Book Trailer: Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine

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Synopsis:

 Gina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.

With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband’s crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace.

But just when she’s starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake—and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address. Gwen Proctor must keep friends close and enemies at bay to avoid being exposed—or watch her kids fall victim to a killer who takes pleasure in tormenting her. One thing is certain: she’s learned how to fight evil. And she’ll never stop.

Add to Goodreads // Pre order at Book Depository

 

I'm really looking forward to this one.  Rachel Caine has to be one of my all time favourites!!

You can expect this out on the 1st July 2017

 

See the book Trailer:

 

Book Trailer: The Fireman by Joe Hill

I enjoyed The Heart Shaped Box. So I'm looking forward to what Joe Hill brings next with The Fireman!

MBOB: Need by Joelle Charbonneau

Synopsis:

Teenagers at Wisconsin's Nottawa High School are drawn deeper into a social networking site that promises to grant their every need . . . regardless of the consequences. Soon the site turns sinister, with simple pranks escalating to malicious crimes. The body count rises. In this chilling YA thriller, the author of the best-selling Testing trilogy examines not only the dark side of social media, but the dark side of human nature.

Waiting on Wednesday (158)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

I'm looking forward to reading The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes which will be out July 7th.

Synopsis
This thriller YA is Scandal meets Veronica Mars.

Sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick has spent her entire life on her grandfather's ranch. But when her estranged sister Ivy uproots her to D.C., Tess is thrown into a world that revolves around politics and power. She also starts at Hardwicke Academy, the D.C. school for the children of the rich and powerful, where she unwittingly becomes a fixer for the high school set, fixing teens’ problems the way her sister fixes their parents’ problems.

And when a conspiracy surfaces that involves the family member of one of Tess's classmates, love triangles and unbelievable family secrets come to light and life gets even more interesting—and complicated—for Tess.

Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Heist Society, readers will be clamoring for this compelling teen drama with a political twist.

What are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday (157)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

I used to read alot from Karin Slaughter and Tess Gerritsen back in the day.  I guess I needed a change of scene for a little while as all the crime in their books sometimes actually gave me nightmares lol.  The books were that good!  But I'm itching to get my hands on Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter which is out in September this year.

Synopsis

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.
More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful thriller from one of the finest suspense writers working today.

What are you waiting on??

The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore

Title:  The Revenge of Seven

Author: Pittacus Lore
Genre:  Young Adult/Sci Fi
Publisher:  Penguin Australia
Publication Date: 26th August 2014
ISBN:  9780718178369
Stand Alone/Series:  Lorien Legacies #5
Pages:  320 pages
First Lines:  The nightmare is over.  When I open my eyes there's nothing but darkness.

Synopsis: 
The have killed four of us.
 They will not rest until we are all dead.
 They will not stop until your planet is theirs.
 They think we are broken.
 We will not be defeated.
 We are all that stands in their way.
 We know secrets they thought hidden.
 We have power they never expected.
 The time has come for them to fall. The Garde have suffered the ultimate betrayal: Number Five has allied himself with the Mogadorians, killing Eight and helping the Mogs to abduct Ella from the safe house. Now the fight for Earth's survival has just become that much more impossible. The Garde may not have time to mourn their fallen ally, but they'll make sure to avenge him. And help is at hand from the most unlikely of sources: Adam, a Mogadorian, has turned his back on his people. He might just be their lifeline, but are the Garde repeating past mistakes by putting their trust in him?

My Thoughts:  I received this book a little while ago, but because I'm one of these readers that wants... no NEEDS to read things in order, I picked up Fall of Five first. Once I'd finished that I was so glad I had The Revenge of Seven to keep gong because seriously things couldn't be left as they were.

It's worse after reading this book because I now have to wait HOW LONG to find out what is going to happen after this crazy as cliffhanger.  Like seriously!!

So,  The Revenge of Seven for me wasn't gripping enough to be read in one sitting.  It was good don't get me wrong.  But I found myself putting the book down alot in the beginning.  It wasn't that it WASN'T good.  I just wasn't compelled to fly through this like some books.  But in saying that I still thoroughly enjoyed the read.  I couldn't help but feel like this was just setting things up more or less for book 6 because apart from a few smallish revelations which threw a few curve balls at the reader, there was no "Oh my God" moments up until the VERY end and then it was like. No don't end on THAT! But obviously it did!

The garde split up a few times during the book having each group heading in different directions.  They are left to deal with less than ideal circumstances and I must admit I was on the edge of my seat just as something big was going down only to have the Author switch to another character!

There was one really surprising element in the form of Adam.  Of course this is all I will say but deep down I was cheering for him a bit.  Another surprising thing were the amount of Chimaerae (or however it is spelt) in this.  Finally Bernie Kosar is not completely alone!

There was a funny moment in the book that has stuck with me even now after finishing this off, and that one of the chimaera goes from being a canary to a rhino midflight.  Amusing to say the least.  I'd love to see this done in cinema, but alas I shall keep wishing.

