Wild Instinct: A Novel by T Jefferson Parker #BookReview #MurderThrillers

Wild Instinct by T Jefferson Parker

Book Blurb:

The hunt for the truth is the deadliest game.

Former Marine sniper Lew Gale, now a detective with the Orange County California Sheriff’s Department, is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has killed a man in the rugged country east of Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow, a rich developer and man-about-town in upscale coastal Orange County.

The investigation takes a chilling turn when Lew and his new partner, Daniela Mendez, discover that Bennet was dead long before the lion got to him. And while he might have been the first to die, he certainly will not be the last.

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

His Review:

Wild Instinct by T Jefferson ParkerBennet Tarlow III is shot dead and the most influential person in Texas must be avenged! His grieving sons are fighting over his substantial fortune and must never turn their backs on another family member.

This story focuses on the greed and corruption that come when spoiled offspring scramble for the position of heir. The father has written a will and it defines the child he wants to become his heir. His sons and daughters care about their father’s riches but particularly where they stand in the heir position. A story about family greed and discord.

C E WilliamsI found the tale a bit of a ring road with danger to each sibling at every turn! Can their father mean so little to the heirs? Read and experience the calamity! 3 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

 

Rosepoint Publishing: Three Stars three stars

 

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Book Details:

Genre: Murder Thrillers, Crime Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN-13: ‎978-1250907929
ASIN: B0DPV1B3LP
Print Length: 336 pages
Publication Date: November 11, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

T Jefferson Parker - authorThe Author: T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of 28 crime novels, including Edgar Award-winners “Silent Joe” and “California Girl.” Parker’s latest work, “The Rescue”, explores the strength of the human-animal bond and how far we will go to protect what we love.

Parker was born in L.A. and grew up in Southern California. He studied English at UC Irvine and worked as a newspaper reporter for five years while writing his first book, “Laguna Heat” on evenings and weekends. HBO made “Laguna Heat” into one of its first original television movies in 1987.

Although the “T” is part of his legal name it does not stand for a name. It is a decorative initial put there by his parents, who once told him they thought T. Jefferson Parker would look good on the White House door.

Parker lives in north San Diego County, and enjoys fishing, hiking and just about anything outdoors.

http://www.tjeffersonparker.com

Twitter: TJParkerauthor

©2025 CE Williams – V Williams

Summertime reading
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Two Audiobooks Mini-Reviews – Never Lie by Freida McFadden and Women of War by Suzanne Cope

Two Audiobooks Mini-Reviews

Well, dang, so easy to listen to audiobooks and I’ve gotten woefully behind on reviews, so I’m posting shortened versions. (Links on individual covers are to Amazon.)

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Best of #BookTok
Hollywood Upstairs Press
November 8, 2022
Narrator: Leslie Howard

Three Stars three stars

Never Lie by Freida McFaddenNo, no, and no. Too many problems for me here to more than okay the book. Okay…the equivalent of a C or 3 stars. So, I get the unreliable narrator, but as the twists began heaping upon twists, it was making less and less sense. I hate feeling like I have a ring in my nose and am being led on a road that won’t particularly go anywhere.

The newlyweds are searching for a home and are supposed to meet their agent with an impending snowstorm. It’s a walloping big house with a history and has been vacant for some time, cold, dirty, but if I remember right has utilities on? Supposed to set the chill-raising stage.

Who is really worse, Tricia or Ethan? I couldn’t engage in either, but then Tricia finds hidden tapes of a previous (psychiatrist) owner and begins listening and, yeah, I listened.

Things are pushing disbelief, twists that leave the reader trying to reconcile with previous hints. Salient plot points are repeated—we got it the first time. Some of the dialogue had you wondering if the characters actually listened to each other—a little disjointed. And I wasn’t crazy about the ending. Another I breathed a sigh of relief that it was over.

Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis by Suzanne Cope

Penguin Audio
April 29, 2025
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld

Three Stars three stars

It’s obvious a ton of research went into this book which features four women of the Italian resistance, Carla, Bianca, Teresa, and Anita.

