Prick

Prick By DL Hammons
Publication date: December 12, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

People are dying under mysterious circumstances in the small town of New Haven. And the city’s best hope of uncovering the truth rests with a troubled teen and the girl who can’t stand him.

Cassie Underwood’s life is shattered when her younger sister dies in a freak car accident. In her grief, Cassie unfairly blames her sister’s constant companion—Taggart McGill—a boy with a sketchy past and abrasive personality. As Cassie attempts to recover from the loss, she struggles to honor her late sister’s memory by befriending the person she resents most.

Things get complicated when Cassie overhears a fellow student asking Taggart to convince the police another death in the accident had nothing to do with the crash at all. Taggart surprisingly agrees and a suspicious Cassie decides to accompany him in his snooping. 

She soon learns everything she knows about Taggart is wrong… and he has insight into things that link the car accident to other suspicious deaths in their close-knit community.

Now it seems there’s only one thing keeping Cassie’s name off the growing list of victims—finding out who Taggart McGill really is.

—

EXCERPT:

“Didn’t my sister ever tell you that the way you dress is a bit clichéd? I mean, look at you. The isolated loner, the social outcast, in a dark hoodie? Really?”

I wasn’t sure what changed, maybe something in his posture, but he seemed to soften.

Grudge

Grudge By Doreen McMillan
Publication date: April 7, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

How far would you be willing to go to get an A on a test?

That question plagues seventeen-year-old Laurel Anderson when she is confronted about the possibility of not graduating from high school towards the end of her senior year.

A plan was made with friends at a sleepover. But everything goes horribly wrong, and they all vow to keep what happened that night a secret.

Then Laurel meets Jace Messina whose hot and cold attraction toward her becomes intriguing when she takes a chance on an offer from him that she can’t refuse.

But as soon as she starts to have a glimmer of hope, everything falls apart. Bad decisions are not forgotten–especially by someone who has their eye on her for vengeance.

—

EXCERPT:

Laurel sat there quietly eyeing him. “Is that so?” she said after a moment.

Something tugged inside her. The way he stood there looking at her with his autumn green eyes stirred up a tingling feeling. She had to look away from him.

“I just got in,” she said. “I didn’t want to get out yet, you know. I was trying to relax.”

Without thinking about it, she rubbed the side of her neck.

Two Truths and One Liar

Two Truths and One Liar By Deirdre Riordan Hall
Publication date: December 27, 2021
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying with a hint of the Inheritance Games. Like the original whodunnit, Clue, this suspenseful mystery also has three possible endings explaining what could have happened.

They all have secrets. They all have motives. They all tell lies.

Every year, at a prestigious boarding school, Professor Groff hosts the Midnight Masquerade. But this year, before the festivities, he’s discovered dead in his office. Yet six students still receive invitations. The same six students who’re questioned about his murder.

The show must go on. At the Masquerade, two additional students claim to know the truth. The lights go out and when they come back on, one of them is dead. Anyone could’ve been at fault.

Francisca blind in one eye and deadly on the rugby field. Toshi a number ninja and the campus punching bag. Taz who struggles with anxiety and lingers in the shadows. Fish the golden boy hiding wounds and not only in his heart. Caroline the heiress and the image of perfection. Gorgeous George the resident Greek God with nothing to lose.

The six receive anonymous notes, making them question themselves and the assumptions they’ve made about each other. Brought back together, they must prove their innocence before the all-school meeting the next morning, otherwise, they risk humiliation if their secrets are exposed exposed—and worse, if they’re found guilty.

It’s a long night of theft, danger, and threats by a secret society that shows Professor Groff was right during his final lecture.

Everything that can go wrong will.

—

EXCERPT:

Dean Hammond straightens a stack of papers then looks up. With a severe lift to her eyebrow, she scans those of us present, and then says, “Oliver Groff was found dead in his office at 3:22 pm, shortly after his last class of the day.”

A weight in my stomach sinks just as it did when Arpad made the announcement in the dining hall. Questions roll through my mind and collide when the realization hits me full force. He was alive, teaching earlier today, making dire pronouncements about how basically everything sucks.

Boy, was he right. Now, he’s gone.

The circumstances were different the first and second times someone in my life died but the familiar emptiness, the void, vacancy returns—or maybe it never left.

“Yeah, we heard—” George’s tone tells me he wants to say something more about loss and tragedy, something sentimental perhaps, but he’s hard-wired for nonchalance as the campus crush and most likely to smoke, hook up, and skip classes.

