Jack Shadow by Graeme Smith

November 19, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Jack Shadow by Graeme Smith
Shadow Dance #1
Publisher: BWL Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Jack Shadow. He’s heard them – every one of them. The jokes. They all start out the same. “See, this guy walks into a bar…” Well, that’s not him. That guy who walked into a bar. He’s the guy who walked out. It’s not amnesia. Near as anyone knows, he just doesn’t have a past. Near as anyone knows – or admits to. He doesn’t walk round a corner, and some guy from a car shoots at him because of something he did long ago.

Sure. Guys shoot at him. Hell, women too. But not for long ago. Mostly for last week. Where ‘last week’ is any week you choose. No, he just walked out of a bar. Were there piles of dead bodies behind him? A stacked deck he was dealing, or one he was dealt? He doesn’t know. Or care. But they were waiting, and they took him. The Dragon. Took him to make a difference. To wait for the time a beat of a gnat’s wing could change tomorrow. And Jack’s the gnat. Jack walked out of a bar.

The rest – the rest will be history. Some day. Not that he’ll be in it. Nobody remembers the gnats. Not if they did their job right. And Jack’s the best there is. Jack Shadow. Because some days – the last thing you need is a good guy.

Danger is the spice of life when one is in certain lines of work.

Jack had a well-rounded, intriguing personality that made me want to learn more about him. I appreciated his wry sense of humor and how intelligently and cautiously he approached every aspect of his work. He was the sort of character I’d want to hang out with during an emergency due to how closely he paid attention to small details in his environment as well as how prepared he was for a wide variety of possible outcomes in life, both positive and negative.

This was one of those tales that tossed the reader into the action and asked us to figure out what was happening as the protagonist attempted to stay alive and well. As much as I enjoy the challenge of this style of writing in general, I did find myself wishing for a little more exposition in the beginning in this case. Even a few more paragraphs worth of it would have catapulted this to a five-star rating for me as I enjoyed everything else about it and thought Jack was definitely someone worth getting to know better.

The time travel aspects of the storyline were handled nicely. It can be a complicated topic, especially when more than one trip is involved or when multiple characters are involved, so I was glad to see Mr. Smith spend some time digging into the risks involved and what the characters hoped to earn from their hard work.

Jack Shadow was fast-paced and adventurous.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Murder In The Mansion by Faith Martin

November 18, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Murder In The Mansion by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Mattie Jones is found brutally stabbed to death in her palatial home. Hillary Greene is called in to investigate the murder of this wealthy woman. Who wanted her dead and why?

Hillary discovers that Mattie’s snobby attitude had made her many enemies. Mattie was also going through a messy divorce and had a secret lover.

Meanwhile, in a terrifying turn of events, police officers are being gunned down outside their stations. A sniper is on the loose. Who will come under attack next?

Can Hillary cope with the enemies within, a complex case, and the whole force under attack?

This is the next book in the DI Hillary Greene series. I’ve been really enjoying these books – Oxford based British police procedural mysteries. There are two main plot lines through this book – both that of a sniper shooting police officers in their HQ car parks seemingly at random, and Hillary is leading her team investigating the brutal stabbing murder of a woman in her mansion.

I found both plots moved along at a good pace, keeping me interested and eagerly turning the pages. A few of the longer-term story arcs also moved forward which I enjoyed – both with Hillary’s personal life, and the ongoing drama with Gemma, Hillary’s new DS and Barrington, her DC. I enjoyed the movement with her colleagues and am finding this a really enjoyable series.

Readers who hate cliffhanger endings should be aware they will definitely need the next book in the series on hand. While the murder plot is very neatly wrapped up there is an important event that happens right at the very end of this book that will absolutely change the scenery of the rest of the series. I, myself, needed to read the first chapter of the next book immediately upon finishing this one and I strongly expect a number of other readers might feel the same as me in this instance.

