#ThrowbackThursday – Page 9 – Rosepoint Publishing

Two Audiobooks and an eBook – Listen While You Work #BookReviews

Mini-Reviews – Catching Up on the TBR*

Still catching up on the reviews of my audiobooks and an eBook, here are three more, two of which might be good candidates for #ThrowbackThursday and one very recent release. I love finding an author or new series that I can binge on, so I’m usually willing to look back—in this case, way back.

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My Thoughts

Triptych – This one starts out the Will Trent series and doesn’t pull any punches. It’s obvious by the first that it will be in-your-face raw, descriptions not for the faint of heart. If you’ve read any Slaughter books, you know her mind can picture and describe in details things you’d rather not know or see. Getting past that, the well-paced novel pushes into a deeply complex narrative, peering into the minds of several main characters who are well developed but definitely damaged. And don’t tell me you don’t delight in her little surprises. 4 stars

Book Details

Genre: Psychological Fiction, Serial Killer Thrillers, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Author: Karin Slaughter
Narrator: Michael Kramer
ASIN: B000JMKRAW
Listening Length: 13 hrs 15 mins
Publication Date: August 11, 2006
Amazon
Goodreads

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My Thoughts

Murder Road – EEK! Creepy. If you’ve read this author before, you are aware she can conjure up some pretty sinister stuff, pushing the supernatural buttons and the hair on the back of your neck. My first reaction was the over-the-top jump on this newlywed couple as persons of interest. Then as the story begins to lay out, putting one disturbing fact after another, the chills begin to add up. Why does the couple act guilty? 4 stars

Book Details

Genre: Supernatural Thrillers, Horror Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Author: Simone St. James
Narrator: Brittany Pressley
ASIN: B0CB99YKLY
Listening Length: 9 hrs 10 mins
Publication Date: March 05, 2024
Amazon
Goodreads

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My Thoughts

Desert Heat – Joanna Brady Mysteries Book 1 – Introduction to the small desert community of Bisbee, Arizona and the woman who will fill the shoes of her hubby, died while running for Sheriff. Yeah, doesn’t sound like a suicide, but that’s what they claim. While it’s true the area is an enclave of drugs and smuggling, that doesn’t mean all cops have to be dirty. Joanna works to clear his name—and hers—which will hopefully give her some serious cred. I like Arizona, not necessarily the unrelenting, incessant heat—but the beauty, so I enjoyed the atmospheric quality of the novel. 3 stars

Book Details

Genre: Read & Listen, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Avon
Author: J A Jance
ASIN: B000FC11DS
Publication Date: March 17, 2009
Amazon
Goodreads

Summary

Triptych is one of those whose characters are all damaged, one way or another, and are busy trying to find a serial killer. Kinda makes you nervous, huh! Actually, I liked the Angie Polaski character. Several perspectives. I like the way the author builds into the storyline, adding layers and twists—adding tension. Pay attention or you’ll miss the last hint. Generally, I don’t think you can go wrong with this author, just be prepared for a mind that no way can you see it connected to the bio picture of her. She looks so…normal. 4 stars

Murder Road is one of those that has you screaming at the characters. You know those commercials where they run and hide where the axe murderer is waiting? Ack! I advised them more than once to just leave. And when they did, did they stay gone? Also, I wondered by the B&B lady did such a flip from wanting to refuse them a room to actually befriending them. Huh? This is an Amazon Editors’ pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. Yeah, if you like disturbing, paranormal, tension and suspense—this would appeal. 4 stars

Desert Heat is a work-in-progress. Lots of groundwork laid for Book 1. The main character is not wholly developed and, at this point, I found her a bit difficult to fully engage. She begins the story as a devastated widow but quickly becomes a chief. Also, sometimes it feels like the reveal just defaults to the obvious. 3 stars

I received a copy of these audiobooks and the digital from my local library that in no way influenced my reviews. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Reviews - check

*To Be Reviewed

Iron Lake: Cork O’Connor Book 1 by William Kent Krueger #AudiobookReview #TBT

Book Blurb:

Anthony Award-winning author William Kent Krueger crafts this riveting tale about a small Minnesota town’s ex-sheriff who is having trouble retiring his badge. Cork O’Connor loses his job after being blamed for a tragedy on the local Anishinaabe Indian reservation. But he must set aside his personal demons when a young boy goes missing on the same day a judge commits suicide—and no one but O’Connor suspects foul play.

