#CoverCrush House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy

For new visitors do I want to explain that Cover Crush is something that my friend Erin over at Flashlight Commentary came up with and I adopted the idea together with some other friends. And, now we try to put up a Cover Crush every week. You can check below my pick of the week for their choices this week!

A young New York City couple with a young boy and a baby in tow, Ben and Caroline Tierney had it all…until Ben’s second novel missed the mark, Caroline lost her lucrative banking job, and something went wrong with 8-year-old Charlie. When Ben inherits land far upstate from his grandmother, the two of them begin to believe in second chances. But upon arriving in Swannhaven, a town that seems to have been forgotten by time, they’re beset by strange sights and disconcerting developments…and they realize they might have made their worst mistake yet. But what dark secret is buried in this odd place? And will Ben and Caroline figure it out soon enough to save their young family?

Some thoughts about the cover:

I read this book some years ago when it had a different cover. But seeing this cover, well WOW, it's so fabulous. Just the kind of cover I want to see on a cover to a thriller. The stately house that you just know is hiding things...bad things!

Check out what my friends have picked for Cover Crush's this week:

Stephanie @ Layered Pages

Heather @ The Maiden's Court

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Books

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation

Meghan @ Of Quills & Vellum

Erin @ Flashlight Commentary

#BookReview The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell @BloomsburyBooks

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge.

With her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. But inside her new home lies a locked room, and beyond that door lies a two-hundred-year-old diary and a deeply unsettling painted wooden figure – a Silent Companion – that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself...

**********

The Silent Companions is a book that quite honestly pulled the rug out from under my feet. How come? Well, it's a book that was alright, but honestly, I didn't think I would be so engrossed in the book that I had to finished reading it before I slept. So, I read until almost midnight because somewhere along the way came a moment when I just couldn't stop reading the book.

Now, it takes a lot to scare or even creep me out and honestly, this book didn't manage that. But, it was interesting and addictive to read. And, I just wanted to learn the truth about the wooden figures, the silent companions and what the old diaries from the 1700-century will tell. And, what really happened to Elsie's husband Rubert? Did he just die, and are the servants really sincere? What really happened in the house that is said to be cursed? I just love haunted houses, cursed houses, placed in a desolate landscape with an atmosphere of doom.    

If you like a book with dual storylines, mysteries, and especially love to read about old houses that are said to be cursed than you will love this book. The Silent Companions is a book that took me by surprise and I loved how I slowly was bulled into the story and how I just needed to read one more chapter. Love books like that!      

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BlogTour Death in the Stars by Frances Brody (@FrancesBrody) @PiatkusBooks

Death in the Stars by Frances Brody
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

‘Frances Brody has made it to the top rank of crime writers’

Published 5th October 2017
Paperback Original, £8.99

ABOUT THE BOOK

Yorkshire, 1927. Eclipse fever grips the nation, and when beloved theatre star Selina Fellini approaches trusted sleuth Kate Shackleton to accompany her to a viewing party at Giggleswick School Chapel, Kate suspects an ulterior motive.

During the eclipse, Selina's friend and co-star Billy Moffatt disappears and is later found dead in the chapel grounds. Kate can't help but dig deeper and soon learns that two other members of the theatre troupe died in similarly mysterious circumstances in the past year. With the help of Jim Sykes and Mrs Sugden, Kate sets about investigating the deaths - and whether there is a murderer in the company.

When Selina's elusive husband Jarrod, injured in the war and subject to violent mood swings, comes back on the scene, Kate begins to imagine something far deadlier at play, and wonders just who will be next to pay the ultimate price for fame . . .

BOOK REVIEW

Death in the Stars is the third book I have read in the series and now I feel that I've gotten to know the main characters pretty well. I find this series to be an excellent cozy mystery series to read. For me who usually read crime and thrillers is a cozy mystery book now and then the perfect kind of book to read when I feel that I want a genre change. And, on the plus side are the books in this series stand-alone so it's piece a cake reading a book without having read any of the previous ones.

This book starts off with Kate being contacted by theatre star Selina Fellini who wants Kate's company to a viewing party at Giggleswick School Chapel to see the eclipse. However, Kate suspects that Selina has another reason for contacting her. Kate later learners that Selina is worried about some deaths around her that have occurred during the year and when Selina's friend and co-star Billy Moffatt is found dead does it seem that Selina may be right...

