliza during her "vacation" he knows she's up to something. It doesn't take much to track her down and when she finally admits the truth he's determined that nothing is ever going to take her away from him, not even Eliza. Eliza kept everything from her friends because she didn't want to risk their lives, but as close as everyone is they are willing to risk it for her whether she wants them too or not, especially Wade. Because now that they are involved he's in even greater risk than before.

Overall, this was a great story. I really need to get the previous books and with the introduction of more characters I hope there are many more books to come.      

ARC REVIEW Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

I have been a fan of Dean Koontz since I was in my early teens. I stopped reading reading his books for a while and picked them up again after Odd Thomas. Ashley Bell reminds me of all the reasons why I love Dean Koontz. It gives you strong emotional ties to the characters, a dark story with an evil mastermind behind it all and a twist worthy of M. Night  Shyamalan. The writing is beautifully written and fast paced and pulls you in so the rest of the world fades away. I can see this being a new series to follow in line like Odd Thomas. But if not I'd be perfectly happy with this as a stand-alone.

Bibi Blair is a unique person, a published author and only twenty-two years old and she has just been diagnosed with cancer. But Bibi isn't one to just give up, the doctor says she has less than a year and Bibi views that as a challenge. Two days later Bibi is cured. She claims that a man with a dog came into her room and cured her. Bibi's parents are a bit of the new age hippies buy an appointment with a psychic. The psychic doesn't deal with your typical mediums, she works with scrabble tiles, and in the tiles she finds the phrase "to save a life" and when asked who? It gives the name Ashley Bell. From that point strange things start happening. Bibi is on the run from the unknown  mysterious "wrong people" who are every where and seem to know everything. Now Bibi must try and figure out who Ashley Bell is and why she needs saving and saving from what or who.

I loved the characters Bibi is a great strong female lead and her fiance, a Navy SEAL, they have a connection so strong he knows something is wrong with her even from half a world away. I even liked the sadistic villain. I ,in particular, love the twist I wasn't expecting it, in fact I didn't know what to expect from from this book so I was pleasantly surprised with everything. It really was reminiscent of his earlier works, every good aspect of them was in this one. I love the insertion of the golden retriever, it's become trademark Koontz; it's almost like it's his way of of putting Trixie in his books.

ARC REVIEW Be Afraid by Mary Burton

Be Afraid book two in Mary Burton's Morgans of Nashville series is aptly named. I was so caught up in the storyline I forgot to make a guess on who dunnit, and it was surprising. Much like the first one it focuses more on the mystery and suspense over the romance aspect. This is a weird story and I love it! The bad guy, the puppet master working the strings of other killers helping them along to follow through on their psychopathic fantasies is obviously a split personality, similar to Jekyll and Hyde, one named Madness and one named Reason. They start off the book with the murder of a local real estate agent.

In the last book, which it really does not matter if you have read or not the only thing about it that pertains to this story is the introduction to the Morgan family and the fact that the name is legendary with the Nashville PD. Rick Morgan and his dog a police trained Belgian Shepherd, Tracker; were both shot in the line of duty and have had time off coming back Rick goes into homicide and even though Tracker has officially retired still comes into work with Rick. Together with his new partner Bishop, who has a chip on his shoulder the size of Boston which is where he is from originally; work are called in on a case where the remains of a child are found wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a trash bag at the bottom of a park fountain. Georgia Morgan the baby and only girl in the family and also the forensics expert for NPD wants this case solved, and since all the forensic artist have a backlog she asks visiting artist Jenna Thompson to do it.

Jenna Thompson is on voluntary leave from her own precinct after a case that hit to close to home for her. Now she is in Nashville researching her horrible past. When she was five Jenna's entire family was murdered only she was spared and taken by the killer and locked in a closet for nine days. She remembers the incident but there's one thing she is drawing a blank on and it has to do with a second man; a man she can draw except for his eyes she half thinks it's just a phantom someone her mind created. In helping Rick with the reconstructing she starts off a series of events that entwine everything and everyone.

