Review: Forty Dead Men (Alafair Tucker, #10) by Donis Casey

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1372.0 KB
• Print Length: 217 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1464209391
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (Feb. 6 2018)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B077ZLJKG5

Book Description

Some people who have experienced a shocking, dangerous, or terrifying event develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is recognized today as a debilitating but potentially treatable mental health condition. Military veterans are a vulnerable group. But PTSD can deliver a knockout blow to anyone, as the remarkable unfolding of the tenth Alafair Tucker Mystery, Forty Dead Men, shows.

World War I is over. Alafair is overjoyed that her elder son, George Washington Tucker, has finally returned home from the battlefields of France. Yet she is the only one in the family who senses that he has somehow changed.

Gee Dub moves back into his old bunkhouse quarters, but he's restless and spends his days roaming. One rainy day while out riding he spies a woman trudging along the country road. She's thoroughly skittish and rejects his help. So Gee Dub cannily rides for home to enlist his mother in offering the exhausted traveler shelter.

Once made comfortable at the Tucker farm, Holly Johnson reveals she's forged her way from Maine to Oklahoma in hopes of finding the soldier she married before he shipped to France. At the war's end, Daniel Johnson disappeared without a trace. It's been months. Is he alive? Is she a widow?

Holly is following her only lead - that Dan has connected with his parents who live yonder in Okmulgee. Gee Dub, desperate for some kind of mission, resolves to shepherd Holly through her quest although the prickly young woman spurns any aid. Meanwhile, Alafair has discovered that Gee Dub sleeps with two cartridge boxes under his pillow - boxes containing twenty "dead men" each. The boxes are empty, save for one bullet. She recognizes in Gee Dub and Holly that not all war wounds are physical.

Then Holly's missing husband turns up, shot dead. Gee Dub is arrested on suspicion of murder, and the entire extended Tucker family rallies to his defense. He says he had no reason to do it, but the solitary bullet under Gee Dub's pillow is gone. Regardless, be he guilty or innocent, his mother will travel any distance and go to any lengths to keep him out of prison.

About  the Author

DONIS CASEY was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A third generation Oklahoman, she and her siblings grew up among their aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents on farms and in small towns, where they learned the love of family and independent spirit that characterizes the population of that pioneering state. Donis graduated from the University of Tulsa with a degree in English, and earned a Master’s degree in Library Science from Oklahoma University. After teaching school for a short time, she enjoyed a career as an academic librarian, working for many years at the University of Oklahoma and at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Donis left academia in 1988 to start a Scottish import gift shop in downtown Tempe. After more than a decade as an entrepreneur, she decided to devote herself full-time to writing. The Old Buzzard Had It Coming is her first book. For the past twenty years, Donis has lived in Tempe, AZ, with her husband.

My Review

Forty Dead Men is the tenth Alafair Tucker mystery by Donis Casey. This is a wonderful historic mystery series set in Oklahoma. I have read most of the books in this series and enjoyed them all.

Forty Dead Men finds the Tucker family at the end of World War I. The flu epidemic is raging so it is not surprising when a dead body is found at the side of the road. It turns out to be the body of a man whose wife G.W. found wandering in the field. Holly, the woman, had come from Maine to find her husband who deserted her after the war. Once Holly looks at the body she realizes the man is someone else. So what happened to her husband?

Really enjoyable period mystery. I loved all the twists. Always enjoy Alafair Tucker's sleuthing. This time she needs to save her son G.W. from a charge of murder.

Highly recommend Forty Dead Men.

Review: This Fallen Prey (Casey Duncan #3) by Kelley Armstrong

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 5072.0 KB
• Print Length: 432 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Canada (Jan. 30 2018)
• Sold by: Random House Canada, Incorp.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B073NP3QZ4

Book Description

When Casey Duncan first arrived at Rockton, the off-the-grid, isolated community built as a haven for people running from their pasts, she had no idea what to expect. There are no cell phones, no internet, no mail, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval. She certainly didn't expect to become the town homicide detective. But, the very last thing she expected was for the council to drop a dangerous criminal into their midst without a plan to keep him imprisoned. And she never thought that she'd have to be responsible for him.