There are a few things that are revealed in this book as well.  Obviously you will have to find these out for yourselves!  I'm surprised to find when Six and gang reach their destination and find out the outcome of their mission.

Once hitting the halfway mark I couldn't put the book down.  I needed to know what was going to happen to John, Marina (Seven) and the gang and by the last page I was trying to magically manifest the next book along unsuccessfully.

If you have been reading the Lorien Legacies series don't stop reading this book because there are a few slow spots because at the end you are going to be wishing that the next book was right there in front of you!


Book received from:  Penguin Australia for review.

Waiting On Wednesday (144)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

I can't wait to get my hands on Sick by Tom Leveen which will be out the 1st of October 2013! Which happens to be today! Buy Sick on Book Depository )

Synopsis

Breakfast Club meets The Walking Dead as a group of unlikely allies tries to survive a deadly outbreak. 

 Brian and his friends are not part of the cool crowd. They’re the misfits and the troublemakers—the ones who jump their high school’s fence to skip class regularly. So when a deadly virus breaks out, they’re the only ones with a chance of surviving. 

 The virus turns Brian’s classmates and teachers into bloodthirsty attackers who don’t die easily. The whole school goes on lockdown, but Brian and his best friend, Chad, are safe (and stuck) in the theater department—far from Brian’s sister, Kenzie, and his ex-girlfriend with a panic attack problem, Laura. Brian and Chad, along with some of the theater kids Brian had never given the time of day before, decide to find the girls and bring them to the safety of the theater. But it won’t be easy, and it will test everything they thought they knew about themselves and their classmates.

What are you waiting on?

Unseen by Karin Slaughter Book Trailer

Karin Slaughter has to be one of my favourite Authors in the Crime/Murder/Mystery genre.  Looking forward to reading more of her work.

Waiting on Wednesday (140)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

I'm really looking forward to Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano.  This will be out on March 25th 2014. Pre order Nearly Gone at Book Depository!

Synopsis

Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end. 

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next

What are you waiting on?

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

Title:  The Fifth Wave

Author:  Rick Yancey

Genre:  Young Adult/Sci-fi/Thriller

Publisher:  Penguin

Publication Date:  7th May 2013

ISBN:  9780141345819

Stand alone or series:   Book 1 in the Fifth Wave series

Pages:  480 pages

Book Received from:  Penguin (Publisher)

First Lines:  There will be no awakening. The sleeping woman will feel nothing the next morning, only a vague sense of unease and the unshakable feeling that someone is watching her.  Her anxiety will fade in less than a day and will soon be forgotten.

Synopsis:

The 1st Wave Took out half a million people.
 The 2nd Wave Put that number to shame.
 The 3rd Wave Lasted a little longer. Twelve weeks . . . Four billion dead.
In the 4th Wave , You can't trust that people are still people.
And the 5th Wave? No one knows. But it's coming.
On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs. Runs from the beings that only look human, who have scattered Earth's last survivors.
To stay alone is to stay alive, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope.
Now Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death.

My Thoughts:
This has got to be one of the best books I've read in 2013.  After reading the synopsis of this I had no idea what I was going to expect when I started reading it! And once I finished it, I wished I could have read it in one sitting because it is seriously that good!  The suspense to pick it up while I worked was just about killing me.  I needed to know what Cassie was going to do. How Sam was, and how Zombie was coping.

The very first part drew me in with the narrative.  Eerie and to the point.  We are then introduced to Cassiopeia ("Cassie") the main character of the novel. She's a strong character and one I grew to admire!  She's alone in the woods trying to survive the beings that have landed on earth.

What I liked most about this book was that it didn't start at the first wave but began just before the fifth wave.  So Cassie goes back over what happened in the last four as well as what has happened to her family.  It kept me hanging on every word of her POV.

Admittedly, once I got to Wonderland the narrative threw me.  I wasn't expecting another character to take over and had to read it a couple of times when he referred to his sibling as Sissy and not Sam and then it clicked, POV change.  God sometimes I feel slow.  The narrative swaps between Cassie, Zombie, and a random chapter of one of the "Others", and Sam so we all get an overall feel of what is going on, not just being stuck in just the two POV's.

Along the way Cassie meets the elusive Evan Walker.  Strange and caring Cassie breaks her two rules: Trust Noone and the only way to stay alive as long as possible is to stay alone as long as Possible.  Csssie's promise to Sam weighs heavy on her shoulders though and as soon as she's able to she will find him.  Whatever it takes

The Fifth Wave is one of those read-all-at-once books.  Once you pick it up, you'll be gripping the book as hard as it's grip is on you to finish.  It's exciting and scary and has you wondering who you can trust when you can't tell the difference between friends and the enemy.  For YA Sci-Fi this has got to be up there with the best!  Bring on book 2!

And just to share with you all, the film rights have already been sold.  I cannot wait!!

Stained by Cheryl Rainfield Book Trailer

This looks pretty good. Am going to go hunting for this!

