Second Honeymoon by Mark Souza. A Book Review.

Blurb.

A short story available free on Smashwords, B&N, Apple Bookstore, Kobo, Sony eReader Store, and Diesel.

When Jack Duncan finds out his wife changed the terms of her life insurance policy, he’s not a happy man. Instead of a cash payout, he gets a clone. His wife is back and all his planning has gone for naught..

He is tasked with helping her adjust and re-assume her life. But maybe all is not lost. Perhaps she will have problems adjusting. Maybe she'll commit suicide..

review.

Bravo! Not only is story very well written, it is also extremely imaginative. Picture a crime repaid in the most punishing manner, and then add a twist of lemon. This story should be at #1. Very, very clever. Short sharp read.

Identity X by Michelle Muckley. A Book Review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is so much a journey taken in the shoes of, Ben, the main protagonist! We are given air to all his venting angst; should he try to resurrect his tired marriage that has albeit given a final resigned sigh, or would he prefer to embark on an ill-advised romp with his gorgeous and provocative lab assistant. Has his research been driven by the ugly and untimely demise of his father, or has it been the gauge of his own unremitting ambition. Ben's world is turned violently asunder after he invents a remarkable gene altering repair mechanism that will eradicate all inborn predilection to hereditary disease. However, instead of accolade and fame he is dropped into an abyss of ignominy. Suddenly his identity is wiped off the main frame of society, his documents are invalid his existence threatened physically and figuratively.

Ben is in a very scary place; what do his assailant want, why have they stolen his life's work and possibly abducted his family. In a churning, topsy turvy world of intrigue and violence, Ben attempts to save himself, his life's work and his family form the terror of an unknown malevolence. This is a heart-felt tale of suspense, buckle up for a bumpy ride.

Unusual prose, which, at times felt a little wordy for me, but at others proved delightfully poetic; this quote for instance is delicious:
"She loved to visit the smaller districts of the city, where people courted art and culture rather than power and money. She always told him that it was those things that enriched their lives, and that made the world a better place. They would come here early on Sunday mornings when hours dwindled by unaccounted for, where they would sip coffee and eat bagels for breakfast in one of the chafes, or when the weather was fine at one of the small patio tables on the pavement. He passed the flower shop where he would buy her tulips in the spring and roses in the winter, and it reminded him of the early days of their marriage when life was simpler and happier."

All-in-all, I doubt if there would be anyone who would not enjoy this book, the action scenes are tense and dramatic, the characters well drawn and emotionally evocative, and the story well thought out and riveting. A very enjoyable read!

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn a Book Review.

Blurb:-
WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart.
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg.
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory. HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle.
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming. With its taut, crafted writing, Sharp Objects is addictive, haunting, and unforgettable.
Review:-
Sharp Objects is a read-it-now thriller that should have you turning the pages in your quest to unravel the whodunit mystery. It's Gillian Flynn's first, and her development as an author is clearly evident if you read her next two books, I'm glad I began with Gone Girl. The story revolves around Camille who has more than a few personality problems--caused, supposedly, by maternal lack of affection. She is a reporter on a little-read newspaper who is sent back to her home town to glean a high profile story on child murders. The story is well written and the character is likable despite her hang ups. I did not find the relationship between the sisters as portrayed by the author believable. The chief protagonist is in her thirties and she socialites in an illegal manner with her thirteen-year-old sister? Hey.... but it's fiction, right? So read it to get a novel spin on a family saga that is more than a little twisted and certainly interesting.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn a Book Review

Blurb:-
I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her..
The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all..
As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer..
Review
I loved this book enough to read it straight through, you know what I mean--exclusively, which I don't often do. Then, at a particularly grizzly intersection, I just did not want to finish it. I was truly horrified, but then I guess if you don't want horror, don't read horror, crime fiction. I'm glad I did finish it. Kudos to you Ms. Flynn for an excellent, unfathomable plot, it was simply jaw dropping. I'll be picking up more books you write. However, please remind me, often, never to do anything to piss you off!.

Bleeding Shame a Book Review.

The Review:-from Ezine Articles. Bleeding Shame is a thought provoking and provocative novel. It engages the reader immediately in a suspense drama that pivots around the senseless and mysterious death of Stacey Cornish, a biochemist who is supposedly moonlighting as a hooker in order to pay for her beloved brothers expensive cancer treatment. Frankie Harlow is a somewhat jaded, but nevertheless, determined cop who is assigned to the murder investigation. When his own family come under attack, he begins to question the facts of the murder, concluding that there is far more to the case than meets the eye. Frankie is soon convinced that the posed murderer has been framed. This is a carefully constructed rendition of events that lead to a jigsawing of pieces that solve the vexing conundrum. The reader is led along a ever vortexing spiral of circumstance the converge toward a violent climax with more than a few unexpected twists. Nora Black, delves deeply into the mind and quirks of her characters to give this fiction a realistic edge. The Sci-fi aspect, although slight, is intelligently dealt with and well researched. The gentle method used by the author to introduce aspects of science make this read easy on the least and most curious reader alike--a fairly conniving trick. Frankie is a believable protagonist with a lovable if somewhat dysfunctional family. Each member, and indeed many domestic events, are given highlighted staging, which makes this read unusual for the genre. Nevertheless, the tale twisting is charmingly and elegantly handled, pushing this read into the realm of entertainment, above and beyond the mere story. Enjoy a romp on the wild side with Nora Black and her more than lovable Frankie Harlow.

Bleeding Shame ARC free review copy.

Download an Advance Reader Copy from Smashwords.com using the code.KR52W. I wish to thank you for giving a new writer a chance and I hope you enjoy this book. The book will be released on 15/09/2013. This copy is offered in exchange for your honest review. If you could take the time to add your thoughts to Goodreads,Librarything, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords; this author would much appreciate it. Thanks, Nora Black Author of Bleeding Shame. BLEEDING SHAME. A novel. Has a world altering invention become temptation for murder? A vicious killer, an improbable story, and a shattering scientific discovery, mingle to create a cocktail of deceptive intrigue. A bright young woman's death has been framed to look like an act of rage during a call-girl rendezvous. A tired, disillusioned cop, her only hope of redemption. Layer upon layer unfold to reveal a conniving conspiracy of global proportions; a conjuring of convoluted wicked twists. Stacey Cornish has been murdered, and her killer has done very little to hide his identity. When his body washes up on the bank of a local river, Detective Frankie Harlow is unconvinced that the man committed suicide. However, when his family come under-fire in a series of vicious attacks aimed at dissuading further interest, Frankie knows that there is more to the murder than first meets the eye. Stacey was a biochemist working on a cure for cancer, perhaps her death had something to do with her research rather than the frame-of-facts posed by the killers. Bleeding Shame is a compelling story that will grab you at the start, pull you along at a breathtaking pace, and shock you senseless with the questions it poses, and the answers it finds. Heart-wrenching, scary and sometimes humorous, it never fails to impress.