Ice Man Cometh by C.T. Wente

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although it took me a few attempts to get into this book, I'm glad I stuck with it. I found the characters interesting, I adored the letters that Jeri was receiving, I was intrigued as she was by them.

I liked how the plot widened to encompass the FBI and Homeland Security and showed what a piss poor job of communicating goes on between one group and another.

I was especially pleased with the ending.....I'm not going to write anything else as I don't want to spoil this really great read for anyone else....... Just remember...... Don't Order Dog.

Blackbrooke II: The Guardian.

The Guardian continues the tale of Liberty Connor and the town of Blackbrooke.  We pick up where we left off with Liberty surviving her encounter with the Queens and being taken to the Institute.  Whilst there she is tormented by Mr Jones, constantly being questioned about what went on that night when she handed over Cassius.  Everyone is desperate to know how four of the Queens ended up dead and how she and Cassius survived.
I'm not going to over-do the review, I don't want to give away too much about the story as that is one thing I dislike myself.... Nothing worse than spoilers.
What I will say is Emma needs to be punished for torturing me.  I didn't know if I was coming or going, in fact I felt as though I was in the Institute with Liberty.  I would think I knew what was going to happen next and then the rug was pulled out from under my feet and I would end up on my butt, trying to get my bearings again.
I was in tears, I laughed my head off, I was in shock and I wanted to commit murder all at the same time.  I found this book to be just as much of a roller-coaster as the first book.
I was disgusted by the actions of Mr Jones to his daughter, Gemma.  He's a heartless bastard and deserves everything that he gets coming to him.  I love Liberty's interactions with Denzil, he is such a brilliant character and helps to keep her grounded.  His love for Marie is very touching and the pain that he was obviously in when he thinks he is hallucinating had me in tears.  I do tend to get attached to character's and he is one of my favourites.  Please don't kill him off, Emma.
I found that this book has a lot more drama and horror than the first book but it doesn't detract from the story, if anything it enhances it.  It gives the story just the right amount of creepiness that it needs too.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the twist and turns, including the ones I didn't expect and I cannot wait for the third book to come out.

Carved In Darkness by Maegan Beaumont

I really enjoyed this book. I suffered from O.M.C (one more chapter) until I'd finished it. It was one of those books that kept me guessing the whole way through.

Seventeen year old Melissa is snatched off the street and kept for 83 days, during that time she was raped and tortured. She had her eyes sewn shut and was kept in a basement until he finally went too far, killed her and dumped her in a prayer garden.

Moving forward fifteen years and Sabrina is a police officer with a big secret. She's Melissa and no-one knows she survived apart from her Gran, her room-mate Val and her younger brother and sister.

When the man who took her finds out she's alive he will do anything to get her back. He has continued to kill girls but none of them are Melissa and that's who he wants.

The story is gruesome in parts, the torture scenes are very descriptive. With the help of Michael, whose sister was taken the year before, Sabrina must go back and find the man who kept her all those years ago and who has killed again to flush her out into the open.

She's also got to stay out of the reach of her own police precinct as she is wanted on suspicion of murder, which she's being framed for.

Throw in a cop who hates her, one who is in love with her, a murderer who wants her back and Michael, she's not short of men in her life but she doesn't want any. She's built up walls to keep everyone away but finds that with Michael she doesn't need them but Michael isn't good boyfriend material, he's a mercenary.

He's also falling for her but knows nothing can come of it. He will do anything to keep her safe and get his sisters killer though.

I definitely recommend this book but not if you're squeamish. It's well-written, has a good arc and keeps you up reading one more chapter.

The Killing Floor by Lee Child

I really enjoyed this book, my only problem was the little voice in my head telling me "there's no way Tom Cruise can pull this off". I just can't get the image from the movie trailer of him out of my head. Aside from that, what's not to love. A great big story with lots of twists, a loner in a small town who gets picked up because he looks like a suspect.

