Review: Stranded on Thin Ice, by Sharon CassanoLochman

 

Title: Stranded on Thin Ice

Author: Sharon CassanoLochman

Format: e-galley

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "Twelve-year-old Tanner Phillips fishes the Oneida Lake Ice Fishing Derby every year with his dad. Last year, he ruined everything — losing the competition and losing some of his grandfather’s gear. This year, Tanner is determined to not only prove his skills on the ice, but also show his dad, once and for all, that he’s no longer a little kid.

But as soon as they get out on the ice, the competition turns disastrous.

When one of the competitors goes missing and another gets injured, Tanner’s father must leave Tanner and his new friend, Richie, alone on the ice. After their ice hut comes unhitched, Tanner and Richie find themselves blown across the frozen lake in a blinding snowstorm.
Alone. Without their cell phones. Trapped, on thin ice. Suddenly, it isn’t just about the winning the derby — it’s about life and death. In one perilous night, Tanner will have to prove not to his father, but to himself, that he has the courage and determination to survive. "

My Opinion: Tanner is so excited to be at the Oneida Lake Ice Fishing Derby again this year with his dad, but he's determined not to make the same big mistake he made last year, losing his pole through the hole in the ice. He really wants to prove to his father that he's not a kid anymore, but things start to go wrong even before they get to the ice.

This was a well written, very interesting book, with a lot of suspense, as well as a lot of interesting characters. Tanner and his new friend, Richie, are very likeable and act age appropriate, which is a nice change from kids their age acting mature beyond their years. The setting is described so well I felt like I should put a sweater on while I was reading it because I should really be shivering from the cold! The plot was paced out nicely and this ended up being a really quick read because it was so interesting. It kept my attention from start to finish, and it ended all too quickly.

In summary, this was a very well written book full of suspense and great characters, that I think will appeal to the middle grade age group.

Highly recommend.

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Point Last Seen (Last Seen in Gothic #1), by Christina Dodd

 

Title: Point Last Seen (Last Seen in Gothic #1)

Author: Christina Dodd

Format: e-book

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "LIFE LAST SEEN

When you’ve already died, there should be nothing left to fear… When Adam Ramsdell pulls Elle’s half-frozen body from the surf on a lonely California beach, she has no memory of what her full name is and how she got those bruises ringing her throat.

GIRL LAST SEEN

Elle finds refuge in Adam’s home on the edge of Gothic, a remote village located between the steep lonely mountains and the raging Pacific Ocean. As flashes of her memory return, Elle faces a terrible truth—buried in her mind lurks a secret so dark it could get her killed.

POINT LAST SEEN

Everyone in Gothic seems to hide a dark past. Even Adam knows more than he will admit. Until Elle can unravel the truth, she doesn’t know who to trust, when to run and who else might be hurt when the killer who stalks her nightmares appears to finish what he started…"

My Opinion: Ok, with that synopsis, who can really resist this book? Not me, and I'm so glad I didn't try! Disclaimer: I'm a huge Christina Dodd fan. I was before I read this, and I definitely still am. This book, filled with lost souls, was also a mystery, a thriller, and a suspense filled ride. I absolutely love the town of Gothic and look forward to reading more about it and its inhabitants in the books that follow this one.

Adam leads a self imposed solitary existence, and he has no plans to change that, until he finds a dead body on the beach near his home. Enter Elle. After bringing her back to life, and realizing that she has no memory of who she is or how she got in the water, and after noticing that she is covered in bruises, he takes her home with him and promises her a safe place to stay until she is well enough to leave. That proves easier said than done when he starts developing feelings for her. The search for Elle's identity and the mystery of her death leads to violence not just for Adam and Elle, but for other residents of Gothic. It turns out Adam isn't the only one with a checkered past in the town.

I loved this book so much in part because I loved Adam and Elle so much. They were great characters with great chemistry. The other residents of Gothic were pretty great, too, and everyone's back story was detailed, which made it easy to get invested in them. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this book series goes.

The plot was interesting and the writing was superb, which made this a quick read for me. The pacing was also on point.

In summary, I highly recommend this book to readers looking for a good mystery to sink their teeth into. 

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Say You're Sorry (Joseph O'Loughlin #6), by Michael Robotham

Title: Say You're Sorry (Joseph O'Loughlin #6)
Author: Michael Robotham
Format: audiobook
Source: local library

From Goodreads: "TWO MISSING GIRLS. TWO BRUTAL MURDERS. ALL CONNECTED TO ONE FARM HOUSE. WHO IS TO BLAME?

When pretty and popular teenagers Piper Hadley and Tash McBain disappear one Sunday morning, the investigation captivates a nation but the girls are never found.

Three years later, during the worst blizzard in a century, a husband and wife are brutally killed in the farmhouse where Tash McBain once lived. A suspect is in custody, a troubled young man who can hear voices and claims that he saw a girl that night being chased by a snowman.

Convinced that Piper or Tash might still be alive, clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin and ex-cop Vincent Ruiz, persuade the police to re-open the investigation. But they are racing against time to save the girls from someone with an evil, calculating and twisted mind.."

My Opinion: Michael Robotham is one of my all time favorite suspense writers and even though I haven't read any of the other books in the Joseph O'Loughlin series, I had heard that they can all be read as stand alone novels, and this proved to be true. I got caught up in the mystery right away and was kept interested clear to the end. 

Piper and Tash went missing three years ago and although the police investigated the disappearance, most people thought they had just run away, because that was in fact their plan. But something went wrong and three years later, Tash's body was found frozen in a lake following a terrible winter storm. Coincidentally (or not) Tash's old home, where two elderly people now lived, was the scene of a double homicide and fire that same night. 

The characters are all easy to relate to, as Michael Robotham's tend to be, and the reader is kept guessing throughout the book as to how all of the players fit and who did what to whom. As usual, I guessed who the perpetrator was, but then I second guessed myself, then third guessed, until I was as confused as I started out to be. The author drops clues in that throw you completely off, but that's a good thing in a suspense story - who wants to be able to figure it out easily? How boring would that be? 

The pacing was perfect as the story moves along at a steady pace, and the reader is kept guessing until the very end. I loved this book and highly recommend it to lovers of suspense, mysteries, and all around good story telling. I give it a very enthusiastic 5 stars and look forward to going back and starting the Joseph O'Loughlin series from the beginning.