My Review:

Cork O’Connor is complicated and conflicted, so much going on in his life following the loss of his job as sheriff, his marriage, and the separation of his kids. Now to add fuel to the fire, a judge is found, said to have committed suicide and a young newspaper boy goes missing the same day. His mother calls Cork for help.

The judge was the last stop the boy was known to have made and to boot, the main proponent of Cork’s recall.

Boy, howdy, nothing like just heaping on the problems, huh? Cork may no longer be sheriff and is not welcome in the investigation, but couldn’t help but notice an inconsistency or two with the pronouncement of suicide. He’s pretty sure it wasn’t.

Cork wears his emotions on his sleeve right now and he’s more than a little concerned regarding the whereabouts of the boy.

It’s Minnesota.

It’s winter!

I can easily get lost in the atmospheric descriptions of the area and the people. Rugged even in good weather, the search is not easy. Lucky he has the support of the nearby tribe of the Anishinaabe. I enjoy the way the author taps into the local native lore.

The characters are well-developed and complex. Cork, a former Chicago cop has his dreams of an idyllic rural family village disintegrate before his eyes. He and his wife grow apart and he is reduced to scraping by. Being estranged from his wife, he begins to see another woman. There are twists and turns, taps into the local’s secrets.

Of course, there are technical issues, not the least of which is that he has no authority to investigate anything and we end up with a high body count—which I’m not always thrilled about. Still, I enjoy his writing style and following The River We Remember that I loved, I went looking for another book and found this series—all nineteen of them. Thought I’d start with the first. A good start.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Private Investigator Mysteries, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B003NGXOQ0
Listening Length: 11 hrs 57 mins
Narrator: David Chandler
Publication Date: May 21, 2010
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Iron Lake [Amazon]

The Author: Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last five novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

“Ordinary Grace,” his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. “Manitou Canyon,” number fifteen in his Cork O’Connor series, was released in September 2016.

Visit his website at http://www.williamkentkrueger.com.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/williamkentkrueger
Twitter: WmKentKrueger

#ThrowbackThursday - spring

The Drifter (A Peter Ash Novel Book 1) by Nick Petrie #AudiobookReview #TBT

Editors’ pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thriller Award winner, Best First Novel, 2017

Book Blurb:

The first explosive thriller featuring Peter Ash, a veteran who finds that the demons of war aren’t easily left behind…

“Lots of characters get compared to my own Jack Reacher, but Petrie’s Peter Ash is the real deal.”—Lee Child

Peter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only one souvenir: what he calls his “white static,” the buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature, sleeping under the stars.

But when a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the man’s widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog he’s ever encountered…and a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives.

As Ash begins to investigate this unexpected discovery, he finds himself at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined…and it may lead straight back to the world he thought he’d left for good.

My Review:

Peter Ash is an ex-Marine of both Iraq and Afghanistan left with PTSD. He’s been living free since returning home, off the grid, answers to no one, until he learned of a fellow ex-Marine and friend who committed suicide leaving behind a wife and child.

He feels compelled to travel to his friend’s home and see if he can help out his widow on a bogus ruse. His first project is to shore up the sagging front porch and in doing so discovers a huge, slobber-dripping set of bared teeth in the head of Charles Mingus. The man manages to get the dog out from under the porch without losing a body part and in the process discovers a suitcase.

Right away I’m thoroughly impressed by Ash and love Mingus!

Peter, for the most part, comes off as wholly authentic, with repeated (almost too many) descriptions of his reaction to being enclosed (claustrophobic)—in a building in particular. So he handles the overwhelming static by staying outside as much as possible. He is competent, intelligent, considerate, and genuinely engaging.

The suitcase, however, sharply veers the well-plotted narrative in a course that quickly becomes complex. There are a number of support characters, many of whom are well developed and provide the conflict that pushes the fast pace of the storyline.

