Debbie’s son died in a tragic drowning and she has been terrified of water ever since. But she can’t turn down this vacation by a lake as it may impact her husband’s work. A sinister figure on the lakeside, complex social relationships and an undercurrent of unease culminate in a death…
The Lake is a psychological thriller and murder mystery set in Ireland.
Debbie and Jim head off to a lakeside retreat to connect with friends and colleagues. He has been cheating on her with Susie, another member of the group. Susie’s husband George is unbearable and I wasn’t sorry when he died in mysterious circumstances!
George’s death could be a terrible accident but he was heard shouting before he ‘fell’. The police are convinced it is murder and refuse to let the others leave. This adds to the tension as Debbie is struggling being so close to open water due to her son’s death. There are multiple episodes of interrogation by the police alongside suspicions between the main party.
The book is written from the alternating first person perspectives of Debbie and Jim. Jim has made a terrible mistake and bitterly regrets his affair but now Susie won’t let him go and Debbie is starting to suspect something is amiss. Any one of the group could have been responsible for George’s death and the mystery was maintained until the very end. However, I found the ending to be a little abrupt and didn’t feel that enough character development and reasoning had taken place.
The Lake is a tense murder mystery with the addition of the psychological thriller as tense relationships fuel the plot.
I have previously reviewed The Perfect Home by Kevin Lynch.
Book Blurb
Debbie’s holiday has turned into a nightmare. And that’s just the beginning.
Debbie has been terrified of lakes ever since her son tragically drowned in one. So when her husband and some friends decide to take a lakeside vacation, Debbie is reluctant to go. But hoping that the holiday will help cure her fear, she eventually agrees to join them.
Things start to go wrong very quickly. A local fisherman seems to be stalking them. And then George, a member of their group, goes missing. His body is discovered a day later, his injuries suggesting a struggle.
All the while, Debbie is being haunted by the sinister presence of the lake. More than anything, she wants to leave this dark foreboding place, but the group has been told to stay in place while George’s death is being investigated.
Which means Debbie has only one choice. If she wants to escape the terror of the lake, she must first solve the mystery of George’s murder.
What she discovers will not only shock her to the core, it will also put her own life in grave danger. Can she escape in time to expose the terrifying truth?
The Lake is a gripping and intriguing thriller that you won’t be able to put down.
Author Bio
Kevin is a Guidance Counselor by day and a psychological thriller author during his off hours. He puts an original slant on some common experiences and creates engaging stories with a personal twist. Kevin lives in Dublin, Ireland with three great kids, a frenetic Westie, Alfie, and a wife who makes him laugh, which is really all he could ask for.
1880s, Alexandre Chevalier travels abroad on an archaeological adventure looking for a lost underground city. He finds a secret he never expected… Present day, Madison Greene has been brought up in care with her brother. She is shocked on her 17th birthday to be visited by a lawyer who tells her she has inherited a fortune and stately home. Madison and Ben move to Marchwood but find a dangerous secret in the cellar…
Hidden is the first book in the Marchwood trilogy (Taken and Hunted will be published shortly).
The book is written across two timelines, the 1880s and present day, from the third person perspectives of Alexandre and Madison. Society has set both as outcasts but now they eachhave a second chance. Alexandre’s indiscretion will be forgotten if he can make a glorious discovery on the dig. Meanwhile, Madison has been labelled a troublemaker and is desperate to stay with her little brother.
I was equally interested in the development of both lead characters but they don’t meet until over halfway through the substantial novel (over 400 pages). Both characters are impulsive so I was eager to see how they would interact!
I enjoyed the writing style which is easy to read. The descriptions brought the settings in both timelines to life, making it interesting to compare and contrast Alexandre and Madison’s experiences. The author has used and adapted traditional vampire legends to create a new twist on the genre.
Hidden is an enjoyable vampire novel with two strong lead characters.
