Tag: suspense novels

Review and Insights: ‘Side Effects Are Minimal’ by Laura Essay

‘Side Effects Are Minimal’ is the new legal thriller by Laura Essay. Photo: Amazon

Laura Essay attended the University of Nebraska and obtained a law degree from Creighton University School of Law. When her three grown children moved on to graduate programs in other cities, writing became her passion. “Side Effects Are Minimal,” her debut novel, is about a corrupt pharmaceutical industry, the guilt of physicians prescribing the opioids that kill, and the pain experienced by families who have lost loved ones to a widespread epidemic. Her knowledge of the opioid crisis stems from her passion for research and countless hours spent searching for the truth about opioids in America.

Synopsis:

“Side Effects Are Minimal” – ambitious attorney Claire Hewitt is asked to represent the Satoris, one of Philadelphia’s most prominent families in a lawsuit over the death of their daughter Emma. She is thrust into an opioid nightmare with deadly impact—and not for the first time. Even after twenty years after her sister Molly’s death from what she believes to be an opioid-related death, Claire still feels guilty for not being able to help her. Now, with this new assignment, her guilt comes full circle. Who was really at fault in Molly’s death? And who is at fault now?

Claire struggles to balance her desire for justice with the Satoris’ thirst for revenge. She knows she needs to expose the greed that transforms legal opioid production into illicit fabrications and the neglect that is the breaking point between physicians and their patients. There are powerful people who will seemingly stop at nothing to prevent these truths from seeing the light of day, and she is sabotaged at every turn. Can she push past the obstacles in her way to build a winning case?

Review:

The opioid epidemic in America has devastated communities nationwide, claiming countless lives and leaving a trail of shattered families. Laura Essay expertly combines real events with a compelling narrative. The story begins as Claire is excited at being assigned the Sartoris case even though in the long run it might be a class action suit. She is nervous but looking forward to the challenge partially because the opioid crisis affected her family as well when her sister Molly passed away and she sees this case as a way to get justice for her as well. Her character is confident and qualified but right from the beginning when she is assaulted and her briefcase is stolen, it becomes evident that there will be strong forces out to stop her at all costs.

I was drawn to this novel because of its exploration of the human experience within the medical and legal systems. The fictional court case brings to light the heartache faced by families touched by this crisis and how it transcends demographics, but at least the parents in this story are lucky to be wealthy enough to be able to sue the pharmaceutical supplier. The courtroom drama and the hard work by the lawyers and everyone working behind the scenes to bring these cases to court is gripping and eye-opening.

Essay’s writing style makes it easy to follow the medical and legal terms because she doesn’t use overly complicated jargon. Her use of descriptive language immerses the reader in the action: “Beads of sweat glistened on his upper lip and beside the veins spider-webbing his nostrils.” The characters she creates are vivid and relatable, each struggling with their own challenges and triumphs. This story explores the themes of family, courage, and power/corruption and the challenges that come in times of crisis. Highlights include the in-depth research on the case and Chapter 24 No Friend of Mine when Claire is given the spotlight when the trial begins.

Overall, “Side Effects Are Minimal” is a compelling novel that reminds us of the power of the court system and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of medical challenges. It is recommended for readers interested in learning more about the opioid epidemic and enjoy medical thrillers by Robin Cook, legal thrillers by Mike Papantonio and John Grisham, and strong female characters.  

“Claire’s movements revealed the sorrow she felt. Her fingers glided along each line as she read. She whispered their names. She grimaced and smiled and often looked to the ceiling for a break. She squeezed her eyes shut when a break wasn’t enough.”

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

New book release: ‘The Bucharest Legacy’ by William Maz

‘The Bucharest Legacy: The Rise of the Oligarchs’ is the second novel in the Bill Hefflin Spy Thriller Series by William Maz. Photo: Amazon

William Maz was born in Bucharest, Romania, of Greek parents and emigrated to the U.S. as a child. He is a graduate of Harvard University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Yale residency. During his high school and undergraduate years, he developed a passion for writing fiction. He studied writing at Harvard, the New School, The Writer’s Studio in New York City, and with Gordon Lish, and is now writing full time. He divides his time between homes in Pennsylvania and New York City. In his new novel, “The Bucharest Legacy,” CIA agent Bill Hefflin is back in Bucharest and is immersed in a cauldron of spies and crooked politicians. (Amazon, 2023)

“The Bucharest Legacy” – The CIA is rocked to its core when a KGB defector divulges that there is a KGB mole inside the Agency. They learn that the mole’s handler is a KGB agent known as Boris. CIA analyst Bill Hefflin recognizes that name—Boris is the code name of Hefflin’s longtime KGB asset. If the defector is correct, Hefflin realizes Boris must be a triple agent, and his supposed mole has been passing false intel to Hefflin and the CIA. This makes Hefflin the prime suspect as the KGB mole inside the Agency.

