I WILL FIND YOU.....ONCE AGAIN, COBEN FRAYS YOUR NERVES...AND RAISES THE DEAD...(*****)

 

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben (2023)     For anyone who's picked up one of Harlan Coben's page-turning thrill rides.........do I even need to sell you on this?

                 This is one author who guarantees you an up-all-night, I-gotta-see-what-happens-next reading experience.......and I can't remember when he ever disappointed. 

                  From perusing the description, you might be tempted to own this book immediately and tuck it away as a prime beach read. But I defy you to contain yourselves once you've read that inside cover flap.

                 Once again Coben returns to his all-time favorite plot device......in which the emotionally damaged lead character discovers a missing/presumed dead loved one is, in truth, very much alive. And from that point on, the hunt commences, fraught with danger, vicious villains and twists galore. 

                 "I Will Find You" dials up this trope to the max and on top of that throws in Hitchcock's favorite obsession - the innocent man, wrongly accused, forced to survive police capture and attempts on his life from the real evil conspirators. . 

                   This time, our rider on the Coben rollercoaster is David Burroughs, serving out a life sentence for the horrific clubbing murder of his own 3 year old son.  But his soul-crushed existence changes when his sister-in-law visits with a newspaper photo of a festive day at a theme park......  which includes a boy in the background with an uncanny resemblance to David's supposedly murdered little boy.....and sporting an identical birthmark. 

                    By this time, you just know that somehow, against all odds, David will break out of prison in a last ditch attempt to get to the bottom of things.....finding his son, finding the perpetrators and, finding out the identity of the poor murdered child buried in his son's place. You also just know that his quest will become as harrowing and nail-biting as Harlan Coben can devise. 

                     And as usual in Coben mysteries, brace yourself for devouring the pages at light speed until the final chapter. Prepare yourself for a whole lot of breath holding as David (a la Harrison Ford in "The Fugitive", conducts his desperate search barely escaping the clutches of cops and a relentless,  perpetually wisecracking oddball pair of FBI agents.

                    As a thriller junkie, I can't think of a better way to kick off the Spring-Summer reading season then to dive into one of Harlan Coben's double-beef-whoppers of a read.  Even if you get ahold of it before you hit the beach, it's still more fun to consume faster than a whole bucket of Boardwalk fries.  Easily 5 stars (*****).

'THE FERRYMAN' (RELEASE DATE 5/2/23......UTOPIA FOR THE "HAVES"....DYSTOPIA FOR THE "HAVE-NOTS" (***)

     The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (Release May 2nd, 2023

       Come May 2nd, you're likely to see towering stacks of this hefty-sized, instant bestseller prominently displayed on bookstore shelves......and thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books/Random House, I received an advance copy.......so here's the hot scoop on what's sure to become one of the big book events of the yea    

           I'm forever in awe of authors who take on the formidable task of world-building. And I knew Justin Cronin, whose 'Passage' trilogy thrilled me, would not disappoint in that daunting task.  

           His gorgeous, idyllic, utopian island of 'Prospera' I can only assume is all that's left in a post-apocalyptic world........ or is it?

           But like many other utopian never-neverlands, Prospera's a heaven-on-earth only for its wealthy upperclass residents. Toiling to support and service all their needs is an oppressed underclass of working stiffs. In that regard, it resembles the toxic class divisions Fritz Lang's classic silent film "Metropolis".

 
           The 'haves' live in Club Med luxury until their implanted monitors indicate they're old enough to expire. But that only entails a ferry ride to a mysterious neighboring island, where some new scientific miracles wipe their memories and physically reconstitute them as newly re-conceived adolescents, ready to start life over again. But meanwhile, the Prospera proletariat, fed up with their  impoverished,  enslaved lives as third-class citizens, are ripe for revolt and revolution. 

             The book's central figure Proctor Bennett, holds the exalted position of overseeing and calming Prosperans on their life-renewing ferry rides, But when his own father's passage goes strangely awry, deep dark impenetrable riddles about Prospera emerge. And Proctor finds himself plunged into uncovering long hidden truths while he's unknowingly enlisted by leaders of the lower class rebellion about to explode the island. 