MEDIA PACK INFO
Author: Shalini Boland
Book: HIDDEN (plus TAKEN and HUNTED)
Publication Day: March 21st 2023
Buy Link(s):
Description for HIDDEN:
Falling in love has never been so dangerous…
From USA Today bestselling author Shalini Boland comes the addictive Vampires of Marchwood series. Perfect for fans of K.F. Breene, Sarah J. Maas and Tracy Wolff.
My name is Madison Greene. On my seventeenth birthday, I inherited an old mansion and wealth beyond my wildest dreams. I thought it was a joke, but as I step through the creaking door of the sprawling building, I realise my life in foster care is in the past. I’ve been chosen and my world has changed forever.
But I wasn’t told that Marchwood House hides a secret.
As I explore every inch of the crumbling property, I stumble upon a set of large, dusty boxes in the basement. When I pull back the lid and look down, I find myself staring at the most handsome face I’ve ever seen. High cheekbones, porcelain skin…
And when he wakes up and locks eyes with me, I realise my heart already belongs to him, even though my head is screaming at me to get as far away from Marchwood as possible. Because I know what he really is.
I never planned to fall in love – but it’s too late now. Alexandre has a dark and dangerous past. He needs me and I have to help him. But can a human really save a vampire?
Description for TAKEN:
Falling in love has never been so deadly…
From USA Today bestselling author Shalini Boland comes the addictive Vampires of Marchwood series. Perfect for fans of K.F. Breene, Sarah J. Maas and Tracy Wolff.
My name is Madison Greene and I was an ordinary teenager until I fell in love… with a vampire. Alexandre is tall, with a sexy French accent and mesmerizing eyes. He makes me feel protected, and he’s completely captured my heart.
At Marchwood House, our sprawling mansion nestled in the English countryside, we’re in our own perfect bubble together. But, in the blink of an eye, everything changes when an old enemy of Alexandre’s sets a trap and rips me away from my boyfriend’s arms.
The ancient demon takes me to his underground city, deep beneath the windswept desert. In the twisting tunnels and enormous vaulted caverns, there’s a bloodthirsty vampire around every corner. I’ve never been so terrified…
It seems like there’s no way out from this underground maze. My life is hanging by a thread, and every second I’m here is a step closer to death. I can’t just sit here and hope that Alexandre will rescue me.
Can I outsmart a city of vampires to escape from this hellish place? And will I ever see Alexandre again?
Description for HUNTED:
Falling in love has never been so complicated…
From USA Today bestselling author Shalini Boland comes the addictive Vampires of Marchwood series. Perfect for fans of K.F. Breene, Sarah J. Maas and Tracy Wolff.
My name is Madison Greene and my boyfriend is a vampire. And not just any vampire, one with brooding good looks and a smile that makes my heart skip a beat. As I curl up against Alexandre’s side, our hands entwined, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
Although our relationship hasn’t been easy. I’m human, so there were always going to be complications. But I thought we’d banished the demons from his previous life. I couldn’t have been more wrong…
Because there’s a new threat in the form of Nadia – a blue-eyed beauty who seems determined to do everything she can to break us apart. I trust Alexandre but I don’t trust her.
As I start digging into the truth to find out who Nadia really is, centuries-old secrets begin to unravel. And in order to set Alexandre free from the chains of his past, we must return to the ancient underground city of vampires to defeat Alexandre’s archnemesis once and for all.
Can I finally save Alexandre? Or will loving a vampire be the death of me?
Author Bio:
Shalini Boland is the USA-Today bestselling author of seventeen psychological thrillers. With over two million copies sold, her titles are published by Amazon Publishing, Audible, Bookouture, Second Sky and Grand Central Publishing.
Shalini lives by the sea in Dorset, England with her husband, two teens and their increasingly demanding dog, Queen Jess. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer/songwriter, but now she spends her days writing (in between re-stocking the fridge and dealing with endless baskets of laundry).
She is also the author of two bestselling Sci Fi and Fantasy series as well as a WWII evacuee novel with a time-travel twist.