The longer Oliver Brady stays in town, the more people seem to die around him. When evidence begins piling up that someone inside Rockton is working as his accomplice, Casey races to figure out who exactly Brady is and what crimes he's truly responsible for committing.

About the Author

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

My Review

This Fallen Prey (Casey Duncan #3)  by Kelley Armstrong is the third book in the Rockton series. All fans of this series will be looking forward to this one. What a great story!

Rockton is an isolated town in the Yukon territory in Canada. It is a remote location. Very few people can locate Rockton therefore Detective Casey Duncan and Sheriff Eric Dalton are shocked to hear a small plane heading for their small community. Surprize..onboard is a despicable character named Brady who they need to keep for six months. Brady is apparently a cruel serial killer but he denies it. This is a great chaotic adventure in the woods for the most part searching for the escaped Brady.

So many twists and so many unanswered questions! What an engrossing read! I just loved it. I cannot wait until the next book in the series.

Highly recommend This Fallen Prey.

Review: Stronger than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle by Havilah Cunnington

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1110.0 KB
• Print Length: 225 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0718094190
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (Jan. 9 2018)
• Sold by: Zondervan CA (CA SOR)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B06XFMTL2T

Book Description

"Why do I still struggle if I'm faithfully following God?"

We all face challenges. On any given day, the problems of real life can take our breaths away. Our marriages, finances, relationships, and health are regular struggles, and that's just the beginning. Doesn't the Bible say the war has already been won? So why do we still battle?

In a down-to-earth, let’s-get-real approach, popular Bible teacher Havilah Cunnington cuts through the confusion and shows us how to:

Discern whether we’re dealing with battles within ourselves, resistance from God, or genuine fights with the Devil.

Throw off misconceptions about spiritual warfare, and understand what Jesus really said about our spiritual authority and the certainty we have in him.

Ask the right questions and build a realistic battle plan to win one day at a time.

With humor and honesty, Cunnington lays out practical tools to thrive in the face of hardship, enabling us to walk forward in the confidence that, because of Jesus, we really are stronger than the struggle.

About the Author

Havilah Cunnington has been in full-time ministry for twenty years, and serves as the Executive Director of Moral Revolution and a pastor at Bethel Church. Havilah and her husband, Ben, lead a nonprofit and an online platform called Truth to Table, reaching the world with Bible studies, messages, and lifestyle leadership tools. Havilah and Ben live in Redding, California, with their four sons: Judah, Hudson, Grayson, and Beckham.

My Review

Stronger than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle by Havilah Cunnington is a inspiring and encouraging. This is  a must read book for women who are asking themselves "Why do I still struggle if I'm faithfully following God?"

Here is a page you can check out to see if you would find value in this book:  http://havilahcunnington.com/blog/66-stronger-than-the-struggle/

The author is also running a bible study/book club. Currently (Jan. 25, 2018) they are in the second week so you easily catch up. The Facebook Group is here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1971445226229183/about/

And the book club's landing page is here: https://truthtotable.com/

I have joined the Book Club and am following along with the book. This is a great time to purchase the book and follow along.

Many peoples lives are filled with struggles. They are thrilled if they have a quiet day. Cunningham provides tools to help get us through those struggles.

I highly recommend Stronger than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle by Havilah Cunnington.

Review: Keep Her Safe by K.A. Tucker

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2971.0 KB
• Print Length: 448 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (Jan. 23 2018)
• Sold by: Simon & Schuster Canada, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01HMXRYNI

Book Description

Making a Murderer meets Scandal in this story of police corruption, family secrets, and illicit affairs from bestselling author K.A. Tucker, celebrated for her “propulsive plot twists and searing seduction” (USA TODAY).

Noah Marshall has known a privileged and comfortable life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that's been rattling in her closet for years, and succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family's life. Reeling with grief, Noah is forced to carry the burden of this shocking secret.

