Title: When I'm Dead

Author: Hannah Morrissey

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Black Harbor

Book in Series: Book 3

Arc: Audiobook, Kindle

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Published: October 31, 2023

My Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Synopsis:

    On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthrop investigates the death of her daughter's best friend.  Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery- her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.

    A morbid mosaic of clues forces Rowan and her husband to question how deeply they knew their daughter.  As they  work closely to peel back the layers of this case, they begin to unearth disturbing details about Chloe and her secret transgressions... details that threaten to tear them apart.

    Amidst the noise of navigating her newfound grief and reconciling the sins of her past, an undeniable fact rings true for Rowan: karma has finally come to collect.

My Thoughts:

    Rowan and her husband are called to a crime scene, and they need to leave their daughter's school play. They arrive at the scene and realize that it is their daughter's best friend. She has been brutally murdered. Then they find out that their daughter never came home after the school  play.

    We see Rowan and her husband, with the aid of the police search for their daughter.  While searching for her, they uncover some secrets, rivalries, and a lot of drama.

    This is a new to me author, and I  will just have to say I was impressed.  This book is the third in the series, and after reading/listening to this book, I will definitely be reading more of this series.

    The whole book and story is very addicting.  From the very beginning you will be hooked with the story.  The plot was suspenseful, and a whole lot a twists that I never would have seen coming. The characters meshed will with each other.  They were a couple that I love to hate. lol.  But overall they were really well incorporated into the book exactly the right way.

    I would definitely recommend this book and the series to everyone.  It is just that awesome.  

    I am  giving this book 4 1/2 stars.

About the Author:

Hannah Morrissey is the USA Today bestselling author of the Black Harbor suspense series and other gripping works of crime fiction that will be coming soon!! Praised for their hauntingly atmospheric settings and gritty Midwestern realism, her novels have helped define a distint subgenre: Midwestern Noir.  

    A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she studied English and Creative Writing.  Hannah now lives near Milwaukee with her husband and three mischievous pugs.

 

Book Review: The Phalanx Code

Title: The Phalanx  Code

Author: Anthony A. J. Tata

Genre: Thrilller

Pages: 352

Series: Garrett Sinclair

Book in Series: 3

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: February 27, 2024

                                          Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: 

    Influential tech magnate Mitch Drewson calls on Sinclair and the Dagger team to protect his Project Optimus.  An ambitious endeavor that empowers citizens to protect their financial and personal data in the face of increasingly authoritarion federal governments, Project Optius is a threat to Aurelius Blanc's Phalanx Corporation. Blanc's data collection and media application are enabling a global security threat, creating a technofascism that monitors the activity of everyone with a smartphone, tablet, computer, or any web-connected device.

    When Phalanx assassin squads overrun an Optimus server farm in Californiz and attack an Optimus coder named Blair Campbell, who happens to be the president's daughter, Sinclair must deploy a group of warriors to save Blair and protect the remainder of the Optimus tean so they can finish their important work- a project that includes deciphering the mysterious Phalanx Code, suspected to be Phalanax 's kill list of Optimus employees.

    With Phalanx squads hunting him and those he loves, Sinclair must determine who he can trust while a part of his past comes back to haunt and threaten him and everything he holds dear.  

My Thoughts:

    Garrett Sinclair is in a military prison, where he has been informed that he will be released, and will be honorable discharged.  Things happen and he learns his family is in danger.  He and his team set out to find out why and to stop it.  

    This book is just brilliant!  It is off the charts!  All the action and twists and turns are just excellent.  The story weaves the past into the present and leads us all over the world. 

    The characters were just awesome, and they were just superb.  They were a little crazy to keep up with, but again it was just excellent all the way around!

    I am giving this book five stars all the way around.

About the Author:

    Anthony J. Tata is the national best selling author of 16 novels published by St Martins Press, Kinsington Books, and Variance Publishing.  His Jake Mahegan series from Kensington earned recognition as a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Mystery/Thriller Books of 2017 (Besieged), Barry Award finalist for Best Thriller of 2016 ( Foreign and Domestic).

    He has three series: The Garrett Sinclair series, The Jake Mahegan series,. and the Threat Series.  In his latest release, The Phalanx Code, Tony brings all three universes together.

    He is a retired army brigadier general and former leader at the county and city and state levels in Transportation and Education as well as having performed the duties of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.  He is an avid surfer and lives in Palm Beach County, Florida

Book Review: Deep State

Title: Deep State

Author: Chris Hauty

Genre: Political Thriller

Series: Hayley Chill Thrillers

Book in Series: Book 1

ARC: Kindle

Pages: 287

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Published: January 7, 2020

My Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis:

    Recently elected President Richard Monroe-populist, controversial, and divisive-is at the center of an increasingly polarized Washington DC.  Never has the partisan drama been so tense or the paranoia so rampant.  In the midst of contentious politcal turf wars, the White House chief of staff  is found dead in his house and West Wing intern and ex-Army grunt Hayley Chill is positive that it's not from natural causes.