 

Pulling Down the Stars by James Laidler

Title:  Pulling Down the Stars

Author:  James Laidler

Genre:  Contemporary Australian Thriller

Publisher:  Hybrid Publishers

Publication Date:  1st February 2013

ISBN:  9781921665820

Stand alone or series:   Stand Alone

Pages:  376 pages

Book Received from:  Author (Advance Reader Copy)

First Lines:  Charlie stood in the hallway of the family home facing his grandpa's bedroom door. 

Synopsis: Charlie Lansdowne’s life is going nowhere ... fast. Trapped at home with his eccentric father and his stroke-affected grandfather, he finds life a daily exercise in dysfunction as three generations of men strive to get along. But when Charlie meets the volatile and tempestuous Maxine – a surfer girl who works at the local abattoir – his life goes supernova. Friendships implode, passions ignite and death comes stalking in the night. Set in the seaside country town of Warrnambool, this is a contemporary Australian thriller likened to 'Jasper Jones'

My Thoughts:
Pulling Down the Stars is very different from the first novel The Taste of Apple which was written in verse.  But in saying that this was just as good, if not better.  Pulling Down the Stars is told from mainly Charlie and Maxine's POV, but we also get's snippets from Bill, a very unstable and scary Serial Killer, which only adds mystery to the overall story.

Chapter one really does hit you in the face.  Charlie is attending to his Grandfather who has suffered a stroke and is very dependant on his son and grandson.  One thing I'll say.  Nothing gets any more real then this first chapter.

We are then introduced to Maxine.  Her chapters start out short and to be quite honest, even reading the beginning of hers you know she is going to prove to be one tough little character.  I do love how the book has Maxine's POV as first person but Charlie and Bill's as third.  Maxine is at times a difficult character to like but bringing it in to first person really helps get inside her head more.  Well that's how I feel.  Mind you, by the end of the book I loved all the characters involved, including the less likable ones.

I also love how James has broken up the chapters with subtitles under each.  It breaks up the text and makes it easier to read and go back and find things that have really stuck with me.

His writing is real, confident and drips with Aussie culture.  Another thing I love!  Reading this is like sitting down with mates and having a convo.  I really felt like I got to know each character and understood them right to the core.

James also shows a real knowledge when it comes to the character's jobs.  Both the hospital and abattoir jobs, I could really picture those characters carrying out their work and with the description it makes the whole scenes within the book really come alive.

The story itself is both kind of harsh and heartfelt.  Charlie and Maxine have a lot to deal with but they really do shine towards the end of the book.  I can't forget Roger.  For someone with nearly full time responsibility for his Father-in-Law, he shows a saint's amount of patience and has proven to be a wise and down to earth character.  And Bill,  well a bit of a nut job lol but he plays his part in the book!

I do recommend reading this book.  While chapter one for me was a little difficult, stick with it because it is an awesome story.  And I mean come on, how can you go past the title.  Pulling Down the Stars!

Fave Line:   -  I completely loved the songs and creativity from Charlie's music!

Waiting on Wednesday (127)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

It's been a little while since I posted a WOW post so here it is!  The book I'm looking forward to reading this year is The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shephard.  This will be out 29th January 2013

Synopsis

In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true. 

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

What are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday (114)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

This week's pick is Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza and will be released in March 2013.  It sounds really good!

Synopsis

Pitched as a "Bourne Identity"-type sci-fi thriller about a teenage girl who discovers that she is a Mobile Intel Life-like Android, an experiment in artificial intelligence created by the U.S. government, and her scientist mother, who kidnapped her when she was found to have human emotions.

What are you waiting on?

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf

This sure looks interesting. What do you think?

Waiting on Wednesday (95)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

This week I've picked Dark Eyes by William Richter.  I seen this come up on the Between the Lines blog and thought it looked cool.  This one will be released 20th March 2012.  What do you think?


Synopsis (From Penguin Australia)

Compulsive, brilliantly crafted thriller from an amazing debut author.

Wallis Stoneman was born Valentina Mayakov. She was adopted by a wealthy American couple as a small child and thrust into a world of luxury in New York. She had a new father and a mother who adored her. But it didn't take long for Wallis to begin questioning her Russian heritage – and wondering who her real parents were. Soon, she began rebelling against a life that didn't feel like her own.

Now, a sixteen-year-old Wally has turned street-kid, squatting with a group of fellow runaways in abandoned buildings and hawking stolen goods for money. When, in the search for a fake ID, Wally comes across a clue from her past, her passion for finding her biological parents becomes an obsession.

She'll stop at nothing to find her Russian mother. Even though her Russian father, Klesko, is a gangster. And he'll stop at nothing to kill Yalena Mayakov, who gave him a child and stole his fortune. Moreover, he'll kill anyone who gets in his way . . . even his own blood.

Pre-order Dark Eyes at Book Depository!

What are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday (85)

Waiting On Wednesday was created by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!

This weeks pick is Fated by Sarah Alderson.  This one is due out on the 5th January 2012 and I must admit, it looks really good.

Synopsis
What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?

When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.

But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray - is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.

If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?

Buy Fated now at Book Depository!