Review of the book Den of Iniquity by J.A. Jance (Suspense Novel)

I'm excited to welcome J.A Jance to Books R Us as she has just published her new novel, "Den of Iniquity." Let me share my thoughts on the book.

About the Book:

New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance returns with a new pulse-pounding suspense novel featuring beloved private investigator J. P. Beaumont as his investigation of a seemingly accidental death uncovers a complex web of evil.

Former Seattle homicide cop J. P. Beaumont faces trouble in the small town of Ashland, as both his personal and professional lives are thrown into turmoil. Beau’s daughter and son-in-law are having marital troubles, and his grandson, a senior in high school, shows up on his doorstep, wanting to live with Beau and his wife Mel as he finishes out the school year.

Meanwhile, a friend from his past asks for Beau’s help in looking into what appears to be an accidental death. A young man died of a fentanyl overdose, but those closest to him are convinced that he would never have used the drug, and that something much more sinister has happened. Beau agrees to unofficially reopen the case, and his investigation leads him to uncover similar mysterious deaths that all point to a most unlikely suspect.

As the case becomes more complicated than he could have imagined, and past and present mysteries collide, it will take everything Beau has to track down a dangerous vigilante killer.

Published: September 10, 2024
Hardcover: 9780063252585
$30.00, 368 pg
eBook: 9780063252592
Digital Audio: 9780063252615

 

My Thoughts:

I have never read any books by this author before. However, I really enjoy a good crime mystery novel, and I was impressed by her writing style, the development of the characters, and the entire plot. The protagonist, J.P., has to balance his professional life with his family life to find the identity of a serial killer, which makes the book engaging. I have to admit that I didn't know about the author until I was given the opportunity to review the book by the publisher. I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to read the other books in the series.

 

 

 

 Disclaimer:

The publisher gave me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review, and I was not compensated for my review.

Guest Post by Laurel C. Fox Author of braving the way (Spotlight)

 

 

I want to welcome Laural C. Fox to Books R Us. Laurel is the author of Braving the Way. Laurel has written a guest post For my readers. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

The story of a mother’s love and a child’s grit and determination. Written as real-talk, conversational and easy to understand...

GUEST POST 

  The Inspiration Behind Braveing the Way

In 2014, I got a phone call that no parent ever wants to receive. My daughter Taylor was in a horrible accident, and was being transported to the biggest trauma center in Los Angeles.  When I began writing and digging into an on-line journal everyday, not only to escape the madness, but to also communicate with everyone-- I learned that it was my comfort. Then my comfort and my cathartic writing process slowly became bigger than that. My writing started with journals from day one and those went on until day two hundred and eleven. It was when I stopped posting the journals on-line that inspired me to turn this into something bigger than a journal. I began mentoring another parent through her child's traumatic brain injury recovery; and at the same time people from all over were writing and calling --to tell me that they missed my journals. They missed reading what I had to say. That made me think that this story of mine, could actually be a book.

My story is about a trauma that happened to my daughter, Taylor, when she was fourteen years old. My book braveing the way takes you deep into my own journey while being beside my daughter in her separate journey of survival.

We spent sixty six days in the hospital as a family never knowing the outcome. Many of my journal excerpts are in the book, and I write about traumatic brain injury and what that looks like, what it does to a family, and what it takes to be a survivor. I write about what it’s like to be a mom through that, and watching your daughter fight the fight. Spending months in  the hospital, and going through Taylor’s recovery process --as an author I take you through my personal deep dive into myself--which was not always an easy process.

It’s a book about moving through a trauma with my two daughters, and my own self-reflection while going through it, and always being ‘mama bear’ every step of the way. It is not only a beautiful story about maternal sacrifice, it is also about building tenacity, strength and courage through intense struggle. I hope to encourage and bring bravery to people who don’t think they have it.

About the Book:

Title: Braveing the Way

Author: Laurel C. Fox

Publication Date: June 20, 2024

Pages: 186

Genre: Memoir

When Laurel’s fourteen-year-old daughter experiences a life-altering event, her entire world is upended overnight. Faced with her child’s precarious fight to survive and the daunting road of rehabilitation ahead, Laurel discovers fountains of courage and devotion she didn’t know she possessed.

Despite the hardships and her own private grief, Laurel tackles each grueling day with positivity, resilience, and humor. She becomes a tireless advocate for her daughter by pushing past exhaustion and uncertainty, focusing on savoring small triumphs, finding meaning amidst tragedy, and opening the door to the healing force of community.

Sharing her deeply personal experience, she delivers an emotionally charged story that reveals the extraordinary power of a mother’s love, underscoring the lengths a parent will go to for their children. Laurel’s own self-discovery will both encourage and inspire you.

Laurel says to her readers “My book is about a trauma that happened to my daughter, Taylor, when she was fourteen years old. My story ‘braveing the way’ takes you deep into my own journey while being beside my daughter in her separate journey of survival.”