Hefflin is given a chance to prove his innocence by returning to his city of birth, Bucharest, Romania, to find Boris and track down the identity of the mole. It has been three years since the bloody revolution, and what he finds is a cauldron of spies, crooked politicians, and a country controlled by the underground and the new oligarchs, all of whom want to find Boris. But Hefflin has a secret that no one else knows—Boris has been dead for over a year. Perfect for fans of John le Carré and Brad Thor.

New book release: ‘Cliff’ by John M. Spagnoli

‘Cliff’ is the new novel by John M. Spagnoli. Photo: Barnes & Noble.

Detective and crime novels are so interesting to read because they tend to include elements of suspense and investigation. Today’s new book release combines the best of investigations with an unexpected botanical subplot. If you are a fan of both, may I recommend “Cliff” by John Spagnoli. Seasoned detectives Skull and Violet are hot on the trail on a new case when the unexpected happens. If good old detective stories are your favorite read, give this one a try. It is available on Barnes & Noble as an e-book.

John Spagnoli, author of the psychological thriller novel “Shadowed Soul” and a botanical primer, “How to Grow Worsleya Seeds,” is both a storyteller of suspenseful tales and botanist. An avid gardener with experience in hybridization, he created new day lily and clivia plant crosses. A New York City native, he is the proud father of two ‘seedlings’ of his own. He underpins his new detective novel, “Cliff,” with his own skilled research about rare and common plants. (John Spagnoli, 2023)

“Cliff” – Told through the eyes of two seasoned detectives, Skull and Violet, this story has as many twists and turns as the sinuous cliff side roads where mysterious murders occur. When Skull returns from military service with PTSD, Violet covers for him as they sleuth out cold cases in the seaside metropolis where they grew up as besties. The duo struggles with unrequited love for each other while scrambling to investigate a new rash of murders masquerading as suicides. From women dropped over cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean to paranormal apparitions in the twilight hours, nothing make sense to the detectives until rumors of a cult lead to unexpected botanical revelations. Colorful characters spice the treacherous hunt to catch the perpetrators before the next victim is sacrificed. Will Skull’s PTSD compromise the investigation before they can bring the serial killers to justice?

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New book release: ‘House One’ by Nina Wilson

‘House One’ is the new novel by Nina Wilson. Photo: Amazon

Who can resist a good mystery novel filled with suspense and spooky settings? These types of books have always been my favorite, and growing up, I would look forward to my next suspenseful read. Today’s new book release is a novel for young readers ages 15-18 that centers around the strange goings on in a summer camp for children. “House One” by Nina Wilson takes place at a summer camp and involves unexplained deaths and malevolent forces. Check it out for yourself. Suitable for all readers, it is available on Amazon.

Nina Wilson is an author, poet, and photographer from the middle of nowhere Iowa. She has a B.A. in History and Fiction, and an M.F.A. in fiction. She has published a handful of poems in various literary magazines. Her two previous novels, “Surrender Language” and “Malady,” were published by Adelaide Books, the editor of which unfortunately is now involved in a handful of class-action lawsuits for fraud. Personally, she is an avid cat-lover, history nerd, and spear-fighter in a Historical European Martial Arts group. She enjoys hiking with her cats and cemetery photography. Her novel “House One” is largely based on her experience working at a summer camp for six summers and all the mayhem and mystery that went along with it. (Nina Wilson, 2023)

“House One” – Deep in the hills of Greenville, Iowa sits a century-old summer camp for children—Camp Kellova. Throughout the various remodels over time, House One remains a mysterious entity. Danger still lurks and unexplained deaths continue with frequency. Long-time camp counselor, Laurel has always been leery of House One. This summer, after she pulls a body out of Lake Owaissa, she decides it is time to find out why the spirit of this cabin has become so merciless. What malevolent forces are behind the mysterious happenings at House One? More importantly, what can Laurel do to keep the children out of its shadowy grip?

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Suspense book of the week: ‘Let’s Kidnap Me’ by Kyle Guillou

‘Let’s Kidnap Me’ is the debut suspense novel by Kyle Guillou. Photo: Amazon

If you love suspense/thriller novels, this debut novel by Kyle Guillou may be right up your alley.