Women of War by Suzanne CopeIt helps that the chapters were kept fairly short, but also created confusion as they alternated between the main characters. There were times I lost track which life was currently being told. While each woman was amazing in their own right, it read much like a history book, not a novel, and became too easy for me to tune out.

I’ve read a number of books regarding the huge strides made by women during the war, pushing abilities far beyond the kitchen and astounding most with their successful exploits. Those were encapsulated in thrilling fiction storylines. This is the first I’ve read regarding their Italian counterparts and I must say was quite eye-opening but read more like a document.

I’m aware there were many more women equally engaged risking their lives for the cause, for which I’m grateful and awe struck as I have a hard time trying to imagine if I could have been that brave.

This book was narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Ms. Maarleveld, who is capable of switching languages back and forth with the blink of an eye. She is always a pleasure to listen to but couldn’t quite make a text type book into a suspenseful novel.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to these books. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

©2025 V Williams

#Audiobooks

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog #WomensCrimeFiction

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

A Suspenseful Domestic Thriller with Shocking Twists, Unravel the Deception

Editors' Pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn’t a hostage. Her husband – doting father, eternal optimist – is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says… 

My Review:

There’s nothing like an all out race that slams at 150 mph into a wall. Sorta what this novel does as the beginning is both a shock and thrill ride.

New mom Camilla didn’t have a particularly restful night and hoping for a little help getting ready for her first day back to work discovers her hubby’s note. Harried and a little resentful, she manages both herself, the baby, and the house and gets to her own job. Before she can get settled down, however, the police are asking to speak to her.

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
Famous Last Words – UK cover

There is an apparent hostage situation in London. She’s thinking hubby is a hostage, but no, they inform her, he is the hostage taker.

Whoa! Switcharoo! Not what the reader expects and it’s a great hook. With two POVs, hers and the hostage negotiator, things progress swiftly until the whole premise hits that proverbial wall. The hostages are killed and Luke manages his escape.

Part II, left without the rug underneath, the reader is now a hostage as well—hanging onto the storyline simply because you have to know the how, why? Cam insists he’s innocent. But in the face of everything, including damaging videos, does she really still believe it can’t be him? If it IS him, WHY?

What follows after that mad scramble into incredulity are the personal back stories and struggles with Cam and the negotiator, Niall, who with the death of the hostages now has those deaths and failure laid at his feet.

AH! Then Part III kicks in and the pace picks up again, but that middle part definitely slows and chills the narrative. In the meantime, some seven years have elapsed, it’s old news, and her life may be changing with a new romance. She decides it’s time to have Luke officially declared dead.

Now the hitch in the giddy-up. Oops. Maybe not. Truth to say, she might always love Luke. If it’s him, trying to reach her—she must know.

Yeah, those twists. It’s possible you also figured out a few things, stretched your imagination. Great characters. I found Niall particularly engaging and empathetic. Still, there’s a whole story yet to reveal denouement. A surprising departure from most plots, tension filled, suspenseful. If you enjoy thrillers, you’ll enjoy this one—even through the slower part. 4.5 stars

I read Wrong Place Wrong Time and I’m still experiencing vertigo from that one. This one pushes disbelief and also leaves you tilted. The author looks so innocent in those author photos, hard to believe these plots come from that mind.

Many thanks to my local library for the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars 4.5 stars

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Book Details:

Genre: Women’s Crime Fiction, Domestic Thrillers, Women’s Psychological Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 978-0063338449
ASIN:  B0D3CH5FZS
Print Length: 332 pages
Publication Date: February 25, 2025
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

Gillian McAllister - authorThe Author: Gillian McAllister

As you find me, it’s winter 2025 and my new novel is Famous Last Words, a thriller with a marriage at its centre. It asks the question: what would you do if your husband is caught up in a siege in central London? Only, the police tell you he isn’t one of the hostages: he is the gunman… I hope you like the answer!

