Patch Lane by S F Barkley

December 5, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, #RRBookTours, Blog Tour, Book Review and tagged #amreading, #bookreview, #crimethriller @RRBookTours1, #RRBookTours, @RRBookTours1, book reivew, Patch Lane, SF Barkley | Leave a comment

4 Stars from me

I absolutely loved Patch Lane! There is something simplistically beautiful about this book and the gentle lull of the story that just captivated me. Her relationship with her Dad and Aunt is really cute too and it made for comforting -if a little spooky – reading.

Our tenacious cop, Sarah, is a great character – she’s a little stereotypical but that just made her all the more likeable for me. She’s good at her job, has great instincts and loves her family – she was perfect in a small town cop kinda way.

I love the creepiness of Patch Lane and all that has gone on in that house and on that land made for a few unsettling moments especially when she was attending those 911 hangups on her own.

All in all the storyline itself was interesting and intriguing and I really enjoyed reading it.

I love the book cover too.

Click the link below to win a Kindle download of Patch Lane!

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PLane digital cover.jpg

Sarah Hastings is a rookie cop who works the night shift in Amber Forest, a small rural town nestled in the Western Pennsylvania mountains. After repeatedly responding to an abandoned and allegedly haunted farmhouse for 911 hang up calls, she discovers a dead body in a secret room. The forensic investigators determine that the body has only been dead for three to four days, but the case takes an unexpected turn when Sarah runs the victim’s fingerprints and finds that her Jane Doe actually died 20 years ago.

The murder investigation is complicated with a sloppy autopsy and delayed forensic reports. When the US Marshals and FBI join the case, Sarah realizes that she is caught in a web of jurisdictional politics that seem to care less about the victim and are more concerned with a larger confidential case. Sarah soon realizes that she may be closer to the victim than she thought and finds herself drawn deeper into the case, threatening not just her career, but her life.

Excerpt

The house was in total disrepair. The exterior had white wooden siding with loosely attached, rotting black shutters. The moonlight highlighted the chipping paint, making the shutters appear two-toned. The old brick chimney was pulling away from the side of the house, and small trees were growing on the lower roof. There were no signs of life inside—no lights, no sound, not even a car parked on the property. It was the only house on the lane, so I deduced this was once a running farm. This must have been the original farmhouse. I slowly made my way around the house, trudging through the overgrown grass, to check the perimeter. With no evidence of life or habitation, I was beginning to question if Dispatch had gotten the address wrong. I got on the radio. “1034 to Dispatch.”

“Dispatch, go ahead.”

“I’m at 52 Patch Lane. Can you confirm this is the address?”

“Stand by.” After about a minute, Dispatch got back on the air. “1034, yes, that’s the correct address. Do you need backup?”

“Negative. It appears no one is home, but I’ll update.”

At this point, I knocked on the front door and announced myself. “Officer Hastings, Amber Forest Police Department!” No answer. All of the windows were closed, so I tried the front door. Locked. I didn’t have any extenuating circumstances that would allow a warrantless entry, so all I could do was leave. There wasn’t even enough for me to write a police report.

“1034 to Dispatch,” I radioed again.

“Dispatch, go ahead.”

“It looks like this house is abandoned. I think the 911 hang up might have been some crossed telephone wires. Clear me from the call with no report.”

“10-4.”

I began driving back down the gravel lane when another wave of chills shot through me. I hit my brakes and glanced in my rearview mirror. My brake lights flooded the house in red, and for a split moment I thought I saw someone standing in the window watching me leave. I blinked, and the figure vanished. My intuition had kept me alive this far, but I knew Chief Fox would rip me a new one if I tried to enter that house based on my intuition and faintly seeing shadows. I took a deep breath and convinced my foot to ease off of the brake and back on the gas.

PatchLN

Blog Tour Schedule

December 2^nd

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com

Horror Tree (Guest Post) https://www.horrortree.com

I’m All About Books (Review) https://imallaboutbooks.com/

Kim Knight (Review) http://kimknightauthor.wordpress.com

December 3^rd

B is for Book Review (Guest Post) https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com

Just 4 My Books (Spotlight) http://www.just4mybooks.wordpress.com

Scarlett Readz & Runz (Review) https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/

December 4^th

The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Interview) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com

Reading Nook (Spotlight) http://readingnook84.wordpress.com

J Bronder Book Reviews (Review) https://jbronderbookreviews.com/

December 5^th

Cup of Books Blog (Review) https://cupofbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Read and Rated (Review) https://readandrated.com/