I was totally taken with the novel, particularly considering a debut, and excited to have a protagonist capable and caring in view of his combat-hardened training and experience. The reader is introduced to believable military characters, natural dialogue, and the antics of Mingus that seals the deal for what appears to be the start of a successful series (eight so far?). I’ve already lined up another—audiobook—of course.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Military Thrillers
Publisher: Penguin Audio
ASIN: B01995G6HM
Listening Length: 9 hrs 12 mins
Narrator: Stephen Mendel
Publication Date: January 12, 2016
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Drifter [Amazon]

The Author: Nick Petrie is the bestselling author of the award-winning Peter Ash series. A husband and father, he has worked as a roofer, carpenter, remodeling contractor, and freelance building inspector. He lives in Milwaukee. For more on Nick Petrie, including essays about writing, see his website, http://www.nickpetrie.com

Down Range by Taylor Moore – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Garrett Kohl #1

Book Blurb:

In this action-packed debut thriller for fans of C. J. Box and Jack Carr, DEA agent Garrett Kohl fights to protect his home on the Texas High Plains when a vicious criminal enterprise comes after his family.

As a decorated undercover DEA special agent, Garrett Kohl has traveled the world – and fought in most of it – but it’s the High Plains of northwest Texas he calls home and dreams of returning to one day. Kohl is in the middle of an assignment in Afghanistan when his commander orders him back to Texas on a short mission expected to take a week at most. But Kohl is unsettled to discover that he’s moving from one kind of war to another.

The once-peaceful ranching community he loves is under attack by a band of criminals who have infiltrated law enforcement and corrupted local businesses, and are now terrorizing Kohl’s own family. Hoping to prevent bloodshed, Kohl tries to resolve matters peacefully. But when the group strikes first, he has no choice but to go on the attack.

Unfortunately for the crew of criminals, Garrett Kohl, besides being an elite undercover officer for the DEA, is a battle-hardened Green Beret who spent the better part of his career hunting terrorists. Although outnumbered and outgunned, Kohl knows the wild and forsaken Llano Estacado region of Texas better than anyone. And like so many trespassers before them, these murderers will find out the hard way that the only thing tougher than this land is the people who call it home.

My Review:

Alright! This book is supposed to appeal to fans of C J Box and I’ve read-listened to CJ and enjoyed his books. But no, I’m not sure you can compare it to C J Box. This author has a writing style all his own and engaging characters with a somewhat more charismatic appeal.

Down Range is the first in a new series but for a debut, it makes quite a wallop. Action thriller from the beginning with a scene in which former Green Beret undercover DEA Special Agent Garret Kohl discovers he is witnessing a massacre in Afghanistan. Totally unexpected is a ten-year-old boy, Asadi, running for his life out of the village with no chance to escape. Kohl steps in and manages to save the boy but runs the risk of getting himself in serious trouble for blowing his cover and the investigation.

It’s determined both will be sent home and Agent Kohl is now charged with keeping the boy alive as the only possible witness.

I loved the road trip to his dad’s ranch in the Panhandle of Texas. Descriptions of the area border on poetic prose and there are fascinating histories gracefully interwoven with tender moments of bonding between the boy and Kohl.

Kohl’s irascible dad seems to take a paternal interest in Asadi and it isn’t long before Asadi is relaxing into the dream of America, the land, the wide open spaces, food, and the animals. Asadi particularly loves the horses and quickly determines a favorite.

Unfortunately, Texas takes a dark turn in the second half of the book when they bump up against the local narcotics trade. Of course, they don’t realize they are up against a former Green Beret who has seen his share of action and knows how to handle them. Sometimes though you feel sorry for poor Asadi caught in the middle who it seems to have jumped from the opium trade in Afghanistan to the local Texas drug trade.