Braveing the Way is available at Amazon.

 

 

Watch the Trailer

https://youtu.be/RVyz-pGxcrk  

 

About the Author:

 

Laurel C. Fox was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Aspen, Colorado from the age of nine, through high school. She went back to Milwaukee for her first year of college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison/WI. After one year at Madison,  she moved on to finish college in California, earning a BA in Liberal Arts at Excelsior College, with her course studies done at UCLA in Los Angeles.

 You can visit the author’s web page at www.braveingtheway.com and Instagram at https://instagram.com/laurelcarini.

Purchase the Book:

 

 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Bookshop.org 

 

 

 

 

 Sponsored By:

BOOK BLITZ OF A SLEIGH RIDE FOR CHARLOTTE BY SARAH LAMB (#Contest- Win an Amazon Gift Card.)

 

A Sleigh Ride For Charlotte
Sarah Lamb
Publication date: August 13th 2024
Genres: Adult, Historical, Historical Romance, Holiday, Romance

Sometimes the simple choice isn’t easy.

Charlotte Harrison dreams of being part of the winter festival, where romance fills the air and new starts are made. Penniless after her family was swindled, she’s always stayed home, unwilling to be looked at with pity. But this year Charlotte is desperate and willing to do whatever it takes to be there when she hears the most eligible man in town has his eye on her.

New to town, Dr. Justin Davis is in dire need of someone to assist him at his practice. When Charlotte is suggested, it seems like an opportunity for them both. At first, he simply wants to help her financial situation. But against his better judgment, he falls in love with her. Worst of all, the man she desires is someone he can’t stand, and he might have just sent her straight into his arms.

Through a series of surprising events, Charlotte learns that not everyone is as they seem, and when she goes to give her heart away, she’s faced with uncertainty. Who is she going to choose? The man she’s been longing for? Or the man who truly loves her?

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“Doctor, I know. I know that you are in love with Charlotte. I also know that the gifts she’s gotten have been from you, not August.”

This wasn’t at all what he’d expected her to say. Justin stiffened, though he tried to remain calm. “I beg your pardon?”

I beg your pardon? That was the best he could do? The only thing he could think of to say?

“Yes,” she told him. “A mother sees things. You need to tell Charlotte how you feel.”

It struck him then. She was twisting her hands and looking anxious because she was upset. Of course she was. Her daughter, one who was both beautiful and of marrying age was working for him. They were alone, and it was likely she suspected him of acting inappropriately.

He had to set things right.

“Mrs. Harrison, I promise you that in no way have I compromised your daughter’s reputation,” he started.

“And why not?” she asked, surprising him.

“Wh-why not?”

“If you had, then we could have married the two of you, been rid of that horrid August Middleton and whatever plan he has for my Charlotte. You care for her, don’t you?”

“I do,” he said, panic rising in him. This wasn’t a conversation he’d thought to have.

“Then why,” she urged, “won’t you tell her? Why do you let her think that scoundrel has sent her those thoughtful gifts? You must say something to her. Especially before it’s too late.”

Justin was silent for a moment. When he looked into Mrs. Harrison’s face, all he saw was compassion. It made him want to tell her. To confess everything in his heart.

“My dear boy,” she said quietly. “You care so much for her. So, why?”

“I’m not who she wants. It’s him, not me,” he suddenly burst out, pacing. All of his hurt, all of his insecurities and fears and upset rushed out of him. Now that the flood had started, he couldn’t hold it back.

“I’m not rich, I’m not handsome. I have nothing to offer. A doctor with his first practice—a new one at that—in a small town is not wealthy. Why, half of my patients don’t pay me in coin, but in service or food. I couldn’t give her all she deserves.”

“What does she deserve?” Charlotte’s mother asked, placing her hands in her lap, while her eyes never left his.

“She deserves someone who loves her. Who can give her what she desires. Who can care for her and protect her and…and I am none of those things.” He gestured wildly, hoping his hands would convey his desperation. “The only way that I can protect her is by staying away.”

Justin lowered his head and whispered, “If I don’t, he will hurt you both.”

Author Bio:

Sarah is wife to an amazing teacher and mom to two boys who are growing up just a little too fast. Her day job is helping others to become writers, while she squeezes in each spare moment she can on her own books. She spends her days working and writing in the Blue Ridge Mountains and planning her next trip to Disney World.

Website / Facebook / Amazon / Bookbub

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REVIEW OF THE DROWNED BY JOHN BANVILLE (#thriller,#mystery)

I want to introduce you to John Banville's newest novel, The Drowned, which will be released on 10/1/2024. Let me tell you about the novel.