Two Truths and One Liar

Two Truths and One Liar By Deirdre Riordan Hall
Publication date: December 28, 2021
Buy Link: Amazon Pre-Order
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying with a hint of the Inheritance Games. Like the original whodunnit, Clue, this suspenseful mystery also has three possible endings explaining what could have happened.

They all have secrets. They all have motives. They all tell lies.

Every year, at a prestigious boarding school, Professor Groff hosts the Midnight Masquerade. But this year, before the festivities, he’s discovered dead in his office. Yet six students still receive invitations. The same six students who’re questioned about his murder.

The show must go on. At the Masquerade, two additional students claim to know the truth. The lights go out and when they come back on, one of them is dead. Anyone could’ve been at fault.

Francisca blind in one eye and deadly on the rugby field. Toshi a number ninja and the campus punching bag. Taz who struggles with anxiety and lingers in the shadows. Fish the golden boy hiding wounds and not only in his heart. Caroline the heiress and the image of perfection. Gorgeous George the resident Greek God with nothing to lose.

The six receive anonymous notes, making them question themselves and the assumptions they’ve made about each other. Brought back together, they must prove their innocence before the all-school meeting the next morning, otherwise, they risk humiliation if their secrets are exposed exposed—and worse, if they’re found guilty.

It’s a long night of theft, danger, and threats by a secret society that shows Professor Groff was right during his final lecture.

Everything that can go wrong will.

What Happened to Coco

What Happened to Coco By VB Furlong
Publication date: December 4, 2021
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

When a girl disappears, long-buried secrets resurface…

Coco is missing. Her room’s a mess, and her phone is left behind in her dorm at Lainsbury Hall School

Ella, Coco’s childhood best friend, is desperate for her to return, although she knows that if she ever sees Coco again, there’ll be a lot of explaining to do.

Bea knows that her new group of friends attracts drama, and she thinks she has the last shred of common sense between them all. Only, if that was true, she would leave Genevieve, her toxic ex, well alone.

Conrad is confident that Coco will return safe and well. Only, the way his secrets are unravelling, he’s worried he won’t be when this is all over.

Harrison and Coco are the perfect couple. Everyone knows that. But looks can be misleading. Even the smartest boy in school can make a terrible mistake.

In order to navigate the web of secrets and lies that Coco leaves behind, her circle of friends needs to unravel a few of their own.

But the question remains: What happened to Coco?

—

EXCERPT:

In the misty darkness lit only by a blue streetlamp, Ella knew that she was not alone. She turned and saw the faceless figure far down the drizzly street. It came towards her at speed. It didn’t seem to be moving, but she knew that it was gaining on her. She started to run, but her legs would not move. She was stuck, as though in quicksand.

When she dared check over her shoulder once again, the figure was only about five steps away, and she could see raspy breaths escape the black silhouette in a wispy white cloud. The scene whirred in front of Ella as she pulled on her legs, sobbing, begging them to move. But they would not. All she could hear was the breathing, slow and rattling, as though it was the figure’s very last. Four. Three. Two.

Pretty Savage

Pretty Savage By T.A. Kunz
Publication date: July 13, 2021
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: LGBTQ+, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

“An intriguing mystery, Pretty Savage is a tension packed, wild journey with engrossing characters. A true page turner.” – #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout

Bad things never happen in the picturesque town of Haddon Falls … until now.

It all starts with a killer party.

It will end with a savage crime spree.

Seniors Donovan Walsh and Drea Sullivan attend a high school party for very different reasons. But after discovering the body of one of their classmates, they find themselves thrust into the same waking nightmare. From that moment, their lives become intertwined in a search for answers to questions they never should have asked.

As bodies pile high, the unlikely pair dig into Haddon Falls’ past and uncover secrets someone would kill to keep hidden. In a small town where every face is friendly and every door unlocked, Donovan and Drea must unravel who is an ally … and who is willing to bury them-and the truth-six feet under.

“Pretty Savage is a gripping, fast-paced YA thriller featuring a savvy gay male protagonist and his kick-ass female counterpart! Readers who love hints of horror with a blood spatter of romance mixed with page-turning mystery will be left gasping by this wicked masterpiece by T.A. Kunz.” -Bestselling and award winning author Raine Thomas

—

EXCERPT:

Donavon

There he is.

Mr. Filthy Chai Tea Latte.

