Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: suspense

  • White Tiger

    White Tiger

    Set in Japan this edge of the seat thriller White Tiger from Andrew Warren is quite a journey into the world of Yazuka, the criminal gangs or Clans that hold sway over business, the drug trade with many having links into North Korea.

    Two men, powerful clan chiefs have met to try and reconcile their differences and discover what is happening inside their various clans: that by once again working together they can become stronger, more powerful.

    Their tea ceremony turns into a blood bath as they realise that someone inside the organisation has deliberately set out to kill them both; Koichi survives, Goro dies.

    Thomas Caine is in South Korea watching a man he believes is a killer. He is doing a surveillance mission with Sue Mi Bae an undercover operative for South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and not really enjoying the mission. Unfortunately, it goes bad and, in the aftermath, he runs for cover, a new identity.

    But his past and a debt of long standing is about to catch up with hm as Kiochi is calling him to help find the rotten core in his network, and Caine feels like he simply must fulfill his obligations.

    Torazama is a man marked by his brutal past, determined to change the world, destroy the USA and is obsessed with the Japanese board game shogi, a game of which he had memorised the board, the pieces, and the game strategies. He is known as the White Tiger, a tattoo of which he has on his back.

    Caine finds himself deeply immersed in a plot so horrific that should it succeed, there will be global destruction. The White Tiger, Torazuma, is the man who is out to create destruction with absolutely no regard for anyone or anything except power.

    Chilling and plausible, White Fang is ruthless, pulls no punches for violence and delivers a well thought out plot which will have wide appeal to readers of high-octane thrillers with many a twist and turn. White Tiger is book 6 in a 7 book series featuring Thomas Caine.

  • HATE #1

    HATE #1

    In this gripping new series from Tad James, Hate re-introduces Madison Kate Danvers, a young woman with a raft of major issues in her life, notwithstanding the fact that she has just returned to her hometown of Shadow Grove after an eleven-month exile in Cambodia.

    She is lost, bitter, filled with anger and all she really wants in life is to be accepted and recognised by her father, a man who is more interested in money, power and politics. Her new world, now peopled by several seriously good looking men, one of whom is to be her new step brother, are, she discovers residing in her father’s house; his new, larger than ever Mansion!

    Her new room, hideously decorated in pink of all shades and styles make her feel ill, she discovers her father has gone away again and nothing in this new reality she has found herself dumped in, is making her happy; nothing at all.

    She has limited knowledge of three men, after all they, along with a series of horrific events were responsible for her being sent to Cambodia to her Aunt. They seem well settled in the house and the leader of the group, Archer, is going to make her life difficult, she can tell, as he is not taking her vicious, self-righteous, independence at face value. He plainly does not like it, or maybe her, at all.

    Kody and Steele are altogether something different; softer and intrigued by her antics, they appear to find her puzzling, amusing and attractive. She is not impressed. But as the tension rises, the past has not, she discovers been left behind at all. She is being stalked by a serious, vicious person and she is sexually attracted to the three, well built, powerful and charismatic men.

    Madison Kate, begins to seriously question what is really going on and is she safe. If she is not what and who does she have to fear and why?

    Hate is a riveting read which will hold wide appeal to YA readers as the plot sizzles right off the pages, the frustration and hurt of a young, angry, damaged woman is palpable, as Madison Kate vows to get even for everything that has gone wrong in her life, no matter what.

    Two chapters of Book 2 Liar, out later this year are included at the end of the Hate and will have you pre-ordering to find out what happens next.  

  • Sea Haven

    Sea Haven

    Fans, or rather addicted readers of the JS Simpson series based in the coastal town of Castleby have long awaited the arrival of Sea Haven, book four in the series and they will not be disappointed. The series is based loosely around the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Life in the small town continues on with the arrival of several new residents, each one needing healing and comfort.

    Sebastian Scott and his daughter Tabatha are mourning the loss of their beloved wife and mother, actress Clare Warner in a fatal car crash, which almost claimed the life of Tabitha. She is recovering from a heart transplant operation and slowly beginning to be able to live life once again.

