Hot Girls Murder Club

Hot Girls Murder Club

By: Ashley Winstead

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Summary:

Ten years ago, aspiring singer-actress Scout Sage lost the only thing that mattered: her sister, Georgia. Ever since Georgia’s mysterious death at a Hollywood party, Scout’s done her best to honor her memory, clawing her way through the industry and collecting a network of climbers along the way, fellow hot girls in stilettos with cutthroat ambition, a new Hollywood order.

But when a slew of targeted murders makes headlines across L.A., all pointing to Scout as the killer, she turns overnight from a mid-tier pop star into the world’s most famous (alleged) murderer. Now everything she’s worked to build—including the justice she wants for Georgia—will fall apart unless Scout can prove she’s not guilty.

Meanwhile, the young and unusual detective assigned to her case, herself no stranger to tragedy, begins to unearth secrets not even Scout knows, let alone her millions of new fans. Particularly about the ways Georgia’s death connects to an even older pattern of crimes long hushed over in Hollywood—an old reign of terror that, if brought to light, could be the fuel that ignites a reckoning the world over. --bn.com

If you're looking for a book where next to nothing is what is seems, may I introduce you to The Hot Girls Murder Club. This book took so many twists and turns as the story unfolded! Just when I thought I had things figured out, the story would take another turn and leave me guessing. I flew through this book and I didn't want to put it down. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next and if my theories were correct. 

When Scout's beloved sister is murdered at a Christmas party, Scout takes matters into her own hands. She and a few of her friends decide that revenge is their new hobby. Soon they are enacting revenge/justice on people who have done wrong. Is this limited to murder- nope! Blackmail is a handy tool they like to use, among others. 

What turns out to be an extra layer to the story is the detective assigned to the case. She, too, ahs lost a sister she dearly loved. And she, too, is taking the case into her own hands when the law wasn't able to do anything. But that's not where the similarities end. By the time you've read the last word, you'll see how spread out the story truly is. You'll be connecting dots you didn't think would ever connect. 

A perfect beach/pool read. Hot Girls Murder Club will keep you engrossed. You're in for a story that keeps the story moving from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy all the intricacies the story has. I know I did. 

 

The Lincoln Myth

The Lincoln Myth
By: Steve Berry
448 Pages
Reviewed By: David Nelissen

Summary:
September 1861: All is not as it seems. With these cryptic words, a shocking secret passed down from president to president comes to rest in the hands of Abraham Lincoln. And as the first bloody clashes of the Civil War unfold, Lincoln alone must decide how best to use this volatile knowledge: save thousands of American lives, or keep the young nation from being torn apart forever?

The present: In Utah, the fabled remains of Mormon pioneers whose nineteenth-century expedition across the desert met with a murderous end have been uncovered. In Washington, D.C., the official investigation of an international entrepreneur, an elder in the Mormon church, has sparked a political battle between the White House and a powerful United States senator. In Denmark, a Justice Department agent, missing in action, has fallen into the hands of a dangerous zealot—a man driven by divine visions to make a prophet’s words reality. And in a matter of a few short hours, Cotton Malone has gone from quietly selling books at his shop in Denmark to dodging bullets in a high-speed boat chase.

All it takes is a phone call from his former boss in Washington, and suddenly the ex-agent is racing to rescue an informant carrying critical intelligence. It’s just the kind of perilous business that Malone has been trying to leave behind, ever since he retired from the Justice Department. But once he draws enemy blood, Malone is plunged into a deadly conflict—a constitutional war secretly set in motion more than two hundred years ago by America’s Founding Fathers. --courtesy of publisher

In The Lincoln Myth, we return to the action-packed life of Cotton Malone to have Steve Berry challenge some of our knowledge of history. This time the mystery focuses around Lincoln, the American Civil War, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It starts, as usual, with Cotton doing a favor for his former boss (seriously, you would think he would have learned his lesson by now). He needs to meet and help a Magellan Billet agent near where he lives, and... yep, a religious fanatic (there is always at least one in Steve Berry books) causes bad things to start happening. Multiple characters and plot angles are followed, ranging from Europe to the USA, and an agreement between Abraham Lincoln and the leaders of the Mormon faith are discovered.

