The Tunnels

The Tunnels Author: Greg Mitchell

Publisher: Crown

Release Date: October 18, 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

History lovers will love this exciting description of the first year of escapes under the Berlin wall.

In August of 1961, a physical barrier was erected separating the already tense division between East and West Berlin. Germans who lived in East Berlin but worked in the West were suddenly found unemployed. Families were separated, but many felt the wall wouldn’t last. They expected to see it come down any day as a failed experiment. Slowly, the barbed wire fence become concrete and finding a weak area to cross or escape was getting more and more difficult. However, a few people with a passion to see their fellow Germans free worked to figure out a way to tunnel under the wall and bring escapees into the West. Some were successful, others not as much. The Tunnels explores these expeditions as well as the tensions between Washington, Berlin, and Russia during one of the most tense times in history.

Prior to this book, I knew about the Berlin wall, but not about what all it represented and how much it divided families across the city and country. Reading the descriptions about how oppressed the East was and how people trying to escape were killed and the propaganda was used to make them look like their death was a good thing was appalling. It is hard to believe that this was just over fifty years ago.

Mitchell did a great job presenting this book in a way that read more like a novel than a nonfiction historical account. It was fascinating, quick to read, and educating. Since reading this, I have shared it with over readers who felt the same way. I really enjoyed getting to find out more about the time frame and how the Kennedy administration handled the situations and how it impacted the Cold War. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested about the wall or just about the era itself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Sunday Silence

Sunday Silence Author: Nicci French

Series: Frieda Klein #7

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Release Date: January 9, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A very enjoyable read; however, it is recommended to read the previous installments to enjoy it even more!

Frieda Klein is often consulted by the police for her help in difficult cases, but when a body is found beneath her floorboards, she becomes a suspect in a murder case. While the body appears to have been dead a few months, the main suspect, besides Frieda, has been dead seven years. Is he really dead? Or did he inspire a copycat to carry on his work? Frieda finds herself, and everyone she cares about, being targeted and in danger. With each day that passes, the body count gets higher and everyone involved wonders who is really behind the death and destruction. Is anything as it seems?

This started out very promising for me but I felt as though I were missing some key elements to the story part way through. I do believe if I had read the previous installments I would have enjoyed this one much more. But since I haven’t, I’ll say that the story has great potential and fans of the series will most likely find this one more enjoyable than those that haven’t.

French did and incredible job building the setting and the characters did seem to have a bond I could tell has been built up over the series. Frieda is put in a very difficult situation and while she is the one people go to when they have a problem, she doesn’t have anyone to talk to about her problems making it an internal struggle. Seems to be a common issue for several people that when they need someone, they have no one to turn too.

I recommend this to fans of the series and those that enjoy the mysteries. Also, if readers enjoy stories set in Europe, this is a must read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Purchase a copy of this book at Harper Collins.

Losing Brave

Losing Brave Author: Bailee Madison & Stefne Miller

Publisher: Blink YA

Release Date: January 30, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Such an intense, exciting, & suspenseful read that will leave readers with the feeling that no matter how good the next book they read is, it will have no chance of being as good.

Almost a year has passed since Payton Brave’s twin sister went missing and there are still no clues as to what happened. Payton fears she is losing her memories of Dylan and will do anything she can to hold on to that piece of her. Even though she was with her sister when she disappeared, she has no memory of what happened. Payton was always the popular one while Dylan didn’t care for things like that, now Payton is taking on Dylan’s characteristics and setting herself as an outsider in the only way she knows to keep her sister alive for herself. She grows closer to her sister’s boyfriend, Cole and starts wondering how she will survive with the feelings building inside of her. As more girls similar in appearance to Dylan go missing, the case takes on a new life and Payton starts her own investigation to find out what happened to her sister and if she is in danger also.

