Rapture: Sins of the Sinners by AC Henley and Fran Heckrotte

Detective Agnes Kelly-Elliot is an excellent and methodical cop. She works in Ft Worth Police Department. She knows her job inside and out. Agnes is also a closeted lesbian and unfortunately for her, her desires could become her downfall, losing her her family and the career she’s worked so hard to build.

There is a serial killer on the loose killing young lesbians in Texas. He or she has been dubbed the Rapture Killer by the press, due to seemingly religious and maybe ritual sacrifices. The Rapture signaled Christ’s second coming.

Ranger Cochetta Lovejoy is arrogant, headstrong and egotistical. She has been assigned the Rapture Killer case. Cochetta thinks she knows who the killer is. In fact, she’s quite sure of it. She’ll do whatever it takes to see the killer incarcerated. Even if this means cutting corners and manipulating judges, police chiefs and other detectives.

When Cochetta arrives at the scene of another of the Rapture Killer’s victims, she comes face to face with the person she is sure committed the murders. The person who had once scared her badly.

Agnes is at the scene of the Rapture Killer’s latest victim and comes face to face with a woman she thought she’d never see again. What Agnes didn’t know was, her life was about to be turned upside down and inside out due to the one encounter she’d had with Ranger Lovejoy in Houston.

Cochetta launches a vendetta to secure the arrest of Agnes. Is Agnes the serial killer? Will she confess? Or is she innocent? There’s only one way to find out, wait and see if the murders continue or cease with Agnes out of the way.

This is without a doubt one of the best crime thrillers I’ve read in it’s category. The plot is intricately and seamlessly woven together and well thought out. The storyline is well written. It’s a fast paced, edge of the seat, nail biting, page turner, from the first page right through to the last page. It’s intense, it’s full of suspense, it’s grisly, it’s gruesome, it’s a very real, true to life, gory read. I loved it.

The late AC Henley and Fran Heckrotte between them have created a masterpiece. I’m still reeling from the story several days after I finished it. 

Agnes, Cochetta and all the rest of the characters are well formed, multidimensional and interact really well together. So well in fact, that it’s like being amongst the characters. From the colorful descriptive dialogue, I found myself transported along watching as the story progressed, rather than simply reading it.

I particularly enjoyed the build up and suspense throughout the book. The author’s have ensured that the reader could feel the range of emotions experienced by all the characters. The utter despair felt by Agnes, the dislike and self righteousness felt by Cochetta, when she was on her ego trip of being the big shot ranger who knows best. The one thing that struck me the most, was how we get to see inside the mind of a serial killer. It was deep, dark and quite simply horrifying. Which of course, made the book all the more enjoyable for me.

I wish I could say I could look forward to more from these two author’s, but I can’t, which makes me very sad. So, suffice it to say, that this is in my re-read folder, to be read again to savor without the pressures of knowing the ending.

 

The Ball by Alane Hotchkin

A Short Story

Construction worker and part time author, Shane Blackhawk, was painfully shy, with no self confidence. She had very few friends and had no idea how to put herself out there to make any. Shane is currently writing a series of novels. The first of which is due to be published in the next few months.

When Shane begins to take a bit more interest in online groups, she meets someone online. Someone who seems to like her as much as she likes them. Shane’s luck has taken a turn for the better, she’s finally met her soul mate.

Three years later a family tragedy occurs. Shane travels to Ireland, leaving her wife and mother behind, to bury one of the few people she’s ever loved dearly. Shane decides she must stay in Ireland for a while to try to make sense of the recent events.

A ghostly encounter sets Shane back on the right track and headed home to her wife and mother, just in time for the Halloween Ball.

This well written short story is the introduction to a new series, The Blackhawk Chronicles. If this story is anything to go by, the series is going to be a blockbuster. The characters kicking off the series are all ones I simply have to know more about. This short story is by no means enough for me. It’s a mere taster of what is yet to come.

The story is full of tantalising titbits, just enough to whet my appetite, but nowhere near enough to sate it. I Can hardly wait for the first book to be published.

This story is free on the Affinity website. You’ve got nothing to lose by downloading it and everything to gain. 

 

The End Game by JM Dragon and Erin O'Reilly

The Fifth book in the When Hell Meets Heaven series

Olivia and Amanda are back. Olivia is more in love with Amelia than ever. Unfortunately, she has a few personal hang ups and things aren’t going as well as they could. Also at the moment, she is being kept very busy with one case after another. Plus she is having an added problem with her elaborate security system.

Amelia is madly and deeply in love with Olivia. All she yearns for is for their love to become physical.

A new patient arrives for therapy at Amelia’s practice. All is not as it seems. The patient plants doubts of Olivia’s fidelity into Amelia’s mind. Just who is this person and why are they doing this?

Olivia finds herself the victim of an intricate plot to destroy her life. People Olivia and Amelia have trusted, could be their enemy. There is no way of knowing who is friend and who is foe.

Will Olivia and Amelia’s love survive this latest onslaught?

Another rewarding winner in this exciting and thrilling series. Mystery, murder, intrigue, obsession, romance and true love all come together in this explosive page turning book.

I love these characters, they are well formed and play their parts to perfection. It is so easy to get lost in with the story and all too soon, reach the end of the book.

The fact that Affinity are practically giving this book series away, is all the more reason to give the series a try. JM Dragon and Erin O’Reilly together have succeeded in writing a very intense and thrilling series that is not to be missed. This is the second time I’ve read this series and I’ve enjoyed it just as much this time as I did the first.