Kyle Guillou is a debut suspense author based out of New Jersey where he was born and raised– but he asks that you do not hold that against him. His first novel, “Let’s Kidnap Me” was released in print in December 2022 with a second to follow by Fall of 2023. When Kyle is not putting pen to paper he works as a tax accountant by day and by night suits up and hits the gritty Jersey streets to rid them of crime and corruption (or so he says, we have yet to confirm the latter part). In the suspense novel “Let’s Kidnap Me,” Claire and Corey get mixed up in sex, lies, and the perfect get rich scheme. (Amazon/Kyle Guillou, 2023)

“Let’s Kidnap Me” – Meet CLAIRE. Your average broke mid-twenty millennial who is sick of the way her life is going. She is sick of living at home with her insufferable mother and rich, snooty stepfather. Sick of hopping from one waitressing job to the next. Most of all, she is sick of having no future in sight. All she has keeping her afloat is her longtime boyfriend, Corey. She wants nothing more than for the two of them to escape this frustrating New Jersey life together. So Claire comes up with an idea: fake her own kidnapping with Corey. Together, they will extort Claire’s parents out of two million dollars in ransom money, which they will use to run away and start a new life together. Perfect, right?

Now, meet COREY. Your average broke mid-twenty millennial who is sick of the way his life is going and especially sick of his girlfriend, Claire. Just when Corey is finally ready to break up with her, she comes to him with this crazy idea to get rich. An idea just crazy enough to work in his favor…

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New release: ‘Labyrinth’ by Catherine Coulter

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‘Labyrinth’ by Catherine Coulter is the next book in the FBI Thriller series. It will be available starting Tuesday July 30. Photo: google

Catherine Coulter is The New York Times’ bestselling American author of eighty-four novels, including the FBI Thriller series and The Brit in the FBI international thriller series, co-written with J.T. Ellison. She is mostly known for writing romantic suspense thrillers and historical romances but she also writes suspense thrillers. The FBI Thriller series begins with “The Cove” in 1996 and includes “Double Take,” “Bombshell” and “Paradox.” In “Labyrinth,” the 23rd book in the series, agents Savich and Sherlock stumble into a bizarre case that is more complicated and twisted than any they have ever encountered. It will be released on Tuesday July 30, 2019.

According to Amazon, “Labyrinth” begins when agent Sherlock is driving in downtown Washington and her Volvo is suddenly T-boned at an intersection. As her car spins out of control, a man’s body slams against her windshield and she passes out. When she regains consciousness in the hospital, she is told about the accident and the man she struck. No one knows yet who he is or where he is because he ran away. The recovered DNA identifies him as Justice Cummings, a CIA analyst at Langley and he is still missing.

Meanwhile, in the small town of Gaffer’s Ridge, Virginia, Special Agent Griffin Hammersmith rescues a kidnapped woman who claims her captor murdered three missing teenage girls. The man she accuses is the local sheriff’s nephew and a member of a very powerful family and is reputed to have psychic powers. When the sheriff arrests Griffin and the rescued woman, Carson DaSilva, he calls Savich for help. Together they have to weave their way through a labyrinth of lies to find the truth of a terrible secret.

Book review: ‘Quietus’ by Vivian Schilling

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‘Quietus’ is a suspenseful thriller by Vivian Schilling.  Courtesy photo used with permission.

Vivian Schilling is an American novelist, screenwriter, actress and independent filmmaker. The award-winning author has written the novels ‘Sacred Prey’ and ‘Quietus,’ both of which take place in a supernatural setting and tackle the themes of immortality, existentialism and religious conflict. ‘Quietus’ is a psychological thriller about a young woman brought back from the brink of death to find the world around her forever altered. It will be reissued on Tuesday February 27, 2018.

At the beginning of ‘Quietus,’ Kylie O’Rourke, her husband Jack, her best friend Amelia Blackwell and her husband Dix Hamilton are aboard a small plane headed for Boston through the White Mountains. The flight is uneventful until the weather takes a turn for the worse and the plane goes down in sub-freezing temperatures. Kylie wakes up in the hospital still groggy from the medication and afterwards starts having memories of the crash and events the other survivors do not remember. Putting all that aside, she returns to her normal life, but the memories, nightmares and visions remain, and she starts questioning the events of that night and her own sanity. As the other survivors start dying from suicide, accidents and other tragic deaths, she becomes increasingly paranoid and desperate to filter the real from the imaginary in a desperate attempt to escape a supernatural force determined to even the scales of fate.

It is difficult to describe exactly what type of novel ‘Quietus’ is. Part psychological thriller, part sci-fi/fantasy, it is a suspenseful tale that grabs the reader and does not let go until the shocking conclusion. The language is easy to understand and at 500-plus pages, the action does not falter. As each character succumbs to the inevitable in the Final Destination-like storyline, it is heart-breaking to see them go. Fans of art history are in for a treat in Book Two, Chapter Eighteen when one of Kylie’s clients, an art connoisseur, starts explaining the background of the statues that have Kylie so intrigued. Beautifully written, the fantasy sequences are incredibly realistic and haunting. The personification of Death as someone from Kylie’s past is genius, and, in the end, Death collects the souls it is due because they were never meant to survive the accident. ‘Quietus’ is recommended for fans of gothic novels who appreciate aspects of fantasy, suspense and psychological thrillers mixed in just to keep things interesting.

