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REVIEW

Alone in the Woods by Charly Cox

Detective Alyssa Wyatt #3

Captured in the first scene of the book, both myself and the two girls kidnapped, and engaged through till the end, I was rooting for a successful conclusion to the murder investigation, a happy ending for Addis and Emerson, and the revelation and capture of the serial killer. Great addition to the series!

What I liked:

* Alyssa: normal, well-balanced, police detective, team leader, mother, wife, friend, unflappable – I like her as a person and admire her.

* Cord: work-partner to Alyssa, husband, soon-to-be-father, even tempered, normal, balanced, - I like him.

* Tony: intrigued by him and found him worth note – hope we see more of him in the future

* Addis & Emerson: strong, smart, tenacious, enduring, willing to do what it took to survive.

* The police procedural aspects of the story

* Glimpses of people from the last book as well as hints of what that last book was about.

* The writing and the slow release of information with twists and turns that eventually revealed who was behind the crime(s).

* Feeling I was there with the characters as the case unfolded

* That this book was not a cookie cutter replay of the previous one – there was violence and crime but though dark it wasn’t the same type of darkness and evil as in the previous book.

* The conclusion and knowing that there will be another book in the series.

What I didn’t like:

* The person I was meant NOT to like – easy to hate such a one! Truly deserves being incarcerated…or worse!

* Having to wait for the next book in the series.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The sudden appearance of a man’s booted feet had Addis snapping her mouth shut. Screaming, she kicked out at the tall, muscular guy as he dragged her from beneath the desk...

It was a scene from a horror movie; Gabriel Kensington and his wife Lydia found, brutally slain in their luxurious home in New Mexico. The frantic, whispered phone call from their teenage daughter Addis, spending the evening with best friend Emerson, quickly alerts the authorities to the killings – and worse, that the killer is still inside the house.

But when detective Alyssa Wyatt and the squad appear at the house, the unthinkable has happened – the girls are nowhere to be found.

Waking up in a dilapidated cabin, nestled high in the woods north of Albuquerque, the girls find themselves at the mercy of a brutal stranger who could take their life at any moment. While they fight for survival, it’s up to Alyssa Wyatt and her partner Cord to discover just why the Kensingtons have been targeted – and fast.

Because for Addis and Emerson, solving this mystery might just mean the difference between survival – or an unthinkable death...

AUTHOR BIO

Born in the South, raised in the Midwest, Charly now resides in the Southwest in the Land of Enchantment where she enjoys eating copious amounts of green chile and other spicy foods. When she’s not reading, writing, or plotting sinister evils with her antagonists, she enjoys doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, hanging out with her husband and her spoiled Siberian Husky, visiting her son in Arizona, and traveling, preferably to places surrounded by sun, sand, and warm uncrowded beaches.

Twitter

https://www.facebook.com/charlycoxauthor/

https://www.clcox-author.com/

REVIEW

Girl Under Water by   L.T. Vargus

Detective Charlotte Winters #2

Charlie Winters has a new assistant and a new case. She is hoping her uncle Frank will get good feedback from his oncologist and is eager to find a good way to care for her mother while she works in her uncle’s place at A1 Investigations. Meeting Charlie in book one I found the conversations she had with her sister, missing twenty years and presumed dead, interesting. I just reviewed my previous review and was reminded that Charlie left a job elsewhere to return too Michigan and was conflicted about that move. As in book one, the prologue sets the stage for the case Charlie will be working on and within the first chapter or so we meet the main characters and potential killer.

What I liked:

* Charlie: seemed intelligent, focused, and a good person. She cared about her mother and uncle and…heard the voice of her long gone sister.

* Frank: didn’t see much of him but did like Charlie’s uncle and hope to se more of him in book three.

* The way the story was presented…the time line and slow presentation of tidbits was intriguing

* Who Charlie called on for assistance – would like to hear more about Zoe, Mason and Paige in future books

* That it is set in Michigan

* The way Charlie pursued the case

* That I was not sure who the killer was till near the end – and then there was a twist

* The other twist, or two, or more…hmm…

* That the killer was revealed and dealt with

* knowing there will be another book to look forward to and hoping to learn more about the cast of characters in book three.

What I didn’t like:

* Knowing that family dynamics can be “bad” and that dysfunctional families exist as they did in this book.

* The lengths some of the characters went to for the reasons they thought were justifiable

* Having to wait to read book three…am curious.

Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

BLURB

Her numb fingers scrabble over upholstery, over metal, over glass, searching for a way out. Water stings her eyes as she’s dragged downward, clinging to her last breath as she’s absorbed into the cold dark below… When Gloria Carmichael’s body is found broken and bleeding on the sidewalk just days after knocking on Detective Charlie Winters’ door begging for help to locate her father’s will, Charlie’s instinct is confirmed: her latest case is about more than just a simple family feud. The Carmichaels are famous in Salem Island for their large family and charitable work, but, moments before she died, beautiful, trustworthy eldest daughter Gloria called Charlie to say she had uncovered a terrible secret that would break the mystery of her father’s death wide open. With the voice of her murdered sister ringing in her ears —pushing her to risk everything to bring justice to the innocent —Charlie takes matters into her own hands. She won’t let another family break apart like her own, and she knows the answers she needs are hidden somewhere inside the Carmichael home. But as Charlie races to confront her main suspect—a file containing evidence that will devastate the Carmichael family on the car seat beside her —she’s rammed off the road and over the edge of a nearby cliff. Fighting for breath in a sinking car, Charlie has to survive or other innocent lives will be taken. Everyone involved is keeping secrets, but only one twisted soul is prepared to kill to keep theirs… An addictive crime thriller with twists at every turn, you won’t know what hit you after you’ve finished Girl Under Water. A perfect read-in-one-sitting rollercoaster ride for anyone who adores Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni and Mary Burton. 

L.T. Vargus

Tim McBain

AUTHOR BIO

L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain are the authors of the Violet Darger series and The Scattered and the Dead series among others, which have collectively tallied over a million downloads. Their book, Dead End Girl, peaked at #3 in the US Kindle charts and has remained in the top 10 in multiple sub-categories since it was published in 2017.  

https://ltvargus.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ltvargusbooks/

https://twitter.com/ltvargus

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/36WzMrU

Apple: https://apple.co/2S227og

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2RZ8V6s