    Jenny Miller is at her first real estate auction and realises, in what seems to be a mere twinkling of an eye, that she is now the proud owner of Lot 64; a six story end house at Compass Row, Castleby, but what exactly has she bought. She is beginning to wonder as she stands opposite, watching while a some very unsavoury looking characters come and go.

    Will Scully arrives in town, weary of the life he has been leading, carrying a burden of guilty, but ready to rebuild his life as the new Harbour Master. He is aware of the tragedy that claimed the life of Gavin, but feels Castleby is the place to heal and begin once again.

    As the healing energy of Castleby enfolds once again, the new arrivals slowly begin to understand that living in this small community means belonging to a wonderfully warm, accepting, caring and welcoming family, which while it has its down side, makes life pretty good.

    But, it would seem murder has been committed, but why, a new drug cartel is trying to move into the Camorra patch and date rape has once reared its ugly head, all of which is keeping Steve and Jonesy very busy indeed.

    Sea Haven once begun is very difficult to put down. J.S Simpson is with each new book, moving from strength to strength, so much so that once the last word is read, it is very tempting to begin again as leaving the characters behind until the next book is most challenging!

    While Sea Haven is the latest story in the Castleby series it, as with the previous books, can be read as a stand-alone book.

  • Domina

    Domina

    Following on from her phenomenal first novel, Maestra, LS Hilton continues Judith’s journey, now known as Elisabeth Teerlinc, as she relocates to Venice to continue on with building her new life as an Art Dealer. Coming a little too close to the authorities in Paris, she has decided the place to be is Italy, a place where things are not always considered all that closely and Venice seems to be a beautiful part of the world, where people generally have money to spend and often, do not always consider the provenance of the merchandise for sale.

    But as the days begin to unfold in her new lifestyle, she finds that living life on the edge of serious disrepute is not all that different, regardless of where you go: that the people on the seamier side of the industry still seem to be able to find you.

    It is not until Elisabeth receives an offer from well-known Russian collector Pavel Yermolov, to travel to his home in Russia to evaluate his collection, along with a sizable recompense for her troubles, does she really enter into the dangerous world of Art forgery on a massive scale. Yermolov’s collection was something that had been bandied about the art world for years, as something of a mystery, possibly a rumour or even a legend and now, she was being offered the opportunity to undertake a private evaluation.

    Her journey to Russia proves to be the beginning of something even she, with her lack of any sort of moral compass, begins to realise, has far more layers, far more players, than she would ever have once considered possible when she was a junior, setting out to learn her craft.

    As she become more entwined in the ultra-rich world of clandestine art and art forgeries Elisabeth realises she has been set up, but why and by whom. She draws on her personal resources of high fashion, endless sexual conquest and a delicious love of murder, to meet the daily challenges being presented, as she struggles to survive in this new world of the super-rich.

    Once again LS Hilton has presented a well-researched journey into the underworld of erotica, dark and dangerous deeds, and the people who inhabit these sub strata’s of society, where anything goes and anything is accepted.

    There is something dark, vulnerable, comical and absolutely enjoyable, touched with a little irony and sarcasm, built into the heroines character which will appeal, as each of these characteristics lurks within each of us, with the salient point being, that we perhaps, manage to keep them slightly more under control.

    Book two in the series has proven to be equally as enjoyable and page turning as the first, therefor  it will be interesting to see how LS Hilton manages to round out the trilogy.

  • Based on a True Story

    Based on a True Story

    Based on a True Story, is described as Autobiographical Fiction, and the author says “Unable to free myself completely from reality, I am involuntarily producing fiction”.  This is a concentrated and deeply internal look at relationships and friendships that develop where there is a great need on both sides. One woman needs to control the situation and manage all aspects of the other woman’s life. This woman is known as L.

    The Narrator is Delphine. She has just written a hugely successful book, relating to her mother, who has a bi- polar disorder. The author is wrung out and exhausted, but needs to go on book signing contracts and talks. She escapes one of these and goes to a party where she meets L. Over time, L befriends Delphine who is an empathetic and caring person; she is smart, attractive and knowledgeable. She has so many caring qualities, and shares her life stories as the friendship grows. L keeps encouraging the weary author to begin work on her next book. L herself claims to be a ghost writer by trade, and slowly begins to inhabit, undermine and obliterate Delphine’s career.

