Published by Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-530-63-7
At the request of Doubleday, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me. for my honest opinion
  Synopsis: (from back of book) Justin Fisher has a successful career as the manager of a luxury hotel, a lovely wife, and a charming young son. While all signs point to a bright future, Justin can no longer ignore the hole in his life left by his estranged family. When he finally gathers the courage to reconnect with his troubled past, Justin is devastated to learn that his parents have passed away. And a visit to the cemetery brings the greatest shock of all-next to the graves of his father and mother sits a smaller tombstone for a three-year-old boy: a boy named Thomas Justin Fisher.
  What follows in an extraordinary journey as Justin struggles with issues of his own identity and pieces together the complex and heartbreaking truth about this family.

Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri
Published by R.J. Buckley Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9819654-0-6
At the request of Pump Up Your Book, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (from back of book) In Moonlight Falls, novelist and photo journalist Vincent Zandri asks the question “If you knew your life could end at any moment, how far would you go to prove you murdered your lover?”
  Albany, New York is the setting of Zandri’s paranoid thriller (in the Hitchcock tradition) about Richard “Dick” Moonlight, former APD detective turned private investigator/massage therapist, who believes he killed Scarlet Montana, his illicit lover and wife of his ex-boss Chief of Detectives Jake Montana. The dilemma…Moonlight doesn’t remember what happened!
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Mr Zandri introduces the reader to Richard Moonlight in a masterful writing style of first person perspective, which is the most difficult to write in. In the first chapter, it describes how Moonlight attempted suicide by a self inflicted gun shot to his head but lives, however, a bullet fragment is lodged in his brain and affects his ability to know right from wrong.  This book, from page one, was a nonstop, heart pounding, roller coaster ride until the very last page.  The list of characters enthralling.  The plot mesmerizing.  The story line has so many twists and turns that had this reader trying to unravel, and with an ending that was never seen coming.  Wild!!  This book is Hitchcock meets James Patterson!!  Alex Cross meet Richard Moonlight!!!  Fantastic!!  This is the type of book that I call a, “just one more chapter” read, whereas the chapters are a couple of pages long but you realize that its four (4) hours since saying “just one more chapter”.  Warning: from starting page one, be prepared of not being able to put this book down until finished.  A definite page turning read!!  This book…Incredible !!!!  On a scale of 1 to 5, Moonlight Falls, is a ten (10)!!  Mr. Zandri….Bravo!!!!!
  Rating: 5+ 

 

Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri
Published by R.J. Buckley Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9819654-0-6
At the request of Pump Up Your Book, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (from back of book) In Moonlight Falls, novelist and photo journalist Vincent Zandri asks the question “If you knew your life could end at any moment, how far would you go to prove you murdered your lover?”
  Albany, New York is the setting of Zandri’s paranoid thriller (in the Hitchcock tradition) about Richard “Dick” Moonlight, former APD detective turned private investigator/massage therapist, who believes he killed Scarlet Montana, his illicit lover and wife of his ex-boss Chief of Detectives Jake Montana. The dilemma…Moonlight doesn’t remember what happened!
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Mr Zandri introduces the reader to Richard Moonlight in a masterful writing style of first person perspective, which is the most difficult to write in. In the first chapter, it describes how Moonlight attempted suicide by a self inflicted gun shot to his head but lives, however, a bullet fragment is lodged in his brain and affects his ability to know right from wrong.  This book, from page one, was a nonstop, heart pounding, roller coaster ride until the very last page.  The list of characters enthralling.  The plot mesmerizing.  The story line has so many twists and turns that had this reader trying to unravel, and with an ending that was never seen coming.  Wild!!  This book is Hitchcock meets James Patterson!!  Alex Cross meet Richard Moonlight!!!  Fantastic!!  This is the type of book that I call a, “just one more chapter” read, whereas the chapters are a couple of pages long but you realize that its four (4) hours since saying “just one more chapter”.  Warning: from starting page one, be prepared of not being able to put this book down until finished.  A definite page turning read!!  This book…Incredible !!!!  On a scale of 1 to 5, Moonlight Falls, is a ten (10)!!  Mr. Zandri….Bravo!!!!!
  Rating: 5+ 

 

So Cold The River by Michael Koryta
Published by Little Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-05363-1
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion
  Synopsis: (from back of book) It starts with a beautiful woman and a challenge. Alyssa Bradford approaches filmmaker Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a ninety-five-year-old billionaire whose past is cloaked in mystery, the only clues being the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he’s kept his entire life.
  Only a few hours after his arrival in Campbell Bradford’s rural hometown, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase. He’s drawn deeper into the town’s dark past which is centered on a glorious hotel where presidents and mobsters once mingled, drawn to the area by the curative powers of its mineral springs. Eric discovers that something besides the hotel has been restored-a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain a lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifying real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Some of the words that I would describe this book would be gripping, suspenseful, unreal and mostly strange. It is hard to review this read without giving a lot away but will try. The mystery and suspense held my attention to the very end. Parts of the plot were questionable and unbelievable but still held my interest. The characters real, but their situations doubtful. The words written of this rural town are beautiful and it’s history interesting. The ending explosive with questions being both answered and not answered leaving the reader dangling. My rating is based on the nature of suspense that held me captive the entire book even knowing that some of the story line could never be true. Words to describe. Gripping yet Strange.
  My Rating: 4 star 