For much of the book does it seem that there is no connection between the deaths. That there is no foul play at all. I mean there seems to be no motive, and the two death's in the past have been ruled accidental. However, Kate is not one to give up, she will dig until she finds out the truth.

Death in the Stars is the kind of book that doesn't rush the story, there are a lot of characters, but not at all hard to keep apart and personally I love the ending, made me think of how in the end Poirot (the tv-series since I haven't read the books) would gather all the suspects to deliver the verdict. Death in the Stars is a good book and I quite enjoyed reading it!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the book for an honest review!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Frances Brody is the author of the Kate Shackleton mysteries, as well as many stories and plays for BBC Radio, scripts for television and four sagas, one of which won the HarperCollins Elizabeth Elgin Award. Her stage plays have been toured by several theatre companies and produced at Manchester Library Theatre, the Gate and Nottingham Playhouse, and Jehad was nominated for a Time Out Award.

#BlogBlast Johnny Big-Ears, The Feel-Good Friend by John Paul Padilla @ProvidenceBks

Johnny Big-Ears, The Feel-Good Friend
by John Paul Padilla
October 3, 2017 Book Blast

October is National Bullying Prevention Month! Join the Campaign with this Amazing Book!

 

Book Details

Genre: Children

Published by: Padilla Goldworks

Publication Date: March 20, 2012

Number of Pages: 40

ISBN: 0979889847 (ISBN13: 9780979889844)

Purchase Links:

Synopsis:

Johnny BIG-EARS is just like every other five-year-old child, but when he starts his first day of kindergarten, children begin to tease him because of his enormously large ears. Follow Johnny as he faces the challenges that being different presents. How will Johnny react to being teased? Find out why Johnny turns out to be a winner in this endearing, thoughtful book that addresses typical childhood bullying and offers children advice on how to deal with teasing. Whether you're a parent or an educator, now you will be able to encourage your kids or students through this special book and help motivate all young kids to start feeling good about themselves no matter who they are, or what they look like!

Excerpt:

Author Bio:

John Paul Padilla was born in December 11, in Los Angeles, California. He is a multi-award winning author that includes Mom’s Choice Award. He is also a public speaker and advocate against bullying. 

He is currently residing in the Central Valley of California. John Paul is an ex model, and has danced for fifteen years with a dance academy. He has written lyrical, verses that were recorded by Nashville artists. He has previously published Wings to Cross an Ocean, an inspirational poetry book that encourages personal growth and happiness for adults. 

John Paul was inspired to write his first anti-bullying book, Johnny Big Ears, the Feel Good Friend, based on his own childhood experiences with teasing and bullying. He has also written Johnny Big-Ears, Meets His New Neighbor Suzy, for little girls, who get teased because of their weight. Both of his books are now out in Spanish. Most recently, Johnny Big-Ears won the Grand prize for best overall, Best Book Cover in the 2017 IndieBRAG First Annual Book Cover Contest.

Visit John Paul's website: Website or catch up with Johnny Big-Ears on Twitter & Facebook!

Tour Host Participants:

Stop by the other hosts for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Providence Book Promotions for John Paul Padilla. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card AND 5 winners of one (1) print copy of Johnny Big-Ears, The Feel-Good Friend by John Paul Padilla, Continental US Mailing Addresses only. The giveaway begins on October 3 and runs through October 10, 2017.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find Your Next Great Read at Providence Book Promotions!

#BookReview The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey (@sarahbailey1982) @GrandCentralPub #Giveaway

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rose was lit by the sun, her beautiful face giving nothing away. Even back then, she was a mystery that I wanted to solve.

The lead homicide investigator in a rural town, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is deeply unnerved when a high school classmate is found strangled, her body floating in a lake. And not just any classmate, but Rosalind Ryan, whose beauty and inscrutability exerted a magnetic pull on Smithson High School, first during Rosalind's student years and then again when she returned to teach drama.

As much as Rosalind's life was a mystery to Gemma when they were students together, her death presents even more of a puzzle. What made Rosalind quit her teaching job in Sydney and return to her hometown? Why did she live in a small, run-down apartment when her father was one of the town's richest men? And despite her many admirers, did anyone in the town truly know her?