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Four girls ready for their prom, graduation and 18th birthdays. But one night changes everything. Fifteen years later and the truth is finally about to be revealed…
The Slumber Party is a dual timeline psychological thriller set in America.
Liz, Sami, Amy and Mo used to be inseparable but fifteen years later life and death has got in the way of their friendship. Now the past secrets are ready to be uncovered when a body is found. Liz starts to receive sinister notes but one of her former best friends really be a threat to her family?
I enjoyed the use of the two timelines to show the past and present. Each chapter clearly states the year and narrator. The book uses multiple first and third person narratives to reveal the plot. This allows us to see the emotions of the individuals which helps us to understand the motives behind their actions. I felt that the past timeline and teen characters had more authenticity and were more believable.
The minutiae of the girls’ relationships in the past is gradually revealed, building up to prom night when everything changed. The big twist was fairly easy to figure out in advance but there were more surprises and details that I was not expecting.
The Slumber Party was an enjoyable psychological thriller.
MEDIA PACK
Book: The Slumber Party
Author: Shannon Hollinger
Pub Day: March 22nd 2023
Buy Link(s):
About the Book:
Fifteen years ago: On a warm summer’s evening, four childhood friends gather at a slumber party… Before dawn breaks, the nightmare begins. One of them dies. One of them is a killer.
Liz was the bubbly girl-next-door. She could never have imagined how everything would fall apart.
Sami was the clever one, quieter than the others. She was meant to keep all their secrets…
Amy had the voice of an angel, destined for Hollywood. She would never make it there.
Mo was leader of the group, charismatic and protective. But she was not who she appeared to be…
They were childhood friends, on the cusp of the rest of their lives. They’d shared everything with each other. Or so they thought… Until one of them died.
Today: Liz tries not to think about the night that destroyed their lives. She focuses on her beloved husband and their sweet-eyed daughter. But when she receives a note, there’s no more running away: “I’m back. Did you miss me?”
A wave of dizziness crashes over her. Her best friend can’t be back. She’s dead.So who sent the note? What do they know? And, most terrifying of all, are they planning to make her pay for what happened…?
A totally gripping, heart-stopping thriller about twisted friendships, dark pasts, and secrets to die for… If you love The Night She Disappeared, Girl A and The Housemaid, you’ll love The Slumber Party.
Author Bio
With degrees in Crime Scene Technology & Physical Anthropology, Florida author Shannon Hollinger hasn’t just seen the dark side of humanity – she’s been elbow deep inside of it! She finds writing to be a much cleaner way to spend her time than the autopsy suite. Most days it smells better, too.
Her debut novel, the psychological thriller Best Friends Forever, is the first of a five-book deal with publisher Bookouture.
Her short fiction has appeared in Suspense Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and The Saturday Evening Post, among a number of other magazines and anthologies, and her story Lady Killer was a finalist for the 2021 Al Blanchard Award sponsored by the New England Crime Bake.
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Robert is happily married and devoted to his wife Jane. But he still has sadistic urges which he needs to release…
His Fatal Legacy is the third book in the Alardyce series set in the late Victorian era in Scotland. I have previously read and reviewed The first two books: The Missing Girls of Alardyce House and The Cursed Heir. It is not necessary to have read the earlier books as the opening chapters provide a summary of the key events and how this has impacted on the main characters.
Robert is a dangerous man but loves his wife. His propensity to cause pain and suffering in others is barely contained and this is further heightened when he feels slighted in society. He uses his cunning to wreak revenge on those who he believes have affronted him but this does not end the physical urges to maim and kill.
The creepy atmosphere and sense of danger are well maintained through the whole book. There is a lot of darkness in the events depicted but also real emotion as Robert tries to fight his demons and make good choices. The book contains episodes of violence and murder which are quite graphically described. There are also references to witches and spirits, adding a superstitious and folklore layer to the plot.
The nature versus nurture debate is key as he blames his parents yet has been shown nothing but love. Amy’s struggle between her love for her son and the danger she knows he poses to others was difficult for me to empathise with as she puts other members of her family at risk because she doesn’t act decisively.
