Book Review: A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer

 

Goodreads Summary: The New York Times and Washington Post bestselling serial-killer thriller that will leave you wondering, is the past really in the past?
Three Chicago women have been found strangled, embalmed, and posed as if still alive. Doubting the findings of the local PD's profiler, The FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate.

Zoe quickly gets off on the wrong foot with her new partner, Special Agent Tatum Gray. Zoe's a hunter, intense and focused; Tatum's a smug maverick with little respect for the rules. Together, they must descend into a serial killer's psyche and untangle his twisted fantasies, or more women will die. But when the contents of three inconspicuous envelopes reveal a chilling connection to gruesome murders from Zoe's childhood, suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.

Goodreads Rating: 4.20 stars with over 55,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Mystery, Thriller Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Detective

Goodreads Challenge: 7/60 

2024 Reading Challenge: #8 Read a book that's been on your "shelf" for over a year (see the entire challenge here)

Review: 

Hello Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I've been traveling for the last few days, visiting a friend. I got to experience two new states that I had never been to, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Airports and flights are perfect for finishing books. Last night, while on the plane, I finished A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer. 

I don't read thrillers often, and I'm not sure why. I tend to forget they exist since I usually just read Historical Fiction and Fantasy. Picking up A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer was an excellent reminder to read this genre more often. I enjoyed how the story bounced between Zoe and Tatum's investigation, Zoe's past, which prompted her interest in profiling, and the serial killer's perspective. It gave a well-rounded view of all the factors that contributed to the events in the book. It also gave a good distraction from who the killer really was. 

I wouldn't say I was blown away by the book, but it was good and a quick read. I'm intrigued enough that if I see the other books for a reasonable price on Kindle, I might pick them up. I did like how it read a bit like an episode of Criminal Minds. Character-wise, it took me a while to really warm up to Zoe. For the book's first part, she felt flat and one-dimensional. I won't say I loved her as a main character, but she was ok. Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who wants a light thriller/mystery.

Book Review: The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

 

Goodreads Summary: You won't want to leave...until you can't.
Half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in...

Genre Listing: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Crime

Goodreads Rating: 3.37 stars with over 145,000 ratings

Goodreads Challenge: 25/30 ( I will likely update it from 30 at some point.)

2023 Reading Challenge: #27 Read a book by an author who shares a first or last name with one of your friends (the entire challenge can be found here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! Please do not get used to me doing two posts in a day. I read a lot while I was off work/traveling and am trying to catch up before I forget things. This post will catch me up. I picked up The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse a while ago and just now got around to reading it. It was a great fit for #27, as I have a lot of Sarah (or Sara) in my life. 

I set myself up for disappointment with this book. Somehow I went into this book thinking it would be more of a haunted situation, and it was definitely not. I spent the entire book wondering when the ghosts would appear, only to learn there were no ghosts. There were only some angry Europeans with an agenda.

I found Elin, Will, and Issac hard to relate to as characters. They all seemed emotionless, given the situation they found themselves in at the hotel. When deaths start happening, it's up to Elin to solve them as the only pseudo-law enforcement still there when the storm hits. I felt like her "solving" the case was just accusing everyone still left at the hotel by jumping to conclusions. The motive also really didn't make sense. While it was a horrible situation, it was a bunch of loose connections forced into a hidden agenda that didn't fit the rest of the story. There was no natural build-up to it that allowed for it to make sense. It just felt like an afterthought to the rest of the story.

This definitely wasn't my cup of tea for horror/mystery. It may be because I got myself too psyched up for it to be a haunted sanatorium, but it all just felt forced together and wasn't that entertaining. I'm sure some will like it since it has over 3 stars, but I prefer a little more story than just solving by accusing everyone.

Book Review: The First Prophet by Kay Hooper

 

Goodreads Summary: Within the FBI, there exists a team of psychics whose powers cannot be denied. But these agents are feared—by a cabal of conspirators with only one weapon: to blind the psychics to the evils all around them.

Months ago Sarah Gallagher woke from a coma with psychic abilities she couldn't control. They changed her life and cost her the man she loved. And now, someone is playing games with Sarah's mind.

