Author: bookhermitt

What would you do if someone you loved got mixed up in sex trafficking?  It would be awful to try to get them out safely.

Summary from Goodreads:

WHO’S KILLING THE GIRLS OF WILLOW BAY?

When the body of a missing girl washes up on the banks of the Willow River, the killing is linked to two cold case murders, and the investigation must uncover the twisted motive of a serial killer before he kills again.

Still reeling after her sister’s brutal murder, grief-stricken Eden Winthrop has returned to Willow Bay, where she runs the Mercy Harbor Foundation, a safe haven for victims of violence.

When a teenage trafficking victim disappears from a shelter run by her foundation, Eden is drawn into the search for the sadistic killer. The hunt becomes personal when Eden’s niece is abducted just as the body of yet another victim is discovered in a local river.

In a desperate effort to save her niece, Eden must partner with the small-town police force that had failed to save her sister. And to catch the killer, she realizes she must trust the one man she vowed to never forgive and summon the strength to face her deepest fears.

The gripping first book in the page-turning Mercy Harbor Thriller Series will keep you up at night.

My Review:

This book has lots of twists and turns, which I loved. Just when I thought I had it all figured out… I didn’t. Love a book that keeps you on your toes. I thought that Melinda Woodhall did an excellent job in character development. You really feel for the anxiety that Eden, the main character, has from tragic events that happened to her in the past. I look forward to reading more from her.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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Recipe for intrigue??  1 part murder mystery + 1 part super heroes.  If you like this recipe then you will love Colossal.

Amazon’s Summary of Colossal:

Meridian isn’t a typical town, and this is no typical murder. When Detective Wreings pulls up to a fiery crime scene he’s left wondering whether he’s chasing a man or something more. With a thin list of suspects, the detective’s search leads him to the hospital bed of a man with no name who can’t say for certain whether he is or isn’t the killer everyone is looking for. While trying to prove his innocence, he discovers the key to remembering his past puts him in the path of a girl trying desperately to forget hers. Each passing chapter reveals another piece of the puzzle that will change all their lives and the city of Meridian forever.

My Review: 

This book started off as a mystery and then took a sharp turn into super powers.  Not what I was expecting but a pleasant surprise.

Lennox has a talent for developing very strong characters that you can relate to.  You can feel Katie’s depression.  You can feel the man in room 623’s confusion.

While I did enjoy the story line, I was a little confused at the end.  But what cliff hanger isn’t confusing.  Guess I will need to read the next book, Afflictions, to get my answers.

Thank you Lennox McCaskill for the copy of Colossal in return for my honest review.

A Pane of Glass is Robert Stockdale’s debut novel but you would never know it.  This suspenseful thriller is gripping from the first paragraph.

Summary by Amazon:

The murders stopped for three years, but Tom Russell, the top profiler at the FBI, figured the Short Rose Killer just got good at hiding the bodies.

Not anymore.

There’s a fresh trail of death, and the details of the crimes are keeping Tom awake at night thinking about his own young children.

SRK is killing child predators.

There is a vigilante serial killer back at work targeting child predators.  His M.O. is torturing the predator the same way he tortured the child.  Tom Russell, who has been on the case for a while, and his partner, Kate Morrow, are a great team and work together to figure out who the Short Rose Killer is.  This book will definitely make you want to hug your children.

I highly recommend this book.  It is a fantastic debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Robert Stockdale.

Thank you Robert for allowing me to read this in return for an honest review.

Get your copy today from Amazon.com

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Theodore Boone – The Fugitive by John Grisham

I am so excited to have my first guest reviewer!!  This is Grant Henderson.  He is a 12 year old 6th grade student who LOVES the John Grisham Kid Lawyer series.  I am so excited when kids love to read!!

Grant Henderson

6^th Grade

December 9, 2018

Grisham, John.  Theodore Boone, the fugitive. New York. 2016

Theodore Boone is on a class field trip to Washington, DC when he spots someone suspicious.  They are on the way to visit the Washington Monument.  While his classmates see this historic landmark, Theodore stays on the bus. He realizes it is Pete Duffy, a known criminal from his hometown of Strattenburg.   Pete Duffy is someone who is wanted for murdering his wife and escape. He is number seven on the FBI’s most wanted list.  Theodore called his uncle for help, his uncle flew to Washington, DC right away.

The star witness of the case is an illegal immigrant who is afraid of being deported.  Theodore Boone knows the judge and one of his friends from school knows the witness. The judge arranges for protective custody for Julio but he sneaks out after getting a text threatening him for testifying.   At the very end of the trial, Julio  and brought in to testify.  The judge offers him temporary citizenship in exchange for his testimony.  Pete Duffy is found guilty of murdering his wife for the life insurance. 

I really enjoy this series by John Grisham.  I would recommend who like mystery books.  I have learned a lot of law terms reading this series and cannot wait to read the next book. 

First of all let me start by saying that I am back after a long hiatus.  Started a new job and it put all my fun things on the back burner.  So I have LOTS of reviews to catch up on and Samael Eldritch has waited the longest and patiently.

