Come Meet Alex Michaelides at Books and Greetings

My review of The Fury

Another mind-boggling psychological thriller written by Alex Michaelides. His storytelling features a Greek tragedy, obsessive love story, a twisted storyline, and revenge that will leave you wanting to figure out who killed Lana Farrar. Who is Elliot Chase really? The actors surely were each playing their own act. The narrator slowly gives you a glimpse of the story being told, but which story is the real truth? Well, you will need to read it to find out. This will be an epic thriller for 2024.

My review of The Silent Patient

The thriller of a century with a frightening twist. I am as silent as Alicia. I can not fathom the words to speak after running to save Alicia and keeping my sanity. Alex truly created a master piece that will drag you through each corner with intense detail but with hidden tips. It will leave you thinking who the killer is, what the truth is, and why keep silent. At the end, you will be stunned from your silence and be awaken to the terror of the truth. Don’t walk to the bookstore but rather run to get this mind-blowing story. Will you be silent in the end?

My Review of The Maidens

The people you love and you feel safe with can sometimes be the ones that will tear your heart apart. Mariana, with her many losses, will not see what is coming right at her. Mariana receives a call from her niece Zoe because one of her friends was found dead. Mariana decides to investigate the murder and un-masquerade professor Edward Fosca, who Mariana believes is the murderer. Prof. Fosca is fascinated with Greek tragedy. The maidens who are a group of elite privileged girls are the ones that are being murdered and who also have a very close relationship with Prof. Fosca.

As you read the story, you will think that the murders can either be caused by a Greek goddess, just like Mariana believed is how her husband was killed. You start wondering if it’s Prof. Fosca or Mariana’s newfound friend, Fred. Alex will keep your mind spinning, trying to make it so obvious that it must be Prof. Fosca, but what lurks in the dark will you leave you stunned. You will find out that Mariana herself was living a Greek tragedy, one that she didn’t even suspect. Sometimes, you just don’t know even those closest to you.

I loved the story, but it definitely wasn’t as good as The Silent Patient. The story keeps you guessing until the very end. Your heart will shatter for Mariana when the sinister secrets unravel. I loved that Alex included Theo Faber the criminal psychotherapist in his first book The Silent Patient in this book. To have both stories run at the same time is brilliant. Mariana told Theo about the available position at the Grove. If you are looking to read a good murder mystery filled with Greek tragedy at Cambridge University, then look no further.

If you are a fan of the book The Silent Patient, you have to come meet Alex Michaelides in person. He will be at Books and Greetings in Northvale, NJ, on January 15 at 6 pm. He will be signing his latest book, The Fury, which was fantastic, and he will also be signing his previous books.

Here is the link to purchase a ticket for the event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-silent-patient-author-alex-michaelides-jan-15th-6pm-tickets-735589767797

Review: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Goodreads Blurb:

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 Stars

I chose this book to read for a book club at work to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Isabel is a new author to me, and happy that I decided to pick up her book. I was fascinated by the first book Isabel Cañas has written. She brought the gothic horror to the next level. I resonated with her fear of the dark, as I am afraid of the dark. I felt those frightening moments when Beatriz was in the dark, finding her way to escape the frozen claws of the darkness. The words used to describe the house and the frightening moments were an added fear factor that added terror to the reader’s craving.

It’s a story of a forbidden love after the Mexican War of Independence with a Cinderella twist turned Haunted of Hill House. The build-up of Beatriz trying to fight to survive the grasp of the mansion and free herself from being trapped gives the readers hope that the house will not take another innocent life. There is always a story behind haunted houses, and when spirits taunt you, they might be warning you of dangers to come. So, as a believer of ghosts, evil spirits, and vengeful warm-blooded people, I warn you that you will need to strap yourself down in order to survive this nail-biting story.

Author Biography

Isabel Cañas is a Mexican American speculative fiction writer. After having lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, Turkey, and New York City, among other places, she has settled in the Pacific Northwest. She holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction inspired by her research and her heritage.

Review: The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

GoodReads Blurb:

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.

My Review: Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Another fabulous continuation to this story. Revenge comes in many forms. Sometimes bad things will happen to evil characters and those victims will live freely from their revenge. I loved that the characters got closure and were able to move on from their terrible pass. Lisa knows how to tangle the reader in these true life situations that will transport them to the horrors people live behind closed doors. Can you fight your way free?

Author Biography

LISA JEWELL was born in London in 1968.Her first novel, Ralph’s Party, was the best- selling debut novel of 1999. Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and The Night She Disappeared.Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who has been published worldwide in over twenty-five languages. She lives in north London with her husband, two teenage daughters and the best dog in the world.