It begins with Sarah's home being destroyed by fire—an act of arson that draws novelist Tucker Mackenzie into Sarah's confidence. But he has other reasons for pursuing a woman who can see what others can't. So does a mysterious enemy intent on eliminating Sarah and everyone she cares about. Because it's only a matter of time before her visions lead her and Tucker to a secret many will kill to hide. Only then will they begin to discover the scope of a terrifying conspiracy so deep and complex that they can trust almost no one.

Good Reads Ratings: 3.86 stars with over 4,500 ratings

Genre listing: Paranormal, Mystery, Suspense, Fiction, Romance, Thriller, Crime

Goodreads Challenge: #47 Read a book that involves a conspiracy (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, readers! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the start of the weekend. I'm going to keep this review relatively short. I'm exhausted, and after I write this, I plan to just play on my phone until I pass out for the night. Exciting plans, I know. This is what happens when you're secretly an elderly person disguised as a 30-something.

I was going to initially use The First Prophet by Kay Hooper as my book that was recommended by a friend. However, the more I got into it, the more it became apparent it was about a conspiracy (I had forgotten initially), so I decided to slot it for #47 since that would be harder for me to find than a recommendation from someone. 

It took me a bit to get into the book. I don't really blame the story for that, however. I started it when I was reading Time's Convert, and given that both books switch points of view a lot, it made it hard for me to pay attention. Once I got into it, I enjoyed it. I liked reading about Sarah and watching her figure out her psychic abilities. I liked Tucker, but I felt like he needed more faults. He was too weirdly good at everything. Having him around made the conflicts seem too easy and predictable. The twist at the end did surprise me a bit, however.

I liked the book. However, I don't know how quickly I will pick up the series. I'm apprehensive because I still have unanswered questions, but I get the feeling that they aren't going to be answered as it pertains to Sarah's storyline specifically. I hope I'm wrong, though, as I did enjoy it, and I'm curious to see where the story goes with Sarah and Tucker. There are a lot of secrets that will be interesting to see how they unravel.

It was a fun read, and I'd buy the next book if I came across it in a bookstore.

Book Review: Hunted by Darcy Coates

 

Goodreads Summary: 22-year-old Eileen goes missing while hiking in the remote Ashlough Forest. Five days later, her camera is discovered washed downriver, containing bizarre photos taken after her disappearance.

Chris wants to believe Eileen is still alive. When the police search is abandoned, he and four of his friends create their own search party to scour the mountain range. As they stray further from the hiking trails and the unsettling discoveries mount, they begin to believe they’re not alone in the forest… and that Eileen’s disappearance wasn’t an accident.

By that point, it’s too late to escape.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.08 stars with over 8,000 reviews

Genre Listing: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Survival

Goodreads Challenge: 18/36

2022 Reading Challenge: #33 Read a book that does not have a person (or people) on the cover (Find the entire challenge here)

 

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! As I write this, Reading Challenge Co-Conspirator is at the airport and preparing to make her way to Minnesota. It has been several years since we have seen each other, but I am so excited that she is spending our birthday week in Minnesota. We have some plans, including an Alice in Wonderland-themed escape room and tickets to  Wicked. We mostly plan to sit on my couch, binge a lot of TV, and read books. There will most definitely be snacks. Stay tuned; we have some fun Birthday blog fun coming.

 

So, on to Hunted by Darcy Coates. This book was a bit of a different read for me as I do not typically gravitate towards the survival suspense genres. Lately, I have wanted to read something that had the potential to be scary. I do not know that I found this scary. Some parts made me think, "oh, that is creepy," but that was about it. 

 

The book follows Chris and four of his friends as they form a search party to find Chris's missing sister, Eileen. The challenges they face are primarily psychological, which I found interesting. I thought Darcy Coates did a great job explaining how disorienting this forest would be, especially if there are additional threats to consider. The story also alternates between a few friends, their different perspectives, and the lead investigator on the disappearance case. I thought Delgado was the more interesting of the characters and had an interesting back story. With the book ending, I would read a crime thriller series where she is the main character.