My Comic Relief (Review) https://mycomicrelief.wordpress.com/

December 6^th

Didi Oviatt (Spotlight) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/

Dash Fan Book Reviews (Spotlight) https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/

S.F. Barkley | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon

Blog Tour Organized By:

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R&R Book Tours

Buried Sins by Louise Mullins

November 26, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, Blog Tour, Book Review, Random Things Tours and tagged Book Review, book tour, Buried Sins, DI Locke, incest, kidnap, Louise Mullins, murder, Paedophile, police procedural, Random Things Tours, readandrated, religion, Wales | 1 Comment

5 Stars from me

In a lot of ways, Buried Sins is a horrible story about horrible people who do horrible things, yet among the rubble of the depravity there sits a little girl called Carys who somehow manages to create a family and a life for herself.

On the cover, this is described as a ‘gritty, addictive, psychological thriller‘ and I would have to agree that is a pretty fair assessment, for Buried Sins is certainly addictive and I think a lot of this is to do with the clever way in which the story unfolds – it flits back and forth between childhood Carys and adult Carys and reveals layer by layer of truth along the way.

There is a lot of information regarding childhood abuse and some effects on of trauma on memory – this was very tightly woven into the story and did not feel gratuitous or out of place. As much as is possible, I felt this whole aspect of the book was dealt with sensitively.

I think what I found most disturbing about Buried Sins is the air of authenticity it has, especially when describing the family dynamic between Carys and her parents – both of whom seem as equally messed up as each other!

The miracle for me throughout this dark and disturbing tale is that Carys has managed to sustain a marriage and keep together a family of her own. In all honesty this stretched the realms of reality the most for me but then I remembered how much I enjoyed Harry Potter and Twilight and that this was also fiction and I shut up!

DI Locke and her team were background players for me and I wonder if we will learn more about them in future books; I hope so.

My thanks to Random Things Tours and to Louise Mullins for letting me take part in this blog tour.

Synopsis: Introducing Welsh Detective Inspector Emma Locke who appears in her very own upcoming procedural series.

Readers who enjoy books by C.L. Taylor, K.L. Slater, and Rachel Abbott will love this gritty, addictive, standalone psychological thriller.

When Carys returns to her childhood home, inherited after the death of her father, she is shocked to discover the bones of an infant buried in the paddock. Days later, DI Locke’s team uncover the remains of a missing girl, sparking vivid memories of the day Carys was abducted by The Shadow Man.

While the evidence against her father mounts, Carys recalls more of her past. And each new revelation provides DI Locke with the proof she needs to close the cases of several girls’ disappearances.

Sometimes the past refuses to stay buried.

Website:
https://www.louisemullinsauthor.com/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mullinsauthor/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LouiseMullinsAuthor/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MullinsAuthor

Left For Dead by Paul J. Teague

November 11, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, Blog Tour, Book Review, BOTBS Blog Tour, net galley and tagged Book Review, book review blog, BOTBSPublicity, Left for Dead, Morecambe Bay, net galley, Paul J Teague | 1 Comment

4 Stars from me

I loved reading about Morecambe Bay and enjoyed the contrast of the vibrant holiday town from the past versus the now dilapidated and neglected holiday camp that is ripe for redevelopment today.

Will and Charlotte were a bit of a complex couple, seems to me they need to communicate better! It was a little bittersweet to read of them as a young couple and then see how much they’d lost each other along the way.

Lots of great characters throughout this book with a nice amount of attention paid to some of the non key characters too which I always think is a nice touch.

This is pretty much a mystery book and I was excited to learn that it is the first in a series – we desperately need some new crime thriller dramas on TV, could this be the next big thing?

My thanks to Paul J Teague and BOTBSPublicity for letting me take part in this blog tour.

Synopsis: A return to the past. Two guilty secrets. A memory that won’t stay buried…

When Charlotte and Will Grayson return to the seaside resort where they met as teenagers, they hope it’ll help to heal the wounds in their marriage.

But visiting the dilapidated holiday camp where their relationship began brings terrible memories back from the past.

The man who’d once made their lives hell has come back to find them – only, the last time they saw him, they’d left him for dead on the beach.

As the threats to their new life become more severe, Charlotte and Will discover that they were mistaken about what happened to Bruce Craven on that fateful night.

And now he’s returned to finish off what was started thirty years ago.

Sometimes the past is best left alone…

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulTeagueUK

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulteagueauthor/

Thriller website: https://paulteague.co.uk/

Left for Dead is the first book in the Morecambe Bay Trilogy.
Book 2 is Circle of Lies and will be published on Monday 9th December 2019.
Book 3 is Truth Will Out and will be published on Monday 6th January 2020.