I mean, that’s obviously not his real name. It’s his usual drink order. Chai tea, steamed milk, and two shots of espresso. A rebel’s drink for sure. And since I haven’t gotten up the guts to ask him his name yet, he remains Mr. Filthy Chai Tea Latte.

It’s at times like this I wish we were like most coffee shops and requested a name for each order rather than just the to-gos. But the owner refuses to switch from the ever reliable—his words—order number system. Today, Mr. Filthy is number twenty-one.

Awakening

Awakening By Poppy Williams
Publication date: April 28th 2021
Genres: Suspense, Thriller, Young Adult

Buy Link: Amazon

Every Hero Has a Beginning

Raised by parents who work deep within the U.S. intelligence agency, Zoe Dixon has picked up a few skills along the way.

When her family moves to a new town, Zoe thinks it’s business as usual. But that all changes when a student turns up dead at her new school. Now, after years of keeping a low profile, Zoe has to decide whether she’ll step out of the shadows and use her skills for good.

As she digs deeper, she’ll uncover shocking truths that will change the course of her life forever.

Awakening is book one in the Zoe Dixon Saga. Fans of Marvel’s Black Widow, J.J. Abrams Alias, and Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass, will love this young adult action-packed suspense thriller.

—

EXCERPT:

Zoe quickly washed her face and laced up her shoes before heading down the stairs. She turned right, passing the den, and made her way towards the door underneath the stairs. It was made of solid metal. She reached out, placing her palm against the wood grain to the right side of the door. She could feel the coolness of the hidden scanner that was nestled underneath a thin layer of wood. 

It scanned her prints, and then a small panel slid open, revealing a keypad. Zoe’s fingers moved quickly as she typed in the eighteen-digit code from memory. The code was random, and her father changed it every three days. She heard the lock click and watched as the door slid open. She stepped in and hurried down the stairs as the door closed behind her.

At the bottom of the stairs was a short hallway that led towards the main room, where the walls and floors were covered in dark gray mats. She found Mia sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, waiting.

Book Blitz: Girl with all the Pain

Girl with all the Pain (Aliens, Tequila & Us #4) By Michael Herman
Publication date: February 23, 2018
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
Summary:

Sometimes an ugly duckling becomes more than just a swan. 

In the streets of Santiago, Chile, a young homeless girl named Isabel screams a scream of rage that is the last sound the gang tormenting her ever hears. 

Deep within the city, a family feels her cry and sets out to find her for their sake as well as hers. 

Never straying far from Isabel, Skunk Mountain, a homeless pile of walking filth, visible to only the neighborhood kids, maintains a guardian presence 

that is key to her survival in a world where, beneath the very ground they walk, a dark ancient intelligent entity prepares to unleash forces that will devastate Chile. 

Sometimes that swan has claws and teeth.

_______________________________________

Girl with all the Pain is the first of the Global Invasion Chronicles.

The Aliens, Tequila & Us series is prologue to Girl with all the Pain

_______________________________________

 If you are interested in mass extinction events, Chinchorro mummies, alien creatures, tequila, Pisco Sours, Very Large Telescopes, foreign tongues, evolution theories, witchcraft beliefs, Santiago Chile, underground caves, vineyards, million dollar concept bikes, interstellar space travel, abandoned mines, the Atacama Desert, Russian ATVs, Himmler’s Nazis Lebensborn, predictions of future times, earthquakes, orchids, avatars, and people with mutant powers, then this is the book for you.

Kind reviews go far and help keep up the spirit while I work to bring the second Global Invasion Chronicle to life.

—

EXCERPT:

When the woman strokes Isabel’s black fur, Isabel purrs loudly and makes clicking sounds. She knows she rests between friends who will not allow the ones below the base of the statue to harm her.

The woman looks down at Isabel and says, “At long last, I have found you. You have not been forgotten. You and your people will return. We will end your long-suffering. You will no longer be alone.”

Book Blitz: Pretty Wicked

Pretty Wicked by Kelly Charron
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: September 30, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon
Summary: 

The daughter of a local police detective, fifteen-year-old Ryann has spent most of her life studying how to pull off the most gruesome murders her small Colorado town has ever seen. 

But killing is only part of it. Ryann enjoys being the reason the cops are frenzied. The one who makes the neighbors lock their doors and windows on a hot summer’s day. The one everyone fears but no one suspects. 

Carving out her own murderous legacy proves harder than she predicted. Mistakes start adding up.

And with the police getting closer, and her own father becoming suspicious, Ryann has to prove once and for all that she’s smarter than anyone else—or she’ll pay the ultimate price. 