 About the Book:

 From the renowned Booker Prize winner and nationally bestselling author of Snow comes a richly atmospheric new mystery about a woman’s sudden disappearance in a small coastal town in Ireland, where nothing is as it seems “He had seen drowned people. A sight not to be forgotten.” 1950s, rural Ireland. A loner comes across a mysteriously empty car in a field. Knowing he shouldn’t approach but unable to hold back, he soon finds himself embroiled in a troubling missing person case, as a husband claims his wife may have thrown herself into the sea. Called in from Dublin to investigate is Detective Inspector Strafford, who soon turns to his old ally—the flawed but brilliant pathologist Quirke—a man he is linked to in increasingly complicated ways. But as the case unfolds, events from the past resurface that may have life-altering ramifications for all involved. At once a searing mystery and a profound meditation on the hidden worlds we all inhabit, The Drowned is the next great Strafford and Quirke novel from a beloved writer at the top of his game.

 

My Thoughts:

When I was asked to review "The Drowned" this was the first book by the author that I had read. Initially, I found understanding the characters' relationships and the storyline challenging. Had I read the previous books in the series, I would have better understood the dynamics between Quirke and Stratford, both of whom have evident problems in the novel. Although the novel's beginning was slow, the plot started to make more sense as I continued reading. The story is filled with mystery, deceit, affairs, and various characters that kept me engaged. Banville's writing is captivating, and I look forward to reading his other books.

 

 

Disclaimer: The publisher gave me a copy of the book for my honest review and I was not compensated for my review. 

Guest Post by Robert Harris Author of Precipice

I want to welcome Robert Harris to Books R US. Robert is the author of numerous novels including Act of Oblivion, Concave and his newest novel PRECIPICE set during WW1 in England. Precipice is scheduled to be released on 9/17 by Harper/HarperCollins  Let me tell you a bit about the book and The author will give you a bit on the backstory of the book. Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

About the Book:

Acclaimed and bestselling author Robert Harris has written fifteen cinematic thrillers published around the world –several of them made into films, most recently Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rosellini, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow, to be released in fall of 2024 by Focus Features. Harris’s last novel Act of Oblivion was beloved by the media and readers alike.

London- 1914 —A suspicious double drowning on a party boat hosting the “Coterie,” a group of the brightest and most interesting of England’s young upper class….A real life clandestine affair between Prime Minister H.H. Asquith and the lovely Venetia Stanley, a young socialite over half his age….Europe on the brink of a world war…England and Ireland a powder keg….And a newly minted intelligence officer with Scotland Yard assigned to investigate a leak of top-secret documents. What was merely a sexual intrigue has become a matter of national security that could alter the course of political history. These are the plotlines of Robert Harris’s propulsive new novel PRECIPICE.

The world is again on the precipice and this new novel speaks to that unease in uncanny ways. Seamlessly weaving fact and fiction in a way that no writer does better, PRECIPICE is the thrilling new novel that will be on all of fall’s best books of the season lists.

GUEST POST:

BEHIND THE BOOK – THE REAL-LIFE AFFAIR DEPICTED IN PRECIPICE

By Robert Harris

As Britain was sucked into a catastrophic war in the summer of 1914, the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith had other things on his mind. He was in the grip of an obsessive love affair with Venetia Stanley, a young aristocratic woman less than half his age. In all, he wrote her more than five hundred letters – up to three a day, sometimes during Cabinet meetings – passionate declarations of love, often including top secret documents.

The existence of the affair was first revealed in the 1960s, when Roy Jenkins was allowed to quote from the letters in his authorized biography of Asquith. In 1982, a scholarly edition of just over half the archive was published by the Oxford University Press.

Venetia Stanley carefully preserved Asquith’s letters to her, but he destroyed all hers to him. This has inevitably given a skewed impression of the relationship. So, as I was writing my novel PRECIPICE, my first important task was to try to construct her side of the correspondence. As I did so, a different picture began to emerge.

For a start, the generally accepted view that the affair was platonic rather than physical, seems to fly in the face of all the circumstantial evidence. Both had passionate natures – Asquith was notorious for pouncing on young women, and Venetia went on to have a series of well-attested affairs. The coupe would take weekly Friday afternoon drives lasting an hour or two, even when the war was at its height. Asquith’s car, in which the passengers were enclosed in a large compartment, separated from the driver by a fixed glass screen with a drawn curtain, and with blinds on all the windows, certainly provided ample privacy for physical intimacy. This detail has been overlooked by historians.

Secondly, the affair had important political consequences. By the start of 1915, when Asquith sensed Venetia was trying to bring the relationship to an end, he wrote of feeling suicidal. During the crucial meeting of the War Council in January 1915 which agreed to mount the Dardanelles expedition, he spent half an hour writing to Venetia – a lapse of concentration which may have had tragic consequences. A few weeks later, when the government was confronted by a scandal over a shortage of ammunition on the western front, Asquith blundered by claiming there had never been any such shortage. The crucial memorandum from Lord Kitchener on which he based his assertion was no longer in his possession: he had sent it to Venetia and had misremembered the contents.