It put me in mind of some westerns I used to read when I was younger. There was the lone cowboy, ex-soldier, who rode into town and after a few fights, a few love scenes and offing the bad guy rode off into the sunset.

I'm definitely going to carry on with this series. I'll just have to train my brain to picture some other actor as Jack Reacher. Maybe Dave Batista from WWE. He's definitely the right size and certainly easy on the eyes, unlike Tom Cruise who's just too small for the part.

Hammer of Angels by G.T. Almasi

I found this to be an action packed, past paced story. It certainly didn't slow down much at all. I would just like to say that even though I haven't read the first book in this series, it's not necessary to follow what's going on. We continue to follow the story of Alix/Scarlet, a Level (super spy) from America as she deals with the fall-out from Blades of Winter.
Scarlet is an enhanced Level, which means her body has had some modifications to it, she's got an artificial right hand, her skeleton has been encased in a type of metal so she's practically indestructable. She's got an eyes-up system in her head which enables her to swap from normal vision through a variety of different spectrums. She can use infra-red to see body heat, she's got a locking display that enables her to acquire target lock when she uses her gun, Lil' Bertha which is partially sentient. She has an in-built med system that allows her to send doses of different drugs as and when she needs them, Madrenaline just before a fight or mission, Kalmers to stop the hallucinations brought on by her last mission. She lives in a world where Germany won WWII, Britain and most of Europe are part of Greater Germany and the Germans now advocate Slavery. There are 4 Super Powers, USA, China, Russia and Greater Germany, all with their own Levels.
In this book we follow Scarlet as she copes with a new partner who is the spitting image of her last partner and lover, Trick, who was killed in the book Blades of Winter. As she is sent on a new mission to start a slave rebellion in London and other areas of Europe, we see how fragile her mind really is, still, due to her previous experience. Working with Brando, her new partner and other Level's to get the rebellion going and then onto another mission to get her father back from the Germans.
In this world we also have to deal with clone's, one of which is her new partner and also her old one , and their other brother. No-one knows about their status apart from Scarlet, her boss and themselves. Whilst on their mission, they come under attack and just when she thinks her number is up, a sniper takes out the enemy. When they finally catch him, as there is no other Level's in their area, she is shocked to see her fathers face. The young man is a clone, made in a secret lab by a high-level member of congress. He was made with her fathers DNA, which had been stolen from a secure area, along with the equipment necessary.
This story flows along at a rapid place and just when you think she's going to catch a break, something else happens to get them on a roll again.
I'm definitely getting Blades of Winter so I can see how this story began and I will definitely be getting the third book when it's released. I would give this 5/5 and recommend it to anyone who likes fast, action packed spy thrillers.

Liquid Lies by Lois Lavrisa

I was sent this free from the publishers, Sunlake Press.  I was looking forward to reading it as its the type of book I normally like, however I was a tad disappointed.  It kicks of with a good start, introducing us to Cecilia and Francesca, best friends out for a birthday.  CiCi as Cecilia prefers to be called just can't say no to her friend, Francesca, which really is the main fault with her.  After a flat-tyre and a run-in with a trucker, they end up making a pact and then not speaking to each other for four years.

The story skips over these four years and starts when Francesca re-enters CiCi's life.  Again she is unable to say no to her and this leads to more complications, a murder, a blackmailer and just to cap it off, another murder.   All these things could have been avoided if CiCi had been able to say no to her friend.  Instead she finds herself with a police officer who thinks she's the killer, a fiance who decides to break things off and a new guy who could be either the killer, the blackmailer or both.  Oh and she's finds herself falling for him.  The middle part of this story is a little slow and boggy, it takes its time to get going and then just when you think it's not going to take off, it does just that.  You get dragged to the end of the story, where we find out just who has done what and why, then to top it off with a bit of sugar, we get a happy ending.

I would recommend this to anyone who is just wanting to dip their toe into a crime/thriller that's a light and easy read.

"http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5636639-julie"