              I did truly love this part of the story, which takes up about two thirds of the book......it throws in all the mystery, action and suspense of all those similar sci-fi/action-adventure Dystopias...(like 'Logan's Run', 'Soylent Green' and even 'The Time Machine'. 

                Even if you're tempted to guess the secrets behind Prospera, nothing can prepare you for the Double Whopper of a giant Twist that Justin Cronin detonates here.

                But this is where the book stopped being fun to read for me and turned into more of a laborious chore.
                As staggering as the reveal is (a mindblower, take my word for it), Cronin then audaciously attempts a parallel double-narrative structure, forcing you to keep track of his pre-Twist and post-Twist world building and characters. I'm sorry to say it developed into a sometimes confusing, tiresome slog for me and after awhile, seemed endless.

                 While I admire the sheer ambition on display, as well as Cronin's meditations on the nature of humanity,  the book's propulsive engine slows to a crawl after the reveal. And that results in turning "The Ferryman" from a  zippy, page-turning thriller into dense, hardcore science fiction.  (with much description and little dialogue interaction) 

               Thought provoking, yes.......but not written to make you stay up late, eager to find out what happens next. In fact, I couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief after finishing the long-time-in-coming epilogue. 

                 There's so much I enjoyed, thrilled to and stood in awe of here, that I can't help but give out 3 stars.  But the book's third-act voyage into....well, whatever, I wouldn't dare say........left me not engrossed, but reading it from a respectful distance.  It's a feast of a book, but every reader will make up their own minds about the courses served up.

 

MOOREWOOD FAMILY RULES......YOU GRIFT ME UP WHERE I BELONG....(***)

 Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon (2023)

           If you can't resist a mystery thriller set amongst a pit-of-vipers family, all of whom are up to no good to varying degrees, welcome to the Moorewood clan. 

            As an extended shady gang of conniving grifters, these familial  sociopaths specialize in marrying wealthy heirs and heiresses, with a cold eye centered on their victims' bank accounts. Jillian, one of their few non-psychopathic members, made a futile demand for them to give up the grifts and go legit. For her troubles, one of them anonymously set her up for an FBI arrest, resulting in a grueling, miserable prison stretch of almost 3 years. 

             Out on parole, Jillian's back and seething with a vengeful agenda to thwart all the family's illegalities.....control their money, claim ownership of their mansion home and thwart their newest two grifts to marry into separate fabulously wealthy families. 

              But the Moorewoods  aren't likely to take Jillian's 'go-legit-or-or-else' demand sitting down. When mysterious, murderous 'accidents' begin to befall her, her few family allies supply Jillian with hunky bodyguard Beck.......and a predictable but still amusing  slow burn romance simmers while literally everybody's deepest family secrets start coming out.

             While the set-up seemed to promise a deliciously dark comedy, I felt surprised to find  the book spent more time on the soap opera conniving and the all too serious drama of the Moorewoods'  dysfunctional family histories. True,  there a good amount of wit in many of the dialogue exchanges, but the 'Knives Out' type laughs, if that's what your expected, don't occur  with any frequency.   And Jillian, along with the storyline, both take an awful long time to finally get where they're  going. 

            Even with the dawdling plot, the chapters do zip along fast enough. Plus, I'm right there for any book that offers the fun of watching a sprawling household of toxic rascals meet their match.  Best saved for a warm lazy spring afternoon.....or even the beach.  3 stars (***)

WITH MY LITTLE EYE.....A STALK TO REMEMBER.....(*****)

With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson (2023)

           I'm well aware of all the books, films and TV episodes that deal with that ever popular suspense generator - celebrities endangered and driven into fear-stricken anxiety by unhinged stalkers obsessed with them.

           What can I say? I'm a sucker for all of them, and like everyone else, I demand a seriously loathsome, psychotic stalker whose surprise identity, once revealed, will stun me.......and I also would ask for a hopefully sympathetic, vulnerable celebrity victim, somebody worth fearing for and rooting for.  While authors of stalker=thrillers usually never forget to dial up the psychosis on their villains, not all of these books present a celeb you can care about. 