Readers who like British police procedural books, or those based in smaller towns should definitely give this a go. While it’s not necessary to have read any of the previous books–I feel this could easily be picked up by itself–I did enjoy the progress with the supporting cast and that came from knowing the history between everyone.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Pits: Life Literally Bit Me in the Ass (a memoir) by Cheryl Edwards

November 17, 2025 By 1 Comment


The Pits: Life Literally Bit Me in the Ass (a memoir) by Cheryl Edwards
Publisher: Huber House Press LLC
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Cheryl Edwards’s life takes a terrifying turn when she is viciously attacked by three pit bulls, and nothing goes according to plan when it comes to escaping, finding help, and recovering.

Once a happy dog-loving gym rat who swam with sharks and skydived, she’s now afraid of skiing, snakes, and senior schnauzers. With her life in the pits, she copes like any other Gen Xer and the only way she knows how: with pigheaded determination, sarcasm, and humor. Needless to say, the results vary.

Cheryl wants nothing more than to be normal again, but after therapist number three informs her that she hadn’t been normal to begin with, she’s forced to confront her past in order to make the most of her future.

This gripping memoir isn’t just a cautionary tale for dog owners and pet sitters; it’s a thank-you letter to her husband, a guide to treating victims, and a testament to friendship.

Courage comes in many forms.

Ms. Edward’s conversational writing style was the perfect fit for this memoir. Even though I’ve never actually met her, in some ways it still felt like I was sitting down with an old friend to get a detailed update on her life as I read. Her warm and easy-going narrative was occasionally punctuated by funny moments that I never would have expected to read in a book about a vicious, unprovoked attack by three dogs.

My favourite passages were the ones that described the parts of recovery that might not be the first thing to cross someone’s mind when they think about the practicalities of healing from so many bites. For example, the author had a terrible time convincing her insurance company to cover many of the bills that resulted not only from her attack but also from the physical therapy and other medical costs in the weeks, months, and years to follow. Her mental health was negatively affected in completely understandable ways as well as she dealt with the horrific trauma of that day. These sections were an excellent reminder of just how long healing can take as well as how much of it involves things that outsiders might not understand. Compassion is key whether someone is the victim of such an attack or a friend or loved one who is trying to help. I’ll leave it up to other readers to absorb the rest of the lessons she learned as a result of these experiences, but there was plenty of material here to work with for people from every walk of life.

The author’s reactions to the dogs who attacked her was what ultimately encouraged me to give this a glowing five-star read. That is to say, I was impressed with how she responded to the thought of discussing their future once the danger was finished and she’d received appropriate medical care for her many injuries. That isn’t a topic I can go into great detail about without sharing spoilers, but it was what solidified this into a must-read for me.

The Pits: Life Literally Bit Me in the Ass overflowed with hope, forgiveness, and kindness. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Shadow Child by A. Williams

November 14, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Shadow Child by A. Williams
The Darkglass Chronicles, Book 1
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

OBEDIENCE IS SURVIVAL.

BUT SHADOWS REMEMBER.

THE SHADOW CHILD is a bleak, psychological novella about a boy stripped of identity and individuality by an institution that reduces him to drills, pain, and obedience.

Told in haunting fragments, it captures the suffocating atmosphere of erasure and the fragile ember of resilience that still survives within him.

Trust is a dangerous weapon.

The horror and thriller elements of the plot were woven into each other in satisfactory ways. This was one of those cases where fear of what might happen next was often scarier than what actually occurred, and it fit the emotionless characters well while also helping to explain why they weren’t behaving like normal children, or even normal human beings in general, would under the same circumstances. Yes, there were a few brief descriptions of violence along the way, but I appreciated the fact that the lion’s share of the frights here happened in the characters’ minds instead of in their bodies.

Given that this was the beginning of a new series, I wouldn’t expect every question I had as I was reading it to be answered. Still, I did struggle with how little information was revealed about what, exactly, The House was and why they were trying to remove the identities and personalities of children through abuse, neglect, and strict, militaristic training regiments. More details would have been helpful for sure.