I enjoyed the characters, loved Asadi and Kohl’s dad, his brother (an attorney) and a maybe romantic interest. It’s a well-plotted, fast-paced book that got the characters developed while keeping the action ball in the air which was non-stop.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. This will be a fun series and this one quite the immersive narrative whether or not you think you don’t like contemporary Western fiction.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Western Fiction, Action Thriller & Suspense Fiction, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Harper Audio
ASIN: B08S5N2JQD
Listening Length:
Narrator: Jeremy Arthur
Publication Date: August 03, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Down Range [Amazon]

The Author: Taylor Moore is a former CIA Intelligence Officer who worked in both analysis and operations and later consulted for the Department of Defense in Theater Security Cooperation, Force Protection, and Counternarcotics. He now lives in the Texas Panhandle with his wife and two children, where is a full-time author and screenwriter. You can learn more about Taylor and his series featuring Garrett Kohl at his website.

©V Williams

#ThrowbackThursday

A Day of Fire by Kate Quinn – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

A Novel of Pompeii

Book Blurb:

From six bestselling authors, including New York Times bestseller Kate Quinn, comes a vividly imagined novel following the lives of those in ancient Pompeii on the fateful day Mount Vesuvius erupts.

Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain’s wrath . . . and these are their stories:

A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii’s flourishing streets.

An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire.

An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished.

A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue.

A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls.

A priestess and a prostitute seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried.

Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each other’s paths during Pompeii’s fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

My Review:

I went looking for another book by Kate Quinn for #ReadingIrelandMonth24 and stumbled across this one. Of course I was excited! Six best-selling authors collaborating on the destruction of Pompeii? And one of the two narrators my favorite from the audiobooks with Kate Quinn? A win-win for sure.

I love the collaboration of the stories, each with their own vignettes, and gradually each tale begins to overlap and meld into a solid, entertaining storyline. It’s a wide swath of humanity—from the privileged and spoiled maiden to a prostitute just trying to survive day to day with her beloved sister.

With the current disaster or dystopian craze, I can see where this would make for an edge-of-your-seat flick (never mind the one made in 2014). The suspense is killing, especially when you know what’s coming. Why aren’t these people fleeing for their lives?

They had warning—by the volcano itself.

But rather than focusing on the population, the novel brilliantly hones in on the personal lives of just a small cross-section of the residents. It’s emotional, obviously deeply character driven that engages the reader quickly and invests them in each individual’s chances for survival.

Of course there will be a woman about to give birth—what worse time could there be? Politics are, as always, playing a big part in where the Romans’s minds are—haven’t they been through earthquakes before and survived? No reason to scatter with a few rattles and rolls. The high-born daughter betrothed to a man old enough to be her father—talk about frying pan to the fire!

In the face of an apocalyptic cataclysm, how will these people react? Selfless or selfish? Will either save them from the poisonous and heated gases, a shower of ash, and another of rock and stone?

The authors take the readers to heart-pumping expectations only to switch scenes and confront another crisis. The separate contributions by authors are seamlessly woven together to create one extremely thrilling book about a historical pyroclastic flow that killed more than 2,000 people.

I really enjoyed the book! But just too much disbelief that any could have survived, given a late muster to move results in my star rating. Still, I greatly recommend the audiobook; get your copy. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Ancient World Historical Romance, Ancient History Fiction, Literature Anthologies
Publisher: HarperAudio
ASIN: B0BT18P822
Listening Length: 11 hrs 19 mins
Narrators: Andrew Kingston, Saskia Maarleveld
Publication Date: August 8, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Link: A Day of Fire [Amazon-US]

A Day of Fire [Amazon-UK]

The Authors: Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, Eliza Knight, Sophie Perinot, Vicky Alvear

Kate Quinn – Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of southern California, she attended Boston University where she earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Voice. She has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga, and two books in the Italian Renaissance, before turning to the 20th century with “The Alice Network”, “The Huntress,” “The Rose Code,” and “The Diamond Eye.” All have been translated into multiple languages. Kate and her husband now live in San Diego with three rescue dogs.