Gracie Richards wasn't born in a trailer park, but after fourteen years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it's all she knows anymore. At least here people don't care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop, murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Here, she and her mother are just another family struggling to survive...until a man who clearly doesn't belong shows up on her doorstep.

Despite their differences, Noah and Gracie are searching for answers to the same questions, and together, they set out to uncover the truth about the Austin Police Department's dark and messy past. But the scandal that emerges is bigger than they bargained for, and goes far higher up than they ever imagined.

Complex, gritty, sexy, and thrilling, Keep Her Safe solidifies K.A. Tucker's reputation as one of today's most talented new voices in romantic suspense.

Praise for Keep Her Safe:
"Sexy, dark, and unnerving. Keep Her Safe is an addictive read with a tightly constructed plot woven from threads of romantic tension and unexpected twists. I caught myself holding my breath over and over."  (Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of The Lovely Reckless)

"A master of steamy romance, Tucker skillfully threads Noah and Gracie's sexual tension throughout the investigation...No one is above suspicion in this taut, sizzling romantic mystery." (Kirkus Reviews)

"A heart-pounding romantic thriller...Tucker crafts a shrewd mystery that never falls flat, even as the steady, subtle romantic relationship heats up the page." (Publishers Weekly)

"A satisfying change of pace for Tucker." (Booklist)

"There is nothing obvious about this mystery. The twists are cleverly hidden and keep the level of anticipation high. Appealing young characters will captivate readers as one tries to fulfill a promise and the other navigates circumstances that might break a weaker spirit." (RT Book Reviews (Top Pick))

About the Author

K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.

She is the USA Today bestselling author of 16 books, including Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water, and her upcoming Adult Suspense novel, Keep Her Safe. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, and Publisher's Weekly.

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband and two beautiful girls.

My Review

Keep Her Safe by K.A. Tucker is the first book of Tucker's that I have read. It is a great romantic suspense novel.

Noah Marshall is a young man whose life is turned upside down. His mother, the police chief of Austin, Texas, kills herself. Noah is left with a puzzle on his hands. He needs to find the daughter of his mother's old partner and bring her a package...with $98,000 in it.

Noah finds Gracie in dire need of the money. Her mother is a heroin addict who is always one hit away from death. Why are the FBI involved? And is the City of Austin ready to deal with the mess that has been revealed.

There are lots of twists in Keep Her Safe. I had a hard time putting it down.

Highly recommend Keep Her Safe.

Review: The Wife by Alafair Burke

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1050.0 KB
• Print Length: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper (Jan. 23 2018)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers CA
• Language: English
• ASIN: B072NY8QFP

Book Description

When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.

Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their perfect life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look at the man she married. And when she is asked to defend Jason in court, she realizes that her loyalty to her husband could unearth old secrets.

This much-anticipated follow-up to Burke’s Edgar-nominated The Ex asks how far a wife will go to protect the man she loves: Will she stand by his side, even if he drags her down with him?

About the Author

Alafair Burke is the New York Times bestselling author of "two power house series" (Sun-Sentinel) that have earned her a reputation for creating strong, believable, and eminently likable female characters, such as NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher and Portland Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid. Alafair's novels grow out of her experience as a prosecutor in America's police precincts and criminal courtrooms, and have been featured by The Today Show, People Magazine, The New York Times, MSNBC, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Chicago Sun-Times. According to Entertainment Weekly, Alafair "is a terrific web spinner" who "knows when and how to drop clues to keep readers at her mercy."

A graduate of Stanford Law School and a former Deputy District Attorney in Portland, Oregon, Alafair is now a Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School, where she teaches criminal law and procedure. Her books have been translated into 12 languages.

Alafair's work has been praised by some of the world's most respected crime writers, including Gillian Flynn, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Karin Slaughter, Harlan Coben, Lisa Scottoline, Lisa Unger, and Nelson DeMille.

Learn more about Alafair at www.alafairburke.com

My Review

The Wife is the latest novel by author Alafair Burke. I discovered Alafair because I was such a huge fan of her father's, but now I read Alafair Burke's novels because she writes amazing stories.

I cannot tell you how much I loved The Wife. What a great book filled with fascinating characters. I seriously could not get anything done today until I finished reading The Wife.

