📚A Serial Killer #Thriller. Robbie reviews Haloed by @SueColetta1 for Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT

Today’s team review is from Robbie.

Robbie blogs here https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

Orange rose and Rosie's Book Review Team
Rosie’s Book Review Team

Robbie has been reading Haloed by Sue Coletta.

Book cover for Haloed by Sue Coletta set against a free photo of balloons form Pixabay.
Haloed by Sue Coletta

Sage Quintano shouldn’t still be fearful. The trauma of her near death at the hands of a serial killer, called the Romeo Killer, would naturally be difficult to overcome, but he was dead and Sage had no reason to believe she was a target. But she was fearful and she did believe she was a target. Sage has seen signs and indicators that force her to believe that somehow, her nemeses has returned to claim the ‘angel’ that got away.

Before the Romeo Killer comes for Sage, however, he intends to torment her. Playing games with his victims is what he does best. And no-one believes Sage’s claim that she is being stalked by a dead man, least of all her own husband, Niko, the local Sheriff.

Sage is an interesting character and is strong in many ways, overcoming significant health problems and protecting her young son. Her behaviour is a bit erratic and slightly hysterical which is why her husband puts her observations down to trauma from the past. Some of Sage’s behaviours were a little hard for me to believe in the circumstances, but the story was interesting and exciting and the author’s knowledge of serial killers and their thought processes is well researched and believable.

Part of the story was told through the eyes of the stalker and it was interesting to consider the action from that perspective. Despite this, the book is not overly gory and there are no detailed descriptions of the murders, only the state of the bodies afterwards. That is preferable for me.

The story was fast paced and the details all tied up well which is essential for me when reading a crime thriller. Readers of this genre will not be disappointed by this book.

4 stars

Orange rose book description
Book description

She may be paranoid, but is she right?

A string of gruesome murders rocks the small town of Alexandria, New Hampshire, with all the victims staged to resemble dead angels, and strange red and pink balloons appearing out of nowhere.

All the clues point to the Romeo Killer’s return. Except one: he died eight years ago.

Paranoid and on edge, Sage’s theory makes no sense. Dead serial killers don’t rise from the grave. Yet she swears he’s here, hungering for the only angel to slip through his grasp—Sage.

With only hours left to live, how can Sage convince her Sheriff husband before the sand in her hourglass runs out?

AmazonUK AmazonUS

#NewRelease THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by @TerryTyler4 #Thriller #TuesdayBookBlog

The Devil You KnowThe Devil You Know by Terry Tyler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Devil You Know is a thriller in a fictitious town in Lincolnshire, England. The book opens with the murder of a young woman by an unknown man. The story-line revolves round the possible perpetrator of a mounting series of murders. I like this author’s style of writing so I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of this book as she takes her writing and her readers on a bold move with this genre.

After the opening scene, events turn back to a year earlier, 2015. We are introduced to key characters who all discover that those close to them have valid suspicious actions which make them all capable of being the one the police are after. Juliet’s husband is a bully and regularly goes out late at night claiming it’s for business meetings. Steve’s friend Dan, is the spitting image of the e-fit photo of the man the police suspect. Tamsin’s liked colleague Jake Fallon for ages and when they finally get together she wants more than a one night stand. But why is Jake giving her the brush off and avoiding her? Maisie’s Mum has a new boyfriend, but just how loyal is he? Dorothy’s routine loving son Orlando, starts staying out late and not attending club meetings he’s always been to.

The plot is character driven, building the layers in delicious anticipation with plenty of red herrings which had me mentally accusing the most obscure characters of the deadly deed, then just when I had convinced myself I’d solved the case a new piece of evidence was dropped into the story-line and off my thoughts went on another tangent. My mind doesn’t work methodically like a police detective, and when the body count began to grow I needed to eagerly read on as I pointed my accusing finger at yet another character.

By the end I wanted to have a cuppa and a chat to Dorothy, who seemed a little lonely and I found Juliet very intriguing, which just shows that even with a dark genre, readers can still empathise with really well written characters. The last fifth of the book had some marvellous twists and complimented the different approach to thriller writing that made this a superb read.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com also available free from Kindle Unlimited

View all my reviews on Goodreads

The Manila Strangler by Steven Donahue

The Manila StranglerThe Manila Strangler by Steven Donahue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Manila Strangler is set in Philadelphia. Karen Thorn is a boxer and ex-cop, she’s now a private investigator after too many complaints about her aggressive dealings of suspects. After the murder of high profile artist Vicki Southfield, Karen is hired by Vicki’s father to help solve the case. But he insists she’s partnered with Detective Sean O’Brian, and they have to put aside their past relationship so that they can work on the case.

The killer has left very few clues, except the number 1 on the cheek of his victim. It’s a clue that he’s a serial killer. They follow up lead after lead which doesn’t get them very far until the next body is found, this one with the number 2 on her cheek. The FBI get involved and tussle for ownership of the case, whilst reporter Nick Cargo seems to be suspiciously present at too many places for comfort.

Victim number three throws a possible line of connection to the investigators, but they are still chasing clues. As well as the murder case Karen is training for a boxing match and ruffling the feathers of Pablo Ramirez. The book is fast paced and has lots of twists and turns before the murderer is found, a good quick read.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Steven will be our guest author tomorrow here on the blog, come back and find out more about his writing.