Cover Reveal: Petulant Shadows by Martha Sweeney

BOOK DETAILS:

Petulant Shadows
by Martha Sweeney
Publication date: October 17, 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Supernatural, Thriller

Synopsis:

Dedicated to: those who have been abducted, trafficked, abused, and murdered; the families who have lost someone; and the sheepdogs who fight to save them. May your souls find peace.
………………………………………….
There is a sinister evil hidden in the shadows. Some do not know of its existence yet others are haunted by it every waking moment and every sleepless night.

The legends say that it arrives quiet like the wind, lurking in the shadows as the darkness sets upon the earth each night. It leaches into towns through the smallest of cracks and festers, growing like a fungus that makes everything rot in its path.

A sudden opportunity to flee presents itself to Paisley. Something within her commands her to run. As if guided by the hand of God, she finds shelter in the town of Biernhard and through a man named Grayson.

As Paisley begins to come to grips with her past and embrace a new life for herself, the shadows creep back into her life and the town she calls home. Will this darkness conquer Biernhard and claim Paisley once again, or does the town have its own fortitude against the darkness that it is rumored to have battled and defeated many generations before?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60433973-petulant-shadows

AUTHOR BIO:

Martha Sweeney is a BESTSELLING author who writes in a variety of genres: romance (contemporary, romcom, suspense, paranormal and historical), suspense, fantasy, thriller, coloring books, and soon, science fiction. She strives to push herself as a storyteller with each new tale and hopes to push her readers outside of their comfort zone whether it be genre or the stories themselves.

With a B.S. in Psychology, Martha utilizes her knowledge of human and animal behavior successfully in the business world and in her writing to present realistic characters and situations. She’s been creative since she was little, always drawing, coloring or making crafts, so her venture into being an author was a natural transition.

Author links:
https://www.marthasweeney.com/
https://www.instagram.com/marthasweeneyauthor/
https://twitter.com/MSweeneyAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMarthaSweeney/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13453575.Martha_Sweeney

Cover Reveal: Defying Evil: A Dark Romance Thriller by Abbie Roads

BOOK DETAILS:

Defying Evil: A Dark Romantic Thriller
by Abbie Roads
(Blood is Thicker Than…, #1)
Publication date: October 17, 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Thriller

Synopsis:

He’s the son of a serial killer.
She’s his father’s only surviving victim.
He’s obsessed with her.
She’s frightened of him.
Before it’s all over they’ll need each other to survive.

Cain Killion’s life has revolved around blood. From a childhood of torture by his father, to his gruesome ability to solve crimes. When a current case is directly connected to his past, there’s only one person with answers.

But she isn’t talking, and the bodies are stacking up. The only solution… Kidnap her.

Defying Evil is the first book in the Blood is Thicker Than Series of dark romantic thrillers. It features a man tortured by his past who never thought he was capable of love. If you devour edge of your seat thrillers and romance novels, you’ll love a series that combines both in a roller-coaster ride of mind games and tragic love.

Read this dangerously dark romance today!

Trigger warning: Depictions of violence.

Previously published until the title Saving Mercy.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165909431-defying-evil

Pre-order:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QizR00

AUTHOR BIO:

Abbie Roads is the best-selling author of the Fatal Dreams Series and the Fatal Truth Series. Her novels have been finalists in many prestigious contests including The Golden Heart, The Greater Detroit Booksellers Best, The Oklahoma National Readers’ Choice Award, The Write Touch, The Strut Your Stuff Contest, The Aspen Gold Contest, The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, The Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award, The Midnight Sun, The Kathryn Hayes Contest, The Chanticleer, The Daphne du Maurier, The National Readers’ Choice Award, The New England Readers’ Choice Contest, The Beverly Award, and The Maggie Award. Her debut novel Race the Darkness was Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall and Never Let Me Fall is an Amazon Editor’s Pick.

By day Abbie Roads is a mental health counselor always focusing on the bright side. By night she writes on the dark side, putting her characters through the wringer before she gives them their happily-ever-after. She loves a good inspirational quote and is a fan of true crime.

Author links:
https://www.abbieroads.com/
https://www.facebook.com/abbieroads2
https://twitter.com/Abbie_Roads
https://www.instagram.com/Abbie_Roads/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8179024.Abbie_Roads

Review: The Angel Maker by Alex North

Goodreads Blurb

A dark, suspenseful new thriller about the mysteries of fate, the unbreakable bond of siblings, and a notorious serial killer who was said to know the future.