    Determined to find the truth, Hayley uncovers shocking evidence that a wide-ranging conspiracy is running beneath the surface of DC in an effort to undermine the rule of law-and democracy itself.  Soon Hayley is in a race against time to reveal the truth and save the life of the next victim: the president.

My Thoughts:

    This is one of the best polictical thrillers that I have read in a really long time.  I enjoyed this one so much so, that I am going to get the rest of the books in the series, and read them.

        The main character Hayley is this tough boxing Army Champion,  I really liked her.  She works her way up in the White House as an intern.  She finds the Chief of Staff dead in his home and she finds a clue that he may have been murdered.  This is where the story start progressing fast.  

    Hayley was a character that I really liked well.  Her and the side characters connected really well.  The plot was like a maze and then boom! So not what I expected.

     I am definitely giving this book 5 stars.  This  book is one that I would definitely recommend!

About the Author:

    Chris Hauty was born in San Antonio, Texas and is a graduate of Reed College.  He began his professional writing career with "Don Coyote", a contempary interpretation of Cervantes' "Don Quixxxote" with Jonathon Lynn attached to direct.  

    Projects in the family  film genre followed, including Disney's Homeward Bound: Lost in San Francisco.

    Hauty lives in Venice, California with his feral cat and a Triumph motorcyle.  Deep State is his first novel.

    

    

    
 

Book Review: Murder Between The Lines

Title: Murder Between The Lines

Author: Clara W. Finch

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: The Haunted Bookshop Witch Mysteries

Book in Series: Book One of Three

Publisher: Independently Published

Date Published: June 5, 2026

Arc: Audiobook

                                                  My Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

    Olivia Whitlock came to Candlewick Cove to sell her aunt's failing bookshop and leave. Then a rare-book dealer is murdered during the shop's literary weekend, and The Wick & Page starts leaving clues in the margins.

    Now Olivia has a skeptical sheriff watching her, a black cat appearing wherever trouble starts, and a deat former owner who refuses to stay quiet.

The bookshop may be trying to save her. Or warn her.

To solve the murder before the killer writes her out of the story, Olivia will have to read between the lines.

My Thoughts:

    This is one of those whodunit mysteries.  I was so stumped on who the suspect could be.  The story was absolutely one of those stories that you had no idea which character was the suspect. While I throughly enjoyed the book, I was a little put off with the virtual narrator.  I guess that is just because I am used to a real person reading and narrating the story.

    The characters were really interesting and loved the cat. The characters intereacted well with each other, but again was not thrilled with the narration and think it could have been better.  The voice made the story sound bland. So I am giving this 4 stars.

About the Author:

Unfortuantely I can find nothing about the author.  I have googled her and nothing.  

 

Book Review: Outside the Lines: A Claudia Rose Novel

Title: Outside the Lines: A Claudia Rose Novel 

Author: Sheila  Lowe

        Genre: Mystery

        Series: Claudia Rose Forsenic Handwriting                               Mysteries

        Book in Series: Number 6

        Pages: 309

        Date  Published: May 11, 2021

        Book Publisher: Write Choice Ink

        Rating: 5 stars

Summary:

    When she becomes the target of a savage assault that leaves her traumatized, forensic handwriting expert Claudia Rose seeks refuge in the historic streets of England.  Her tranquility is short- lived, however, when her path collides with her LAPD Detective partner Joel Jovanic back home.

    Jovanic is caught up in the investigation of a deadly mailbox bombing that leads to a group of international  ecoterrorists and its magnetic mastermind, Dax Odell.  But Claudia uncovers a sinister connection  to a powerful chemical company that is manipulating lives, raising questions about who the real victims are.

    Pursued by both the London branch of the FBI and New Scotland Yard, she is pushed into a difficult choice between her principles and her partner.  As the investigation heats up and the lines between right and wrong blur, she is faced with an unexpected dilemma, where the truth may be more elusive than it seems.

My Thoughts:

    I have never read the earlier books, so was just a  little confused.  This  was intriguing, so will be adding the others to my TBR list.

    Claudia Rose  is the main character and is a forensic handwriting specialist. Joe, the other main character, who is also her fiance and a homicide detective.  She sometimes helps him with clues, but she sometimes steps over the line.

    This  book was really enjoyable, and I learned a great deal about and from both Claudia and Joe.  They are not the most perfect couple in the world, but they love and support each other.

    Handwriting analysis was very interesting to learn about.  Who knew!! I definitely learned a lot about it.

    This  book was very enjooyable and a definite page turner. I will be adding the other books from this series soon.

This book gets a five star rating all the way!!!!

