Review: The Fifth to Die

The Fifth to Die by J.D. Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the midst of one of the worst winters Chicago has seen in years, the body of missing teenager Ella Reynolds is discovered under the surface of a frozen lake. She's been missing for three weeks...the lake froze over three months ago.

Detective Sam Porter and his team are brought in to investigate but it's not long before another girl goes missing. The press believes the serial killer, Anson Bishop, has struck again but Porter knows differently. The deaths are too different, there's a new killer on the loose.

Porter however is distracted.

He's still haunted by Bishop and his victims, even after the FBI have removed him from the case. His only leads: a picture of a female prisoner and a note from Bishop: "Help me find my mother. I think it's time she and I talked."

As more girls go missing and Porter's team race to stop the body count rising, Porter disappears to track down Bishop's mother and discover that the only place scarier than the mind of a serial killer is the mind of the mother from which he came.

I would have given this 5 stars - apart from the ending! No spoilers but there had better be a #3 out soon. I also hadn't read the first book so now I'll have to source that. I found it hard to put this one down. It twists and turns and pulls you in. Yes it would have helped to have read the earlier book but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of this one.

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Review: This is How it Ends

This is How it Ends by Eva Dolan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ella Riordan is a community activist who became famous when she was beaten by police during a social protest. Now Ella is a squatter in a building where the owners are evicting tenants so they can convert it into luxury condos, and she’s determined to stay and defend the few holdout tenants, despite death threats.

One night after a rooftop party with her fellow holdouts, Ella finds a horrible scene awaiting her in her apartment. In a panic, she calls her neighbor Molly, who convinces her that the police won’t believe she’s innocent. Together the two women concoct a gruesome plan to hide the body down the building’s elevator shaft.

But the secret won’t stay buried for long. As truth hangs in the balance, a neighbor tells Molly he had heard Ella arguing with a man in the hallway and mistrust grows between Ella and Molly, as repercussions of that night threaten to change both women’s lives forever.

 

This is quite a hard book to follow - it's told from different POVs and timeframes - one moving forward from an event that the book revolves around, the other moves backwards eventually giving an insight into what led up to the opening scenes.

I also didn't really take to the characters.

However, having said that, it was an interesting read, up to date and with a twist at the end I didn't see coming.

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Review: The Holiday

The Holiday by T.M. Logan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was supposed to be the perfect holiday - a group of families enjoying a week together in the sun. Four women who have been best friends for as long as they can remember making the most of a luxurious villa in the south of France.

But Kate has a secret: her husband is having an affair. And a week away might just be the perfect opportunity to get the proof she needs - to catch him in the act once and for all. Because she suspects the other woman is one of her two best friends.

One of them is working against her, willing to sacrifice years of friendship to destroy her family. But which one? As Kate closes in on the truth in the stifling Mediterranean heat, she realises too late that the stakes are far higher than she ever imagined . . .

Because someone in the villa may be prepared to kill to keep their secret hidden.

Some of the characters in this book are annoying and it’s definitely not an enjoyable holiday for any of the guests. Interesting twists at the end though and I enjoyed it.

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