As to me, otherwise, I am the author of these novels:

Everything But The Truth (2017)
Anything You Do Say (2018) called The Choice in America
No Further Questions (2018) called The Good Sister in America
The Evidence Against You (2019)
How To Disappear (2020)
That Night (2021)
Wrong Place Wrong Time (2022)
Just Another Missing Person (2023)
Famous Last Words (2025)

My most popular novel is probably Wrong Place Wrong Time, which was selected for the Radio 2 book club and was the Reese’s Book Club August ’22 pick. It debuted at number 4 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List and number 2 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

When not writing (which is basically never), I can be found walking my dog Wendy and parenting my small toddler. The best moments of my day always are the first sip of my coffee, the moment I step into the bath at night, and my son telling me he loves me. And that rare thing that happens only once a year – a novel idea.

©2025 V Williams

Happiness is a Reading Buddy

One False Move by Alex Kava #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

One False Move by Alex Kava

Book Blurb:

Internationally best-selling author Alex Kava delivers a searing thriller of one woman’s encounter with her past which could jeopardize her future

Melanie Starks has never lived life by the rules. She and her 17-year-old son, Charlie, have been running one con job or another for as long as she can remember, justifying the petty crimes as the necessary survival moves of a single mother. But Melanie is ready to give it up. Then Jared Barnett reappears in her life.

Fresh out of prison after serving five years of a life sentence for murder, Jared is released on a technicality that by no means proves his innocence. And he’s feeling more invincible than ever. He has the perfect plan for a big score and he needs Melanie’s help. But everything goes terribly wrong. Only one thing is clear: A line has been crossed. Suddenly there’s no turning back, and there is nothing left to lose.

My Review:

In my haste to grab another Creed series book, this one came up as “next” and I downloaded without realizing it was a standalone and not even part of her original Maggie O’Dell series, which I was also going to check out. Well, rats! But I went ahead and listened to the audiobook anyway and discovered it quite a bit different from the writing style and prose of the Creed books.

In this short novel, the antagonist is released from prison on a technicality after serving only five years of a life prison sentence for murder. Unfortunately, he engages his sister Melanie Startks and her teenage son, Charlie, in his hair-brained scheme to rob a Nebraska bank, whereupon Jared loses control of the situation and multiple people are killed forcing them all to flee…with a hostage.

There are multiple POVs, getting inside the head of the despicable Jared for one. The narrative is short and action packed, building suspense, tension from the beginning. These are not particularly characters in which you’ll engage, but they are well developed and ooze malevolence.

There is a good mystery here and the book proves fun and entertaining, apparently modeling after a real experience. The ending provides such a jaw-dropping knee-jerk twist that you don’t see coming, you are left with unanswered questions. Interesting.

Okay, so fans of fast-paced mysteries, tension-filled crime chronologies, and desperate characters may well enjoy this one. I did despite triggers of language and sex. But I’ll look for a Maggie O’Dell book next.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

 

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars 4 stars

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense, Suspense Thrillers, Romance
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0002SQSII
Listening Length: 5 hrs 5 mins
Narrator: Maggi-Meg Reed
Publication Date: July 28, 2004
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links:  One False Move (Amazon)

 

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Alex Kava - authorThe Author: ALEX KAVA is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of twenty novels including the award-winning FBI Profiler Maggie O’Dell series and the critically acclaimed and now award-winning Ryder Creed K-9 Mystery series. Recently LOST CREED won the 2019 Nebraska Book Award. Her novel Stranded was awarded both a Florida Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award. One False Move was chosen for the 2006 One Book One Nebraska and her political thriller, Whitewash, was one of January Magazine’s best thrillers of the year. Published in over thirty-four countries, Kava’s novels have made the bestseller lists in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Poland.

©2025 V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

A Dave Robicheaux Novel Book 1

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke

Book Blurb:

New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series.

In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute’s corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker.

My Review:

My first go-round with this author and I gotta admit checked most of the boxes for me. I could identify with the time period, if not “Nalans” and, indeed, New Orleans is a whole character unto itself.

It’s good I was listening to the audiobook as the author did a beautiful job of the accents (French), dialects of the locals (Cajun), as well as the protagonist’s name, Robicheaux (pronounced Row-be-show).