So Cold The River by Michael Koryta
Published by Little Brown and Company
ISBN 978-0-316-05363-1
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion
  Synopsis: (from back of book) It starts with a beautiful woman and a challenge. Alyssa Bradford approaches filmmaker Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a ninety-five-year-old billionaire whose past is cloaked in mystery, the only clues being the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he’s kept his entire life.
  Only a few hours after his arrival in Campbell Bradford’s rural hometown, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase. He’s drawn deeper into the town’s dark past which is centered on a glorious hotel where presidents and mobsters once mingled, drawn to the area by the curative powers of its mineral springs. Eric discovers that something besides the hotel has been restored-a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain a lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifying real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Some of the words that I would describe this book would be gripping, suspenseful, unreal and mostly strange. It is hard to review this read without giving a lot away but will try. The mystery and suspense held my attention to the very end. Parts of the plot were questionable and unbelievable but still held my interest. The characters real, but their situations doubtful. The words written of this rural town are beautiful and it’s history interesting. The ending explosive with questions being both answered and not answered leaving the reader dangling. My rating is based on the nature of suspense that held me captive the entire book even knowing that some of the story line could never be true. Words to describe. Gripping yet Strange.
  My Rating: 4 star 

Death Of A Cure by Steven H. Jackson (Rating 3 1/2)
Published by Telemachus Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9841083-0-5
At the request of Yorkshire Publishing, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (portion from book’s back cover) Death Of A Cure is a novel of mystery, suspense, and action. The murder of one good many by a respected colleague is more than a crushing personal deception, it is an unequaled violation of the trust of thousands afflicted by a horrible disease.
  In a first person account, the brother of the murdered man, a military surgeon born to wealth and accustomed to success, is thrust into the rose of homicide investigator. Quickly, discovering that his skills as a detective are frustratingly insufficient, he calls upon a woman from his past for help. Together they unravel layers of evil and organized deception revealing that the rue work of this healthcare charity has little to do with curing the terrible disease born by a trusting constituency.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Within the first four (4) pages of this book, the mystery begins and had this reader wondering “who is it”. The author has the unique writing style of using the more difficult use of first (1st person) perspective throughout the entire story line. I was, however, a bit disappointed after those first four pages. The next 1/3 of this book was a mix of extreme detailed events that bordered on boredom for this reader. Once getting past that portion, the mystery began again. The author also had the ability to convey, with his words, certain graphic situations within the story line. I also found that even with the large cast of characters, it was easy to see who the “who is it” was. It was a good read but this reader, and this is my opinion only, found it lacked a consistent page turning mystery novel.
  Rating: 3 1/2 stars 

Death Of A Cure by Steven H. Jackson (Rating 3 1/2)
Published by Telemachus Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9841083-0-5
At the request of Yorkshire Publishing, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (portion from book’s back cover) Death Of A Cure is a novel of mystery, suspense, and action. The murder of one good many by a respected colleague is more than a crushing personal deception, it is an unequaled violation of the trust of thousands afflicted by a horrible disease.
  In a first person account, the brother of the murdered man, a military surgeon born to wealth and accustomed to success, is thrust into the rose of homicide investigator. Quickly, discovering that his skills as a detective are frustratingly insufficient, he calls upon a woman from his past for help. Together they unravel layers of evil and organized deception revealing that the rue work of this healthcare charity has little to do with curing the terrible disease born by a trusting constituency.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Within the first four (4) pages of this book, the mystery begins and had this reader wondering “who is it”. The author has the unique writing style of using the more difficult use of first (1st person) perspective throughout the entire story line. I was, however, a bit disappointed after those first four pages. The next 1/3 of this book was a mix of extreme detailed events that bordered on boredom for this reader. Once getting past that portion, the mystery began again. The author also had the ability to convey, with his words, certain graphic situations within the story line. I also found that even with the large cast of characters, it was easy to see who the “who is it” was. It was a good read but this reader, and this is my opinion only, found it lacked a consistent page turning mystery novel.
  Rating: 3 1/2 stars 

Still Midnight by Denise Mina
Published by Reagan Arthur Books Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 978-0-316-01563-9
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (a partial description taken from the book’s jacket) Life ought to be simple for Detective Inspector Alex Morrow. She’s an up-and-coming cop, just about to be assigned to the case that could make her career. Her half brother, Danny, is also on the rise. Unfortunately for Alex, he’s making his name on the other side of the tracks, in the murky shadows of Glasgow’s criminal underworld. Alex is determined not to let her colleagues know anything about Danny, or the other parts of her private life that might not be as rosy as her professional one-but the events of a quiet suburban night could change that.
  My Thoughts/Opinion: After reading the full synopsis of the book’s jacket and reading reviews stating “page turning” suspense, I felt that this would be a good match for me and looked forward to reading it. However, after reading ten chapters and 100+ pages, I found that the gripping suspense had not yet been revealed. I also found difficulty with the Scottish dialect. This reader also found each chapter to be repetitive in content. Unfortunately, I was not able to continue reading this book. Please note that this is the opinion, and solely the opinion, of this reader.
  Rating: 0