 ♥ ♥ ♥

Excerpt: 

—

Some people are called to certain things in their life. That’s what hunting is for me. An urge. A desire. The closest thing I have to a calling.

My name is Ryann Wilkanson. I’m fifteen years old.

And I’m a killer.

It was hard to pick my first. Call me sentimental, but it had to be just right.

I knew what I wanted. What I needed. Someone worth the risk, the challenge. Somebody who deserved it. Now, I’m not talking about the horrible, abusive assholes you see on TV. I wanted someone who I thought deserved it…

And to be honest, that could’ve been just about anybody.

Some people might think it’s odd to contemplate killing someone, but it was the most natural thing in the world to me. I didn’t dare talk about it—I somehow knew that much—but my thoughts raced with vivid, red-tinted images.

Book Blitz: Ghost Hope (The PSS Chronicles #4)

Ghost Hope (The PSS Chronicles #4) by Ripley Patton
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Thriller
Release Date: June 15, 2016
Buy Link: Amazon ♥ B&N
Summary:

Olivia Black does not feel safe. Nightmares plague her sleep and haunt her days. If she has to endure one more minute stuck in a safe house in rainy Portland, she’s going to lose it. When Mike Palmer sneaks off to find her sister Kaylee without her, it’s the last straw. She has to do something. 

Then Palmer’s hackers find the Dome on a satellite feed: dark, abandoned and smack in the middle of the Oregon desert three hundred miles from where it started. 

If they can reach it before anyone else, they can crack the computer systems and access every piece of information on PSS the CAMFers and The Hold have ever collected.
But in order to do that, Olivia must return to the origin of her fears in a race against all the forces that have ever pitted themselves against her. 

She must unravel decades of deceit to reveal the true origins of Psyche Sans Soma to the world at last.

♥ ♥ ♥

Previous books in the series:

**Grab Ghost Hand (book 1) for FREE! Plus, book 2 & 3 are on sale for 99cents – until the end of June only!**

EXCERPT:

“Olivia!” My mother’s voice jolted me awake.

I sat up in the rental van’s passenger seat, wiping drool from my cheek. Chase and T-dog’s Westfalia had stopped in front of us at a massive gate rising out of the darkness, topped with barbed wire and sporting several Danger: High Voltage and No Trespassing on Federal Land signs.

We had arrived at Umatilla, and I’d fallen asleep, like I always did in a moving vehicle, before I’d explained to my mother that I’d lied about our destination. We were not on a scenic over-nighter up the Columbia River Gorge. That had just been a cover story.

“Olivia Anne Black,” she said, pointing at the gate. “What is that?”

“Um—I don’t know,” I stammered. “We must have taken a wrong turn.”

“Is this the motel?” Grant asked groggily from the back. It sounded like I wasn’t the only one who’d taken a nap.

“No, it’s not,” my mother answered testily. “What the hell is he doing?”

She was referring to T-Dog, who had gotten out of their van carrying something bulky under his arm. When he set it down and started fiddling with a controller in his hands, I realized it was one of those personal drones. Suddenly, the little thing lit up and went whirling into the air, kicking up dust and flying over the gate.

Book Blitz: They Call Me Alexandra Gastone

They Call Me Alexandra Gastone by T.A. Maclagan
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: May 20, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

When your life is a lie, how do you know what’s real?

Alexandra Gastone has a simple plan: graduate high school, get into Princeton, work for the CIA, and serve her great nation.

She was told the plan back when her name was Milena Rokva, back before the real Alexandra and her family were killed in a car crash.

Milena was trained to be a sleeper agent by Perun, a clandestine organization from her true homeland of Olissa. There, Milena learned everything she needed to infiltrate the life of CIA analyst Albert Gastone, Alexandra’s grandfather, and the ranks of America’s top intelligence agency.

For seven years, “Alexandra” has been on standby and life’s been good. Grandpa Albert loves her, and her strategically chosen boyfriend, Grant, is amazing.

But things are about to change. Perun no longer needs her at the CIA in five years’ time. They need her active now.

Between her cover as a high school girl—juggling a homecoming dance, history reports, and an increasingly suspicious boyfriend—and her mission in this high-stakes spy game, the boundaries of her two lives are beginning to blur.

Will she stay true to the country she barely remembers, or has her loyalty shattered along with her identity?

