RoroblusMumReadsReviews/Rants

5* Didn't see this coming - hints and red herrings that good and that seamlessly embedded, that I had a mouth-drop moment when the penny dropped.  I thought this would be a typical 'wronged woman finds herself and finds the love of a good man' type of tale. Well, it was, but the love part came late and thankfully didn't have either the male lead thinking with his little head, or the female lead thinking with her hormones. Yes, there was an attraction but once burnt, twice shy - for both of them, believably, and their ages (mid-to-late 30s) - meant that they took things slow, without TSTL moments like having sex whilst the killer was on a spree.  The bounty hunting - fugitive retrieval - aspect was well done, believable and interesting. It made for a solid tale that brought the female lead into the male lead's vicinity, allowing them to cooperate, especially once the killer upped his speed. The identity of the killer was kept really well, but threw another red herrin...

3* Started off slow but OK - after the opening scene - but then required too much suspension of disbelief... Despite the punchy opening of the tale, this book quickly fell flat for me. The female lead seemed obsessed with others obsessing how she got to where she was at her age. Jesse seemed far older than his 38-40 years and yes, his job was interesting, but didn't really come into the tale much other than just before the end. And despite her intelligent, who goes out in icy weather, alone, wheb you're X months pregnant, risking a fall that was avoidable but that comes to pass? Really? Plot device, but it felt a bit TSTL. It turned into a Bollywood drama (I grew up on them - the wrong get their just desserts, and the wronged get some form of justice done) once the identity of a character was revealed, and complete with Bollywood suspension of disbelief, the tale went there, but the murkier side of things, the 'things we have to right' things didn't really get dealt...

5* Well-written, well-researched and utterly engrossing, even without Anna's past. And WOW, this is a debut novel.  I'm not sure what else I can say about the tale other than my title. I'm impressed. Seriously impressed and yes, I went checking for a website and other books but it looks like there'll be a bit of a wait for book 2, given that this one's not out until January 27. This book reads like a seasoned author's work. All the characters are great, and each has a role, with no one being 'carried'. There's a depth of knowledge and expertise and experience in the team, as well as a range of ages. The research, deducing, skills, instincts and Anna's 'superpower' make for an excellent, cohesive, gripping and satisfying tale. I'm not sure where Anna's back story will go, as as the tale ends, something a bit worrying is happening. Harry is that villain - the coercive, abusive, manipulative former charmer, but Anna's eyes are op...

3.5* Sadly, it feels like this series is going a bit off the boil.  Don't get me wrong, this is very readable but it's lacking the edge-of-your-seat feel of the Margot tales as a detective, and the underlying arc doesn't seem anywhere close to being two-and-two'd any time soon. The identity of the killer is starting to feel anticlimactic and Margot's suspicions about her brother kind of feel a bit 'well, why didn't you trust your instincts?' especially with what she overhears.  Life with Wes on the farm takes a big back seat. The black widow part of the tale is unsatisfying and the detective Margot's asked to deliver a message to is hyped up to be weird, has a questionable MO, and...it all goes nowhere. I wasn't sure why the author went here, as it felt like filler in an otherwise thin storyline. Still, there's something about the character and the writing that has me thankful that KW writes relatively fast. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Stor...

3.5* Dragged a lot, maybe because I'm new to the series and am missing what's happened so far? This is bogged down in Scottish life and wasn't a very entertaining read. Add in some personal drama for the lead, and I got a bit bored. Of course there was a cover-up - that much was clear from the prologue. It's normally always money or sex, and here, things took 20-odd years to unravel, with innocents sacrificed because of greed. ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, for my reading pleasure. 

4* Been waiting for this one for a few years, and it didn't disappoint.  This book isn't the first Sci-fi tale from BE, but it's definitely unique - what sweet, lovely Joe is forced to do will make your eyes water, both times, and yes, he's tortured by it, but his instinct to live, by whatever means possible, means that it's inevitable. And, I think the part of him he left behind, definitely did its thing along the way for Kaden.  I don't know who I liked more. Gentle Kaden with his great dad and a great relationship with his dad, or lovely Joe who literally had no one and nothing to his name. I know who I didn't like - the ex, but for once, him not getting Scorpio-level-satisfaction comeuppance sat OK with me. I was hoping he wouldn't turn even more dastardly with the hitchhikers he'd picked up, but nope, Marmite  al rescate!   The book ends well, many years down the line. The boys are happy cat slaves. Joe's brain is helping him help humanity, ...