Even better when I start a healthy (24 installments in the series??) with Book 1. Yes, the first book is usually an introduction to the main character, the location, and the setting, in this case, the police department. Back then we had a lot of veterans, some still fresh from ‘Nam. Dave Robicheaux has apparently been back long enough to have achieved detective level with the local police department.

The Neon Rain by James Lee BurkeI loved how the description of the area rolled off the tongue of the narrator, making it almost sensual. I got a feeling pretty quickly about gritty Robicheaux, hardened from battle, brass, baddies, and loss. He’s no one to mess with.

When he discovers a young prostitute’s body, it hits him hard, and he throws all effort at finding the perp. Unfortunately, it also begins to uncover a lot more than he bargained for, and he reverts to drinking again and is placed on leave.

No problem.

He goes rogue.

In the meantime, the reader is treated to the prose created by the beauty of the bayou, the music, the mood, the food, the heat, the French Quarter, and the rain. In our experience, the latter happened every afternoon about 4 p.m. Ever notice that moss hanging from those iconic trees? Did you wonder why?

Graphic details, descriptions, and language paint a noir picture through the storyline and solid support characters. It is well-paced, suspenseful, gritty, and within a hard-boiled mystery. Armchair tourist? This might well be one trip you’ll enjoy.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

 

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars 4 stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0028TY1GU
Listening Length: 8 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Will Patton
Publication Date: May 5, 2009
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links:   

Amazon-US
Amazon-UK

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James Lee Burke - authorThe Author: James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, three-time winner of the Edgar Award as well as the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America, winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger and Gold Dagger and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction.

©2025 V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

Watchers by Dean Koontz #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars 5 stars

Watchers by Dean Koontz

Book Blurb:

On his thirty-sixth birthday, Travis Cornell hikes into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. But his path is soon blocked by a bedraggled Golden Retriever who will let him go no further into the dark woods.

That morning, Travis had been desperate to find some happiness in his lonely, seemingly cursed life. What he finds is a dog of alarming intelligence that soon leads him into a relentless storm of mankind’s darkest creation…

My Review:

Yeah, so I’ll admit it—the cover got me first—and then, despite my son’s admonition about my reading choices (“Koontz is a horror writer, mom”), I grab a Koontz book when I see one.

Watchers by Dean Koontz
Watchers cover posted on Goodreads

Well, mercy, first we are introduced to Travis and the golden retriever (Koontz’ favorite dog) whom he later names Einstein. Travis is an ex-Delta Force now reduced to a lonely, lost soul without much that’ll get him up in the morning. Whether PTSD or the losses he’s suffered and, inexplicably, blames himself (it’s a curse), he’s lost any macho he ever had.

It’s the dog that saves him from a lonely walk in a deserted forest that hides an unnamed monster. Explaining to the dog that he can’t keep him (he’s cursed), he notices this is not your average dog at the outset. Yeah, he keeps him.

In the meantime, we are introduced to Nora, and it’s pretty obvious this will be a romantic match—these two severely damaged persons are made for each other. Nora, never having had a pet is not put off by the dog or his size and quickly realizes that he must be special.

So, wait

Have you read this? It’s not like it’s a new book and there was quite some sentiment about it. Admittedly, there were a few problems that even I discerned.

Golden Retriever with his dinner bowlStill, I got so involved in the storyline that I couldn’t stop flipping pages. Yeah, I read it—this was not one of my audiobooks. So, I’m flipping pages, and I just LOVE this dog. Unfortunately, he has a history, and the history is trying to catch up with him.

He’s a lab dog. I don’t mean Labrador—I mean laboratory. And the same lab that spawned him also spawned his opposite. Not a dog—but a brutal, nasty animal. Travis (even Travis) realizes this is not a dog he can return to the lab. Poor doggy.

Also, did I mention there’s a hit man out there on a mission?

If you haven’t read it, I don’t want to spoil it for you. You’ll just have to trust me. It’s a wild ride whether or not you have to suspend some disbelief. Just go with it and enjoy the story.

