Sometimes I Lie
Author: Alice Feeney
Published: March 23, 2017
387 pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.
Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it’s the truth?
Kim’s Review:
Whoa. This book was nuts! I found it cheap at Ollie’s and I love the cover. I picked it up for a quick read and it was indeed quick, but whoa! I mean twists and turns and crazy spirals and surprises. Amber starting out in a coma was an interesting interpretation. I was fascinated and horrified all at the same time. All I could think was, “is that really what it’s like to be in a coma??” I almost went to the hospital to volunteer to read to coma patients! And it all started from page one! I don’t really want to say much about this book, because I don’t want to give anything away! All I can say is that I loved it and I might just have to read it again! Ok, I will say that I liked this book better than Girl on a Train. Amber is a much stronger protagonist than that chick was. Definitely a good book for those who like psychological thrillers . . . and believe me, it’s thrilling!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
The Female of the Species
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Published: September 20, 2016
352 Pages
Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.
Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.
As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
Kim’s Review:
Mindy McGinnis has such a grasp of the darker side of humanity and l love it so so much! I have been dying to read this book for the longest time and I finally got it for Christmas. I picked it up, and was soon engrossed. I love the differing POVs, the look into the lives of teens surrounding a tragedy, and watching them live their normal lives in a small town. And considering how much I hate teens, I really liked Alex and Peekay and Jack. Alex is very mature for her age and I found her self-awareness to be interesting. I related with Peekay and her position as “goodie two shoes” and trying to overcome her father’s religious position in the community. And Jack is just a cutie and I love him. And thankfully, the parents in this story weren’t idiots!!! Peekay’s parents are so awesome and understanding and realistic! They’re certainly better than any pastors I know! There is a little teenage drama, but it really only adds to the story, so I was ok with it! I would definitely save this for more mature teens due to language and adult themes. Overall, a fascinating read and a perfect example of Mindy McGinnis!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Blog Tour: The Lock by Andrew Barrett
Today I share my review for my stop on the blog tour for The Lock by Andrew Barrett. This is a short novella at 122 pages, but it really delivers in those pages! I previously read and reviewed Barrett’s short story The Note which also features Eddie Collins, CSI.
Book Description:
This is the story of how I saw a dead man die.
I’m Eddie Collins, a CSI. I was finishing up at a sudden death in an old house, waiting for the body snatchers to arrive, when I heard a noise from the cellar.
I had time to kill, so I went to investigate.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one with killing on his mind.
The Lock
Author: Andrew Barrett
Published: January 10, 2019
122 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: December 26-31, 2018
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Jessica’s Review:
I previously read The Note which also features Eddie Collins. Barrett himself is a CSI and you can see that he takes what he knows from experience and puts them into his stories. And this novella is superb! It is creepy, suspenseful, and you have absolutely no idea how it is going to end! You know what they say about ‘curiosity killed the cat’…. Will curiosity be the end of Eddie Collins, CSI?
This novella makes me now think twice before I will go into a basement or cellar again. You never know who or what might be there! Reading both The Note and now The Lock has me wanting to read more of the Eddie Collins series and more crime books in general!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
About the Author:
Andrew Barrett has enjoyed variety in his professional life, from engine-builder to farmer, from Oilfield Service Technician in Kuwait, to his current role of Senior CSI in Yorkshire.
He’s been a CSI since 1996, and has worked on all scene types from terrorism to murder, suicide to rape, drugs manufacture to bomb scenes. One way or another, Andrew’s life revolves around crime.
In 1997 he finished his first crime thriller, A Long Time Dead, and it’s still a readers’ favourite today, some 120,000 copies later, topping the Amazon charts several times. Two more books featuring SOCO Roger Conniston completed the trilogy.
Today, Andrew is still producing high-quality, authentic crime thrillers with a forensic flavour that attract attention from readers worldwide. He’s also attracted attention from the Yorkshire media, having been featured in the Yorkshire Post, and twice interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds.
He’s best known for his lead character, CSI Eddie Collins, and the acerbic way in which he roots out criminals and administers justice. Eddie’s series is four books and two short stories in length, and there’s still more to come.
Andrew is a proud Yorkshireman and sets all of his novels there, using his home city of Leeds as another major, and complementary, character in each of the stories.
You can find out more about him and his writing at http://www.andrew-barrett.co.uk
Contact Andrew:
Email: andrew@andrewbarrett.co.uk
Website
Twitter: @AndrewBarrettUK
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Exclusive Readers Group on Facebook
Instagram @andrewbarrettauthor
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