RaveThe Nerd Daily... a thrill-ride that you will be unable to put down ... The twists and turns, revelations and backstories, dark humour and suspense never stop. Siblings Eddie, Beth, and Portia have their entire dysfunctional lives on display throughout this long road trip, and it will be difficult for most readers to find anyone they can consistently call ‘likeable’. (For readers that are not concerned with likeability, you are in for a big treat!) While I would never want to be on this road trip, being able to comfortably sit back and read about it is an absolute joy! This clever tale of greed, betrayal, and family is edgy and entertaining from start to finish. It is a pure fun, escape-from-the-world type of book, but with lots of sneaky little details and an interesting way of telling an outlandish tale.
Michael Elias
RaveNerd DailyA smart, and very relevant, mystery by a prolific writer of stage and screen, Michael Elias’s You Can Go Home Now will take you on an intense rollercoaster ride alongside Detective Nina Karim, a homicide investigator in Queens, New York ... With recurring themes of revenge, justice, power, and victimhood, there are frank and graphic discussions of domestic violence situations that might be too much for sensitive readers. They certainly do pack a punch if you will pardon the metaphor ... The incredibly sharp dialogue and such murky ethical questions will keep readers turning page after page. It is not a story full of likeable characters, but it is a story full of very real characters. The themes will work themselves into your brain and not let you go, not to mention the incredible climax that you simply will not see coming!
Beatriz Williams
RaveThe Nerd DailyGet your tissues and settle in because Her Last Flight will take you on a trip back through time that is both beautiful and raw, as well as both heart-tugging and heart-breaking. Beatriz Williams has crafted a novel that tells an incredible story but also has fantastically strong, complicated, relatable, and beautifully written characters ... I’m not sure it is possible to read this novel and not connect with these characters ... The story twists in ways that are surprising and gratifying. There are tears from the characters as they come to certain realisations, but there will certainly be tears from the reader as well (speaking from personal experience). You will know these women, and you may even realise you are these women. Williams’s beautiful writing absolutely makes them women you can feel in your soul ... The story is incredible and wonderfully told, but the outstanding work that went into character development is the shining star here. Highly recommended for any fan of historical fiction, but especially fans of Williams’ previous work.
Chanel Cleeton
RaveThe Nerd DailyA book that weaves together the stories of remarkable women always hits my sweet spot, so when I picked this book up thinking I would do just a little lazy Saturday morning reading, I soon realised I could not put it down. Each character is so unique and interesting, and written so incredibly well, that within just a few pages each already feels like a living, breathing person. It takes no time at all to get completely invested into their lives ... Without a doubt, this is one of those books that as soon as you finish it you will be handing it off to your best friend. It is a great book club selection, and will make the perfect summer beach read. I highly recommend it especially for fans of Chanel Cleeton’s previous novels as well as fans of All the Ways We Said Goodbye or Fountains of Silence. This is another masterwork of historical fiction.
Ragnar Jonasson
RaveThe Nerd DailyRagnar Jónasson is a true master of suspense, there is just simply no other word to describe him. Every single page winds you up a little until you finally realise your entire body has tensed up in anticipation of the next page! ... Jónasson weaves together a multi-layered story at the perfect pace. He constantly leaves you wanting more, and then he gives it to you. From the first page to the last, he has structured the story with such a delicate balance that it keeps the reader constantly engaged ... The Mist is a great length to read in a weekend and it will absolutely grab you and fully engross you in Hulda’s world that Jónasson has created. It is no exaggeration to say that as soon as I finished this book, I immediately started ordering more form this author. The Mist has definitely been added to my ‘frequently recommended’ list!
Kimberly McCreight
RaveThe Nerd DailyMcCreight includes several different types of marriages in this story, but all of them at some point will make the reader think about just what an actual good marriage really is, and what it might look like from the outside as well as the inside ... Collectively, we get a fascinating, suspenseful tale that weaves together multiple events and storylines. This is definitely a book that is almost impossible to put down once you have picked it up. You’ll gasp, you may blush, you may cry, and you may cheer, but you will still not be able to stop reading!
Simone St. James
RaveThe Nerd DailyWords like ‘un-put-down-able’ and ‘page-turner’ are so often overused, but in the case of Simone St. James’s new thriller, The Sun Down Motel, those words are spot-on perfect descriptors ... the characters in The Sun Down Motel feel more dynamic, more memorable, and more vivid than in her previous book. The story driving the book forward is clearer and more exciting, as well ... a great cast of characters that will keep you guessing who to trust, who to be wary of, and who just might save the day.
Saul Black
RaveThe Nerd DailyAs gritty and dark as always, Saul Black again drags Detective Valerie Hart through the worst of humanity in order to give the reader another incredible, heart-pounding, tension-filled thriller ... Black gets the twists and the action started quickly and never lets up ... Not for every suspense-lover or thriller-reader, Anything For You goes dark – even in comparison to Black’s other work. There is no one unscathed when the dust settles ... This tightly-wound, brilliantly paced thriller will keep the reader engaged, excited, and glued to the page. This isn’t the kind of book you spread over a few weeks – you read until your eyes can’t focus, sleep, and then read some more!
Melissa de la Cruz
PositiveThe Nerd DailyPart Real Housewives guilty pleasure and part unravelling mystery, Melissa de la Cruz’s The Birthday Girl is (probably) the first book I have ever categorised as \'a fun thriller\'. Maybe that isn’t really a genre, or even a sub-genre, but it is a great way to accurately describe this thoroughly enjoyable, but still suspenseful and twisted tale ... Events from the two timelines ultimately meet up (in a sense), and the story finally brings some of the thriller elements into the present-day timeline, though not as successfully as they were weaved into the past events. The mystery that very successfully unravels in the timeline from twenty-four years ago, did not flow quite as easily into the present-day storyline. There are some very good twists, however, that might have been ruined if the mystery was woven into the two timelines equally ... The story wraps up in a way that felt natural, and true to the characters we had come to know at the party, throughout the evening. It may take an extra minute for the two timelines to match up once the reader has gotten through all the twists and turns, but all the questions do get answered ... This book is a perfect on-the-beach or by-the-pool read, where a \'fun thriller\' is preferred over something more complex or intricate.
Megan Goldin
RaveThe Nerd DailyGoldin is an excellent storyteller with a terrific knack for setting the pace that keeps her audience unable to turn away, and The Escape Room is a must-read! ... Throughout the chapters that take place in the elevator, the reader can feel the fear, the growing panic, the explosions of rage, the growing hopelessness, and the sense of dread. These chapters display for the reader the constant, and constantly growing, terror of the escape room participants ... excellent storytelling and it constantly pulls the reader further and further inside ... Goldin has the infrequently seen talent of writing likeable and unlikable characters equally well ... engrossing, it’s exciting, and it is a great way to remember just how much fun it can be to \'escape\' into a great book.
Jonathan Scott
PositiveThe Nerd DailyScott...shares interesting details, behind-the-scenes insights, and addresses myths, such as why the Beatles music was left off completely ... More than a time capsule, Jonathan Scott describes in this book a brilliant combination of science and art, which together created a weird but wonderful artefact compiled by an amazing group of people. Created from a strange marriage of politics, bureaucracy, budget, ambition, innovation, and beauty, Scott describes a portrait of humanity that is still traveling out among the stars.