I received the eBook loan from my local library for the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own. I do enjoy a Dean Koontz doggy story! Recommended.

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Book Details:

Genre: Ghost Suspense, US Horror Fiction, Horror Suspense
Publisher: Berkley (reprint edition)
ISBN: 0425221806
ASIN: B001974DG0
Print Length: 402 pages
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US  |  Amazon-UK   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

 

Dean Koontz - authorThe Author: Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

 

 

©2025 V Williams

The Investigator by John Sandford #AudiobookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

The Investigator by John Sandford

A Letty Davenport Novel Book 1

Editors' Pick Best Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense

Book Blurb:

By age twenty-four, Letty Davenport has seen more action and uncovered more secrets than many law enforcement professionals. Now a recent Stanford grad with a master’s in economics, she’s restless and bored in a desk job for U.S. Senator Colles. Letty’s ready to quit, but her skills have impressed Colles, and he offers her a carrot: feet-on-the-ground investigative work, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security.

Several oil companies in Texas have reported thefts of crude, Colles tells her. He isn’t so much concerned with the oil as he is with the money: who is selling the oil, and what are they doing with the profits? Rumor has it that a fairly ugly militia group might be involved. Colles wants to know if the money is going to them, and if so, what they’re planning.

Letty is partnered with a DHS investigator, John Kaiser, and they head to Texas. When the case quicky turns deadly, they know they’re on the track of something bigger. The militia group has set in motion an explosive plan . . . and the clock is ticking down.

My Review:

My second novel for this author, although the first was a Virgil Flowers series, a macho male protagonist apparently a spin-off of the Prey series.  I don’t think this is another spin-off, but it almost feels as if it’s the same protagonist, just that now she’s a twenty-four-year-old recent Stanford Master’s graduate on her first job (Sheesh!) and she’s bored. Poor baby. Not sure how she got the job for a US senator, but it’s not law enforcement.

The Investigator by John SandfordComing from a horrific childhood, one of which had her tracking and killing animals for food and money, she definitely hit the lottery at age twelve. Yes, her particular adoption was more than luck, and they must have really spent some bucks cause now she’s too smart for twenty-four, too sophisticated for name brand jeans, and pushing rude and obnoxious.

Also, the book published in 2022 smacks in the middle of quite the immigrant conundrum. Letty is assigned a Homeland Security investigator, and she and Kaiser head to Texas.

A large militia group headed by a woman is focusing her troops and efforts on stopping a contingent of immigrants heading for the border. Their tactics are deadly. Letty subtly leads the more experienced Kaiser in infiltratation, as they fall into step as a team. Meanwhile, it becomes clear Letty has her equal in the antagonist, who is almost equally developed.

The pace gains speed as it nears the conclusion of the book which culminates with a cliffhanger into Book 2.

Yes, Letty is badass, but her field experience is not that of ex-military or an agent experienced under fire. She was educated in economics—not combat. She was…just too much. Interesting narrative, kept my attention, but also a story we have been living with for years. I can almost predict Book 2—so—I don’t think so.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

 

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Four Stars Three point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Fiction, Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher: Penguin Audio
ASIN:  B09B4FT7L2
Listening Length: 13 hrs 2 mins.
Narrator: Richard Ferrone
Publication Date: April 12, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Investigator [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK

 

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John Sandford - authorThe Author: John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of the Prey novels, the Kidd novels, the Virgil Flowers novels, and six other books, including three YA novels co-authored with his wife Michele Cook.

 

©2025 V Williams

#TuesdayBookBLog
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Half Moon Bay: A Novel by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Half Moon Bay by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Clay Edison #3 

Book Blurb:

Clay Edison has his hands full. He’s got a new baby who won’t sleep. He’s working the graveyard shift. And he’s trying, for once, to mind his own business. Then comes the first call. Workers demolishing a local park have made a haunting discovery: the decades-old skeleton of a child. But whose? And how did it get there?

No sooner has Clay begun to investigate than he receives a second call – this one from a local businessman, wondering if the body could belong to his sister. She went missing 50 years ago, the man says. Or at least I think she did. It’s a little complicated.