    This aspect of the story is reminiscent of a psychological thriller, written with intense and beautiful prose. It is a thriller with an atmosphere of suspense and manipulation. L believes what the reader needs is the truth. Vigan does present this story as truth, although we know it is fiction. The use of a letter L to represent the character is curious. Could Delphine be so afraid or shocked that she can’t bear to use the full name? Or could L stand for “reader” in French (Lecteur).

    The slow moving and unfolding of this story leads one to feel safe for a short while, but gradually the reader begins to see a pattern of manipulation being used by L. It is not surprising that the film rights for this book have been picked up by Roman Polanski. The ending of the story is still quite open, and one finds oneself going back to clarify points that seemed trivial at the time, but become part of a clever trail of deception.

    If you like thrillers with a difference and the slow, unwinding story of suspense, then you will become engrossed in this tale.

     

  • The Travelers

    The Travelers

    Will Rhodes is on assignment at a luxury Argentinian Resort, wine flowing free and food of the finest quality served, which was relatively normal for him as he was an award winning correspondent for the top glossy mag, The Travellers, a magazine which focused on luxury for the elite traveller.

    What commences as nothing more than a slight flirtation over dinner, when he is singled out by Elle Hardwick, a freelance writer for Australian Adventurer, a magazine specialising in adventure, turns into a full blown night of unbelievable sex. Will is mortified as he has done something he said he would never do, cheat on his wife.

    And so begins what is a to become something that rapidly turns into the material nightmares are made of, as he finds himself slowly, ever so slowly, sinking into a world populated by people he wished he had never met.

    He returns to New York in the hope that things will eventually sort themselves out; he is filled with guilt and remorse and it certainly does not help that his own marriage is on shaky ground and does not seem to be improving, with Chloe, his wife, also away on various assignments almost continuously. And then there is the problem of restoring an old house and serious issues with finances, or rather the lack of them.

    Before Will realises it he is into something so deep, so evil and so terrifying he feels the only way out will be with his death, probably caused by someone else. He also discovers that he really does not know who to trust as wherever  he turns, something or somebody is there trying to either kill him or wanting him to do something truly terrible.

    When he realises that he has secrets he was not aware about, and that someone, somewhere, will stop at nothing to get them, Will finds he has to draw on resources he never knew he had, simply to try and stay alive and one step ahead of the game,

    The plot is of the finest with several stories running concurrently, which does eventually make up what is a seriously complicated, terrifying journey through underbelly of secret services operated by major nations, and where the person who is your friend today could be your enemy tomorrow.

    This fast paced thriller charges across the main capitols of Europe in a race to what could easily be death or salvation and is one for the serious lover of nail-bitting thrillers.

  • Second Chance Town

    Second Chance Town

    Bundah is like many country towns, slowly dying, with many schemes to try and encourage people to return to the country. To date not many of them have worked but finally one of the many hatched by local businessman Ken Baxter, looks like it may indeed work.

    When Hugh Thompson cruises into town on his bike clad in tight fitting black leathers, the town gossip cranks up a notch. For Nicole, single mother and manager of the service station, watching Hugh climb off his bike, creates a sense of change,  a sense of something weird happening to her, something that has not happened in a very long time.

    As she is somewhat overwhelmed by ‘Mr Sex-on-legs’ she fails to find out all about the new arrival, but when it turns out that he is to be the new owner of the derelict ‘top pub’, and going to be about town for a good while, a sense of all things changing begins to stir through the town.

    Hugh is followed by Steve and Russell, coffee shop owners from Melbourne wanting to make a change, along with a number of others people wanting a fresh beginning, but all is not as it seems as along with the new arrivals, a serious drug problem in town has claimed the lives of at least one teenager and is causing serious concern within the township.