With that being said, I did enjoy the process of finding out that my original theory about what might be going on turned out to be possibly true. There were a few hints early on about what the program runners were hoping to accomplish that did pay off even if the majority of my questions were not answered. Knowing that I figured out that piece of the puzzle was rewarding and made me wonder what the unnamed protagonist might do in the future as a young adult.

The Shadow Child made me shudder.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Masked Prey by John Sandford

November 13, 2025 By 1 Comment


Masked Prey by John Sandford
Publisher: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures . . . of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups.

It’s obviously alarming–is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent? But when the FBI is called in, there isn’t much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can’t be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed. With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI’s constraints: Lucas Davenport.

US Marshall Lucas Davenport is called in to Washington DC when deeply hidden website shows snippets of alt-right propaganda and a number of long-range photos of Senator’s children outside their schools. With clear implications and enough data for any number of people to take drastic action, Davenport is told to find those responsible and fast. But nothing is ever simple in DC and soon Davenport finds the case spiraling out into directions he’d never previously considered.

I am a long-time fan of this series and found this to be an interesting and extremely relevant addition. Davenport is certainly middle aged – but I find in many ways his experience is a fascinating and slightly different perspective to the genre is equally gripping to read. There’s a lot to be said for the no holds barred, endless action scenes style of mystery novel, but Davenport has always been equally about brains and solving the crime and not just jumping into the car and zooming somewhere guns blazing. I feel this book has a good balance between both those perspectives and adding in the strongly political element this plotline has again deepens the plot and makes everything delightfully complicated.

I feel this book is strictly a “summer-reading” style of novel. While the plot is complicated, the characters interesting and the setting extremely modern, this is definitely an action orientated type of plotline and not a deep thriller. Readers looking for something knotty or complicated might feel this is a little light – but personally I had a lot of fun reading it and there are certainly enough threads and elements for me to feel the plot was well woven and multi faced enough to keep my interest.

Readers who have enjoyed any of the previous series should easily be able to pick this book up and thoroughly enjoy it. Better still, while there is clearly a huge history behind Davenport and his various connections, I strongly feel this book can absolutely be picked up by a new reader and still found to be highly enjoyable.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu

November 12, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Most humans cower in the face of Death. Not Nella May Carter. She sees him. She doesn’t hide. Instead, she bargains.

Born enslaved in eighteenth-century Georgia, Nella still believes in the will to survive amid the most untenable of conditions, in the glory of life, and in the ultimate goodness of the human race. She asks that Death, doubtful and curious, allow her to live long enough to prove it. He’s giving Nella all the time in the world.

Challenged, Nella embarks on an epic journey across the globe and centuries. Each new incarnation records the joys and losses, and the friendships and heartbreaks, throughout her lifetimes. When she meets handsome and passionate professor Sebastian Moore―the first man to whom she has ever revealed her secrets―Nella yearns for the mortality that escapes her. She can’t bear to leave this love behind.

As Death keeps watch, has Nella’s journey come to an end? Or is a new one just beginning?

Love is eternal.

Some of my favourite passages in this book were the ones that debated the true nature of humanity and whether our collective good deeds make up for the horrific things we’ve done to one another throughout the generations. While I tended to agree more with Nella, both protagonists made intelligent points with their arguments, and it was quite interesting to see them go back and forth with evidence for their positions. This is something I’m saying as a reader who generally shies away from philosophical works. Ms. Nwosu did a wonderful job of blending philosophy into an exciting story in ways that made those scenes feel natural and encouraged me to think critically about every argument that was made and refuted.

I would have preferred to see stronger world building in this novel. Some of the settings were easy to visualize, especially the first one in 1774 as well as Nella’s experiences during World War II, but other ones like France didn’t include enough descriptions for me to easily imagine what the main character’s life was like there. Had this been included, a five-star rating would have been a strong possibility from me!

The complex relationship between Nella and Death made it difficult for me to stop reading. It was delightful to see how her reactions to him evolved over the centuries as she grew accustomed to her immortality and began to question some of the rules that Death had put into place about what she could and couldn’t do during her quest. Without sharing too many spoilers, these developments made the last hundred pages or so incredibly rewarding for me as a reader.

