Tag: Suspense

Indie, Makes You Think, Suspense

The Nine Minute Diner by Grzegorz Kunowski

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Embark on a gripping journey through a 48,000-word narrative woven from diverse threads of drama, mystery, and human connection. From a web of small-town secrets to a diner robbery gone wrong, the text explores the profound impacts of choices on sixteen compelling characters. The Nine Minute Diner captures the haunting reverberations of their decisions, revealing the intricate dance between fate and human agency. Suspenseful twists and poignant reflections unravel a rich tapestry of lives colliding, creating an immersive experience that leaves readers spellbound. In this novella-length narrative, every word adds depth to a narrative that explores the profound consequences of a desperate act.

My Thoughts

Mr. Kunowski was kind enough to send me a pre-pub version of his latest novella, which does not seem to be available yet. However, I will tell you this book had me captivated from the start. Each chapter tells the personal story of an individual caught up in a horrendous mass shooting incident in a diner. I went into this thinking I knew how this would unfold, but Kunowski takes you in unexpected directions throughout the narrative.

As I was reading and experiencing the different emotions and reactions of the people in the diner, I kept thinking that this would make a fabulous on-stage production. The writing is evocative and emotional, conveying the fear, horror, shock, surprise, and inevitability experienced by the diners.

While Nine Minute Diner is not available on the author’s Amazon page yet, you can check out his other work at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Grzegorz-Kunowski/author/B082P9CGB9?

Mystery, Psychological, Suspense, Women

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins returns with a twisted new gothic suspense about an infamous heiress and the complicated inheritance she left behind.

THERE’S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.

And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.

My Thoughts

Holy hell!

Here’s the new Gone Girl for 2024 and it’s a DOOZY. Hawkins has delivered an unforgettable tale of suspense, family intrigue, deception, betrayal, and ultimately love (although love without trust). You will read this one in a single sitting, so arm yourself with plenty of tasty beverages and snacks and settle in for a bumpy ride.

There’s really nothing more to say about this fabulous story except get yourself a copy!

Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Published By: St. Martin’s Press
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Mystery, New Releases, Psychological, Suspense, Women

Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Instead of presents this Christmas, a true crime podcaster is opening up a cold case…

Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father. When Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, drifts into her shop in the days before Christmas, he seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She’s the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline’s, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It’s an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his stroke took his faculties.

Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn’t much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth—and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed—and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank.

Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites?

As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead—to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think.

Coupling a picturesque, cozy setting with a deeply unsettling suspenseful plot, Christmas Presents is a chilling seasonal novella that can be enjoyed all year long.

My Thoughts

I picked up this nail-biter of a novel and set it down 2 hours later, absolutely drained. This is a whopper of a story that grabs ahold from the first chapter and doesn’t let you go until the final sentence.

While the story is shorter than others, I found myself feeling a sense of urgency while reading, adding to the tension. Everything works here from the characters to the dialog to the narrative structure and description – it all comes together in this incendiary story that will have you gripping the book, white-knuckled, as you gnaw on your fingernails.

So well done.

Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Published By: Penzler Publishers; Mysterious Press
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Horror, Psychological, Suspense, Women

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

Description

Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement.

But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza’s erratic behavior, Wren’s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she must discover the truth—or suffer the same fate.

A claustrophobic and propulsive thriller exploring the dark side of female relationships and fame, The Writing Retreat is the unputdownable debut novel from a compelling new talent.

My Thoughts

I’ve read several reviews of this incandescent debut comparing it The Plot, The Secret History, and other novels. But I am here to tell you that this is like nothing you’ve ever read before.

This is psychological mayhem at its very best.

All I’m going to say is READ THIS!