Rosalind's enigmas frustrate and obsess Gemma, who has her own dangerous secrets—an affair with her colleague and past tragedies that may not stay in the past.

**********

I was thrilled to discover that this new crime series is set in Australia. I read The Dry by Jane Harper and loved it and after that did I want to read more crime novels from Australia. The Dark Lake is the story about a woman that is found dead in the lake, and for Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is this a case that will become very personal. Since she grew up in the town did she, of course, know Rosalind Ryan who was the same age as her and who came back to town a few years before. But, it's more than that. Gemma has a connection to Rosalind, but that is something she is desperate to hide.

This is the kind of crime novel I love to read, with an interesting case and a DS that gets obsessed with solving the murder and at the same time having a troublesome home life not to mention a connection to the victim. And, there are secrets in the rural town with everyone seeming to have something to hide. And, sometimes cases can get too close to home.

The Dark Lake is the first book in the Gemma Woodstock series, something that I was very glad to learn. I loved Gemma's messy home life and her affair with a colleague that threatens her life with Scott and their son Ben. Gemma is trying to balance her personal life and at the same time solving a murder. Not the easiest thing to do for her. I liked this book and I will definitely read the next book in the series!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Bailey was born in Melbourne, Australia, where she has lived all her life and currently resides with her two young sons. She has a degree in journalism and has a career in advertising. She is currently a creative partner at creative agency, Mr Smith. THE DARK LAKE is her first novel.

WEBSITE: http://www.sarahbaileyauthor.com

FACEBOOK: @sarahbaileyauthor

TWITTER: @sarahbailey1982

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

EARLY PRAISE

“THE DARK LAKE hooked me from page one! Sarah Bailey combines the very best elements in this stunning debut thriller — a troubled detective still trying to find her way as a female investigator, a small town haunted by secrets both past and present, and a beautiful victim whose unsettling allure appears to be her biggest asset and largest downfall. With clever twists and all-too-human characters, this book will keep you racing toward the end.”

            --- Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Right Behind You and Find Her

“THE DARK LAKE is a stunning debut that gripped me from page one and never eased up. Dark, dark, dark — but infused with insight, pathos, a great sense of place, and razor-sharp writing. It’s going to be big and Sarah Bailey needs to clear a shelf for awards.”

            --- C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Vicious Circle and Open Season

“Police work comes easily to Det. Sgt. Gemma Woodstock, the narrator of Australian author Bailey’s stellar first novel… Bailey interweaves her sympathetic protagonist’s past and present with uncommon assurance… a page-turner that’s both tense and thought provoking.”

            --- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“The Dark Lake is a mesmerizing thriller full of long buried secrets that sucked me right in and kept me up late turning pages. Gemma Woodstock is a richly flawed and completely authentic character — I loved going on this journey with her and the way the truth of her past was revealed in bits and pieces as we went along. Sarah bailey has crafted an exquisite debut — I can’t wait to see what she does next!”

            --- Jennifer McMahon, New York Times bestselling author of The Winter People

“I read THE DARK LAKE in one sitting, it’s that good. A crime thriller that seizes you from the first page and slowly draws you into a web of deception and long buried secrets. Beautifully written, compulsively readable, and highly recommended.”

            --- Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God and co-author of the bestselling Pendergast series

“A compelling debut.”

            --- Booklist

“I raced through this deliciously complicated, mesmerizing debut at warp speed. Sarah Bailey’s THE DARK LAKE is sure to keep readers awake far too late into the night.”

            --- Karen Dionne, author The Marsh King’s Daughter

#BookReview The Ninja's Illusion by Gigi Pandian (@GigiPandian) @HeneryPress

The Ninja's Illusion by Gigi Pandian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fabled illusion performed by a stage magician who claims to possess real supernatural powers. A treasure from the colonial era in India when international supremacies vied for power. A phantom trading ship lost over 200 years ago. And a ninja whose murderous intentions in present-day Japan connect the deeds of a long-dead trader who was much more than he seemed…

When Jaya travels from San Francisco to Japan with her stage magician best friend Sanjay—a.k.a. The Hindi Houdini—for his Japanese debut, she jumps at the chance to pursue her own research that could solve a tantalizing centuries-old mystery.

