Book-Review-Deadman’s-Track

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Deadman’s Track

by

Sarah Barrie

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Sarah Barrie’s Deadman’s Track was my second of her books and I thought it better than Devil’s Lair.   Again set in and around Hobart (Tasmania) Deadman’s Track and is rightly billed as a romantic thriller and combines a boyfriend who is not all that he claims to be, a pawn shop fence, and several murders.

 

Tess, a local guide, survives a tragic hiking accident, and is having difficulty getting back on the horse, so to speak.  She claims to have felt two hands push her over a cliff.  But who would do such a thing?  She is almost certain it would not have been her boyfriend.

Not long after the accident Tess breaks up with her boyfriend who demonstrates a side hitherto unseen by Tess.  He does not know the meaning of ‘No’.

However, because her ex, who is all but stalking her after they broke up, pulls out of a dangerous winter hike with a group of inexperienced young hikers she reluctantly takes over the job with disastrous results.  Tess is unaware of Detective Senior Sergeant Jared Denham’s feelings towards her as he offers his help.

 

I enjoyed Deadman’s Track partly for the story line and partly for its setting and accordingly,

I rated

 Deadman’s Track

 as a solid

four star read/audiobook

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Deadman’s Track

an average of 4.06 stars

 from 462 ratings

 and 81 reviews

Deadman’s Track

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Review_I’ll-Find-You

I’ll-Find-You

by

Liz Lawler

I’ll Find You was my second Liz Lawler book and I think it was as nearly as good as Don’t Wake Up.

I’ll Find You begins about a year after Emily’s sister Zoe, who she is trying to find, went missing, when Zoe is in hospital for a minor operation.  She wakes during the night to hear hospital staff furiously working on a person in the next bed, however, the next morning she is told that she must have dreamed the whole episode as there was no-one in the other bed.

She comes to the conclusion that some of the staff has something to hide.  But just what remained elusive?  Why did staff deny the presence of another patient in Emily’s room?  Why was one of the top surgeons involved?

Emily’s continued efforts to find her sister and the person in the other bed land her in a psychiatric ward for a while until she escapes.   After she escapes one of the senior nurses is murdered.  Guess who is suspected of committing the crime.

I enjoyed I’ll find you, especially near the end with many unexpected turn of events popping up.  Did she ever find her sister?  You will have to read the book

I rated

I’ll Find You

as a solid

read.

At the time of writing my review,

Other Goodreads readers have rated

I’ll Find You

an average of 4.01 stars

from 1,976 ratings and 173 reviews

I’ll Find You

can be purchased on-line at

Fishpond, Booktopia, and Amazon

 

Book Review-The-Girl-They-Took

The-Girl-They-Took

(Tess Winnett #8)

by

Leslie Wolfe

We often send children to school functions thinking they will be safe. That was mother Miriam’s thoughts when she left seven year old daughter Paige, backstage with other children and teachers at the school’s play.   Within 45 minutes Paige had been kidnapped and Miriam was left unconscious in a broom cupboard.

The Girl They Took, the eighth in the Tess Winnett series, has Tess specifically requested to solve the kidnapping of the District Attorney’s daughter, Paige.

Two botched ransom drops, organised by a blow-in junkie and the paedophile kidnapper, only serve to exacerbate Mother Miriam’s hysteria.  The other kidnapper is against asking for a ransom as he is working for someone who has no ransom agenda and he is doing his best to keep Paige safe and sound.  Why?

Meanwhile Father District Attorney appears to show little or no interest in his daughter’s disappearance.  He seems to want to carry on as usual.   Again…Why?  You will have both of these questions answered when you read the book.

The Girl They Took has Winnett at her most subdued with most of her time waiting for ransom calls and trying to subdue distraught mother, however, it did show another side of Tess Winnett.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl They Took and recommend it to all Leslie Wolfe/Tess Winnett fans.

I rated

The Girl They Took

as a solid

four star read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

The Girl They Took

an average of 4.45 stars

from 236 ratings

and 26 reviews

The Girl They Took

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Not available Booktopia or Fishpond: July 10, 2021

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Book-Review-Devil’s-Lair

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Devil’s Lair

by

Sarah Barrie

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Sarah Barrie’s Devil’s Lair was my first of her books and probably will not be my last.

Even after Callie is acquitted of murdering her husband people still shun her husband’s dream and refuse to come back to their Bed and Breakfast.   So Callie decides to move to a cottage near an old mansion in Tasmania where she finds solace in the beauty of the Tasmanian landscape and friendly locals, in particular Connor and his siblings at nearby Calico Lodge.

Unknown to Callie the old mansion has a chequered past associated with witchcraft and murder.

However, it I the nocturnal events in Callie’s cottage which lead Callie to question her reasons for moving to Tasmania and eventually she begins to doubt her own sanity.

I listened to Devil’s Lair as a background novel while working on my computer which is not the best way to read any novel as some important parts of the story may be missed through lack of concentration.  However, all the concentrating under the sun would not have prepared me for the twists and turns towards the end.  As with most novels set in, or about, Australia I did enjoy Devil’s Lair.  Perhaps in book format it may have been four star material however I felt three and a half stars was enough.  As Goodreads does not cater for half stars Devil’s Lair can only be rated a solid three star read.

I rated

Devil’s Lair

 as a

three star read/audiobook

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Devil’s Lair

an average of 3.81 stars

 from 689 ratings

 and 132 reviews

Devil’s Lair

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

Book-Review-Damage

Damage Francis’s

Damage

by

Felix  Francis

(Jefferson Hinkley #1)

 

Damage was my second Francis book and I felt I was so invested in the previous Sid Halley novel that it took a while to accept that this was a totally different investigator by the name of Jeff Hinkley.

Like Halley, Hinkley is also a retired jockey, albeit a much younger character and if you have not guessed by now Damage also revolves around the British racing industry with murder, horse doping and extortion/blackmail being the crimes investigated by Hinkley.

The British Horseracing Association (BHA) is having its meetings disrupted.   The Grand National Steeplechase is stopped mid race; at some meets nearly all horses test positive for a banned stimulant; jockeys and stewards are fed laced food with the balance of the card being abandoned on each occasion.

Eventually, the BHA receives a demand for money and all the interference will stop.  And stop it does with a surprise ending.

I have only given damage a three star rating while most readers have rated it 4 or 5 stars.  Damage is not a slow read and I think that if the element of sameness increases, (horse racing) I can still see this type of book holding my interest even if they are not favourites.

I rated

Damage

as a

read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Damage

an average of 3.94 stars

from 2,240 ratings

and 246 reviews.

Damage

can be purchased on-line at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

 

Book Review-Liar-Liar

Liar Liar

by

James Patterson

and

Candice Fox

*****

Co-authored by Candice Fox, James Patterson’s Liar, Liar, features Detective Harriet Blue who is bent on avenging the death of her brother, Sam.  In Blue’s mind the death of serial killer and nemesis Regan Banks was the only way to avenge Sam’s death.  She chases, or rather follows Banks’ instructions as he directs her movements around Sydney, prior to a rather uninspiring finale.  With all murder mysteries there are the usual expected and unexpected twists in Liar Liar

As with Fifty, Fifty, narrator, Federay Holmes, did not in my opinion, contribute to a positive audio experience with her Liar Liar narration.  All her character voices sounded tired and disinterested in their part of the investigation.  Not only disinterested but all had very similar voices and it was difficult to keep track of who was actually talking and whether they were angry or happy.

As you can guess Federay Holmes is not my favourite narrator, which is at odds with my wife who thinks she has a great voice for these books.

I have rated

Liar Liar

as aaudio book.

***

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Liar Liar

an average of 3.86 stars

from 8,182 ratings

and 703 reviews.

***

Liar Liar

can be purchased on-line at 

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

Book-Review-Blink

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Blink

by

K. L. Slater

 

K. L. Slater’s Blink is one of his best I have read this year.  Single mother, Toni and five-year-old Evie have moved to a new area, new school and know very few people.  The only person from Evie’s school who had bothered to make themselves known to Toni was Miss Watkins.  Miss Watkins represented herself as a teacher when in fact she was a only teacher’s aide.

Like many single parents Toni is finding the going tough and just as she finds herself a job, and the promise of a financially better life, Evie is taken from school….by a stranger.

Blink is written in two parts, present day and three years earlier where most of the action takes place.

For a great majority of Blink the present day action revolves around a woman who is little more than a vegetable to onlookers, but in reality is wide awake, but locked in her inanimate body.                

As with many of Slater’s novels, I did not pick the ending in any way shape or form.  I was way off base which for me added another half star to its rating.