Advance Praise

“Sex, suspense, and the supernatural fuel this propulsive debut.” —People
“Darkly satirical and action-packed….An absolutely splendid debut!” —Wendy Walker, nationally bestselling author of Don’t Look for Me

“I loved this chilling, tightly plotted, feminist, seriously effed-up thriller…and not just because my brilliant sister wrote it! Can’t wait for everyone else to fall in love with this wicked debut.” —Andrea Bartz, NYT bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick WE WERE NEVER HERE

“A sexy, thrilling, compulsive mediation on art and competition amongst women who ought to be sisters, only something malignant gets in the way.” —Sarah Langan, award-winning author of GOOD NEIGHBORS

• “A wild ride from page one . . . This thrill-packed story brims with secrets, intrigue and murder. I dare you to put it down.” —Janice Hallett, internationally bestselling author of THE TWYFORD CODE

“THE WRITING RETREAT is bonkers in the best way, and it left me with a brutal case of author envy.” —Layne Fargo, author of THEY NEVER LEARN

“NIGHT FILM meets THE SECRET HISTORY in Julia Bartz’s bold, brilliant, and genuinely scary debut . . . Palpable atmosphere, sinister characters, full-body chills, jaw-dropping twists, and stay-up-all-night suspense. I am obsessed with this book. I never wanted it to end.” —Megan Collins, author of THE FAMILY PLOT

“Equal parts nightmare and erotic fantasy as five would-be writers are pulled deeper into the secrets of Blackbriar and its inhabitants.”—Jennifer Fawcett, author of BENEATH THE STAIRS

Book Tour, iRead Book Tour, Mystery, Suspense

Underneath the Fireflies by Marianne Scott

Patricia McDonald Uttaro

On Tour April 17- May 12, 2023

Book Description

No matter where Grace Walker goes, her extra sensory power goes with her. She’s an empath and she sees things — terrible things. After a tragic accident at the place where she works, she decides to take a mental-health break on a remote West Coast island. But she no sooner gets to Galliano Island when a vision of the murder of an Indigenous woman draws her into a disturbing and threatening dilemma.

My Thoughts

Marianne Scott has produced an intricate and thoughtful mystery/suspense novel that features characters who weave in and out of two distinct plotlines. Protagonist Grace Walker is a complex character who wrestles with an unwanted empathic ability which has affected her since she was a child. Scott introduces the two plotlines almost immediately – the horrific “accident” that happened to Grace in Toronto and the even more horrific murder of an Indigenous woman that took place on the remote island where Grace is retreating to find peace from the former.

As a new reader of Scott’s, I immediately thought that the Toronto plotline was the subject of an earlier book, but that does not seem to be the case. The basics of that plot are a bit far-fetched (control of workers via microchip) and seemed out of place in this solid murder mystery, but I remain convinced that Scott should definitely write that book. I want to know the details of that story!

As the story progressed, the Toronto connection to the Galliano Island plot becomes much clearer, with all the loose ends tied up neatly, leading to a very satisfying conclusion.

Scott blends great characters with a lovely location and a story that keeps you reading late into the night. The vivid descriptions of Galliano Island and it’s inhabitants add depth to the dialog and characterizations. The bad guy here is really bad, and descriptions of his behavior made my skin crawl. Short chapters provide a easy reading experience, although the print version of this is pretty hefty.

I’ll be recommending this as a good summer read this year, on par with Nora Roberts and Elizabeth Lowell. One trigger warning, though – there is a rape scene, but it’s handled with sensitivity.

Book Details:

​Book Title:  Underneath the Fireflies by Marianne Scott
Category:  Adult Fiction (18+),  496 pages
Genre: Murder Mystery / Thriller
Publisher: Crowe Creations
Release date:  January 2023
Tour dates: April 17 to May 12, 2023
Content Rating:  PG-13 – Colloquial expressions in dialogue.

BUY THE BOOK:
Amazon.ca ~ Amazon.com
​add to goodreads

Meet the Author

Marianne Scott is the Canadian author of four mystery thrillers and is currently working on her fifth novel, a sci-fi/thriller. She has a BA and a Diploma in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. She studied creative writing through Conestoga College and Humber College. She enjoys writing workshops such as those offered by Brian Henry, publisher of blog, Quick Brown Fox and One Lit Place, a writers’ hub by creator/editor Jenna Kalinsky. She has an author’s website and blog. She is a full-time writer who lives in the historic small Canadian village of Hespeler Ontario (now amalgamated with the city of Cambridge).  

connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads