Mrs John Doe by Tom Savage

Random House Publishing Group - Alibi
Pub Date Oct 6, 2015


I had read and enjoyed Tom previous book, A Penny for the Hangman, some time ago. Tom is an author who knows how to use the art of narrative and writing sympathetic characters.

He manages once again to make us have a good time in the company of Nora, an intelligent woman full of resources (in here you'll find Tom's interview who explains, among others things, where does his inspiration for his female characters come from).

This book is a mix of espionage, suspense, chase with well written characters, rogues to perfection, liars or conversely straightforward and friendly. But as you should never trust appearances, Nora will understand that in this spy game, you should be wary of all...

One leaves the United States, arrives in England, ends up in France... and each time the country is well represented and it makes you want to go there. The author also knows to sprinkle its plot with culture and good food, avoiding a too dark novel. Result ? We spend a very pleasant time with a story that does not weaken, a plot that fire a few well-chosen twists away.

The blurb

Nora Baron's life is perfect. She lives on Long Island Sound, teaches acting at a local university, and has a loving family. Then one phone call changes everything. She's informed that her husband, Jeff, has died in a car crash while on a business trip in England. Nora flies to London to identify the body, which the police have listed as a “John Doe.” When she leaves the morgue, a man tries to steal her purse containing Jeff's personal effects. Clearly, all is not as it seems.

At her hotel, Nora receives a cryptic message that leaves her with more questions than answers. She follows the message's instructions to France, where a fatal encounter transforms her into a fugitive. Wanted for murder, on the run in a shadowy landscape of lies, secrets, and sudden violence, Mrs. “John Doe” must play the role of a lifetime to stay one step ahead of a ruthless enemy with deadly plans for her—and for the world.

In a nutshell

Great time spent at the speed of a chase, it's a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

A Penny for the Hangman by Tom Savage

Random House Publishing Group - Alibi - (Oct. 7 2014)
259 pages - 2.99 $ (epub)

The catchy title and the publisher: Alibi made ​​me ask this title on NetGalley. Although I must say that the blurb in which the female journalist is in a bikini made ​​me fear that it was a kind of book à la San Antonio (not my cup of tea), it is not absolutely not that kind of book.

The blurb

In Tom Savage’s chilling novel of suspense, an ambitious reporter is beckoned to an island paradise for the story of a lifetime. But this scoop might just be the death of her.

Fifty years ago, on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, two teenagers born to privilege were convicted of slaughtering their parents in cold blood. Today the men are free and a Hollywood movie has been made about the murders. For Karen Tyler, an eager New York journalist, the case is irresistible. She has been invited to the Virgin Islands for an interview that’s too good to pass up . . . and sounds too good to be true.

Karen packs her bikini and her digital recorder and follows an ingeniously designed trail that leads her to a wealthy, mysterious figure. The man claims to be one of the notorious boys, but Karen soon learns that all is not as it seems. On this isolated utopia of sun and surf, a young reporter far from home fights for the truth—and for her life. Because the shocking secret behind the infamous atrocities has remained hidden all these years. And the killing isn’t over yet.

What's good in that book?

This book was a blast! The pace does not fail, there is always something intriguing or disturbing. The stressful informations are revealed along the story. The narrative is interspersed with extracts from the diary of one of the teen killers, excerpts from police reports, minutes of the trial, testimony... and a disturbing correspondence from Karen. From the start, we know that another tragedy occurred on the island and she is in danger. From the start, we follow her story by being afraid of the end. Stress increases bit by bit because of the dialogues and the trap that closes on her. 

The characters are well written with shady guys, rogues (and I'm not talking about the bad guy...), naive or clever ones, there's something for everyone. There are still some cliché (both affluent teens are necessarily exceptionally beautiful and intelligent) but this does not hinder the story, it is not what stands out most about this book. What stands out most is the countdown to an end that we know/sense/guess horrible. 

Extracts or inserting text into a story - whether to give information or returns in the past - are not always easy to write in a book because they cut too abruptly the story or that they're hard to understand what they bring up to the final moment. But Tom Savage pass the exercice in style with brio. The extracts are timely writen to provide an explanation when the story needs it or sow a little anxiety and stress because the revelation brought only confirms us in our fears. 

In a nutshell

A good and stressful book that reads in one go, Tom Savage plays with our nerves and we ask for more! It is a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

The Red Hot Fix - A Justice Novel

by T. E. Woods

Random House Publishing Group - Alibi (June 10 2014)

284 pages - 2.99 $

In the white-knuckle follow-up to her explosive debut novel, The Fixer, T. E. Woods returns with another tense, intricate thriller.

What do you say, Morton Grant, Chief of Detectives? You got what it takes to find me? Show me a move. . . . Or I’ll have to show you one of mine.

A little more than a year after the Fixer killings, Detective Mort Grant of the Seattle PD once again has his hands full. In the last four months, seven men have been murdered in seedy pay-by-the-hour motels: first strangled, then tied with rope and set on a bed of crushed mothballs, with a red lipstick kiss planted on their foreheads. Speculation abounds that the killer is a prostitute who’s turning her tricks into dead men. The press has taken to calling her “Trixie.”