The Narrators: Andrew Kingston, Saskia Maarleveld

Saskia Maarleveld is an experienced audiobook narrator and voice-over actress based in New York City. Raised in New Zealand and France, she is highly skilled with accents and dialects, and many of her books have been narrated entirely in accents other than her own. In addition to audiobooks, Saskia’s voice can be heard in animation, video games, and commercials. She attributes her love and understanding of reading books aloud to coming from a large family where audiobooks were the only way to get through car rides without fighting! Visit saskiamaarleveld.com to learn more.

©V Williams

March is #ReadingIrelandMonth

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

Book Blurb:

From Tracey Lange, the New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans, comes The Connellys of County Down: a story about fierce family loyalty, good intentions gone awry, and the consequences of improbable love.

When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

My Review:

Tara, the youngest of three siblings left orphaned by their parents, has just been released from prison after serving eighteen months. She is thrilled to be returning home to her older sister Geraldine and brother Eddie but discovers pretty quickly that Geraldine is running an extremely tight ship in order to sort the chaos and leave her some sanity. Still, the responsibility of the two younger kids has stretched her near to the breaking point.

The rigid structure Geraldine created in her absence has left no room for spontaneity in any of the other two and they’ve learned to go by the rules or face the wrath.

Eddie, the middle child, is still suffering after effects of a horrible car accident when he was fourteen and is now trying to raise his son Connor.

Prior to Tara going to prison for drug trafficking, she was involved in teaching and made use of prison time by allowing her artistic side to grow and shine. Luckily, her expertise with graphics has landed her an illustrator position which she quickly learns to love along with the two boys who created the start-up.

In alternating chapters, each gets their POV where we learn the secrets they hold from each other. It was fun to be a fly on the wall in their separate lives as each navigates a serious issue, struggles with a disreputable childhood, and strives to overcome their baggage.

In many cases, where the children have had to be the adults, their loyalty to each other is strong, unconditional, and sacrificial. The three main characters are well-developed and sympathetic, but it’s easy to engage in supporting characters as well. Perhaps some of their decisions come from immaturity, but they share and support each other without question. I cheered Eddie’s advancement, heart sank with Geraldine’s foolish plan, and applauded Tara’s success with her graphics.

The officers responsible for sending Tara away had their eye on a larger target. But something about the case continued to bother him and he kept a close watch—perhaps too close–and that left me with a small case of disbelief. Tara’s record is always hanging over as she begins to grasp and then navigate the quandary Geraldine has initiated. Will it result in a return to the slammer?

It could.

Still, the twists in the conclusion worked and provided a satisfying end.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ISBN-10: ‎ 1250865379
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250865373
ASIN: B0BJYBB316
Listening Length: 9 hrs 21 mins
Narrator: Barrie Kreinik
Publication Date: August 1, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Connellys of County Down [Amazon]

The Author: Born in the Bronx and raised in Manhattan, Tracey Lange comes from a large Irish family with a few secrets of its own. She headed west and graduated from the University of New Mexico before owning and operating a behavioral healthcare company with her husband for fifteen years. While writing her debut novel, We Are the Brennans, she completed the Stanford University online novel writing program. Tracey currently lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, two sons and their German Shepherd.

#ThhrowbackThursday

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

County Kerry Mystery #1

Book Blurb:

Set in Ireland’s striking, rugged countryside, USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s dark, atmospheric new crime fiction series combines the eerie atmosphere of Tana French and Louise Penny with the compulsively taut plotting of Dervla McTiernan and Lucy Foley, as an Irish veterinarian grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret.

Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.

Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she’s in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes…

My Review:

Oh good grief. You can’t say I’m not consistent. An author I’ve read many times, her cozy mysteries, an apparently gave one to the CE to read in June 2022.

This one.

No Strangers Here launches a series in which the author leaves her cozy mysteries and turns out a much darker story. And you can believe that the author can spin some pretty interesting tales!

Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is back to lead the investigation into the murder of Jimmy O’Reilly in Dingle. Dr. Dimpna Wilde has returned to Dingle and the veterinarian quickly finds herself embroiled in the apparent murder owing to a possible connection to her family. Her father, also a veterinarian with a long-held practice is showing strong signs of dementia.

Wealthy racehorse owner Jimmy O’Reilly had quite the reputation for himself. He was quite the dapper dancer and the ladies loved it. Including Dimpna’s mother?