Bludd Brothers was definitely not a light read and not for the faint at heart either.  I did enjoy this book but I had to read something light along side it to ease the tenseness.

Here is the summary from Amazon UK:

Private detective, Sebastian Bludd, had an unusual upbringing that ultimately ended in unhappy teenage years. Some would say that unusual and unhappy were words that carried over into his adult life. Bludd, himself, would rather use the word unconventional, but in reality, he knew all three words were quite appropriate. Now, more than 20 years after absconding from boarding school, a woman turns up on his doorstep. His instinct is that she is not being wholly truthful with him, but, compelled by curiosity, he reluctantly takes her case. He is forced to confront his childhood nemesis, whom he had buried in his adolescence, and uncovers a sadistic world that he could never have imagined existed. Could he put that world right? How was his own, estranged, brother involved? Who were the foreigners at the case’s core? Could he bury his demons once and for all?

If you have read my previous review, you know I don’t like to summarize the book.  I am always so scared I will get so caught up in the writing that I will give away too much.  🙂  and what fun is that!

Sebastian Bludd is the main character and is some character at that.  He is a mystery that is unveiled a little at a time.  His past has shaped him into the enigma he is today and once you have heard his background it all makes sense.

I think this is an excellent debut novel.  It is dark but definitely worth reading.

I had no idea what to expect from this book. So i was gladly surprised with this one. It is a thriller with some witchcraft and a touch romance thrown in. All make for a great combination!

This is my first Angie Martin book and definitely not my last.  I absolutely loved her writing style.  You are completely spellbound from the first chapter.

I don’t like to get into details about the book in my review because I want fellow readers to get the full experience of surprise. But please do yourself a favor and give Angie Martin’s Chrysalis a try. You won’t be sorry!

BREAKING NEWS…. Amazon and Angie Martin are running a $0.99 Kindle Countdown Deal.  Starting July 13th – 19th.  So don’t delay!  Get yours today!

I was approached by the author, Phyllis Newman, to read and give an honest review. I am always intrigued by a good ghost story. This book is so much more than a ghost story. Honesty, the time period is not usually what I prefer but the author did such an excellent job with the characters and plot that I didn’t even notice.

Amazon’s summary:

England, 1922. Times are hard. Anne Chatham is a clever, modest young woman with little money, no prospects for marriage, and a never-shared secret—she can see spirits. Anne finds employment as a typist at Northfield House, the grand country manor of the Wellington family. Her employer, the wheelchair-bound Mr. Wellington, is kindly. His haughty wife is not. He has two handsome sons, the wry and dashing Thomas and the dark and somber Owen. Anne feels sure her prayers have been heard. Until the terrifying night she stumbles upon a tortured spirit roaming the dark halls of Northfield, a spirit that only she can see. In a search for answers, she finds herself drawn to Owen as they unearth a tragic story from the Wellington family’s past—a beautiful young bride gone missing on her wedding day. Then tragedy strikes again on the night of a glittering masquerade ball…

If you are looking for a good ghost story with lots of mystery and twists this book is for you. I highly recommend. Thank you Phyllis Newman and PageSpring Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Continuing on my Creepy course…..

So I just found out that Kill Creek is Scott Thomas’s first book.  What the wha??  This guy really has a promising future and I look forward to reading his future novels.

Ok, that aside.  Did you ever read the classic creeper The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson??  You either loved it or you didn’t.  I am sure I am one of the minority that did not think that was all that great.  Sorry Shirley Jackson enthusiasts.  Well, Kill Creek has some great similarities to The Haunting of Hill House but BETTER!

GoodReads Summary:
At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, lies the Finch House. For years it has perched empty, abandoned, and overgrown–but soon the door will be opened for the first time in many decades. But something waits, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests.
When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country’s most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won’t be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt soon becomes a fight for survival–the entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.

My review:
Shirley Jackson fan or not.  You WILL be a Scott Thomas fan!  The characters are all so different yet so alike and each one has a way of getting under your skin.  There are some really great twists and turns and a few jumpy moments.  If you like creepy, you should spend the night in the house at Kill Creek!

This book is for all you people who like to be creeped out!  That would be me!!  This book is a whirlwind of creepiness.  I am talking the kind of creepiness that gets under your skin and works on you even when you aren’t reading the book.  THAT is the makings of an excellent creepy book.  The Winter People is just that.  Under your skin creepy.

GoodReads Summary:
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.

Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother’s bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

My Review:
This was my first Jennifer McMahon but definitely not my last.  I highly recommend this book.  The way the story unravels is amazing.  You are drawn into the past to see what has caused the events of the present.  You will never look into a dark closet the same again!!!

I absolutely loved this book.  Helga did a fabulous job of really creating a character that is so relatable.  You feel for all of her ups and downs.  Ingrid is the main character in this book.  Ingrid is from Germany but came to America to escape some horrible demons.  She meets Joe and soon becomes his wife.  They run a business together and Ingrid soon forgets that her passion really lies in being a singer.  She becomes the lead vocalist in a local band and this gives her the confidence to face her demons and bury them once and for all.
This book is about finding the strength within to face anything that is holding you back.  Please do yourself a favor and read this book.  You will not regret it.

5 Stars!!