 

I enjoyed the book, but I think the last 20-30% fell flat for me. I wanted to read about what was happening to Chris and his friends and see if they survived the forest. I also wanted to see if Delgado pieced the evidence together, but I figured out who was behind the disappearance early in the book. I think it was supposed to be a big reveal, but I was not all that surprised. Once the book got closer to the end, the story felt more tell than show, and it seemed like a packaged ending. I would still recommend it to anyone who wants a shorter survival thriller.

 

 

 

Book Review: The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker

 

Goodreads Summary: For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive.

As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.

With only a handful of clues, the elusive killer’s identity remains a mystery. Time is running out and the Four Monkey Killer taunts from beyond the grave in this masterfully written fast-paced thriller.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.16 stars with over 26,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Detective, Crime

Goodreads Challenge: 10/48

2022 Reading Challenge: #35 Read a Psychological Thriller (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review: 

I'm not really sure how this book wound up on my radar. I think I was digging through Kindle Unlimited trying to find something dark and twisted. This book definitely fits this requirement. I was drawn in pretty quickly to the case and what was going on. 

I don't really read a lot of Psychological/Crime thrillers, but the plot felt unique to me. I thought it was interesting that we not only got the present-day solving of the case but also information about the serial killer's past in his own words via his diary. I thought 4MK's diary entries were fascinatingly twisted. It was interesting to see how he was raised and groomed for what he became. He was also eerily polite. The entire time I was reading the book I felt like the serial killer was some hybrid of Ned Flanders from the Simpsons and Ted Bundy. 

I really liked the red herrings in this book. It wasn't super straightforward forward and it kept me guessing. Not only just with the case, but 4MK's past, and personal things going on with Detective Porter. I will say that while I enjoyed the book, I think I was more invested in 4MK's background than Porter's. There was a bit that tried to make him feel relatable, but mostly he just felt like a placeholder because somebody had to solve the case. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and will probably read more of J.D. Barker's books in the future. I don't think I'll jump right into another one, however. Mainly because I still have a ton of spots to fill on this challenge. I would not read this book if you're easily triggered. This one deals with domestic abuse, torture, workplace harassment, etc. However, if you are looking for a gory, twisted detective story, I would definitely recommend this one.

Book Review: The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

Goodreads Summary:  In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.
In 2016, Eddie is fully grown and thinks he's put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead.

That's when Eddie realizes that saving himself means finally figuring out what really happened all those years ago.
Goodreads Ratings: 3.52 stars with over 35,000 ratings
Genre Listing: Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Horror, Fiction
Goodreads Challenge: 10/50
2019 Reading Challenge: 1.) A book with a red cover (find the full challenge here.)

Book Review:

Woohoo! At long last, I got the red cover off my list. This should not have been as hard as it was! I picked up several different kindle books with red covers that were either already on my kindle or free. I couldn't even get through like 20 pages of them. I ended up killing time on my lunch hour Thursday and wandering into the Books A Million right down the road. Side note, having a book store that close by is DANGEROUS. Anyway, I started reading it that night since I didn't have much time once I got back to work. I was instantly hooked. Read a bunch on my break on Friday, and then when I stopped into a pizza place on the way home read it while I was waiting. I could not put it down. I'm pretty sure once I got home Friday I ate dinner and crawled up with it some more. I ended up finishing it sometime early Saturday morning. 

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor alternates between 1986 and 2016. I'm shocked that I enjoyed the timeline aspect of the book as generally, I prefer more linear timelines. However, in the Chalk Man the alternating works. It starts with a body being found from an unknown point of view and then progresses to getting to know Eddie and his friends as kids and then knowing Eddie (or Ed) as an adult.

When the story switched to 1986, I felt like it had a Goonies/Stand By Me gang of friends vibe. I think what I liked most about this, characterwise, is that each kid had their own personality. I felt like they were all well developed and Eddie's narration gave each of his friends their own backstory. I thought their development into adults was very well done. I thought what their adult lives had become made a lot of sense with what description was given of them as children.

I think that my favorite part of this story was the wit. It's not outright comical by any mean, but several pieces were just witty and clever. If I had been reading it on Kindle, I probably would have soo many highlighted quotes. If you enjoyed the quotes I used to post, be sure to follow me on Goodreads. I haven't really been putting them in the posts lately, but I always make them public on GR.