The book was very much like previous Cotton Malone books int hat the action was well paced and easy to follow, with the the critical information of the plot spread out in chunks which always seem to leave me wanting to know the entire story right away. The plot was interesting and gave a lot of information about the Latter-Day Saints that many people may not know. As always, Berry added a "Writer's Note" at the end to let us, the readers, know where he embellished in the story.

All in all, this books was good. It had me involved in the characters. It had me imagining some wonderful sights in Europe. It also introduced a new interesting character that we may see in later books. It especially had me involved in the plot. I, personally, do not believe this is the best Cotton Malone book I have read, but it was definitely worth reading if you like the character of this genre.

A White Room

A White Room
By: Stephanie Carroll
408 Pages

Summary:
At the close of the Victorian Era, society still expected middle-class women to be "the angels of the house," even as a select few strived to become something more. In this time of change, Emeline Evans dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when her father dies unexpectedly, Emeline sacrifices her ambitions and rescues her family from destitution by marrying John Dorr, a reserved lawyer who can provide for her family.

John moves Emeline to the remote Missouri town of Labellum and into an unusual house where her sorrow and uneasiness edge toward madness. Furniture twists and turns before her eyes, people stare out at her from empty rooms, and the house itself conspires against her. The doctor diagnoses hysteria, but the treatment merely reinforces the house's grip on her mind.

Emeline only finds solace after pursuing an opportunity to serve the poor as an unlicensed nurse. Yet in order to bring comfort to the needy she must secretly defy her husband, whose employer viciously hunts down and prosecutes unlicensed practitioners. Although women are no longer burned at the stake in 1900, disobedience is a symptom of psychological defect, and hysterical women must be controlled.--bn.com

If you are looking for a suspenseful read this summer, I encourage you to read A White Rom. I was intrigued by the story early on. Fans of Daphne DuMaurier will enjoy this book, as well. It was a classical suspense/thriller that let your imagination take you where the book left you. You have all the makings of a great read: the ominous house, the daughter desperate to aide her destitute family, a marriage entered into for all the wrong reasons. Oh! And let's not forget the dancing furniture decorated like no other house around.

If you loved Jane Eyre, The Thirteenth Tale, Rebecca, and others like them, you will be gripped to A White Room. A great escape for your mind this summer. 

The King's Deception

The King's Deception
By: Steve Berry
432 Pages
Reviewed By: David Nelissen

Summary:

Cotton Malone and his fifteen-year-old son, Gary, are headed to Europe. As a favor to his old boss at the Justice Department, Malone agrees to escort a teenage fugitive back to England.  After a gunpoint greeting in London in which both the fugitive and Gary disappear, Malone learns that he’s stumbled into a high-stakes diplomatic showdown-an international incident fueled by geopolitical gamesmanship and shocking Tudor secrets.

At its heart is the Libyan terrorist convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103, who is set to be released by Scottish authorities for ‘humanitarian reasons.’  An outraged American government wants that stopped, but nothing can persuade the British to intervene.

Except, perhaps, Operation King’s Deception.

Run by the CIA, the operation aims to solve a centuries-old mystery, one that could rock Great Britain to its royal foundations.

CIA Operative Blake Antrim, in charge of King’s Deception, is hunting for the spark that could rekindle a most dangerous fire:  the one thing that every Irish national has sought for centuries-a legal reason why the English must leave Northern Ireland.  The answer is a long-buried secret that calls into question the legitimacy of the entire 45 year reign of Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch, who completed the conquest of Ireland and seized much of its land. But Antrim also has a more personal agenda, a twisted game of revenge in which Gary is a pawn.  With assassins, traitors, spies, and dangerous disciples of a secret society closing in, Malone is caught in a lethal bind.  To save Gary he must play one treacherous player against another-and only by uncovering the incredible truth can he hope to stop the shattering consequences of the King’s Deception.  --steveberry.org