His Fatal Legacy is a dramatic historical thriller.
His Fatal Legacy
Edinburgh 1896
Amy Alardyce’s once-perfect life is in tatters. Her eldest son, Robert, has come of age, become the master of his own home, and married his childhood love Jane. But with maturity has come a terrible legacy, and the dark desires Robert inherited from his evil father Matthew, are fighting to get loose.
Whilst Jane is working hard to get her and Robert accepted into fashionable society, poor women are being hunted on the streets of Edinburgh, and Amy fears her son is to blame. And once the infamous Inspector Murphy takes up the case, Amy has to face a stark choice – denounce her son as a monster or risk her own safety to protect him from the consequences of his lethal actions.
Author Bio –
Heather Atkinson is the author of over fifty books – predominantly in the crime fiction genre. Although Lancashire born and bred she now lives with her family, including twin teenage daughters, on the beautiful west coast of Scotland. Her gangland series for Boldwood, set on the fictional Gallowburn estate in Glasgow begins with the title Blood Brothers.
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Laura is a nurse and inherits a cottage and a mystery after the death of a patient who became a friend. She heads to Sandy Cove and tries to reunite a painting with its owner…
The Lost Mother of Ireland is the 6th book in the Starlight Cottages series. Each book works as a stand alone but it is lovely to catch up with the locals from the earlier books.
Laura is at the centre of a will dispute after opera singer Josephine leaves her a cottage and a painting. She quickly moves to Sandy Cove to fulfil Josephine’s final wish of finding the true owner of the painting. But is that the artist or the beautiful woman it depicts, and how can she find out the answer 50 years later?
I really liked Laura’s character and was almost shouting at her when she is debating whether she likes Gino or Adam. She sees potential in exploring both relationships but it was clear who she should choose!
There is a lovely warmth to this series, bolstered by impressive and vivid descriptions. The characters and locations spring to life and are easy for the reader to imagine. I really liked that the main characters are all older than me and it shows that age is just a number. Love can happen at any time and is perhaps more appreciated as we get more mature. This book has a really strong and positive message.
The Lost Mother of Ireland is a warm and lovely gentle romance.
Book Description:
A completely gripping and unforgettable story of long-lost family secrets and forbidden romance that will whisk you away to the beautiful village of Sandy Cove on the west coast of Ireland.
When Laura inherits a small cottage from a friend who was like a mother to her, she wonders whether this could be the new beginning she’s been searching for. Although she’s never been to the village of Sandy Cove on the west coast of Ireland, her friend described it as on the edge of the sparkling blue sea, with sandy white beaches. Could this be the fresh start she needs to ease her heartache?
During her first walk on the beach, Laura meets Gino, a handsome local who instantly charms her with his sparkling eyes and gorgeous smile. Laura finds herself attracted to him as he tells her about his life and his love for Sandy Cove. And, as they spend more time together, the pair begin to grow closer.
But just as Laura begins to settle into village life, her friend’s son disputes his mother’s will. But what he doesn’t know is that Laura hasn’t just inherited the cottage from her, she’s also been given a very valuable heirloom – one that tells the story of a forbidden love, a long-forgotten family secret and a bond between a mother and daughter that could not be broken…
Just as Laura begins to solve the mystery behind the painting, everything she thought she knew about Gino changes in a heartbeat when she discovers that he might have already given his heart away to someone else. Is their love story over before it ever truly began?
And when Laura uncovers the truth behind her inheritance, she is left wondering whether the family secret should have remained forgotten. When the dust settles from her discovery, will she be able to rebuild her life in Sandy Cove with the one man she truly loves?
Fans of Sheila O’Flanagan, Mary Alice Monroe and Debbie Macomber will fall in love with this gripping, heart-warming and utterly charming Irish romance.
Author Bio:
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre.
The wife of a former diplomat, she has also been a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a rambling house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or doing yoga, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BQN9465Nsocial
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