The Bowery Slugger by Leopold Borstinski

November 11, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, Blog Tour, Book Review, Damp Pebbles Book Tour and tagged 1920s, Alex Cohen, Book Review, damp pebbles blog tour, gangs, ganster, Leopold Borstinski, The Bowery Slugger | 1 Comment

4 Stars from me

My first introduction to the writing of Leopold Borstinski and the character Alex Cohen has been a fascinating glimpse into a world ruled by mobsters in New York.

I loved the internal conflict within Alex himself of the good gentle boy who gave up a delicious pastry for the girl the next door vs the conscious-less thug who can stab someone without a second thought.

The mob lifestyle and the violence are intoxicating as we follow Alex down an inevitably dangerous path – he seems instinctively drawn to danger, with money as his guiding force.

The imagery and descriptions of the streets, clubs, shops and the hustle and bustle of 1919 New York is just wonderful. I felt transported back in time and could almost smell the dust and the grime on the streets and the stale booze and perfume in the club. The skill in making this come alive is subtle yet effective.

Great, immersive dive into the New York mob scene.

My thanks to Damp Pebbles blog tours and Leopold Borstinski for letting me be a part of this blog tour.

Synopsis: A turn-of-the-century Jewish boy punches his way into the gangs of New York.

When Alex Cohen arrives in 1915 America, he seizes the land of opportunity with both hands and grabs it by the throat. But success breeds distrust and Alex must choose between controlling his gang and keeping his friend alive. What would you do if the person you trusted most is setting you up to die at your enemies’ hands?

The first book in the Alex Cohen series is a violent historical novel, which rips through the early years of the Jewish New York mob. Leopold Borstinski’s gripping crime noir beats at the chest of every reader with a bloody fist.

From Inside the House by WD Jackson-Smart

November 11, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, Blog Tour, Book Review, Damp Pebbles Book Tour and tagged Blog Tour, Book Review, Damp Pebbles, From Inside the House, WD Jackson-Smart | 1 Comment

4 Stars from me

This is a cracking book with some properly gruesome crime scenes! So much so I would hate to listen to this on an audio book…

DI Graves is a great character, I really enjoyed him. He was clearly still suffering from a previous case and also from a somewhat complex relationship with his sister.

From Inside the House plays on that middle of the night terror situation of there being someone in your house… who means you harm. It is truly the stuff of nightmares, the one place in the world where you should feel safe and secure suddenly becomes the scene of a crime – with the homeowner(s) horrifically displayed in a hideous tableau.

DI Daniel Graves and his partner Charlie work tirelessly to find the killer, not any easy task when – despite the horror of the crime scenes – the murderer seems to leave no trace and there is no obvious connection between the victims.

Added into the mix is Kelly is a journalist who had manipulated Charlie in the past it isn’t above attempting to exploit him again. Her drive and dogged determination to have a front page scoop makes her a deadly component in this story. Despite her lack of regard for people’s privacy, I couldn’t help but admire her drive for the truth.

From Inside The House is a definite page turner and as the second DI Graves novel I would suggest that you read the first – The Demons Beneath – first as it is obvious there is some history about Graves that I am sure it makes sense to be aware of.

Overall I really enjoyed this dark and disturbing thriller – it has great characters and a good mix of horror, intrigue and good old fashioned detective work. I look forward to reading more by this author.

My thanks to WD Jackson-Smart and Damp Pebbles for letting me take part in this blog tour.

Synopsis: Two victims. Brutally murdered in their own home. Body parts taken.

D.I. Graves is back on the case to face his toughest challenge yet. A case with no motive and no suspect, nothing at all that could explain why someone would kill innocent people in such a way.

Then the next victims are discovered. Another pair of bodies. New body parts taken. Again in their own home.

Someone is breaking into houses across the city at night, leaving horror in their wake. It seems to Graves that this could be two serial killers, working together. But how are they choosing their victims? Is any house in London a target? Is anyone safe?

To make matters worse, a journalist is threatening to cause more harm than good with her obsessive push in covering the story to further her career, and someone is targeting Graves personally, seeking revenge against him in relation to an old case.

Can Graves keep himself safe long enough to stop the serial killers before they strike again?

About WD Jackson-Smart:

WD Jackson-Smart, 35, is a London-based horror and crime fiction author who has been writing crime and horror fiction since 2011. His novel Red Light was self published on Amazon and charted in the top twenty best selling Suspense / Thriller Kindle books on release.

His horror short story, What’s Yours Is Mine, was shortlisted for the Horror For Good anthology.

