Thursday 14 May 2015

#BookReview Beastly Bones by William Ritter @algonquinyr @willothewords

Beastly Bones by William Ritter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I've known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality . . .

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the supernatural. First, members of a particularly vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens. A day later, their owner is found murdered, with a single mysterious puncture wound to her neck. Then, in nearby Gad's Valley, dinosaur bones from a recent dig go missing, and an unidentifiable beast attacks animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Policeman Charlie Cane, exiled from New Fiddleham to the valley, calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer. 

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I was lucky enough to be granted an ARC of Beastly Bones from NetGalley and I read Jackaby just a couple of days before I read Beastly Bones and that was a wise decision since the story in this book picks up right where we left Abigail and Jackaby in the last book; A woman with an ailing cat. Well, ailing is probably the wrong word, the cat is slowly turning into a fish. But Abigail and Jackaby have a bigger fish to fry than then the catfish because dinosaur bones from a recent dig has gone missing and they together with exiled police detective Charlie Cane/Barker must find the missing bones. But odd things are happening at the site and something is attacking both animals and people.

This sequel to Jackaby was a real treat. I liked Jackaby very much, but the story was more interesting in this one. We have already got to know Abigail, Jackaby, Charlie, Jenny and Marlowe in the first book so instead of getting to know the characters as one does in the first book we get into action from page one. Of course, we get to know new characters along the way in this book like Hank Hudson a skilled trapper and Nellie Fuller a reporter, but I feel that the story in this one is better since it is more multilayered. We have the obvious bone theft, but there is a mysterious man that seems to be behind it and also the mystery of Jenny and her murder. Not everything gets answered in this book and the book ends with a cliffhanger. But that is alright, it only makes me more eager to read the next book. On a side note, there is some romance in this book, well some flirting between Abigail and Charlie, but that is just fine. It's not rushed in, it is not instalov, it's sweet, in a good way.

When it comes to YA is this the best I have read in a long while and I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review!

Monday 11 May 2015

#BookReview The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne @GrandCentralPub

The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of Sarah's daughters died. But can she be sure which one?
A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity--that she, in fact, is Lydia--their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, they are forced to confront what really happened on that fateful day.

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This is a truly intense psychological thriller; I was enthralled with the story from the beginning to the end and giving this book five stars was a very easy decision.

Angus and Sarah are trying really hard to pull their lives together and then having Kirstie claim that she is Lydia, that the daughter they thought had died was alive and vice-versa that is really making their life a hell in their new home and putting their already fragile marriage to the test.

What really happened the day their daughter died? They can't tell their daughter apart and the twins were wearing the same kind of clothing on the day one of them died.

This is a real page-turner, never a dull moment and the ending of the book, well I was afraid that S.K. Tremayne wouldn't be able to write a satisfying ending, but he did. This is without one of the best thrillers I have ever read and I recommended it strongly to anyone that likes psychological thrillers.

On a side note; I found out the real identity of S.K. Tremayne when I was writing this review. I actually though S.K. Tremayne was a woman, but it's Tom Knox, and he usually writes archaeological and religious thrillers. So, while I wait for S.K. Tremayne to publish a new book can I read Tom Knox's books and I love archaeological thrillers so it's a win-win.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review!