This book was definitely suspenseful. I think that C.J. Tudor did a great job of giving several possible characters being the murder. I was actually surprised because I didn't really expect who it ended up being. I especially didn't predict the motive. I'm trying to not give too much away, but there are so many potential suspects, and no one's really ruled out until the very end. I think part of this is that just about everyone in the story has their own secrets. I absolutely loved the things that the characters were hiding from one another. I mentioned to a Twitter friend (Follow me for blog updates: @LinzBassett) that The Chalk Man is super twisted. A lot of the twistedness comes from the secrets. I'm going to be a bit spoilery here, Eddie has the most F***ed up secret, which is probably why he's the main character. It made my True Crime loving self thoroughly creeped out. Yes, I'm aware that the fact that I enjoy this kind of stuff is just not right. I have never once in my life claimed to be normal, and at nearly 32 years old I don't plan to claim it now.

If you want a thriller that you can't put down, I highly recommend The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor. It's a relatively short read, but there's so much character depth, twists and turns, and wit that make it a fantastic read. I'm already thinking about rereading this just to see if there's anything crazy I missed.

Blog review of The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas

Goodreads Summary: MORE THAN 7 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE.
Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg is not like other policemen. His methods appear unorthodox in the extreme: he doesn't search for clues; he ignores obvious suspects and arrests people with cast-iron alibis; he appears permanently distracted. In spite of all this, his colleagues are forced to admit that he is a born cop.

When strange blue chalk circles start appearing overnight on the pavements of Paris, only Adamsberg takes them - and the increasingly bizarre objects found within them - seriously. And when the body of a woman with her throat savagely cut is found in one, only Adamsberg realizes that other murders will soon follow.

Winner of The Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie International Dagger.

Goodreads Rating: 3.67 stars with over 5,300 ratings
Genre Listing: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, French Culture
Get the book: Amazon, Book Depository
Goodreads Challenge: 7/30
2018 Reading Challenge: #57 A book that was originally published in a foreign language. The challenge can be found here.

Book Review:

When I originally decided to read this book, I wasn't sure where I was going to put it on my challenge. I found out about halfway through that it was translated from French to English, so it was a perfect fit for #57 on the challenge list. Unfortunately, I think this could have been more of a hindrance for me while reading.

This book was tough for me to get through. It's under 300 pages, and I started it in January. I'm just now finishing it in Mid March. It's not that the book was terrible, the language was just so hard for me to read. The entire flow of the book just seemed to ramble on and on, and I wonder how much of that was the translation. I wonder if I knew how to read French and read the original French version if I would feel the same. Unfortunately, I lost my train of thought while reading this fairly often. I had to frequently go back to other pages to remember what happened.

In addition to the rambling, I didn't feel really any connection to this story. I didn't get any feelings toward who the characters were. I like being invested in the characters I read about, and to me, all of the characters were just page fillers. The main character Jean-Baptiste was especially dull. He was supposed to be odd, and I just didn't really get that from the pages described. In regards to Reyes, there was a lot of eye-rolling directed at the numerous puns about being blind. I did appreciate Mathilde's theory on the week being in sections. Monday- Wednesday being the harder portion of the week, Thursday-Saturday being more leisurely, and Sunday is its own section. Despite my indifference to many of the characters, I did like the random connections between some of them.

I think that like Adamsberg, I was more interested in the chalk circles than the murders. I was hoping there would be some psychological reason behind the objects themselves, but there wasn't, unfortunately. I will say, I was surprised at how the events unfolded. The book did pick up for me a little bit after the first murder, and I was never sure who the murder actually was. Vargas did an excellent job and making it seem like it could be any of the characters discussed. The book tied up all of the loose ends nicely, however, it was mainly just Jean-Baptiste recapping everything in a way that made me feel like he knew it all along. 

For the most part, I enjoyed the book, and I found it interesting. I just had a tough time getting through it. Even once I started to get interested in it I could only do a chapter or so at a time before I needed to put it down. Not sure I'd go out of my way to recommend it, but I can't say I hated it either.