His first crime thriller Slasher, about a serial killer targeting slasher movie actresses in Hollywood, is out now, and he has launched a brand new crime series set in London and starring D.I. Graves. The Demons Beneath is the first in the series, and the sequel From Inside The House was published on July 1st 2019.

As well as his passion for horror and crime thrillers in all forms, WD Jackson-Smart also loves art and design, having studied Fine Art and Art History in Leeds and Toronto and working as a graphic designer for the majority of his career.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdejackson

Website: https://www.wdjacksonauthor.co.uk/

Closer than Blood by Paul Grzegorzek

November 5, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, Blog Tour, Book Review, BOTBS Blog Tour and tagged Blog Tour, Book Review, Brighton, Closer than Blood, Paul Grzegorzek, Peter James, Simon Kernick | 1 Comment

5 Stars from me!

I can’t recommend this book enough. I felt a genuine excitement while reading Closer than Blood as it dawned on me that this book wasn’t just good, it was bloody brilliant! It is likened in the blurb to a Peter James style book but I would suggest it is more a hybrid of Peter James and Simon Kernick – it is clever, it is FAST, it has a subtle dry wit, it is exciting – honestly I was very rapidly utterly engrossed and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

PC Gareth Bell is a great character, he is charismatic and the scenes with his dad are, simply, beautiful. It is quite obvious when reading these little snippets that they are written from a deeply personal place and it makes them touch just the right chord.

Brighton makes for the prefect backdrop and it is fab to hear landmarks and visual descriptions of properties and areas as the characters make their way around the town.

I liked the friendships, I liked the bad guys (and gals), I liked the edginess, the fear, the fight scenes (usually skip them so they must have been good!), the sentiment and the general air of peril throughout the whole thing.

As the eagle-eyed among you may have gathered, I really enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

twitter: @paulglaznost

facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/category/Author/Paul-Grzegorzek-173832352713621/

Synopsis: You would do anything for your family. Wouldn’t you?

The real nightmare begins when the missing person returns…

PC Gareth Bell is about to arrest a cocaine dealer on Brighton Marina, when he makes a shocking discovery that turns his world upside down: the dealer is his long-lost brother, Jake, someone he thought had died years ago.

But their reunion is short lived. For Jake is on the run from a cold-blooded killer, whose network reaches all the way into the police force itself. Now that his brother’s life is on the line, Bell has only two choices. Family, or duty?

A gripping crime thriller, perfect for fans of Peter James.

‘Writes with raw, engaging, authenticity’ Peter James

Murder in Montague Falls

November 1, 2019 by readandrated in #amreading, Blog Tour and tagged #bookblogger, #RRBookTours, @RRBookTours1, Blog Tour, giveaway, Halloween, Murder in Montague Falls, Patrick Thomas, Russ Colchamiro, Sawney Hatton, WIN | Leave a comment

Giveaway Time!

For your chance to win a print copy (US Only), or a digital copy (International) of Murder in Montague Falls click the link below!

Click here to enter via a Rafflecopter giveaway

MurderIn

If you’re still searching for the perfect Halloween read, check out this collection of chilling tales! Murder in Montague Falls will have you reading long into the night!

MURDER IN MONTAGUE FALLS ebook front cover

Murder in Montague Falls

Publication Date: August 29, 2019

Genre: Anthology/ Noir/ Dark Fiction

WHITE HOT THRILLS! PITCH BLACK DEEDS!

3 TALES OF TEENS TACKLING THEIR DARKEST RITES OF PASSAGE

Acclaimed storytellers Russ Colchamiro, Sawney Hatton, and Patrick Thomas each present an original novella brimming with enough danger, intrigue, and murder to get readers’ blood pounding and hearts racing.

In Colchamiro’s RED INK, a paperboy with an overactive imagination witnesses a brutal killing on his route—or has he taken his fantasy spy games a step too far?

In Hatton’s THE DEVIL’S DELINQUENTS, a trio of teenage misfits in pursuit of success, power, and revenge practice amateurish occult rituals… with deadly consequences.

In Thomas’s A MANY SPLENDID THING, a sultry high school teacher enrolls one of her students to get rid of her husband. But will the young man really graduate to murder?

Goodreads

Here are some teasers from the book:

Red Ink

An infrared scope cut through the suburban tree line.

Perched on a high-angle branch in the neighbor’s spruce tree, Isaac could see her through the living room window, six houses away.

The M21 semi-automatic sniper rifle with fiberglass stock and 20-round box magazine was snug against his shoulder.

One bullet. One body.

Though camouflaged within a thicket of evergreen leaves, he had a clean shot.

“Come on,” he whispered, his eye against the scope. “Give me the signal.”