Rick is automatically suspicious about Jenna she is hiding something but gives her the benefit of the doubt trusting her she will tell him in time, he is also very attracted to her. Jenna doesn't want to be attracted to Rick but its an attraction that can not be denied. Strange things are happening women are being murdered and then set on fire when one of the murders is found dead of an overdose it seems to be closed cut and dry but another happens and once again the murder is found dead. The key to the man behind it all was the one who got away.

This is one I could not put down. I would recommend this to any mystery thriller fan.

ARC REVIEW House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy

House of Echoes is a gothic horror thrill ride. At times it feels like a ghost story or a monster story but one this for sure is it is a creepy story. Brendan Duffy's debut novel, House of Echoes tells a tale of a family needing a new start, writing in such a way you feel a pull a sympathy for them which makes everything that happens make more of an impact. I had been craving a good scare and this satisfied it. I did not want to put this down and I am glad I read it during the day time hours. History plays a big part in the story along with the main storyline with the Tierney Family is an ominous and unsettling journal entries from a young girl in the frontier times when the town of Swannhaven was founded.

Ben and Caroline Tierney needed a new start, for several reasons. Caroline suffers from bipolar disorder and just recently lost her job; Charlie their eight year old son is very cerebral and in his last school the bullies singled him out in moments, it got so bad he ended missing for a whole day only to be found locked in the basement furnace room of the school. I think the only stable one out the whole family is Bub, the baby. Ben is an author, his grandmother just passed and left him and his brother a house in a small village out in upstate New York. When out there scoping out the property he found an old house perfect for the family. The plan was that Caroline and Ben would renovate the house and start up an Inn. Charlie starts acting more withdrawn than normal spending more time outside. Caroline deals with practically doing the work herself, but with her bipolar disorder she always sees things worse than they are. Ben finding out the history of the town and the house he bought feels inspired to write. But odd things almost immediately start happening after they move in and the weird villagers just compound everything. The more Ben discovers about the village and the house the more strange things get.

Overall it is a creepy read, it's a good read; keep the lights on and you'll never look at the woods the same way again.  

ARC REVIEW Asylum by Jeannette de Beauvoir

Asylum is a mystery thriller that takes place in Canada. Jeannette de Beauvoir took actual events from Montreal's past, the skeleton in the closet that no one likes to talk about and and weaves a fictional story around these events. The fact that this was based on actual events makes the story all that more enjoyable and heart breaking. This book is not a romance it is strictly a mystery thriller. The main character Martine LeDuc is the head PR for the mayor's office, she is married to a quite a character, I almost wish he was in it more. Martine gets partnered up with a stereotypical rich boy who disappointed the family by going into social services, ie. Police Detective. It's a wonderful mystery and it satisfied my craving for one. It keeps you guessing up until the very end.

Martine loves her job as the director of PR for the mayor's office, the mayor not so much. Montreal has had a series of murders over the summer and  the mayor is afraid it will affect the upcoming tourist season, so he puts Martine in the position of liaison between the mayors office and the police. Martine isn't pleased with it but she finds out one of her workers was dating the latest victim, and she promises to do her best. Police Detective Julian Fletcher is assigned to help Martine. The theory on the serial murders is sexual, they were all raped and posed on different park benches, they were also mutilated. Julian has a different theory. All the woman didn't have anything in common, that they have found yet. Together with Martine's help they uncover that each of the woman were looking into the past, specifically the orphanages and asylums back in the fifties and sixties.

Running parallel to Martine's story are what looks like diary excerpts from a girl who was forced into an orphanage for being a bastard. At the end of most chapters is a little bit of what she went through and what she uncovered in her time at the orphanage and then the move to the asylum. Its adds a touch of drama and foreshadowing. I read this straight through, it was so good. The Author's note at the end separates truth from fiction and the truth of the story makes you cry.