The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter was beautiful.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Crucifix by Naomi Cashman

November 11, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Crucifix by Naomi Cashman
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

There are always two sides to everyone … Some people are just good at keeping their sinful side hidden.

Something dark and sinister lurks in the musty hallways and abandoned rooms of the Convent of Mercy. The now defunct orphanage, with its history of odd occurrences and murderous deeds, draws tourists with a taste for the macabre. But what if the stories that have been whispered about by the locals are true?

In 1865, orphaned Katherine is sent to live at the convent where fear rules. Nobody will speak of the odd occurrences – an organ playing in the dead of night; fresh graves dug beneath her window; and the Reverend Mother’s bizarre obsession with an ornate crucifix. Worse still, girls who are summoned to her office are never seen again. And when Katherine attracts the attention of the malevolent Sister Nora, her survival seems unlikely.

Katherine’s quest to uncover the truth exposes her to unspeakable evil. Will she resist the darkness that festers in her soul or will she succumb to the unholy power of the crucifix?

Evil wears many faces.

I loved the character development in this novel, especially when it came to how my opinion changed about the various characters as I learned more about them. It’s not easy to write an antagonist whose motives are understandable and whose personality is well-rounded enough for a reader to find something likeable about them, so kudos to Ms. Cashman for making this look so effortless.

The plot twists were equally well written. Where I thought the storyline was going to go in the first scene didn’t necessarily match what happened, and it was fun to be surprised a few times as Katherine learned more about her new home and tried to avoid the horrors lurking there. The foreshadowing nudged me in the right direction without being too obvious about what was coming, although once I looked back at the signs, I found a few that I should have paid closer attention to. It’s amusing when this happens, and I will definitely keep an eye out for future works from this author.

Knowing that the setting was inspired by a real convent only made this an even more immersive and frightening read for me. Horror is scariest when there’s a sliver of truth embedded in it in my opinion, and I eagerly read more about the original Convent of Mercy in Ireland between reading more chapters about the fictional one. This wasn’t necessary in order to understand the plot, but it’s definitely something I recommend to anyone else who also happens to enjoy learning about history.

The Crucifix made me wish for a sequel about the terrifying Convent of Mercy.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Bowman By Rhys Dylan

November 10, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Bowman By Rhys Dylan
Publisher: Wyrmwood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

In the wild heart of Wales, terror stalks the open moor.

In the remote and unforgiving Cambrian Mountains, two bodies are found, sparking fears that a long-buried nightmare has returned. DCI Warlow is plunged into a chilling mystery, hunting a murderer who disappeared without a trace—leaving only blood and silence behind.

As Warlow’s team battles against mounting pressure, they face a haunting question: is this the work of a twisted imitator, or has The Bowman, a ruthless killer thought to be gone forever, resurfaced?

With each dark discovery, they’re pulled deeper into a case where the land itself seems to conspire against them—and the answers may come at a deadly cost.

In remote, rural Wales two people are killed within hours of each other, each struck down by a crossbow bolt. DCI Evan Warlow and his team are called in to investigate, but the details of the case soon remind them of a similar set of killings from decades ago – has the Bowman returned?

I have been really enjoying this slightly gritter series set in Wales. I found this to be a very well written addition to the series. The team has plenty of cases behind them now, and I find they work very well together without seeming stale or repetitive. While this is very much a British police procedural style of book, I strongly enjoy the Welsh atmosphere and aspects to both the plot and characters, it keeps the story feeling fresh and interesting to me.