In perfect synchronicity, Isaac’s earpiece crackled. “Target confirmed. Kill shot approved.”

Devil’s Delinquents

Natalie exits her room with the ritual kit, locking the door behind her.

Her father, swathed in a cornucopia-pattern quilt, sits in his wheelchair in the den, positioned near enough the window so that he can be in the daylight. Maybe he enjoys it, but one cannot tell for certain since his face registers no enjoyment, nor any other emotion.

Natalie kneels down before him, flips up the quilt, and undoes the bottom three buttons of his shirt, exposing his stomach. Between her fingertips, she wields the double-edged blade for a safety razor. She carefully nicks the skin above his father’s belly button. She looks up at him, detects no reaction.

She makes intersecting six-inch-long slices into his stomach, then carves a large circle around the lines, working around the seeping blood. Upon finishing, she evaluates her work and nods.

“I’m going to bring you back, daddy,” Natalie says to him, kissing his knuckles. “I promise.”

Splendid Thing

Rosa went from smiling to bawling in less time than it took to blink. I pulled her in and held her against my bare chest. She pounded my ribs with her closed fists.

“Why won’t you understand! There is no other way! If we don’t kill him soon, you’ll come to school one day and find that he killed me. How are you going to feel then? Especially if he figures out that you’re my lover! You would follow me to the Pearly Gates.”

“Rosa, this talk of killing is crazy.”

She pushed herself back and slapped me hard across the face. “You think I’m crazy?”

Available on Amazon

Have you ever heard of a book having its own soundtrack? Well this one does!

About the Authors

Russ Colchamiro Headshot

RUSS COLCHAMIRO is the author of the rollicking space adventure, Crossline, the zany sci-fi backpacking series Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, editor of the sci-fi mystery anthology, Love, Murder & Mayhem, and contributing author for his newest project, Murder in Montague Falls, a noir novella collection, all with Crazy 8 Press.

Russ has contributed to several other anthologies including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, They Keep Killing Glenn, Altered States of the Union, Thrilling Adventure Yarns, Brave New Girls vols. 3&4, Camelot 13, TV Gods 2, and Footprints in the Stars.

He is now finalizing the first in an ongoing SFF mystery series featuring his hard-boiled private eye Angela Hardwicke and has several other SFF, crime fiction, and children’s book projects in the works.

Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, their twin ninjas, and their crazy dog, Simon.

For more on Russ’s works, visit www.russcolchamiro.com, and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @AuthorDudeRuss.

Sawney-casual-smaller

SAWNEY HATTON is an author, editor, and screenwriter who has long loved playing in the dark. His published works include the Dark Comedy novel Dead Size, the YA Noir novella Uglyville, and the Dark Fiction short story collection Everyone Is a Moon. He also edited the Sci-Fi Horror anthology What Has Two Heads, Ten Eyes, and Terrifying Table Manners?

Other incarnations of Sawney have produced marketing videos, attended chili cook-offs, and played the banjo and sousaphone (not at the same time). As of this writing, he is still very much alive.

For more semi-unseemly insights into Sawney, visit his website at www.SawneyHatton.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Patrick Thomas Headshot

PATRICK THOMAS is the award-winning author of the beloved Murphy’s Lore series and the darkly hilarious Dear Cthulhu advice empire.

His 40+ books include Fairy with a Gun, By Darkness Cursed, Lore & Dysorder, Dead to Rites, Startenders, As the Gears Turn, Cthulhu Explains It All, and Exile and Entrance. His is the co-author of the Mystic Investigators series, The Santa Heist, and the Jack Gardner mysteries.

Patrick is the co-editor of Camelot 13 (with John French), New Blood (with Diane Raetz), and Hear Them Roar (with CJ Henderson), co-created The Wildsidhe Chronicles YA series and is the creator of the Agents of the Abyss series.

He has had more than 150 short stories published in magazines and anthologies, with his work for YA and children including the Ughabooz books, the Undead Kid Diaries, the Joy Reaper books, and the Babe B. Bear Mysteries as Patrick T. Fibbs.

Visit him online at www.patthomas.net and www.patricktfibbs.com

Blog Tour Schedule

October 28^th

Reads & Reels (Review) http://readsandreels.com

Viviana MacKade (Guest Post) https://viviana-mackade.blog/

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/

Reviews and Promos by Nyx (Spotlight) https://nyxblogs.wordpress.com/

October 29^th

Book Dragons Not Worms (Review) https://bookdragonsnotworms.blogspot.com/?m=1

Cup of Books (Review) https://cupofbooksblog.wordpress.com/

The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Spotlight) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com

October 30^th