Growing up in a beautiful house in the English countryside, Katie Shaw lived a charmed life. At the cusp of graduation, she had big dreams, a devoted boyfriend, and a little brother she protected fiercely. Until the day a violent stranger changed the fate of her family forever.

Years later, still unable to live down the guilt surrounding what happened to her brother, Chris, and now with a child of her own to protect, Katie struggles to separate the real threats from the imagined. Then she gets the phone call: Chris has gone missing and needs his big sister once more.

Meanwhile, Detective Laurence Page is facing a particularly gruesome crime. A distinguished professor of fate and free will has been brutally murdered just hours after firing his staff. All the leads point back to two old cases: the gruesome attack on teenager Christopher Shaw, and the despicable crimes of a notorious serial killer who, legend had it, could see the future.

My Review: 4 out of 5 stars

If you could see the future, would you use it for the good of humanity, or would you use it to bring evil into the world? A frightening and twisted story that will have you guessing until the last moment. A family secret is so disturbing you will be utterly shocked. Two brothers will change the course of each other’s lives. A serial killer predicted the future and wrote his horrifying visions in a notebook, a book that still exists, and people wanted to get their hands on it. This story has a strong family bond, revenge, a frightening twist of fate, and a family connection you won’t see coming. It starts off slow, but once it picks up you’ll be blown away by the twists.

Author Biography

Alex North was born in Leeds, England, where he now lives with his wife and son. The Whisper Man was inspired by North’s own little boy, who mentioned one day that he was playing with “the boy in the floor.” Alex North is a British crime writer who has previously published under another name.

Cover Reveal: Wicked Games by Nancy Brown

BOOK DETAILS:

Wicked Games
by Nancy Brown
(Wicked Series, #1)
Publication date: February 7, 2023
Genres: Adult, Thriller

Synopsis:

Wicked: Evil, Naughty. Games: To play or manipulate based on skill, strength or luck.

One Woman. Two men. A race against the clock.

The Players:

Avery Carmichael is a brilliant criminal attorney. She is also the daughter of Jonathan Carmichael, the future governor of New York. She hates games and she doesn’t have time for romance. She is running scared from the only man in her life. She calls him Tic Toc and he wants her dead. Her only objective is to survive.

Liam Sanders is tall, dark and deadly handsome. He’s also the twin brother of Luke Sanders and the newest member of Cross Security. He has a job to do. He doesn’t have time for distractions. But just one look at Avery Carmichael and his game plan changes. He wants her and he’ll do whatever it takes make her his.

Tic Toc is a man who loves games. He’s also a sociopath who communicates through cryptic notes, dead roses and crippling fear. He’s bitter and angry, and nothing will stop him from achieving his goal. He’s set the timeline for the game to playout. When the game ends…so will Avery Carmichael’s life.

The stakes are high.

Each player has their own set of rules.

Time is ticking down…Who will win and who will lose.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61617504-wicked-games

Pre-order: https://amzn.to/3GkOSb4

AUTHOR BIO:

Nancy Carolyn Brown is an author of contemporary romance, fond of writing love stories about hunky badass men endowed with massive hearts, and strong heroines with just the right mix of sweet and sass… flaming hot chemistry and thrilling nail biting suspense is always guaranteed!

She loves cosmos and chocolate and a swoony good book with a strong storyline.

She lives in sunny southern Alberta, Canada with her high school sweetheart husband and naughty Bengal cat. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys the simple things in life like spending time with family and friends, reading and running with her favorite playlist blasting in her ears.

Author links:

Home

https://www.facebook.com/NancyBrownAuthor/

https://www.instagram.com/nancybrownwrites/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/664523.Nancy_Brown

Cover Reveal: Pretty Evil by Zoe Rosi

BOOK DETAILS:

Pretty Evil
by Zoe Rosi
Publication date: January 17, 2023
Genres: Adult, Thriller

Synopsis:

You’ve done a bad thing. She has you in her sights. Now you’re going to pay.

Meet Camilla Black: an affluent, respected, influential fashion magazine editor, who lives it up in her beautiful Mayfair apartment. But Camilla’s glamorous life is a lie. Behind her poised exterior beats the cold dark heart of a vigilante killer, a murderer hell-bent on wreaking vengeance upon bad men.

Camilla expects to get away with murder. She’s careful. And anyway, it’s worth the risk. She’s making the world a better place with each predator she kills. But when one of her victims’ bodies is unexpectedly found, his gruesome death is splashed all over the papers.