*A copy of this book was given for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are solely the author’s.

Book review: ‘All Systems Down’ by Sam Boush

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‘All Systems Down’ is the debut novel by Sam Bousch.  Courtesy photo: used with permission.

Sam Boush is a novelist and award-winning journalist who has worked as a wildland firefighter and as owner of a mid-sized marketing agency. He is a member of the Center for Internet Security, International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium and Cloud Security Alliance. ‘All Systems Down,’ his first novel, is a cyber war thriller that unites a group of strangers whose must depend on each other’s skills to survive the oncoming chaos.

‘All Systems Down’ begins aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford where Lieutenant Kelly Seong and Lieutenant Orion Bether are in the middle of 4a.m. drills. After their communication radios malfunction, they are forced to head back to the supercarrier and are shocked when its lights start shutting down and the instruments aboard their jets start to fail. This is only the beginning of mass cyber-attacks that cause electrical grids to fail, satellites to crash to earth and widespread cell phone and internet crashes. With massive black blackouts across America and a foreign enemy creeping up on its shores, survivors like Brendan Chogan, whose job interview was interrupted by an outage, and Ireana and Annalore, who were on a camping trip, will have to work together to get through the next few days. They are the innocent victims of the North Korean military determined to topple the enemy’s infrastructure.

With his debut novel, Sam Boush proves that he deserves to be listed with the likes of Tom Clancy, David Baldacci and Dan Brown. Right from the beginning, readers are in for a thrill ride as the lives of every day people are abruptly interrupted by a series of computer viruses. Both heroes and villains are well-developed and include various nationalities. The action flows easily from chapter to chapter and even though there is some military and computer jargon involved, it is easy to follow and understand. As cities fall, the scariest animal is a cornered and scared human. Despite being a work of fiction, it is not hard to envision a real-life scenario where worldwide destruction comes via a keyboard. It is a must-read and recommended for fans of thrillers and suspense novels with apocalyptic/disaster storylines. With a subtitle of ‘The Cyber War – Book 1’ hinting of more to come, this series, with its compelling characters and every-day heroes will keep readers asking for more.

*A copy of this book was given via NetGalley for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are solely the author’s.

New release: ‘Crime Scene’ by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman

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‘Crime Scene’ is the new release by father and son writing team Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is a clinical psychologist and the best-selling author of psychological suspense novels. He has written more than thirty best-selling novels but he is best known for the Alex Delaware detective series. Since has worked extensively in the psychology field, his nonfiction writings include “Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children” as well as medical texts, essays and scientific articles. His newest novel “Crime Scene” was co-written with his son Jesse Kellerman. Jesse Kellerman is an American novelist and playwright whose past novels include “Sunstroke,” “Trouble” and “The Golem of Hollywood,” co-written with his father.

According to Amazon, in “Crime Scene,” a former star athlete turned deputy coroner is drawn into a brutal and complicated murder. Clay Edison’s job is to determine whether someone’s death was natural causes or homicide. He does not get involved in investigations until one case proves more than meets the eye. When Walter Rennert is found dead at home everyone thinks it was an accident but wen his daughter Tatiana insists that he was murdered, Clay takes a closer look at his death. What he finds is a history of scandal and violence and an experiment gone horribly wrong. The closer he gets to the truth, the closer he gets to Tatiana and it all leads him into the darkest corners of the human soul.

Television adaptation: Letty Dobesh Chronicles by Blake Crouch

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‘Good Behavior’ is the television adaptation of the Letty Dobesh Chronicles on TNT by Blake Crouch. Photo: amazon.com

Blake Crouch is the best-selling author of suspense novels most notably the international bestselling series Wayward Pines. It was adapted into a television series for FOX with M. Night Shyamalan as executive producer. He has also written several novellas including the Letty Dobesh ones which include ‘The Pain of Others,’ ‘Sunset Key’ and ‘Grab.’  These have now been developed for TNT for the series ‘Good Behavior’ starring Michelle Dockery and it premiered earlier this month.

According to Amazon, Letty Dobesh is a thief who has just been released from jail early for good behavior but she is back to her old tricks again.  While burglarizing a luxury suite she overhears a man hiring a hit man to kill his wife. She may not be perfect but she still wants to do the right thing.  Since she cannot go to the police she tries to derail the hit herself but instead ends up putting herself in danger.  The first episode sets up the series by having Letty spend the night with Javier the hit man so she can get more information about the victim.  She wakes up the next morning and hurriedly tries to beat him to the victim’s house and successfully convinces her that she is in danger.  Unfortunately things do not work out as well as Letty expected and she ends up back in her room where she gets high.  Javier storms in and demands answers and ends up blackmailing her into working for him.  Hopefully the rest of the season is just as suspenseful and the characters continue to grow.