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I rated

Blink

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Blink

an average of 4.00 stars

from 11,999 ratings

1,029 reviews

 

Blink

is available online

at

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

~~~~~~~

Blink

 

Book Review-Beneath-Blackwater-River

Beneath Blackwater River 

(Dr. Kay Sharp #2)

by

Leslie Wolfe

Leslie Wolfe’s second Kay Sharp novel, Beneath Blackwater River is off and running from page one with little or no back story to bog down the flow.

Beneath Blackwater River sees Leslie Wolfe at her best again.   To date I have read all of Wolfe’s series and the first book in each series is the hard read which I can only attribute to the back story content needed to introduce characters.

A teenage runaway, a kidnapping, a teenage murder victim, a bent cop, and a wealthy family provide the main ingredients to keep pages of Beneath Blackwater River turning into the wee hours of the morning.

The main to question to be answered, other than whodunit, is how a seventeen year-old murder victim’s DNA could match that of an unsolved kidnapping some 14 years earlier?

One of these conundrums questions I figured out long before Dr Kay did.  However, as the end drew nigh there were more twists and turns than one could possibly hope for in a mystery novel.

Beneath Blackwater River moves along at a cracking pace.  While Kay Sharp #1 was good, Kay Sharp #2 was/is an excellent read.  I am certain that all Leslie Wolfe fans will be delighted with this latest character in her repertoire.

I rated

Beneath Blackwater River

as a solidstar read.

At the time of writing my review other

Goodreads readers have rated

Beneath Blackwater River

an average of 4.58 stars

from 384 ratings

and 63 reviews

Beneath Blackwater River 

is available online

at 

Booktopia,  Fishpond and Amazon

Not available Booktopia: May 16, 2021

Book-Review-Refusal

Refusal

by

Dick  Francis

 

Refusal, was my first novel written by Dick Francis and the fifth book featuring Sid Halley.  Sid is a retired jumps jockey who conducted an investigation until he received one bashing more than his wife could stand.  Now he earns an income from his stocks and shares.

His quiet life turns a tad awry when a good friend, Sir Richard Stewart, approaches him with a list of horse races which Stewart maintains have been fixed.  Sid refuses to help.  The following morning Sir Richard is found dead.  Police call it a suicide, whilst those who knew Stewart think murder.  

Shortly after Stewart’s death, Halley receives a phone call Om a male with an Irish accent suggesting the Halley should indeed write a report clearing racing of any wrongdoings. 

From here the story moves up another gear, terrified jockeys, child abduction and arson are some of the incidents which make Refusal a page turner.

 I thoroughly enjoyed Refusal and would recommend to lovers of the ‘whodunit’ genre.

I have also been informed that all Dick Francis books revolve around the Britain’s racing industry.  Therefore I look forward to more novels authored by Francis.

Refusal, moves along at a fast pace and I believe would make a good read and is an excellent audiobook.

 

I rated

Refusal 

as a

read.

 

At the time of writing my review

other Goodreads readers had awarded

Refusal

an average of 3.94 stars

from 2,763 ratings

and 347 reviews.

Refusal

can be purchased online at

Booktopia, Fishpond and Amazon

 

 

Book Review-Innocent-Man

The Innocent Man

by

John Grisham

***

Jon Grisham’s, The Innocent Man would have gone unread had I read the burb.  However, I didn’t and it hasn’t.  I am not a fan of true stories.

 The Innocent Man tracks Ron Williamson’s futile attempts to move from country baseball to Oklahoma’s major league baseball.  When eventually delisted, Ron returns to Ada, his home town, where several years later a cocktail waitress is murdered.  Ron and friend Dennis Fritz are regarded by local law enforcement as prime suspects.  Five years after the event both are arrested, charged with murder, tried and found guilty and sentenced to death.  All based on the evidence of jail house snitches, alleged dream confession and shonky experts.

The scariest part of this book is the fact that innocence is no longer presumed by America’s justice system.  Ron Williamson was down to a week before his execution date when the stay of execution was handed down.  And that was only because the bloke destined to read his appeal actually read the trial transcript and brought inconsistencies to his boss.  An entirely different outcome would have resulted had it not been for this zealous clerk.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Innocent Man.  However, I must also confess to being a John Grisham junkie.  The Innocent Man being my twenty-fourth of Grisham’s books.

The Innocent Man moved along at a good pace and did not dwell on the tedium of everyday life; a detail which has seen me not wanting to read true life stories.

I rated

Innocent Man

as a solid read

*****

At the time of writing my review,

Goodreads readers have rated

Innocent Man

an average of 3.83 stars

from 66,406 ratings

and 5,096 reviews

Innocent Man

can be purchased on-line at 

Fishpond, Booktopia and Amazon