There is no friend as loyal as a book.–Ernest Hemingway 

Hello! Were back to more books and blurbs this week, especially since I don’t have an interview scheduled. Hopefully author D.M. Pulley will be on board for one sometime soon. *Fingers crossed*

Ready?

In 1938, at the height of the Great Depression, a madman hunts his victims through the hobo jungles of Cleveland, terrorizing the city. Ethel Harding, a prostitute struggling to survive both the cold streets and the Torso Killer, takes refuge with a devout missionary sect—only to find that its righteous facade conceals the darkest of secrets.

Sixty years later, the police find the butchered body of Alfred Wiley in the woods. But before his daughter, Kris, can even identify the remains, things he never told her begin to surface one by one—a mysterious private eye who’d been tracking him, an eerie website devoted to the unsolved “Torso” murders, missing archives, stolen books, and an abandoned Bible factory harboring vagrants. The more she learns about her father’s obsession with the Torso Killer, the more Alfred’s death appears to be related, pulling Kris further into Cleveland’s hellish past.

Living decades apart, Ethel and Kris must unravel the truth behind the city’s most notorious serial killer…or die trying.

First Chapter Impression

This book begins with the gruesome discovery of body found in Lake Erie. Or, at least the remains of one. The victim’s daughter arrives to identify the “body” of her father. However, she’s stuck in a deep state of denial and disbelief that he’s actually gone.

The author does a great job of creating the scene and displaying the feelings of the victim’s daughter as she copes with a heinous crime. Right away I feel sympathy and captivated by the story’s beginning.

My inner story sense (and no I’m not Spider-Man) tells me D.M. Pulley is a good writer and I like her style.

Evan Smoak—government assassin gone rogue—returns in Hellbent, an engrossing, unputdownable thriller from Gregg Hurwitz, the latest in his #1 international bestselling Orphan X series.

Taken from a group home at age twelve, Evan Smoak was raised and trained as an off-the-books government assassin: Orphan X. After he broke with the Orphan Program, Evan disappeared and reinvented himself as the Nowhere Man, a man spoken about only in whispers and dedicated to helping the truly desperate.

But this time, the voice on the other end is Jack Johns, the man who raised and trained him, the only father Evan has ever known. Secret government forces are busy trying to scrub the remaining assets and traces of the Orphan Program and they have finally tracked down Jack. With little time remaining, Jack gives Evan his last assignment: find and protect his last protégé and recruit for the program.

But Evan isn’t the only one after this last Orphan—the new head of the Orphan Program, Van Sciver, is mustering all the assets at his disposal to take out both Evan (Orphan X) and the target he is trying to protect.

First Act Impression

I’m really enjoying this page-turning series!  Gregg Hurwitz is amazing. Evan Smoak finds himself in yet another impossible predicament, but he’s always up for the impossible.

The stakes are deeply personal as he discovers his mentor Jack Johns is attacked by Van Sciver’s group.  His mentor served as the only human connection Evan has ever known so you can imagine the struggle. But Evan is not only seeking revenge, he’s also heeding Jack’s last wish; protect the package. Only ‘the package’ isn’t what he envisioned.

 
Hellbent will be released Jan. 30th 2018 so pre-order now.

KILL BOX: Book Two in THE ZULU VIRUS CHRONICLES 

SOMETHING LETHAL HAS BEEN RELEASED ACROSS AMERICA. 

With their daring escape plan thwarted at the last possible moment, HOT ZONE’s motley band of survivors faces a worst-case scenario. Forced to take refuge near the epicenter of the bioweapons outbreak, deep inside in a city gone mad, THEIR TIME IS RUNNING OUT. 

Unable to slow or adequately contain the infected population, the government has triggered KILL BOX, a desperate and merciless contingency protocol.

Dr. Eugene Chang, Eric Larsen and the survivors following them, have less than twenty-four hours to escape the KILL BOX.

WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, complete strangers from different walks of life will be forced to join together to survive the LIVING NIGHTMARE that has been unleashed on their city—AND THEIR COUNTRY. 

This is their story.

WELCOME TO THE HOT ZONE!

Author Steve Konkoly is back in book two of the Zulu Virus Chronicles. Just released November 28! If you haven’t discovered Steve’s work yet you’re in for a treat. The first book was  awesome so I’m really looking forward to this one.

Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, DC, Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold, filed among the unsolved drive-bys in D.C.’s rough neighborhoods.

Years later, still haunted by his wife’s death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he’s set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love.

Then Cross’s former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria’s death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life.

From the man USA TODAY has called the “master of the genre,” CROSS is the high-velocity thriller James Patterson and Alex Cross’s fans have waited years to read – and the pinnacle of the bestselling detective series of the past two decades.

This novel was originally published under the title Cross. The movie tie-in editions are published under the title Alex Cross.

I just re-watched the movie adaption of the book and still loved it. Of course the book is quite different from the Hollywood version of events. Not sure why I decided to watch the movie before I read the book, but anyways. The book is awesome too! One thing I love about this one is antagonist. Having a formidable opponent makes the conflict ultra juicy. This psychopath killer murders his wife in his presence making the stakes ultra personal. Can’t wait to finish it!

Alex Cross Official Trailer #1 (2012) – James Patterson, Tyler Perry Movie HD

Books on the radar

Her Final Breath (The Tracy Crosswhite Series Book 2)

A Dress the Color of the Sky

The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God’s Holy Warriors

White Ninja (The Nicholas Linnear Series Book 3)

The Vineyard of Liberty: 1787–1863 (The American Experiment)

Benjamin Thomas

@thewritingtrain

www.mysterythrillerweek.com