With the colorful autumn leaves of historic Kyoto falling around her, Jaya soon loses sight of what’s real and what’s a deception. A mysterious ninja attempts sabotage on Sanjay’s trick, along with Japan’s most controversial magician, Akira. Ancient folklore blurs the lines between illusion and reality when a magician’s assistant appears to be a kitsune, a mythical fox spirit. As tricks escalate to murder, Jaya and her friends must unravel secrets hidden in the ancient capital of Japan, before one of their own becomes the next victim.

**********

The Ninja's Illusion is the latest book in the Jaya Jones series and this is a series that I truly love to read since I love reading adventures mystery books in exotic settings. This time Jaya travels to Japan where here best friend Sanjay a.k.a. The Hindi Houdini is working with the controversial magician, Akira who is said to be able to do magic for real. However, something is wrong, Sanjay seems to want Jaya to stay home, but that just makes her more eager to travel to Japan. And, when she gets there doesn't it take long for Jaya to realize that something is definitely wrong when Sanjay and she discovers a man dressed as a Ninja in a Buddhist temple watching them...

The Ninja's Illusion is an entertaining book to read, just as the previous I have read has been. It can without any problems be read as stand-alone. The story is intriguing, and I love the easy-going banter between Jaya, Sanjay, and Tamarind. However, to be honest, was there a moment around half the book when I felt that the story just didn't have the same thrilling feeling as the previous did like the pacing was a bit off and I wanted something to happen to get the book back on track. It could be all the Jaya, Sanjay and Lane (Jaya's ex) drama. I have never liked the whole triangle drama thing and as much as I like Sanjay wasn't I that interested in this new development. Thankfully it was resolved in a good way. Also, Tamarind showing up around the time of the BIG drama thing helped put the book back on track. Man, it's hard sometimes to write about things in books without spoiling it...

The Jaya Jones series is fabulous, and I recommend it warmly!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BookReview Höstdåd (Autumn Deeds) by Anders de la Motte (@AndersdelaMotte) (SWE/ENG)

Höstdåd by Anders de la Motte
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

En sensommarkväll 1990 tältar fem barndomsvänner vid sitt hemliga badställe, ett nedlagt stenbrott på en skånsk ås. Nyss har de tagit studenten och vuxenlivet väntar runt hörnet. Stämningen är därför upprymd, men också vemodig eftersom vännerna inser att den här kvällen innebär ett farväl både till ungdomstiden och till varandra. På mer än ett sätt ska det visa sig för när morgonen gryr och det första höstregnet fallit flyter det en kropp i stenbrottets mörka vatten. En tragisk olycka fastslår polisutredningen, men alla är inte övertygade.

I tjugosju år förblir händelsen ett sår i bygden, en konflikt som stilla bidar sin tid. Och när den gamle polischefen ersätts av Anna Vesper, en nyinflyttad mordutredare från Stockholm, börjar dunkla krafter sättas rörelse. Snart har Anna inget val. Hon måste ignorera alla varningar och öppna ärendet från hösten 1990. Hösten få säger sig minnas men som ändå aldrig blivit glömd.

**********

Slutet på sommaren blev min inkörtsport till Anders de La Mottes böcker. Det var en av de bästa böcker jag läste förra året. Så förhoppningarna var stora i år när Höstdåd äntligen damp ner hemma hos mig. Och jag blev inte besviken, Höstdåd är en stark thriller som med underbara beskrivningar, intressanta karaktärer samt en spännande handling trollband mig. Jag gillade hur Anna Vesper, med sin dotter, försökte starta ett nytt liv men hur Anna insåg att hennes iver att komma bort från Stockholm hade lett henne till att bli manipulerad. Och hela tiden i hennes bakhuvuden fanns oron där, oron att det inte hjälper att fly.

Sedan har vi fallet med den unga mannen som dog i en olycka 27 år tidigare, eller var det en olycka? I flashbacks får läsaren följa hans sista natt i livet med sina vänner. Hur denna sköna sista kväll redan från början hade en tryckande stämning över sig.

Höstdåd är i grund och botten en tragiskt berättelse. En berättelse om hur en ung man med hela livet framför sig miste livet och hur hans föräldrar aldrig kom över det. Det är också en berättelse om att försona sig med de val man gör i livet och att ibland är tala silver, men tiga guld...