             Joshilyn Jackson does well enough in that department. Her bedeviled celeb Meribel Mills is cleverly conceived as no giant superstar - she's only  a mid-level working actress, carving out a career of playing secondary, but unforgettable roles in TV shows and movies, achieving a moderate amount of fame. But unfortunately, it's enough fame to attract a murderous lunatic who's sending her creepy, threatening anonymous letters right out of the stalker handbook. Hoping to avoid this loon's attention and potential proximity, Meribel accepts a series role filmed in her home town Atlanta, taking along Honor, her adopted, autistic 12 year old daughter.

               And guess who hits the road to come right after them.....to make Miribel his and his alone.

               When the terrorizing and scary letters resume in Atlanta, there's no shortage of men popping up in Meribel's life to choose from as suspects -  a mysterious heavy-set guy in a raincoat on the street,  the friendly next door neighbor in her apartment building, the bodyguard=security expert who's an ex-boyfriend she still feels for, and her Atlanta-based, now remarried ex-husband....on whom Mirbel's practiced a bit of innocent, amateur stalking herself. 

                  As I'd expect and require in a thrill-ride like this, the pages fly by quickly, leading to the finale jaw-dropping reveals and excruciating nail-biting,  encounter between Meribel and her odious tormentor.  The genuine double-whammy of an extra twist that author Jackson throws into the finale comes a little too close to far-fetched overkill, but I couldn't help but admire the sheer audacity of it.  

                  Besides, I surely don't pick up stalk-o-ramas like "With My Little Eye" for their documentary-like reality. I'm looking for nothing less than a 5 star(*****) armchair theme-park ride with loads of hairpin turns.  And this one's just the ticket. 
                  
                   
                 
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THE SOULMATE.....A TROUBLED COUPLE, RIGHT ON CLIFF'S EDGE...(*****)

 

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (2023)

Once again, domestic dysfunction goes plunging off a cliff......this time literally, right into the crashing surf of the ocean below. That's part of the unsettling price that loving soulmates Pippa and Gabe pay for moving into a beautiful cliffside house on the Australian coast. Their home sits in front of the area's most favored high cliff for potential suicides seeking to end it all.

            But not on Gabe's watch though. Movie star handsome and a dauntless good Samaritan,, he's become a neighborhood celeb by rushing out of the house to talk people out of taking that last fatal step.  Pippa couldn't be prouder of him........that is, until Gabe's calming voice and steady outstretched hands fail to prevent a bedeviled woman's terminal leap.  Even worse, from Pippa's vantage point of the incident, it looked more like Gabe's arms appeared in the "push" position rather than the life-saving  "I got you!" stance. Uh oh......

              And now let the twists commence, starting the first of a cascade of shockers that rock Pippa's world......Gabe and the unfortunate woman were not strangers to each other. (Let's all say it together now...."Uh oh..")

               More than that I wouldn't dream of revealing, since the nerve-wracking jollies of a domestic thriller like this come from the steady detonation of deep secrets and stunning surprises. And in that regard, Sally Hepworth delivers the goods over and over........in that everybody involved has something to hide and don't think you know for minute what's really going on until you race to the final pages. 

              The short, right-to-the-point chapters give the book a relentless, propulsive pace........a technique I wish more thriller authors would adopt.  And I can never get enough zippy 5 star, suspense laded tales like "The Soulmate"....even if they take me way past bedtime.  Well done, Ms. Hepworth.....can't wait for your next one already.  For suspense fans, "The Soulmate" makes for a fine book-mate,,,(*****)

RED QUEEN.......MISMATCHED ODD COUPLE SLEUTHS MATCH WITS WITH AN EVIL KIDNAPPER (*****)

Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado (2023)

             Even if it's cobbled together from familiar tropes that all mystery-suspense lovers well know, "Red Queen" is such an expertly written, entertaining thrill ride, I doubt anyone will complain.