 

Connection by Kim Pritekel

Teacher, Julie Wilson, lives in the small town of Woodland. Her life is laid back and relaxed. She is very close to her brother Matt and young nephew Skylar. She lives alone with her two beloved dogs, Bonnie and Clyde. Just one thing mars Julie’s otherwise perfect life, her controlling ex boyfriend, Ray, who refuses to believe their relationship is over and continues to harass her. Julie has no idea when she goes to the school one summer afternoon that Ray may well be the least of her problems. Hell and horror is about to enter Julie’s life and change it forever.

Drifter, Remmy Foster travels around from place to place, unable to settle down anywhere. She’s had a rough childhood and has suffered all manners of torment and abuse due to her special gift. Remmy is on the run from the ghosts of the past, although she’s never admitted as much to herself.

When Julie gives hitchhiker Remmy a ride into Woodland, Remmy finds herself thrown into a dangerous and dark abyss, something different from all her other experiences involving her special gift. Something she didn’t see coming until it arrived and more to the point, didn’t totally understand the meaning of. It will take all of Remmy’s power and ability to make the right connection in time. Life and death is in Remmy’s hands. Tick tock, the race against time has begun.

I want to start by saying that this book is dark, deep and dark, the darkest Kim Pritekel has written yet. It comes with a warning from the author too. I’d also like to add, there are graphic and grisly scenes and it may not be for the faint hearted. This says a lot about me. I absolutely LOVED it. Kim has written a true blockbuster. In my opinion, and I don’t say this lightly, it is her best ever book yet. But, I have thought this before about Kim’s books.

This book is a well written, edge of the seat, nail biting, thrilling, fast paced, action packed page turner right from the beginning. I hated to put this down once I’d started. But, it really was too long for one sitting, even though I stayed up late.

All the characters are multidimensional and interact very well together. The way the scenes are described, transported me right into the middle of the action to live the story as it played out. It’s shocking in parts. But, there is an underlying humor too.

The plot is so intense and intricately woven together, very well synchronized. It alternates between the victims and the would be rescuers seamlessly, going back and forth between the two.

Although there is a lot of fear throughout this book and the different tactics used to try to overcome it, the central pivot to the story is actually the connection felt by one person to another. A connection of souls which can only come into being when you’ve met your soul mate.

Kim Pritekel has really got deep into the minds of the characters she’s writing about. Nothing is left to the readers imagination and all ends to the story are neatly tied up. Which in turn has resulted in a really satisfying read. This is a book that will be in my re-read folder. I need to read it again to savor the story without the pressures of knowing the ending.

 

Bound by Ali Spooner

Book 2 in The Devil’s Tree series

Tia and Devin are now a mated couple. Tia is a witch and Devin is a werewolf. They are currently living in New Orleans. When a powerful rogue vampire and his band of rogue ‘were’s’ threaten to destroy the peace and harmony between the human and supernatural inhabitants of New Orleans, including the planned take over of Devin’s home wolf pack, action must be taken.

Lord Jordan, a strong and powerful ruling member of the New Orleans vampire clan, hires bounty hunters, mated couple, human, Win and werecat, Alix to rid the world of the rogues. Unable to tackle the enormous task alone, they join forces with Tia and Devin. But even with Tia’s special spells and the combined efforts of the others, will they be strong enough to succeed? Or will the rogues win and bring chaos to New Orleans?

Another winning series from Ali Spooner. She has put out a good series, different to others, in the world of ‘were’ animals. As with each book I’ve read of Ali’s, I found myself unable to put this down. It’s a page turner from start to finish.

We met Tia and Devin in The Devil’s Tree. In Bound, we meet Win and Alix. They are all joined by a number of characters from the first book along with other new characters and they all interact well together.

As always, Ali has shown herself to be a master storyteller. Each book she writes is vastly different from her others. No two stories are alike. This is one of the things that draws me to her books. I never know what I’m going to be reading about. She tells her stories with a touch of humor throughout, making a heavy story a touch more light hearted, without detracting from it’s seriousness.

Although both books are stories that conclude and could be read as a standalone, I feel a reader would lose out on a great book by not reading The Devil’s Tree first. It really sets the scene and introduces us to the characters and the settings.

As well as an exciting story, there is a tender romance simmering away throughout the book. Well, two romances really, as an added bonus.

I’ve added this book into my re-read folder.

 

Black-Hearted Bitch by Lynn Kear

A Kell Digby Crime Novel

Kell Digby has a rather unusual career, she’s a hit man. She’s been doing the job so long, she’s bored with it. But, she’s stuck in a rut.

Kell gets out of the rut quicker than she anticipated, after a routine hit in Atlanta goes badly wrong, in ways Kell didn’t think possible. She returns home to Chicago to figure out what to do next. Against her better instincts, Kell is persuaded to help with an elaborate con game, set up by the person who had betrayed her. The con involves a sister Kell had no idea existed. Can Kell carry out her mission? Or will blood be thicker than water?

Once again Lynn Kear has written a page turning, exciting, edge of the seat crime thriller with a sense of humor throughout.

Kell Digby is a character, who by rights, we really shouldn’t like due to the nature of her occupation. She’s a a hardened criminal, a cold blooded killer and as the title states, a black hearted bitch. But, I defy anyone to read this book and not find her likable and endearing once they get to know her.

I loved the multi-faceted characters and the scenic descriptions leave nothing to the imagination. Lynn Kear has the art of showing the reader the story rather than telling them what they are reading. I easily lost myself in the story and read the book almost in one sitting. 

The plots within are tight and well written, but not to be taken seriously. More of a light hearted black crime thriller/comedy, a highly entertaining read.

I’m looking forward greatly to the next in the series with the zany and slightly whacky Kell Digby and her friends.