As I was reading Losing Brave, I had two thoughts as to how the story might go. And even though I figured out the chain of events before they unfolded, it didn’t bother me, which is a very unusual thing to happen. It didn’t make the story predictable, it just made the characters act as they should have and I was following along in sync with the characters. I want to confess something, when I first saw this book and read about it I thought it looked interesting but almost didn’t read it. I thought Bailee Madison was just another actress trying to use her fame and name to get a book out there without knowing anything about writing or telling a story in this way. Good grief am I happy I didn’t stay with that train of thought; this book was so good I feel certain it will make my best of the year list and it is only the beginning of January. This story was especially good for me because I am an identical twin just like Payton and Dylan. I remember doing some of the things they did that only twins can get away with and can see what happened in the story actually happening, and it is scary. The back and forth between what was happening in the present and what happened when Dylan disappeared was played out well, just enough of the past to give the present timeline the credit it needed for everything to make sense. I recommend this book to teens, young adults, and adults alike that love a story full of twists, turns and characters that will dive deep within and tug at your heartstrings.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Steal Away Home

Steal Away Home Author: Billy Coffey

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: January 2, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Batter up! Coffey’s produced another hit that’s sure to be a grand slam!

Owen Cross was brought up to do one thing: play baseball. His father was a promising pitcher that would have made it to the big leagues if he hadn’t blown out his shoulder in college. Instead of facing disappointment in his life, he focused all his ambitions onto his son to make it for both of them. He found work as the school janitor in Camden, Virginia and continued to make his son the best catcher and hitter that the school could produce. Owen also focused on his love of baseball until he met Michaela Dullahan, a young girl from Shantytown. She was poor, abused, lonely, and considered plain white trash. Owen immediately fell in love with her and they quickly formed a bond. He was going to go off to play college ball and she would go with him to save her from a life of despair. Then the night of senior prom changed everything. A stupid idea of some classmate’s decision to play chicken with the train brought forth a supernatural experience to Owen and Michaela that will change them forever and possibly drive them apart.

Of all Coffey’s novels, this one may be the one that speaks the most to me. It reminds me so much of the town that I grew up in and how divided and cliquish it was. Even though I grew up in Texas, the same scenarios took place at high school. My husband also read the book and said it sparked a memory of his from high school as well. There was a girl a couple of years younger than him that was considered white trash who had to walk about three miles to school every day. No one would pick her up along the way, they just passed her by. Than one day, he decided to give her a ride to school, which then turned into most days. They never really talked along the five minute drive, but she always said thank you when they got there. One day while sitting in his car, he overhead a group of kids talking about him, mostly in a negative aspect. Out of nowhere, the girl that he helped stood up for him to the group. All it takes is a little kindness to make a difference.

As always, Coffey’s books deal with the supernatural and with religion. This book once again puts the small town church in the spotlight with its traditions and prejudices that members are often blind to. And it’s not just in small town churches. I’ve seen the same thing happen in many churches where people go to socialize more than get sustenance for their faith. If someone they didn’t like from town were to suddenly show up, would they be able to show kindness? Or try to keep them from coming in? We always hope for the former, but sometimes the latter is true in our hearts.

Being a fan of baseball, I thoroughly enjoyed how Coffey told the story through the innings of a major league baseball game. Alternating between Owen’s present troubles and thinking of his past really kept the story flowing well. I was just enjoying the story and wanted to know the middle to see how things dissolved when I reached the train scene and everything got thrown for a loop in true Coffey fashion. I also thought it was interesting that we jumped out of Mattingly again, except for the championship baseball game, which featured Junior Hewitt who once struck out Chipper Jones in the majors (read There Will be Stars).

All this to say, Coffey is on his game and I recommend this book to supernatural lovers and anyone who loves a good story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

The Woman in the Window

Woman in the Window Author: A.J. Finn

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: January 2, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

I think Stephen King says it best when he described The Woman in the Window as unputdownable!

Anna Fox has kept herself locked away in her house for almost a year, unable to be a part of the world outside. With a glass, or many more, of wine, spying on her neighbors, and watching old movies, her days are full. Things get a little more interesting for Anna when the Russell’s move into the house across the street. A father, mother, and their teenage son seem like the perfect family until secrets start to reveal the dark truth. When Anna discovers some of these dark secrets and tries to get to the bottom of what is going on, others think she is just being her crazy drunk self and dismiss her claims. Anna starts to doubt herself and what she has seen along with her own past she fears she isn’t remembering correctly. What is real? How much danger is she in? Who can she trust? Who will believe her? All questions that if not answered carefully might just get her killed.

