***Suspense Thriller Read*** | Eyeshot by Taylor Adams | Book Review

AMAZON:INDIA | US

A very solid & intense thriller! 

This has to be the first time I am reading a thriller set in a desert and I loved the setting of this book. A deadly sniper is targeting this young couple - James and Elle Eversman, in the open grounds of Mojave desert. They are completely out in the open with nowhere to go, with only their broken-down car as a protection. Are they going to survive the bullet of this killer? For how long? Will they get the chance to start a new life in Tulsa? - With very slim chances and so many chapters left, I also wondered the same thing! 

There were so many odds against them and so much to lose, and all this made to a very tense and thrilling ride for readers. I loved the couple and their relationship; it was hard not to. Author spent so much time on their backstories, it was hard not to get attached with them. We also got the chapters from the killer’s perspective so the action was not all one sided. 

The only reason I did not give it five stars was because there were some moments where I felt the book was a little slow, as we spent a big amount of time on exploring the backstories of our characters. The scenes also felt unrealistic in few places. It was not a big issue for me, but it takes you out of the action a bit. 

I loved Taylor Adams writing, which I also liked in ‘No Exit’, so it was not a surprise. He writes such gripping action thriller scenes, worthy of being on a movie. It steals your attention and expand your imaginary senses! Definitely planning on reading my last unread book ‘Our Last Night’ by him soon! 

OVERALL RATING  - 4/5

BUY ON AMAZON : INDIA | US

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Book Thoughts | The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

The Broken Girls is a suspenseful, creepy unresolved mystery kind of book with great ghost story and historical elements mixed into it! This has to be my favourite read so far this year, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

So, we are following two timelines - past (1950) and present (2014) in Vermont, both somehow connected to this Boarding School called 'Idlewild Hall'. In 1950, we follows four roommates, who bonds over the haunted stories of Mary Hand, a ghost rumored to be haunting this school. In 2014, we are following Fiona Sheridan, a journalist who is still not over her sister's murder which happened over 20 years ago. Her murder was resolved and the guilty party was convicted. But Fiona still is not convinced that this is the whole truth. Her search for uncovering the whole truth leads us deep within the history of Idlewild Hall and an unresolved disappearance that happen in that other timeline.

I loved both timelines, but my favourite was the 1950 one, which was more creepy and atmospheric with awesome friendships between all girls. All four girls had a very different personalities and past, which we slowly gets to know. 2014 timeline was more on the mystery/suspense side, where we follow Fiona as she is uncovering the past and what actually happened to her sister in 1994 and girls in 1950.

The best part of this book was that it was not at all what I expected when I started. There were few expected turns but mostly it went on a totally different direction. I felt very connected with all the characters and was able to empathize a lot. This is definitely one book which is going to stick with me for various reasons for a very long time. My first Simone St James book and I loved her writing style, it was atmospheric and engaging. Will be picking more from her!

FULL RATINGS - 5/5 

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The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell | Book Review

She thought they wanted her baby. But they won’t stop there.

Roz is young, penniless and pregnant. All she wants is to be the perfect mother to her child, but the more she thinks about her own chaotic upbringing, the more certain she is that the best life for her baby is as far away as possible from her hometown in Ireland.

Determined to do the right thing, Roz joins an elite adoption service and can’t believe her luck. Within days she is jetting to New York to meet a celebrity power couple desperate for a child of their own. Sheridan and Daniel are wealthy and glamorous—everything Roz isn’t. Her baby will never go hungry, and will have every opportunity for the perfect life. But soon after Roz moves into their plush basement suite, she starts to suspect that something darker lurks beneath the glossy surface of their home.

When Roz discovers she isn’t the first person to move in with the couple, and that the previous woman has never been seen since, alarm bells start ringing. As the clock ticks down to her due date, Roz realises her unborn baby may be the only thing keeping her alive, and that despite her best intentions, she has walked them both into the perfect nightmare…

**Received an eARC from netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK in exchange for an honest review**

Overall Rating - 3.5 stars

When 24 years old Roz finds herself pregnant and penniless, she turns to an adoption site in the hopes of providing a better life for her baby. A too good to be true opportunity comes along when a celebrity couple decides to adopt Roz's baby. But everything is not as simple as it seems, and by the time Roz realizes that, it might be too late to back out.

The interesting premise convinced me to request for this book. Overall it was a fun ride! I liked the Mitchell's writing and short chapters, it made this book an easy and quick read. Roz was an okay MC, but I was not too attached to her. Sheridan was a complex, quite an evil and unlikable character, but you do feel bad for her sense of desperation in some places.

I really liked the deep friendship and progression of mother- daughter relationship shown in the book, there were some good moments. Plot and story was okay, but the mystery and thriller aspect of it was underwhelming. It had a very strong start but got kind of went pretty average by the end.

Overall an enjoyable book, but not a very strong mystery/thriller for me.

Buy from Amazon here

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March TBR | 2020 | ** BOOK CHALLENGES**

I failed to follow my Feb TBR last month, managed to read only 2 out of the 7 intended books. So this month to motivate myself further, I am including few reading challenge prompts in my TBR from various challenges (old & New). 