As Mort follows scant leads in the case, he can’t help but feel continued guilt over his involvement with the Fixer. Though the public holds her up as a folk hero, a vigilante who seeks justice when the system fails, Mort cannot shake the fact that serious crimes have been committed. And though legend says she has vanished, Mort knows exactly where the Fixer is—and he’s conspiring to keep her hidden.

As Trixie strikes again, Mort suddenly finds himself and his family in the crosshairs. Because these new murders are not random, and their perpetrator is hell-bent on luring Mort into a sick and twisted game. If he’s not careful, he’s going to need Fixing.

What's about that book

I found it nice to meet again with Mort and Lydia, two characters I enjoyed in The Fixer. Mort's son also plays a more important role which is very nice, since in the first volume he seemed to be a very nice guy! (He even married a French girl... so he's necessarily a good guy, mwahaha!) Among the new character, Trixie of course, hateful to perfection but also a female character who becomes closed to Mort... and there TE Woods plays well with innuendo and misunderstandings, so that one begins to be sure to have found Trixie to better realize that one's been having.

There are two parallel stories in this book, two investigations that meet at one point, one bait to another. The first follows Trixie and the leads to find her. The second follows the murder of the owner of a basketball team. I must admit that I struggled to get interested in the second story, mainly because we follow an awful lot the basketball team before the murder. I couldn't see the point to know in detail the sultry life of the owner, his wife's depression, or even attend a basketball game live, with a lot of technical terms. It happens regularly in TV series that an inspector follow several investigations at the same time and this is often done well but here I often asked "but what they have to do with the story those ones? "

A third story is also present in this book and it's about Lydia who is recovering from her near death (read The Fixer!) This part is very interesting and allows you to see a more human side of Lydia. I found it very good how she "fixes" the problem she encounters. Lydia manages to find back the sensations she felt when she Fixed things while finding a new way to do it. The character evolves and it's cleverly done. Once again, the author confuses us by leaving us guessing what will happen... to twist the situation better.

In a nutshell

Basketball fans will enjoy reading this book, the characters are well written, the story is going well but, for my part, the Trixie investigation would have sufficed. This is a 3.5 / 5 for me.

Warning: An e- galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review has been promised and chronic above is an unbiased review of the novel.

The Fixer

A Justice Novel

de T. E. Woods

Alibi (Feb. 4 2014)

312 pages - 2.99 $ (Kindle)

T. E. Woods delivers a fast-paced thriller—the first in an electrifying new series—peopled with sharp, intriguing characters and more twists and turns than a corkscrew.

Never a doubt. Never a mistake. Always for justice. Never for revenge.She’s the person you hire when you need something fixed - permanently. With a strict set of criteria, she evaluates every request and chooses only a few. No more than one job per country, per year. She will only step in if it’s clear that justice will not be served any other way. Her jobs are completed with skill and precision, and never result in inquiry or police investigation. The Fixer is invisible - and quite deadly. . .

In the office of a clinical psychologist in Olympia, Washington, a beautiful young woman is in terrible emotional pain. She puts up walls, tells lies, and seems to speak in riddles, but the doctor is determined to help her heal, despite the fact that she claims to have hurt many people. As their sessions escalate, the psychologist feels compelled to reach out to the police . . . but it might be too late.

In Seattle, a detective gets a call from his son. A dedicated journalist, he wants his father’s expertise as he looks into a suspicious death. Together they follow the trail of leads toward a stone-cold hired killer—only to find that death has been closer than either could have imagined.

What's good about it?

It 's been awhile since I had not been completely blown away by a book and this was the case for The Fixer. The middle of the novel was a big twist. Perhaps other readers - especially those who rack their brains to find the clues and try to solve the mystery by themselves - will not be as surprised as me. But for readers like me - the kind who likes to be surprised - this is pure happiness!

Reading the blurb of the book, I was curious to see how the killer would be written. Does she would be very too masculine or too aggressive, as female killers can be seen in much of the books or movies... Well, not at all. T.E. Woods managed to make The Fixer very effective - fatally efficient - without making a monster of her. Instead, we are surprised to be on her side of " righteousness " as some cops in the book by the way. What's good it that one enjoys as much the criminal as the police who track her and especially Mort Grant, the detective. We discover technical aspects used by the police to investigate and, again, the effectiveness shows up. No caricatures in this novel, no exaggerated characters but realistic ones with realistic motifs.

About the course of the story, again, no complaints about the accuracy and realism of the investigation. The noose tightens around the killer, as well as the link between her and the police and you want to know how she'll do to get away or what Mort will do about her. You know it's wrong to kill people... that she should stop doing that but at the same time you don't want her to go to prison for having freed the world of perfect criminals who knew how to play with the law to get their free card. At one point everything seems to be going well, then everything changes... then everything changes... Until the end of the book where, frankly, I wanted to shed a tear... then everything changes!

In a nutshell

A very good book, the first one of a series. With characters intelligently written and realistics. A series of twists and a story that keeps you going! It is a 4/5 for me!

*******

I received this book from Random House Publishing Group - Alibi on NetGalley , to make an honest critique .