Finally, in May 1915, when Venetia wrote to him breaking the news that she was going to marry Edwin Montagu, one of his closest friends, his distress seems to have fatally clouded his judgement. Contact between the two ceased. Suffering a loss of nerve when the twin crises of the Dardanelles disaster and the shell shortage broke a couple of days later, he agreed to form a coalition with the Tory opposition. There was never to be a Liberal government again.

In a despairing letter composed just hours afterwards, he wrote to her: ‘I am on the eve of the most astounding & world-shaking decisions – such as I would never have taken without your counsel & consent.’ Remarkably, this paragraph is not included in the scholarly edition of the letters.

Venetia was not merely his lover. He asked her constantly for political advice. For example, he regularly showed her decrypted secret telegrams from British ambassadors, and then casually threw the decrypts out of the car window. When members of the public handed the fragments in to the police in August 1914, Scotland Yard informed the Foreign Office and some kind of leak inquiry ensued. It was this episode which inspired the structure of my novel. I have invented an intelligence officer, charged with overseeing the investigation, and I hope this fictional device helps bring to life one of the most remarkable and under-explored chapters in British political history.

 About the Author:

Robert Harris is the author of Act of Oblivion, Pompeii, Enigma, and Fatherland. He has been a television correspondent with the BBC and a newspaper columnist for London’s Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph. His novels have sold more than ten million copies and translated into thirty languages. He lives in Berkshire, England, with his wife and four children.

 

 Purchase the book:

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble.

 

 

Review of the Inhabitants by Beth Castrodale

I want to welcome Beth Castrodale to Books R Us. Beth is the author of The Inhabitants. The novel will be available on Sept 10th. Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

About the Book:

After a run of misfortune, portrait artist Nilda Ricci could use a stroke of luck. She seems to get just that when she inherits a shadowy Victorian, designed by an architect whose works were said to influence the mind— supposedly, in beneficial ways. At first, Nilda’ s new home delivers multiple gifts, including the unexpected appearance of a housekeeper who’ d helped maintain the home for years. Also, Nilda finds herself falling for a handsome neighbor, a chemist whose herbal tonics boost her creativity to new heights. But as Nilda seeks revenge-by-painting against a contempt-worthy portrait subject, she begins having strange experiences in the house, making her wonder whether the place is haunted or whether its architect’ s intentions were less than benevolent. She also begins to suspect that her neighbor, and his gifts of tonics, aren’ t what they seem. All along, the housekeeper seems to be looking out for Nilda. But in time she reveals needs of her own, which may prove more powerful than anything in the house … or beyond it.

 

My Thoughts:

I loved this novel and even stayed up late to finish it. The story revolves around the main character, Nilda, and her daughter who inherit a Victorian house with unique architecture and a dark history. As the plot develops, Nilda starts to notice strange occurrences within the home. Her unease grows when she finds eerie models of the house, and her daughter, Sydney, begins talking to an imaginary friend named Alex. Each character plays a crucial role in the story-line, adding to the sense of anticipation. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I highly recommend getting a copy and experiencing the book for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Connect with the Author:

Website 

Facebook.

X.com

Goodreads

 

Books by the Author: 

Gold River- Get your free copy here

I Mean You No Harm. 

In This Ground. 

Marion Hatley. 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The author gave me a free ARC of the book for my honest review and I was not compensated for my review.

Review of Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in The Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Dan Kois

I want to welcome Dan Kois to Books R Us. Dan is the author of Hampton Heights and Vintage Contemporaries. Hampton Heights is scheduled to be released on September 17, 2024. Thanks for stopping by.

About the Book:

 

On a cold winter’s evening in 1987, six middle-school paperboys wander an unfamiliar Milwaukee neighborhood, selling newspaper subscriptions, fueled by their manager Kevin’s promises of cash bonuses and dinner at Burger King. But the freaks come out at night in Hampton Heights. Sent out into the neighborhood in pairs, the boys will encounter a host of primordial monsters—and triumph over them.

 

 

My Thoughts

This is an unusual but exciting and fun novel about six teenagers and a manager who set out on a wild adventure to sell newspapers in Hampton Heights. While going door to door, the kids encounter strange beings in an attempt to win twenty dollars: witches, werewolves, and a troll become part of the story. The manager, Kevin, has a bizarre encounter with a neighbor woman with peculiar nails. The night ends at Burger King, where they receive their rewards. The teenagers, each with their unique backgrounds and perspectives, are paired up and must work together to survive the crazy night and neighborhood. This coming-of-age novel set in the 80s included a bit of horror and humor. I liked the book. It was easy to read and well-written. 

 

 

 

Disclaimer:

The publisher gave me a free copy of the novel in exchange for my honest review, and I was not compensated for my review.