I love a novel with twists and The Wife has some doozies. Interesting story about a young woman and her son. The young woman had been kidnapped by a stranger and kept in captivity for 3 years. When she went back to her family she returned with her young son. Years later she is living a quiet life with her husband until he starts becoming well known. Then he is accused of indecent exposure by one woman and rape by another. Contemporary issues that are so relevant today.

Highly recommend The Wife. I recommend all of Alafair Burke's books. She just keeps getting better and better.

Review: Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2537.0 KB
• Print Length: 353 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1250167205
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (Jan. 9 2018)
• Sold by: Macmillan CA
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01MR48RV0

Book Description

Four suburban mothers and friends conspire to cover up a deadly crime in this heart-stopping novel of suspense in the tradition of Lisa Scottoline and Lisa Unger.

Alison, Julie, Sarah, Heather. Four friends living the suburban ideal. Their jobs are steady, their kids are healthy. They’re as beautiful as their houses. But each of them has a dirty little secret, and hidden behind the veneer of their perfect lives is a crime and a mystery that will consume them all.

Everything starts to unravel when Alison spots a nasty bruise on Heather’s wrist. She shares her suspicions with Julie and Sarah, compelling all three to investigate what looks like an increasingly violent marriage. As mysterious injuries and erratic behavior mount, Heather can no longer deny the abuse, but she refuses to leave her husband. Desperate to save her, Alison and the others dread the phone call telling them that she’s been killed. But when that call finally comes, it’s not Heather who’s dead. In a moment they’ll come to regret, the women must decide what lengths they’ll go to in order to help a friend.

Just Between Us is a thrilling glimpse into the underbelly of suburbia, where not all neighbors can be trusted, and even the closest friends keep dangerous secrets. You never really know what goes on in another person’s mind, or in their marriage.

"A twisty, domestic thriller [...] tense, bombshell-laden, and action-packed." ― Publishers Weekly

"Female friendships flourish, then falter, under the weight of chance events underlaid by secrecy and deceit [...] Drake shows a sure hand in spinning suburban thrillers." ―Booklist

"Rebecca Drake's Just Between Us is suspense at its best--a riveting, fast-paced psychological thriller that brilliantly explores the limits of friendship and the secrets we keep from one another." ― New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline

"Fans of Liane Moriarty and B.A. Paris are going to love this twisty, diabolical suburban thriller. Clear your evening, you won't be able to put it down." ― J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of Lie to Me

"Rebecca Drake's Just Between Us is a stunner - a tense, twisty thriller about four ordinary women that begs the question: When a friend is in trouble, and all you want to do is help, how can everything go so terribly wrong?" ― Karen Dionne, author The Marsh King's Daughter

"Rebecca Drake's Just Between Us is a riveting thriller that reveals the dark heart beating in the middle of American suburbia. Every character in this rich novel has a secret, and the secrets get deeper and darker as the pitch-perfect plot unfolds. This is a stunning story of friendship and the tangled lies that bind four women together. Don't miss it!" ― David Bell, author of Bring Her Home

About the Author

Rebecca Drake moves to hardcover with her breakout psychological thriller ONLY EVER YOU. She is the author of three other suspense novels, DON’T BE AFRAID, THE NEXT KILLING, and THE DEAD PLACE, as well as the short story, Loaded, which was featured in PITTSBURGH NOIR. She is a Penn State grad and an instructor in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction M.F.A. program. A native New Yorker, Rebecca has also lived in Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Qatar and currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and two children.

My Review

Just Between Us is the first book by Rebecca Drake that I have read. Always great to discover a new author whose books you enjoy reading.

Just Between Us is a fascinating story of 4 friends. You know, the type of friends all women have. You become friends because your children are the same age or go to the same school. But what do you really know about people you meet when you are an adult. What do they have hidden in their past? And what are they really capable of?

I loved reading this book. I could identify with the 4 main characters. I could easily understand how they could fall into the mess that they did. Well written and great characters..what more can you ask for?

Highly recommend Just Between Us.