Tack Bokförlaget Forum for recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

Five childhood friends are camping at their secret place at a quarry on a Skåne hill one an evening at the end of summer in 1990. They have just finished school and adult life is waiting around the corner. The atmosphere is, therefore exuberant, but also reduced because the friends realize that this evening means a farewell both to adolescence and to each other. In more than one way it turns out because when the morning is dawning and the first autumn rain has fallen is there also a body floating in the dark water of the quarry. A tragic accident establishes police investigation, but everyone is not convinced.

For twenty-seven years, the event remains a wound in the village, a conflict that is waiting to happen. And when the old police chief is replaced by Anna Vesper, a newly-moved murder investigator from Stockholm, dark forces begin to move. Soon, Anna has no choice. She must ignore all warnings and open the case from autumn 1990. The autumn few say they remember but never forgotten.

**********

End of the Summer, was my starting point when it came to Anders de La Motte's books. It was one of the best books I read last year. So the expectations were great this year when Autumn Deeds (roughly translated title) finally arrived home at my place. And I was not disappointed, Autumn Deeds is a strong thriller with wonderful descriptions, interesting characters and a thrilling story that captivated me. I liked how Anna Vesper, with her daughter, tried to start a new life, but how Anna realized that her eagerness to get away from Stockholm has led her to be manipulated. And all the time in her head is the worries that it does not help running away from problems.

Then we have the cold case with the young man who died in an accident 27 years earlier, or was it an accident? The reader can through flashbacks follow his last night in life with his friends. How this beautiful last night had a pressing mood from the start.

Autumn Deeds is basically a tragic story. A story about how a young man with all his life in front of himself loses it and how his parents never were able to move on. It is also a story about accepting the choices you make in life, and sometimes speaking is silver, but silence is golden...

Thanks to Bokförlaget Forum for the review copy!

#BookReview Dead Stop by Barbara Nickless (@BarbaraNickless) @AmazonPub

Dead Stop by Barbara Nickless
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The search for a kidnapped child leads a courageous railway cop down a twisted trail of murder.

It’s been five months since Special Agent Sydney Parnell survived a violent confrontation with a gang of brutal thugs, an encounter that left her physically and emotionally scarred. Deep down, Sydney fears she isn’t ready for another investigation. But when a woman is murdered on the train tracks and a child is kidnapped, she knows she’s the only one who can lead the hunt for the killer. While Denver police and the FBI chase down blind alleys, Sydney focuses on a single cryptic clue left behind at the crime scene—one that will send her down a path of greed, violence, and long-ago love.

With Denver beset by a series of monsoonlike thunderstorms that threaten to flood the city, Sydney and her K9 partner, Clyde, must wade through a murky trail of murder that stretches back thirty years—all to rescue a child…and catch a killer with a long memory and an insatiable appetite for destruction.

**********

I read Blood on the Tracks last year and I loved it! So, I was pretty thrilled to get the chance to read the sequel, Dead Stop. Special Agent Sydney Parnell is a tough railway cop that together with her K9 partner Clyde has to save the only survivor of a brutal home invasion, a little girl. At first, is it hard to see what made the killer choose to kill everyone in the family, and kidnap the little girl. Is this because of some past transgression by the mother or father? Or likes the answers even further back in time? It seems that Sydney has to follow a trail that leads back in time to find the answers, but she has to do it quickly, a little girl's life is in danger, and who knows if the killer will stop at that...

Special Agent Sydney Parnell may have survived the confrontation in the last book, but she has added a six more ghosts to the list. And, I mean that literally. Her PTSD has resulted in that she sees ghosts. So, yes she has some problem and all this makes her such a fabulous character. Damaged and with pretty bad war memories, among that the memories of her lover, Doug, that never made it home, all that she has left of him is his dog that she has bonded with. Now she has kind of moved on with Detective Mike Cohen, although she's not quite there yet, she has moved in with him, but she can't bring herself to let Dough go just yet.

The case is a hard one, with 3 brutal deaths, but will add more deaths along the way as Sydney desperately tries to find out the truth before the time runs out for the little girl. I found the story engrossing, a sad tale about man's ambitions that crushes lives and have repercussions several years later. The first book story may have gotten to me a bit more, but this is an excellent book that I recommend warmly!  

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!