In The King’s Deception, Cotton Malone is back for another round of history-changing, fast-paced mystery solving. Steve Berry in previous books has attacked the perceptions of many key figures in history, and now it is the British monarchy that will have your perception challenged. Having said that, this adventure takes place almost exclusively (aside from a few flashbacks) in England. It starts with Cotton doing a favor for his former boss. He and his son just need to escort a British fugitive back to London. As soon as the wheels are down in England, everything goes awry. Multiple plots unfold, allegiances change back and forth, and along the way a secret history of the Tudors comes to light.

This book was very much like previous Cotton Malone books, in that the action was well paced and easy to follow, with the critical information of the plot spread out in chunks which always seemed to leave me wanting to know more right away. The plot was one that very much intrigued me and I spent some time researching on my own after I finished reading, just so I could have more first-hand knowledge. As always, Berry adds a “Writer’s Note” at the end to let us, the readers, know where he embellished for the story (which was surprisingly little). Around 300 books were studied for this book and Berry even cites Bram Stoker for one of the biggest facets of the story.

All in all, this book was very good. It had me involved in the characters. It had me imagining some wonderful sights in England, even though I have never been there. It especially had me involved in the plot. Even now, after having read it I cannot help thinking, “What if that did happen? What if what I have heard before may not be true? What if…? What if…? What if…?”

Chasing The Cyclone

Chasing The Cyclone

By: Peter Thomas Senese.

Summary (provided by the publisher):

Paul Francesco is an independent, successful single man in his late thirties who has everything in the world going for him: financial stability with the real possibility of obtaining significant wealth, a dedicated and loyal group of family and friends, and a challenging, exciting, and rewarding career. Except Paul has one problem: he lives with a deep, dark secret that torments him: he is a ghost living in purgatory despite his relative success.

Unknown to Paul, there is an evil plan to extort his hard-earned assets from him and in the process deny him the one thing that is more important to him than anything else in the world: to be an active part of his son Alex's life. Unfortunately, his innocent and trusting seven-year old son is at the center of this vicious and diabolical plot directed at him.

When things go from bad to worse to unbelievably insane - when judges choose not to uphold the laws of their nations, when law enforcement turns a blind eye, and when one government after another's hands are tied due to bureaucratic issues of jurisdiction or non-participation of the international treaty on child abduction, the only thing that could prevent Alex from becoming another sad and sorry statistic on a report that nobody wants to read or think about is his father's vow to never abandon him no matter what. As a result, Paul is forced to become a hunter, chasing the predators who have taken his son to the other side of the world. With the situation becoming more and more desperate, he is forced to find other resources to help him.

As the hunt moves across international borders, taking Francesco to the other side of the world, he gathers together an extraordinary group of individuals, each with their own powerful stories, to help him. The story moves from The United States and Canada, to the island nations of Oceania, and culminates in the horrifying black-markets of Asia.

In this well written suspense novel, Senese leads the reader on an all-out emotional roller coaster. Senese uses his first-hand experience to weave a fantastic tale of international child abduction by an ex-spouse. Throughout the novel Senese uses his platform to spread real information about what a Chasing Parent goes through and what types of resources are available.

The story revolves around the main character, Paul Francesco, and his loving relationship with his son, Alex. The outrageous predicaments that the ex-wife forces upon Paul creates a patchwork of suspense that encircles half the globe. The story is laid out well, and the main and many of the secondary characters are well described and fleshed out. The fact that this story is based on true events make it easy for the reader to empathize with the main character and what every loving parent would attempt to do to retrieve an abducted child.

This thrill ride will have you run the gamut of emotions. Prepare to be taken from outright rage when certain court rulings and actions by the ex-wife are described, to elation when even the little battles are won, and misery and despair at the thought of never seeing your child again. Despite all of the emotions that will be present, this book focuses mostly on the idea of hope. For without the hope of the father and son, both lives would be ruined forever.
Rating: Buy It!!