    Nicole’s daughter, 17 year old Bella, normally an easy going teenager, suddenly seem to be morphing into someone her mother does not know, which raises the serious concern of who Bella is hanging out with and just what is going on in her daughter’s life.

    More than a few things are beginning to change in what was once a quite country town. The new owner of the pub has a past he would rather remain silent about, Nicole is sacked from her position at the service station on a series of false accusations and local policeman Nate Pearce begins to dig onto Hugh’s past, causing a problem that may get them all killed.

    Add a romance that is slowly building into something more than a casual affair, a secret kept hidden by Ken Baxter, a wonderful rich background of country town life, and you have a warm, intriguing, enjoyable story about second chances, living life and making the most of the opportunities offered when they come past your door.

  • Maestra

    Maestra

    This book is described on the cover as a thriller. And it is, although the thrilling bits are interspersed with details about clothes and designers, class aspirations, information about the fine art world, the history of particular paintings and large chunks of erotica.  Shades of Grey is so last year!  Despite finding the story disjointed, it was an easy read – a page turner in fact with a trail of intrigue spreading through the flesh pots of Europe.  And between the thrilling bits chapters with the next fascinating expose about the art world, the world of the ultra rich in Europe and another chunk of heavy breathing erotica.

    The heroine has several names as the story progresses but she begins as Judith.  She’s not a likeable person with tendencies similar to some spiders but to say more would be a spoiler alert…….I was amazed at how much she learnt – one assumes from the Internet – about an extraordinary range of topics which wouldn’t have been included in an English degree from Oxford. And reading about the swingers parties was truly fascinating! How the other half lives – perhaps! 

    Maestra is the first of three books and it will be interesting to see if Lisa Hilton can maintain the tension throughout the next two.  Before Maestra she wrote some well respected historical fiction so this new book is a real change of direction.  One wonders if Maestra is part autobiography. Lisa Hilton came from NW England and so does Judith.   They both read English at Oxford and studied art in France and Italy before working with one of the big art dealers in London.  However Lisa describes herself as a sedate single mother with a ten year old daughter.

    Judith is a complex character always trying to be what she isn’t, in class terms. She strives to speak properly, wear the right clothes and has very little empathy for anyone – especially herself.

    No doubt there is much more money to be made from erotica.  In fact the film rights for the book have already been sold. The sedate single mother will be able to afford a different life style now!

  • The Honourable Assassin

    The Honourable Assassin

    We met Vic Cavalier as a young man determined to make the grade for admission to the elite SAS Division of the Army.

    We then meet him again some years on, his life a bit of a wreck, his marriage gone bust and his beloved daughter dead!

    He is facing the sack from his newspaper; his drinking is gaining the upper hand and it looks life is on a faster than slow downward spiral. That is until a body turns up in a laneway in Carlton with a bullet through his head in what appears to be an execution style killing.

    His editor wants the story, deciding that Vic can have one last go at changing his destiny and that just maybe, he still has the skills as an investigative reporter to get to the real truth behind the story.

    It is not is not until Vic finds himself in Bangkok working with a Jacinta Cin Lai, a special investigator he had met in Melbourne, does he begin to come to terms with just what he has agreed to undertake.

    In the streamy tropics of Thailand, Vic is forced to confront some serious personal issues, he discovers there is more to Jacinta than just a ‘special investigator’ for the Federal police and the drug cartel attempting to gain a footing in Thailand are the same Mexican cartel responsible for the death of his daughter.

    Armed with an arsenal of dirty tricks, skills honed as a young man and maintained in his life as an investigative reporter, he faces the fact that he has little choice in whether he follows the story to the bitter end or walks away.

    The more he discovers about the drug trade in Thailand and the levels of corruption in high places, it becomes all too clear that once again his life has been placed on the line, but this time it is personal!

    Fast paced, the action moves rapidly across Thailand and the murk of the underworld just keeps on getting thicker and thicker until Cavalier can trust no one at all.

    Set in the steamy world of illegal drug trafficking in a country where formidable amounts of money can change hands in a second, in a society where life is cheap and corruption is a commonplace, this is a thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end.