And things only get stranger from there. Clay’s relentless search for answers will unearth a history of violence and secrets, revolution and betrayal. Because in this town, the past isn’t dead. It’s very much alive. And it can be murderous.

My Review:

I really like the way the authors suffuse the professional with the personal. So many times, we see a technician going about their business and wonder what their home life looks like: six kids, a spouse equally harried, and a mortgage whose interest rates keep climbing?

In this case, Clay Edison is a new papa. The baby, as most, doesn’t sleep. Clay is working the graveyard shift so his wife can be home and she works days. It should work—doesn’t always.

Unfortunately, his call out is to the discovery of a very old skeleton—that of a small child. Whose? And how did it come to be buried in a park?

Half Moon Bay by Jonathan and Jesse KellermanClay might be the personification of a new dad, his baby girl Charlotte has a lot to teach him. The stark difference between his anxious self and his professional self is often laid bare by his self-talk, his first person POV.

The development of the characters in this series has been fun, and each new installment has brought growth and get-to-know-you sessions. I like Clay. He’s smart, dominating, and a strong personage around his peers, though he can be soft and sympathetic with the loved ones he must deal with in his professional capacity.

It doesn’t help that the park and the site of the skeleton is located in Berkeley, always a hotbed of political turmoil and protests. He may have a major development in the phone call from a man claiming that it may be his sister…but he can only supply a minimal amount of background to interest Clay further into the investigation.

The storyline wavers a bit with a couple of small branches off the main plot, but then I wouldn’t expect this would be Clay’s only case. It might create a slight lull in the pacing of the main plot, but there is always another tiny clue.

I’m not sure it would be classified as a slow-burn story as there is usually a lot going on and the characters, including Clay’s wife, Amy, supply a lot of lively dialogue. (I still haven’t warmed up to Amy though.) Of course, the flashbacks to the 60’s and 70’s drew me in. There are twists, divulged secrets, and evil doers as these things are never just simple straight forward…who is the skeleton.

Personally, I really enjoyed the novel and this series, one to go (Book 2), and just got it. I’ll recommend again. If you haven’t checked out this series yet and you found Alex Delaware a bit stodgy at times, you might find the collaboration between this father and son might be just what you were looking for.

I received a copy of this audiobook from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars Four Stars

 

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Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries
Publisher: Random House Audio
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
ASIN: B0863359SD
Listening Length: 9 hrs 35 mins
Publication Date: July 21, 2020
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections) 

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

The Authors:

Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman - authorJonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than three dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Golem of Hollywood and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California, New Mexico, and New York.

Read more at:
http://www.jonathankellerman.com/

Jesse Kellerman

Jesse Kellerman - authorJesse Kellerman has written dozens of plays and published seven novels, two of them cowritten with his father, Jonathan Kellerman. He has won numerous awards, including the Princess Grace Award for Playwriting (“Things Beyond Our Control”) and the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle (“The Genius”/”Les Visages”). His novel “Potboiler” was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. An essay, “Let My People Go to the Buffet,” was included in Penguin’s Best American Spiritual Writing (2011). His next book, Crime Scene, was also cowritten with Jonathan Kellerman and will be published in fall 2017. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and children.

The Narrator: 

Dennis Boutsikaris

Dennis Boutsikaris - narratorDennis Boutsikaris was born December 21, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, to a Greek American father and Jewish mother,[1] and grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.[2] He took up acting while a student at Governor Livingston High School, because he felt he was too small to succeed in athletics.[3] A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Boutsikaris toured the country with John Houseman’s The Acting Company doing classical theatre. Boutsikaris was married to actress Deborah Hedwall; they divorced in 2002.

He can be heard in over 160 audiobooks and has received eight Audie Awards and two Best Voices of the Year Awards from AudioFile Magazine.[14] He was voted Best Narrator of the Year by Amazon for The Gene.

Find him at:
http://www.dennisboutsikaris.com *

*Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.

©2025 V Williams

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