Fearless Prose
  • Home
    • Coming Events
  • For Writers
    • Become a Master Storyteller
    • Chat with Sandy Vaile
    • Blog
    • Coaching Service
    • Editing Service
    • All courses and services
    • Resources for Writers
    • Fearless Novelist group >
      • Success Stories
  • For Readers
    • "Inheriting Fear" book
    • "Combatting Fear" Book
    • Free reads
    • Book Reviews
  • Meet Sandy
    • Media Information
  • Contact
  • Login

"The Ruin" by Dervla McTiernan

20/11/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am working through this best-selling crime series by Dervla McTiernan (Irish author living in WA.)

They are quite dense reads; police procedurals full of twists and turns.

I really enjoy the layers in the characters and plots, dealing with meaty topics. I collect all the puzzle pieces and try to figure out how they will come together in the end.


Cormac Reilly is a career detective I could relate to. He has very clear boundaries, but is continually pushed right up to them. Not everyone is what they seem.

High-quality stories that are worth your time and will keep you guessing.

0 Comments

Bad Things Happen by Rowena Holloway

8/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Wow, I was just blown away by the intricacies and depth of the characters in this story.

Each one had a distinctive voice, world view, and layered backstory, so I was sucked into their lives from the get go. I laughed and cried with them, pitied them and rooted for their success right until the bitter end. Even the secondary characters were interesting, and there were some seriously scary bad guys/girls. 

The timeline was unusual, because it went backwards and forwards, but I didn't have any difficulty following it, and it certainly helped to eek out the unravelling mystery for as long as possible. 
​
You won't be disappointed by this thought-provoking rumble through the streets of London. 

0 Comments

In the Shadow of Vengence by Nancy C Weeks

2/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
This book kicked off at a fast pace and wouldn't let me put it down. It had an excellent surprise in the opening! I enjoyed the tortured, strong but caring hero and the strongly motivated heroine. 

Detective Noah McNeil helped a troubled teen, and although he fancies the mother, Elizabeth, she is doing her best to keep him out of their lives. He's sure she's hiding something, and her son needs Noah's help.

Elizabeth Merlot can't afford to let anyone get too close, but when her son becomes embroiled in gang activity, her carefully controlled world starts to crumble.

A few editing missteps slowed my reading, but there were plenty of bad guys after them, and action-packed sequences to keep me on my toes to the end.


0 Comments

Mr January by Jordan Dane

19/2/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Zoey is a determined young woman who will do whatever it takes to find her missing best friend, even if that means putting her own life in danger, and involving a man she isn't sure won't kill her.

Not even the cops know his name, but he loves his dog, and a man like that can't be all bad. "He had an intimate way of listening. His eyes conveyed more than words ever could."

I found the characters interesting and relatable, and the author put them in situations that put a fresh twist on revelations and drew me threw the story.

​Unfortunately, the heroine didn't play an active part in the ending, which was left me feeling disappointed, but it was still a satisfying ending that left me wanting to grab the next book int he series to find out more.

0 Comments

Hindsight by Melanie Casey

27/12/2016

0 Comments

 

It's what you don't see that could kil you ...

Picture
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this locally set crime story. Let's face it, South Australia has a creepy history of having killers in our midst. I'll definitely be grabbing the next book in the series.​

Melanie Casey has a comprehensive writing style that builds vivid images and characters I could sympathise with. She puts an interesting twist on hunting a serial killer. Cass's ability to see past traumatic events, lends a terrifying intimacy with the victims, and the idiosyncrasies of the characters are well developed and make them interesting. 

The curse of retrocognition makes Cass a remarkable woman, but it could also be the death of her. This recluse is lured from her home to help Detective Dyson solve a murder in her sleepy town, but she gets more than she bargained for with the troubled but intriguing man and the discovery of a serial killer. 

0 Comments

A Taste of Evil

30/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
A Taste of Evil by Christina Carlisle

Wow! Full of twists and tension

This crime provided a stunning opening with the murdered woman telling you about her own death. Imagine finding out what people really thought of you from a fly-on-the-wall viewpoint.

The tension ratcheted up a notch in every chapter until I was on the edge of my seat, heart racing, trying desperately to guess whodunnit. There are just so many suspects in the intricate web of secrets and human emotions, each with a bitter and sweet side. Brilliant characters, great police procedural details and a riveting read.

0 Comments

Wings of Fear

30/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wings of Fear, by Helene Young

The book that made me want to write romantic suspense

This Aussie novelists brought her own passion for flying planes into this romantic-suspense. There was plenty of action, sexual tension, authentic references to bureaucracy, well developed characters and sustained suspense.

0 Comments

Bad Debts

30/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Bad Debts by Peter Temple

Fantastic down-to-earth hero

This is the first book in the Jack Irish series and is rich with Melbourne city culture and lingo. It looks at the city's seedy underbelly, corrupt officials and developers, as well as getting up close and personal with working class folks.

You couldn't get a more flawed hero, and yet Jack's tenacity and decency makes you love him. Jack gets a call from ex-client and is drawn into a series of suspicious circumstances that make him believe the case might not have been as open and shut as everyone though.

0 Comments

Breaking Cover

30/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Breaking Cover by J D Rhoades

Intrigued me from the get-go

Wow, Tony Wolf was immediately likeable and frightening. I wasn't sure what to believe half the time and wished it wasn't true the other half.

​The whole story was gritty and gripping and made my heart race and break. I'll be looking for more from this author!

0 Comments

Fear for Hire

30/8/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Fear for Hire by Natalie S Ellis

Loved the absolute nail-biting tension

This story has a unique and interesting start with a psych patient, Molly, who convinces her shrink, Rudy, that the best way for her to get over her fear of abduction, is for him to organise an abduction. His ex-copy brother, Jack, agrees to do it.

What Jack didn't expect was to be attracted to Molly's fighting spirit. Molly is a TV journalist and threatens to expose what he's done, but she might just need him, because someone is out to get her in the most final way. Jack is a born protector with his own demons and can't leave Molly unprotected.

​Excellent read with a new twist.

0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book.”
               Samuel Johnson

    Categories

    All
    Comedic
    General Fiction
    Non-fiction
    Romance
    Suspense & Crime
    Women's Fiction
    Young Adult

    RSS Feed

© Sandy Vaile 2012-2023

Contact and Privacy Policy  -  About Sandy

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • Coming Events
  • For Writers
    • Become a Master Storyteller
    • Chat with Sandy Vaile
    • Blog
    • Coaching Service
    • Editing Service
    • All courses and services
    • Resources for Writers
    • Fearless Novelist group >
      • Success Stories
  • For Readers
    • "Inheriting Fear" book
    • "Combatting Fear" Book
    • Free reads
    • Book Reviews
  • Meet Sandy
    • Media Information
  • Contact
  • Login