             You'll most definitely want to book a flight to Spain ("book" being the most operative word here) and meet yet another unlikely pairing of odd couple sleuths recruited by a clandestine law enforcement agency. They're tasked with with solving the most incomprehensible crimes imaginable and help to bring the dangerous, violent perpetrators to justice.

            Antonia Scott, estranged daughter of the British ambassador to Spain, is an emotionally damaged savant, whose perceptive brilliance measures somewhere off the charts. Her 'Red Queen' agency drafts a most unwilling partner to join forces with her (with the promise of making his problems go away) - Jon Gutierrez, a disgraced police detective on the verge of unemployment and impending indictments.

             This offbeat dynamic duo is pitted against a truly frightening, formidable adversary, the mysterious "Ezekiel" a serial kidnapper-murderer. And this psychotic but wily fiend exclusively targets the children of Spain's most powerful corporate billionaires......and tormenting them with unknowable demands they dare not comply with, even at the risk of their children's lives. 

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            The twists and turns here come hurling out one after the other. And the pacing and the cleverness of the the plotting kept me me glued to this book. deep into the wee hours. (I'd defy anyone to stop reading, no matter what time of night, once they arrive at Antonia and Jon's nerve-wracking climactic showdown with the unfathomable evil perp..) An extra bonus comes from the sly, often impish wit in the frequent pop culture and film references sprinkled about in the prose. For anyone who gobbles up thrillers, "Red Queen"s a 5 star treat from beginning to end.(*****)

              And for us North American readers, more good news......since "Red Queen" arrives here as the first in a best selling trilogy already published in Spain and Europe, there's two more books to look forward to. I for one will stand first in line for next one.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE......A SAD, HORRIBLE ADOLESCENCE COME BACK TO ENDANGER ITS SURVIVORS...(*****)

 What Have We Done by Alex Finlay (2023)

           Initially, I worried about the premise here. Oh no....not another group of friends haunted by a terrible crime of their adolescence, a shared guilt that's now come roaring back to put them in harm's way. I dreaded plowing through an onslaught of angst-ridden internal monologues.

           But what a terrific surprise in store for any reader who picks this up.......a non-stop, breathless thrill ride guaranteed to make you lose track of whatever you're doing, not moving an inch until you've finished it.

            Alex Finlay throws multiple, familiar genres into the mix.......starting with a bunch of emotionally broken, abused, orphaned teens trying to survive in a horrific group home. 'Savior House, its very name a sick joke, is a nightmarish hellhole right out of a Stephen King novel riddled with corrupt neglect and violent bullying. And the victims of this abysmal place, suspect its caretakers of kidnapping and sex trafficking.

           But this small group of the tormented Savior House kids strike back and manage to escape the hellish house, leaving a buried body behind them.......a secret that comes back to throw their later lives into lethal jeopardy.

           Now, as grown adults with a host of dysfunctions and troubles, four of them just barely survived attempts on their lives - Nico, a gambling addicted reality TV show producer, Donnie, a washed up, drug and booze addled rock star, Artemis, a powerful tech billionaire and Jenna, a former graduate and operative of one of those 'La Femme Nikita'-'Orphan X' assassin academies. But another of their original group wasn't so lucky.

           The hit-girl tasked with killing them all is a scary young sociopath, who can uncannily appear in two places at once, and wields that pneumatic captive bolt-firing tube favored by "No Country For Old Men"s infamous killer Anton Chigurh.

             What follows from this point on..... the book lays out an unrelenting chase as Jenna and her surviving Savior House friends become both hunters and hunted, unburying all the terrible dark secrets of their past and staying out of the crosshairs of ......well, that's another of the book's many twists you won't hear from me.

            All I can say is that I raced through "What Have We Done" at record speed, one of those books where you constantly find yourself saying..."just one more chapter and then I'll pack it in for the night"....and then end up awake to read way more chapters into 3 'O clock in the morning.....

             And that makes this one a pure and simple 5 star thriller(*****)..... a must red for armchair adrenalin junkies.