I thought the plot was very well contained in this book and while there are a number of secondary characters in the larger team – and plenty of both good and bad history there – I do feel that readers new to this author and series should easily be able to pick this story up and thoroughly enjoy it. This had a slightly slower pace that builds to a strong and fast ending. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Wolf Cub by Alison Bellringer

November 7, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Wolf Cub by Alison Bellringer
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Lewis just loves living with his mother in a small cottage that backs directly onto a vast forest. The shy four-year-old’s favourite spot to relax is in a clearing by a watering hole, where all the woodland creatures come to get their daily measure of drink and forage nearby for food. He always enjoys chatting to the smaller animals (especially the squirrels and rabbits), making new friends nearly every day. And that’s exactly where the boy was when it happened – the hair on the back of Lewis’ neck suddenly stood on end, and the young boy shivered slightly. He was being watched…

Kindness is never wasted.

I adored the friendships between Lewis and the many different types of wild animals he encountered when he wandered into the woods. He was a gentle and kind kid who went out of his way to make sure that every creature he met felt safe and happy around him. While I don’t want to give away too many plot twists about how he managed to do this and what the consequences of those decisions later turned out to be, I thought those scenes were a joy to read and fit the tone of this piece nicely.

There were some plot holes in this story involving certain villager’s reactions to the wolf cub that I would have liked to see resolved. For example, the assumptions they made about what sort of creature he was didn’t quite make sense to me given how rural the setting was and how many different types of animals the average person in that area would interact with over the average year. As much as I wanted to give this tale a higher rating, these questions and ones similar to them kept me from doing so.

It was interesting to see how much freedom children had in this village. Lewis was only four years old when the first chapter began, and yet he was allowed to wander around anywhere he wished to visit while his mother worked. This isn’t something that typically happens in contemporary stories about kids, so I was intrigued by how differently people his age were treated here. It left plenty of space for all of his adventures to occur!

The Wolf Cub made me smile.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

Family Feud by Daniel Kowalski

November 6, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Family Feud by Daniel Kowalski
Publisher: Lunch Bar Media
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars
Review by Snowdrop

An exciting domestic thriller full of psychological suspense, family drama, and mystery. Set on a secluded estate, this is a novel full of deceit, betrayal, and a web of lies all spun around a pulse-pounding gripping narrative that will keep you on the edge of your seat when one dark secret reveals an even larger one.

In ‘Family Feud’, the idyllic facade of Kelly and Joe McCarthy’s suburban life shatters when Kelly, the quintessential supermom, mysteriously disappears, only to reappear unharmed weeks later unharmed. Relieved but wary, her husband Joe, a former military man turned security expert, senses that something is amiss as Kelly’s account of her abduction raises more questions than answers.

As the family attempts to resume normalcy, Joe’s concerns deepen when strange occurrences plague their lives, indicating that Kelly’s ordeal may not be over. With their safety threatened and trust shattered, Joe takes drastic measures to protect his loved ones, including relocating them to a secluded estate.

But danger lurks closer than they realize, and Joe soon finds himself entangled in a web of deceit and betrayal that threatens to tear their family apart. As dark secrets come to light and tensions reach a boiling point, Joe must confront the ultimate truth—an enemy within their midst.

‘Family Feud’ is a gripping domestic thriller that delves into the complexities of family dynamics, trust, and the lengths one will go to protect those they love. With its pulse-pounding suspense and unforeseeable twists, this novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the final, shocking revelation.

Sometimes people lead normal lives and yet, truly, their life isn’t normal at all. That’s what happened when Kelly got snatched off the street and two people put a bag over her head in this story.

The beginning of this book is about an abduction as you can tell from my intro, but it is anything but about that overall. This is truly your crime thriller, and it had me turning pages as fast as possible. There’s a lot in this story, some love, some fights, some disbelief, some secrets and some things the characters wish they’d never found out.

And this author, Daniel Kowalski, seems to be able to bring them all to life. His dialog makes you feel as if some things are really happening. This was like a television show. Twice I gasped and put my hand to my mouth and scared my husband to death. It was as if I was watching action, not just reading it. I’ve read that the author is not only a writer of books but also a screen writer. Maybe that’s where his talent for vivid scenery in writing comes from.

I noticed there is only one more book by this author. I’ll read it for sure but hope there will be more.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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