Along with a bird’s eye view of the beautiful tourist-drawing countryside and a well-rounded cadre of support characters, the narrative’s undercurrent reveals twists as the storyline progresses through each lead.

I reviewed Book 2 of the series, Some of Us Are Looking and really enjoyed it but I can’t find a Book 3 for this series. I found Book 1 to be a bit slower than the second, but as the start of a series, that’s not unusual. Dimpna has her problems, of course she does, but I found the novel about the Irish animal doctor engaging and either installment could be read as a standalone.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0B8R282TK
Listening Length: 12 hrs 26 mins
Narrator: Emily O’Mahony
Publication Date: October 25, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: No Strangers Here [Amazon]

The Author: USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television.

Readers can find her at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086525205106 or through her website: http://www.carleneoconnor.net

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

Harry Bosch Book 19

Book Blurb:

Harry Bosch is California’s newest private investigator. He doesn’t advertise, he doesn’t have an office, and he’s picky about who he works for, but it doesn’t matter. His chops from 30 years with the LAPD speak for themselves.

Soon one of Southern California’s biggest moguls comes calling. The reclusive billionaire has less than six months to live and a lifetime of regrets. He hires Bosch to find out whether he has an heir. Using all of his cold-case skills, Bosch pieces together a 65-year-old mystery and finds out that the case is not as simple – or as cold – as he thought.

My Review:

Harry Bosch is working as a volunteer reserve officer (working free) to keep himself in the system somewhere investigating a cold case for the San Fernando PD. He’s also moonlighting as a PI. In that capacity, he was hired by a billionaire to find an heir he may have produced when he was a college student and still very much under the thumb of family. Now he is very ill and believes he doesn’t have much time and, of course, his company would prefer no heirs be found.

The cold case may be just as tough, that of a serial rapist. Fortunately, with his hand still legimately capable of research within the department—some according to the book—some a serious no-no, he has resources and the time he can tap that will get him info not readily available at the time.

Both cases run concurrently and are simultaneously immersive.

I love the way the author manages to bring in a little backstory to explain the history of the persons in the foreground. The support characters are always lively and well developed, but it’s that voice of Bosch that provides that rich storytelling experience we’ve come to expect in a Connelly crime thriller.

This installment also includes Bosch’s half-brother Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, a legal thriller spin-off made even more popular as a series on Netflix. It’s fun to dip into the legal side of his case and the necessary police procedures it will take to get the case to court.

I also appreciate his references to the freeway system allowing cross-town travel at snail speeds and the history of the different neighborhoods. It makes the city come alive in the imagination.

The double plot is done very well providing lots of twists and turns and both manage to converge successfully to conclusion.

I always think, “Alright, that has to be his best.” Then I read another and think the same. This one is engaging, provides tension and suspense with both stories having you root for a satisfying outcome. I don’t know how he manages it, but it always does.

Enjoying a couple of his other series as well, also listening to both Renée Ballard and The Lincoln Lawyer.

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

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Hachette Audio
ASIN: B01K3EKBXS
Listening Length: 10 hrs 21 mins
Narrator: Titus Welliver
Publication Date: November 1, 2016
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Wrong Side of Goodbye [Amazon]

The Author: Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels and one work of nonfiction. With over eighty million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty-five foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent New York Times bestsellers include Desert Star (2022), The Dark Hours (2021), The Law Of Innocence (2020), Fair Warning (2020), and The Night Fire (2019). Michael is the executive producer of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver and streaming on Amazon Prime/Amazon Freevee. He is the executive producer of The Lincoln Lawyer, streaming on Netflix, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. He is also the executive producer of the documentary films, “Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story’ and ‘Tales Of the American.’ He spends his time in California and Florida.

Titus Welliver - actor, narrator — Titus Welliver–Compliments of Wikipedia–thank you!

The Narrator: Titus B. Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in Lost, Silas Adams in Deadwood, Jimmy O’Phelan in Sons of Anarchy, and the title role in the television series Bosch. Wikipedia Born: March 12, 1962, New Haven, CT.

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