 

Book Review: Rogue Sequence

Title:  Rogue Sequence

Author:  Zac Topping

Genre:  Technothriller

Series:  Ander Rade

Book in Series:  Book 1

Publisher:  Tor Books

Publication Date:  June 11, 2024

Pages:  342 pages

My Rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:

    Ander Rade us a syoer-soldier, a genetically engineered living weapon, and has been dutifully following orders since he gave himself to Scythe Industries Gene-Mod Programseveral years ago.  But when a miussion goes sideways, he's captured,imprisoned and forced into brutally violent fighting pits for the better part of the next decade, until agents from the Genetic Compliance Department of the Untied American Provinces appear in the visitors roo,m.

    Things have changed since Rade was captured.  Shortly after his incarceration, the World Unity Council banned human genetic engineering and deemed all modified individuals a threat to society.  Overnight, an entire subculture of people became outlaws simply existing.  But instead of leaving Rade locked behind bars, the GCD agents have come with an offer.  Freedom in exchange for his help tracking down one of his former teammates from that ill-fated mission all those years ago.

    It's an offer Rade can't refuse, but he soon realizes the situation is far more volatile then anyone had anticipated, and must take matters into his own hands as he tries to figure out whose side he's really on, and why?

My Thoughts:

    This was a really good book.  Rade has kind of been left out in the cold and captured and made to fight for his life in a prison.  Then the government decides that they need his help.  He is tasked with going after his former teammate.  

    Things get a little dicey and we see that things aren't what they seem.  

    This book was something that I have never read in this genre, but it was really good.  I am giving this four stars, due to the fact that I couldn't always understand the narrator.

About the Author:

    Zac Topping grew up in Eastern Connecticut and discovered a passion for writing early in life.  He is a veteran of the United States Army and has served two tours in Iraq, and is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Wake of War.  He lives with his wife and dog ina quiet farm town and currently works as a career firefighter.

 

Book Review: The Devil's Fortress

Title: The Devil's Fortress

Author: Dale Brown

Series: Nick Flynn

Book in Series: 4

Genre:Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

ARC: Kindle

Published: May 28, 2024

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

                                        My Rating: 5 stars

Summary:

    After saving the US from a Russian nuclear attack, Nick Flynn returns in what could be his most dangerous mission yet.

    Former US Air Force officer Nick Flynn joined the clandestine Quartet Directorate to continue its long standing mission; to act decisively against serious threats to the free world.  And with the backing of Russia's authoritarian president, no threat is more deadly that that of Pavel Voronin and his mercenary Raven Syndicate.  Twice they have almost succeeded in bringing the United States to is knees, only to be stoppeed at the last moment by Flynn and his team of highly trained operatives.

    But Flynn knows it's only a matter of time before one of Voronin's plans to cripple the US bears lethal fruit.  And so, taking the Russian oligarch permanently off the board is now is nummber one priority.  Operating undetected deep in hostile terrirtory and fighting their way through Voronin's extraordinarily tough defenses will require every ounce of skill, dedeication, and daring that Flynn and his small force can muster.  The slightest error could be fatal for all of them- and ultimately, for millions of Americans.

    With the clock ticking, and dangers mounting on all sides, it's up to Flynn and the others to finish Voronin before it's to late.  

My Thoughts:

    I have always enjoyed Dale Brown's books. And this last book of this series did not disapoint at all.  As always Nick and his team race against time and the bad guys to get to their target and elminate him before they are caught.

    I couldn't put the book down at all.  I kept reading and turning pages quickly to find out what would happen next.  

So this book receives 5 stars.

About the Author:

Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 29 action-adventure "techno-thriller" novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996), FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN, (1999), WARRIOR CLASS (2001), WINGS OF FIRE (2002), AIR BATTLE FORCE (2003), PLAN OF ATTACK (2004), ACT OF WAR (2005), EDGE OF BATTLE (2006), STRIKE FORCE (May 2007), SHADOW COMMAND (2008) ROGUE FORCES (2009), EXECUTIVE INTENT (2010) A TIME FOR PATRIOTS (May 2011), TIGER’S CLAW (2012), STARFIRE (2013), IRON WOLF (2014), PRICE OF DUTY (2015), THE MOSCOW OFFENSIVE (2017), and THE KREMLIN STRIKE (2019). Fourteen of his novels have been New York Times best-sellers. He is also the co-author of the best-selling DREAMLAND techno-thriller series and writer and technical consultant of the Act of War PC real-time strategy game published by Atari Interactive and the Megafortress PC flight simulator by Three-Sixty Pacific. Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 12 million copies.

Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course. He was also an Air Force instructor on aircrew life support and combat survival, evasion, resistance, and escape.

Dale supports a number of organizations to promote law enforcement, education, and literacy. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association, U.S. Naval Institute, and National Rifle Association. He is a command pilot for Angel Flight West (www.angelflightwest.org), a group that donate their time, skills, and aircraft to fly medical patients free of charge. He is also a mission pilot with the Civil Air Patrol, flying a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his Cessna pressurized P210 Centurion. On the ground, Dale is a soccer referee instructor and enjoys tennis and scuba diving. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.