To make matters worse, she’s now being pursued by Detective Wheelan, a new addition to the Met with laser-sharp focus and a worrying habit of solving impossible crimes…

She knows she should stop, but she can’t. Some men just deserve to die. Will Camilla’s insatiable appetite for justice be her downfall, or can she outsmart the police?

Revised edition: Previously published as Predator, this edition of Pretty Evil includes editorial revisions.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61256541-pretty-evil

Pre-order:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TefDTa

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pretty-evil-zoe-rosi/1141641206

Blackwell’s: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Pretty-Evil-by-Zoe-Rosi/9781542037167

AUTHOR BIO:

Zoe Rosi has a background in journalism and copywriting. She worked as a reporter for local and national newspapers before moving into the fashion industry as a copywriter. Zoe had four romantic comedies published before writing her debut thriller. It was while working as a fashion copywriter that Zoe had the idea for Pretty Evil, which she describes as The Devil Wears Prada meets American Psycho.

Author links:

https://www.zoerosi.com/

Tweets by zoerosiauthor

https://www.instagram.com/zoerosiauthor/

Lisa Jewell Book Signing

In August, Barnes and Noble in Paramus, NJ, hosted a book event featuring Harlan Coben in conversation with Lisa Jewell. My last in-person book event at B&N was with Lisa during her book release of The Family Upstairs. The book was part of the B&N Book Club. After so many events were canceled due to COVID, it is great to see a good turnout this year. It is recommended that you read The Family Upstairs before continuing with The Family Remains. Lisa is one of my favorite psychological thriller authors that write captivating stories with real-life issues that readers can relate to.

Goodreads Blurb

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an
intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and
deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has
been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an
intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions
about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.

After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy,
Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is
just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find
the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they
will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never
imagined.

In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The
Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her
powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the
lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.

Author Biography

Her first novel, Ralph’s Party, was the best-selling debut novel of 1999.
Since then she has written another twenty novels, most recently a number of
dark psychological thrillers, including The Girls, Then She Was Gone, The
Family Upstairs, and The Night She Disappeared.

Lisa is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author who
has been published worldwide in over twenty-five languages. She lives in north
London with her husband, two teenage daughters, and the best dog in the world.

Review: Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough

Goodreads Blurb

In this twisty, mind-bending thriller from the bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes, Emma Averell worries that her crippling insomnia is a sign that she’s slowly going insane—like the mother she’s worked so hard to leave in her past.

Emma Averell loves her life—her high-powered legal career, her two beautiful children, and her wonderful stay-at-home husband—but it wasn’t always so perfect. When she was just five years old, Emma and her older sister went into foster care because of a horrific incident with their mother. Her sister can remember a time when their mother was loving and “normal,” but Emma can only remember her as one thing—a monster. And that monster emerged right around their mother’s fortieth birthday, the same age Emma is approaching now.

Emma desperately wants to keep her successful life separate from her past, so she has always hidden her childhood trauma. But then she’s unable to sleep, and now losing time during the day, also one of the first symptoms her mother showed. Is the madness in her blood, just as her mother predicted? Could she end up hurting her family in her foggy, frenetic state? Or is she truly beginning to lose her mind?

My Review: Rated 3 out of 5 Stars

A mind-blowing thriller that will have you frightened of your fortieth birthday. Turning forty for many does seem life-changing, especially for women. In this thriller novel, I found myself frightened of turning forty, worried about insomnia, crazy thoughts, and loss of time, and seeing my life go upside down without a clear ending. The dreaded countdown had me just as insane as the character.

I wanted the day to arrive as much as Emma dreaded her birthday’s arrival. This psychological thriller has the reader thinking the main character Emma, is going mad just like her mother: but the story flips around, and the unexpected dread that someone is causing all her torture becomes a reality. This story foresaw the future at the time Emma’s mother went mad and how that future becomes the present for Emma. Two visions drove the characters mad because of the darkness they revealed. Will you survive your fortieth birthday?

Author Biography

Sarah Pinborough is a New York Times bestselling and Sunday Times Number one and Internationally bestselling author who is published in over 30 territories worldwide. Having published more than 25 novels across various genres, her recent books include Behind Her Eyes, now a smash hit Netflix limited series, Dead To Her, now in development with Amazon Studios, and 13 Minutes and The Death House in development with Compelling Pictures. Sarah lives in the historic town of Stony Stratford, the home of the Cock and Bull story, with her dog Ted. Her next novel, Insomnia, is out in 2022. You can follow Sarah on Twitter at @sarahpinborough.