It is a rare feat for a book to be optioned as a movie before it has even been released. The Woman in the Window lives up to the hype. Debut author A. J. Finn has done what few are able to accomplish, even after a long career of writing, create a spectacular thriller that will leave the reader on the edge of their seat until the very last page. Anna is a deeply troubled, more so with every page turned, and her troubles are relatable in one way or another to all readers. I loved the way Finn brought about the dark past that is haunting her slowly throughout and didn’t just throw it all out at the very beginning. As the story unfolds and the truth comes out, each character becomes more complex driving the story. Finn put a lot of effort into crafting characters that were not only intriguing but also easy to follow. As each twist and turn played out I found myself giving a silent nod when it unfolded as I suspected. I have to say this one pleasantly surprised me, the story flowed well and I really did have a hard time putting it down. I recommend this to readers that love a good Alfred Hitchcock thriller and might just want to keep a light on at night.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

No Ordinary Girl

No Ordinary Girl Author: Cheryl Elaine

Publisher: AAH Publishing

Release Date: May 28, 2017

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Intense doesn’t even begin to describe this book. If you can’t handle graphic content, don’t even start, but those that do will be in for a story that is anything but ordinary.

Aimee was only looking for a night to celebrate with friends, what she got was more than she expected. Drugged and kidnapped, Aimee is taken by sadistic, evil, and cruel monsters, worse than any she could dream about. She is tossed into a container with others just as frightened as she is and left to figure out what kind of hell she has entered. A game of cat and mouse quickly follows leading Aimee to run for her life and stay one step ahead of her tormentors. Detective Johnson is trying to catch these monsters and using his instincts as a father to help him on the job. Aimee realizes she is not like all the others being kept and uses this to her advantage to stay alive and one step ahead.

While there is a warning that the book contains graphic content I wasn’t completely ready for what I read. Readers that enjoy intense graphic reads, as well as horror movies, will find this right up their alley. The characters were put in very difficult situations, physically, sexually, and emotionally. It can be very difficult to read about these situations but it can also be a way to drive the characters connections with readers. Sadly, the world we live in today could find any of us in a situation similar to the one Aimee found herself in. How would we react? Would we find the inner strength we need to survive? So many questions can be raised with each page read. The author did a good job finding that emotional connection in a very difficult setting and these characters have potential for more to come.

This book is recommended only for mature readers due to the graphic content and strong, harsh language.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

The Chalk Man

Author: C.J. Tudor

Publisher: Crown

Release Date: January 9, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A new thriller for a new year!

Set in a small English village in 1986, Eddie has a small group of friends that act as normal friends do, but not everything in their little town is as it seems. After Fat Gav’s birthday part, someone gives him a set of chalk, which entices the group to start defacing places with drawings of chalk men. Then one day a drawing of chalk leads them to find a body in the woods. The only thing never recovered was her head.

Fast forward 30 years, Eddie still lives in his childhood home with a lodger named Chloe. Two of the group stayed there as well and the other two went off. The police had named their suspect in the murder shortly after and he committed suicide, so case closed. But when one of the group members returns to town and then winds up dead, all the members receive drawings of chalk men in the mail, indicating the killer may still be around. And maybe he wants to finish things up with them!

So, this book was like doing a new jigsaw puzzle. It started off really fast like building the border. But once that was built, you have to start putting the pieces together, which takes a little bit longer than the border. But then, after most of the pieces come together, the remaining bits just fall into place and it quickly finishes. The book really resembled this process. I was hooked at the beginning with the freak carnival accident and then everything sort of slowed down to shape what was going on. The remnants of 1986 brought back a few memories of the 1980s and how different life really was at that time. There were a lot of things going on in this sleepy little town and it was really interesting how it shaped out. Not a lot of character development, but there was a good amount of suspense buildup at the end that was not disappointing. The ending is definitely creepy!

There is a lot of harsh language throughout the book, an attempted rape scene, improper student relationship, and several references to abortion. I recommend this book for mature audiences.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

A Brush with the Beast

A brush with the beast Author: Richard Sones

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: June 20, 2017

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

An epic battle between the ultimate good and evil spread across the globe and through the heart of humanity to show what could happen if we believe.