I am not following any specific challenge but mixing and matching all of them for this month. But I will be sharing link to all the blogs I took these prompts from at the end of this post. Be sure to check that out for details!

CHALLENGE ONE : Book by a Dead Author

For this I chose 'Emma' by Jane Austen, it was in my Jan TBR but I managed to get 20% into this and did not pick again - That's what I get for picking the long unabridged version!

                                 

Anyways, its perfect time for me pick it again for this challenge and I am adding it to my March Reading List!

CHALLENGE TWO : A 2020 Release

                                  

With this one I am killing two birds with one stone . I got the arc of 'The Wise Friend by Ramsey Campbell' from Netgalley and have only few 2-3 weeks to finish. It's a 2020 release and sounds very promising with its interesting plot. So here we go!

CHALLENGE THREE : A Book Over 500 Pages

For this I really wanted to choose something from my goodreads 'Will Read Soon' TBR, so I chose 'Promise of Blood' by Brian McClellan. This is the first book in the 'Powder Mage' trilogy. I know nothing about this one but if I really like this one, will definitely be picking further books in the series.

CHALLENGE FOUR : A Book published in the month of your given birthday

I am a March born (yay!birthday month!), so for this I picked 'Roadwork' by Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King), it was originally published on 3rd March 1981. 

Apart from this awfully old cover, it is also one of King's old work - which I really wanted to pick more. I have a very complicated relationship with his books, but I very often like his ideas and premise. Let's see what will happen with this one. This is one of the bind up I bought of Bachman's work so I might as well should pick this one!

CHALLENGE FIVE : A Book with atleast four star rating on goodreads

I am picking 'A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman'  for this one. 

This is a very well received book with an average 4.36 ratings on goodreads. One of the book from my over-piling TBR and on priority. Of course, I had to pick this one!

CHALLENGE SIX : A Book with three word title 

Picking 'The Broken Girls by Simone St. James' for this one.

Another book I am really excited to read.This one has such a unique hostel and historical fiction murder mystery vibes, I really wants to pick this one very soon!

CHALLENGE SEVEN : A Book you meant to read in 2019

'The Test by Sylvain Neuval'  was in my last year TBR, but I did not pick it up and kind of forgot all together. It's short and very intriguing with strange sci-fi vibes, I am going to like it for sure!

CHALLENGE EIGHT : A Book with a nature word in the title (wind,rain, snow etc)

I have been meaning to pick one Blake Crouch book for ages. Don't want to pick his very Scifi books. So, picking 'Pines (Wayward Pines #1)' for this prompt and this month's TBR!

Blogs I picked these prompts for this month's challenges -

Stacked Review - 2020 TBR Reading Challanges

PopSugar - Reading Challenge 2020

An Intentional Life - Read your Bookshelf

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My January Wrap up | 2020

The New year brought me into such an optimistic reading mood in Jan, that I managed to finish 4 books out of 6 from my planned TBR.

Though I did not read that many books and did not complete my TBR, it was still a good reading month for me as I liked almost all the books I read.

1) NO EXIT BY TAYLOR ADAMS

 I started my year with mystery/thriller, which I was craving at that time and this book delivered a wild ride. I liked it a lot, gave it 4 stars
Full review here

2) HAUNTED BY DARCY COATES

This is my favourite so far in 2020, another horror gem by Darcy Coates. I read her 'Dead Lake' last year and I really liked that. Decided to pick this pick based on its premise, loved it! 4.5 Stars read for me, few characters were a little irritating but otherwise I LOVED it!
Full review here

3) HOSTILE HOSPITAL ( A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS #8) BY LEMONY SNICKET;

Finally I read the eight book in 'A series of unfortunate events' after so many months of procrastination.Really a dumb move,it was good and my favourite by far in the series.Really want to see what is going to happen with the children after that cliffhanger.
4.5 stars!

4) THE LONG WALK BY STEPHEN KING

This was my last read of the month, finished on the very last day of January.
My feelings for this is quite complex.There were few things I really liked and few things really bugged me.Gave it 3 stars
You can check my whole review for this here

I also started 'Emma' by Jane Austen but only read 20% of it and put it down for another time, I will pick it back when my mood strikes for classics. Will be continuing it then.

That's it for the Jan wrap up, hope to have a better reading in February (SPOILER ALERT : It's not going very well!)

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Books I will be reading in February | 2020

January is in its end, so now is the time for making TBR for the new month, i.e Feb. So, here we go....

The Perfect Mother by Caroline Mitchell

I got the arc of this book from NetGalley. A mystery/thriller with an interesting premise, I cannot wait to get my hands on this one!

The Wise Friend by Ramsey Campbell

Another arc I got from NetGalley, this one is a horror. This one also has very good reviews from its early reviewers.Hence I am picking this one!

The Martian by Andy Weir

This has been on my TBR for such a long time, I have seen the movie and absolutely loved it. Don’t know why I am pushing it further. Will get to it this month!

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett 

This is another one which looks quite unique in Fantasy genre and have fantastic reviews from many people. I honestly know nothing about the premise but really hoping to start this series this month. If I like it, I will binge read the whole series. Let’s see how it goes!

Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz

Totally a random pick and know nothing about the book, but it’s been quite a while since I have read any YA fantasy/horror kind of book. I can’t remember any such a book, so now is the right time to pick this one!

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

I am a little dicey about this one. I read ‘Strange the dreamer’ in Dec last year. I liked it but did not love it, mainly because I was not invested enough in the writing. Hence, despite the cliffhanger, I did not immediately pick this one. I am waiting for the mood to read for that kind of writing.So let’s see about this one!

Broken Girls by Simone St James

Another Mystery/thriller I will pick in Feb month! Again, not sure about the premise but I have read good things about this one.

That’s it for the post. Thanks for reading!

So, what are your plans? Would love to know. Comment below!

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Book Review | No Exit by Taylor Adams

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust? 

MY THOUGHTS

I am in such a thriller/horror mood from past few weeks that following that mood, I picked 'No Exit' for my Jan TBR. And it was a good book to start my year with, such a thrilling ride! 

The book started with your usual 'people got stuck in a blizzard' kind of situation and took such an interesting turn! It was like a chess game between good vs evil — between our protagonist vs antagonist, where they kept trying to outdo the other. I like that trope a lot in my mystery/thriller. And add Taylor Adams's atmospheric and engaging writing with this, it was a solid read in this genre.

What I did not like -

Convenient dumb actions taken by Darby (our MC) to move things forward. It really bugs me in mystery/thriller/horror when such 'out of character' actions are the catalyst for moving the story forward. It happened with our evil guys too and that made me remove one star from this book.

But despite this, I really liked the overall story and writing style. This was an engaging book, and I was not bored for a second!

Definitely will be picking more from this author!

Overall rating — 4 stars!

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Book Review | The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

When Rowan came across an advert for Nanny position, she could not believe this too good to be true opportunity. Next thing she knows, she is hopping on a train to Scotland for the interview, and there she encounters the Heatherbrae House and is mesmerized by the perfect beauty of house, scottish highlands and the Elincourt family. 

But every good thing comes with a price, and Rowan realizes that when she spends more dark and haunted nights in that tech enabled Victorian house. 

Is it truly haunted or it is just an old man’s tale?

Now on remand for a murder she did not commit, Rowan goes back to her whole encounter and tries to reflect upon this very mystery.

MY THOUGHTS

‘The Turn of the Key’ is my first introduction to Ruth Ware and has to be my second or third mystery/thriller of 2019. And I have to say, the best thing about this book, hands down is Ruth’s writing style and the format with which the whole story is being narrated. Her ability to create such atmospheric and creepy scenes with that much clarity makes her a very talented writer in this specific genre (house thriller). I really loved the way she described the house, all polished and advanced on the surface, yet rusty and creepy to the very core.

“There was a strange feeling of split identity too—as though the house was trying hard to be one thing, while Sandra and Bill pulled it relentlessly in the other direction, chopping off limbs, performing open-heart surgery on its dignified old bones, trying to make it into something against its own will—something it was never meant to be, modern and stylish and slick, where it wanted to be solid and self-effacing”

Now as much as I loved the way it was conveyed, this book took a very long time to actually get into exciting parts of the plot. It started out very slow, as we got into the very detailed narration of Rowan’s experience of starting out her job with Elincourt family. Author spent a very large portion of the book with all the descriptions to create a visual story for us to experience. I loved the payoff but getting there was quite slow in some places.

Now coming to the actual ending - I was quite underwhelmed by it. Not because of the ending itself, but rather the abruptness of that ending. The last 10% of the book felt quite rushed and we did not spent much time with all the explanations of what happened. I would have loved to explore that part a little bit.

Overall, I really liked the book, and the short chapters made the book quite easy to read, even when it was slow.

Definitely a great intro to this new author, will be picking her other work for sure!

Did you read any mystery this month? How was it? Let me know in the Comments below!

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Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1) by Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case.

Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliche: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.

Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife

My Thoughts

This was my January Read. I really like 'Enemies to lover' trope in my MM romance add with enforcement setting, it's gold!.So the synopsis as well as good reviews of this book, made me pick this one up!

But it turned out to be pretty disappointing read for me. I was really hoping to love the romance and mystery part of it, but these two things were so under-developed that I was not able to enjoy either of them. Considering the fact that this is only the first book in a long series with the same couple, I should have expected the slow romance part. But MYSTERY!!..... It was so ridiculously underdeveloped that it's not even funny!! That plot line had so much potential but all ruined just to create some more drama in the story.

As for the characters, I simply hated Ty in the first half, but by the end, he was at least tolerable. I really liked Zane though and felt sorry for him for most of the part. I was not able to see why he liked Ty AT ALL!

Still, I am thinking of continuing with the second book because I did not hate it; it just was not up to my expectation and hence wants to give one more try. Really hoping to like next one better than this.

OVERALL RATING - 2.75 Stars!

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