When Nick Gooseberry has tried every method available to rid himself of back pain, he turns to the only option he sees left, The Order, a secret society that promises him relief from pain and so much more. With the power of The Order behind him, Nick works his way up the ladder of success to ultimately rule the world. In a small town in Texas, Sarah Johnson has been trying unsuccessfully to get away from her past. She thinks her boss is trying to help her, instead he is setting her up to go back to prison. While back in prison, she turns to the Lord and finds a way to escape. She finds out she is pregnant and attracts the attention of the Beast who takes her away to the other side of the globe and now she has to survive an entirely new prison. After watching the death of his parents, Fanak grows up to become a terrorist driven with a thirst for revenge and a plan to take down the United States. He thinks everything he is doing are his own thoughts without ever realizing he is at the mercy of the Beast like so many.

A Brush with the Beast is a book that had several things I enjoyed and several I didn’t. It is not for a young audience, a little bit of mature language and other mature content. The story flips back and forth between several different viewpoints. Most of the time this doesn’t bother me but for some reason it didn’t work as well for me here. I enjoyed the storyline with Sarah but everything else left me wanting to get to the rest of her story. While each story line was supposed to tie in and bring the story full circle, by the end I felt a good portion could have been shortened. Not everything with Nick’s storyline added up either. Everything with Sarah was intriguing and I felt a good emotional connection to her and everything that was going on while in her point of view. Overall it was still an enjoyable read. I recommend this for a mature audience wanting to read about end times and what might come.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

The Unclaimed Victim

Unclaimed victim Author: D.M. Pulley

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: November 14, 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Pulley dives back into Cleveland to tackle a historical serial killer’s story that’s yet to be solved.

Cleveland in 1938 is a rough place to be. Little work, no booze, and a notorious serial killer that keeps leaving parts of his victims, but never the whole body. The “Torso Killer” has been active for a while and continues to stump the police. Most of his victims cannot be identified because he doesn’t leave them anything to be identified with, such as a head or hands. The targets of his crimes are mainly prostitues and drug dealers that live in the less desireable places within Cleveland. Once such person is Ethel Harding who never asked for this life, but does what she must to get by. When a young woman from a nearby mission named Mary Alice convinces Ethel to come to the mission, she finds that her life may not be as bad as she thought.

Fast forward to 1999, Kris Wiley gets a call that her father has been killed and she must identify the remains, which there is only a torso. As she goes through her fathers things, she begins to find that he was obsessed with a serial killer from the 1930s that was never caught. In fact, there is a whole network of people obsessed with the case. As she tries to uncover what he was messed up in, she begins to receive threats to stop her search and go home. Can she unravel her father’s death and solve a decades old cold case at the same time?

Pulley’s historical suspense writing is ratcheting her up to a new level of writers. I was hooked in the old story and had to research parts of it myself. She placed the names of the officers and investigators at just the right place to match history. And her depiction of Cleveland in the depression took me there to see it in my mind. There is no doubt that this is a seedy novel, but it is supposed to reflect that era and way of life. If you can indulge yourself a little, you’ll find that this story is more than face value. There is a lot of foul language and sexual content, so it is recommended only for mature readers.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

The Lacemaker

The Lacemaker Author: Laura Frantz

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: January 2, 2018

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Another great work of historical fiction! Lovers of the American Revolution era will enjoy this romance.

Young Lady Elisabeth “Liberty” Lawson is set to be engaged to Miles Roth, who appears to be a well-respected member of the town in the Tory party. However, when he disappears on the eve of the American Revolution, several accuse him of being a British spy and have no sympathy for young Liberty. With no one to help her, the skilled lace maker is on her own until she receives help of a patriot named Noble Rynalt, who is known for his generosity but is very cautious of his political dealings. Liberty must decide between what her family desires and what she knows is right in her heart.

As always, Frantz brings her settings to life with descriptive scenery, language, and notable characters. Within moments of beginning this book, I was quickly transported to Colonial Williamsburg and began walking the streets, hearing the distinct sounds, and smelling what must have been at the time. Granted, it helps having been to the reenactment colony, but even without that it is easy to get lost in the setting. As with her previous novels, Frantz has a knack for setting characters up in perilous situations that will keep you engaged through the entire book as you quickly turn the pages to find out what is going to happen next. Readers will also find themselves pondering Liberty’s situation as she finds her feelings changing from one man to another and hoping that she makes the right decisions in her life.

If you love historical fiction, especially set in the American colonies, you need to start your year off with this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.