♥ ♥ ♥
Giveaway:

Book Blitz: The Foxglove Killings

The Foxglove Killings by Tara Kelly
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

Gramps always said that when the crickets were quiet, something bad was coming. And the crickets have been as silent as the dead. It started with the murdered deer in the playground with the unmistakable purple of a foxglove in its mouth. But in the dying boondock town of Emerald Cove, life goes on.

I work at Gramps's diner, and the cakes―the entitled rich kids who vacation here―make our lives hell. My best friend, Alex Pace, is the one person who gets me. Only Alex has changed. He's almost like a stranger now. I can't figure it out...or why I'm having distinctly more-than-friend feelings for him. Ones I shouldn't be having.

Then one of the cakes disappears.

When she turns up murdered, a foxglove in her mouth, a rumor goes around that Alex was the last person seen with her—and everyone but me believes it. Well, everyone except my worst enemy, Jenika Shaw. When Alex goes missing, it's up to us to prove his innocence and uncover the true killer. But the truth will shatter everything I've ever known about myself—and Alex.

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

Mondays at the diner were unpredictable. It was either chaos or a graveyard, no in between. But one thing was certain—Monday nights always brought in the worst kind of crazy. Tonight that crazy came in the form of Paul Cross, town hermit. One of them, anyway. This was the Pacific Northwest.
___
“Miserable people are gonna find misery, Angela,” Gramps said to her. “There’s no point in rolling over and playing dead.” He nodded at me. “Tell that boy to go stick it and be done with it.”

Book Blitz: A Killing Among Friends

A Killing Among Friends by Toni Morrow Wyatt
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: August 10, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Sennie Lacefield has always felt safe at her family’s peaceful mountain lodge . . .

The only break in her tranquil life was the death of her boyfriend Patrick Devon, which left her heartbroken and unable to understand Patrick’s sullen, withdrawn brother Lonnie. But when her best friend Reatha Alcoker disappears, her sense of security is shattered. With the help of Reatha’s boyfriend Milo Durham, she launches a search for her friend.

More girls disappear, and bodies begin turning up . . .

When one of the missing girls is found dead in a swamp with a symbol burned into her forehead, Sennie focuses on her growing list of suspects. She can’t count on help from the lazy, lecherous Sheriff Warford Cackley. She also has suspicions the sheriff’s son Rex and his nasty friend Ottis know more than they’re willing to share.

Someone is watching Sennie’s every move . . .

Refusing to believe Reatha is dead, Sennie and Milo continue their frantic search, and Sennie is plagued with threatening messages. When another girl’s body is discovered, she and Milo visit the site and find evidence that Reatha has also been there. Some aerial photographs might hold a vital clue . . . if they can find them in time.

As Sennie unravels a tangled web of secrets, arson, burglary, and murder, could it be that a desire to help Sennie has warped the mind of a murderer?

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

Wild desperation raged through Sennie. She ran out of her bedroom, down the main lodge staircase, and out onto the porch. The sun shone on the horizon as it started to peek up over the eastern edge of the mountain, turning everything into a pale, yellow haze. 


She bolted across the porch and down the stone steps. Her tears blinded her, and she missed the second step, landing hard on her knees and the palms of her hands. The shock brought her mind to a standstill, and the fear she had been running from caught up to her. She sat on the stone pavers and cried, not because of her bloody knees and palms, but because of the helpless lost urgency coursing through her.

Book Blitz: Out of Control

Out of Control by Sarah Alderson
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

A girl looking to escape her past in New York City ends up on the run from a dangerous conspiracy in this sizzling, high-stakes novel.

When seventeen-year-old Liva came to New York City, all she wanted was to escape the painful memories of her past and finally find a fresh start. Her hopes for a new future were dashed the moment she became the sole witness to a brutal murder. 

When she’s taken into police custody—supposedly for her own protection—she realizes something isn’t right, but it’s too late. Soon, bullets start flying, and Liva realizes that she is not just a witness, but the target—and she needs to escape before it’s too late.

With the help of a sexy car thief that she met at the station, Liva manages to get away from the massacre unharmed, but now the two of them are alone in New York, trying to outrun and outwit the two killers who will stop at nothing to find them. Liva and Jay are living on the edge, but when you’re on the edge, there’s a long way to fall.

♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

The boy snatches the key from my outstretched hand and jams it into the tiny hole. The cuff springs apart, freeing him. Instantly, he throws himself on top of me. ‘Get down!’

A bullet smacks itself into a filing cabinet just behind us as we tumble to the ground. His chest presses down on mine, my face is buried in his shoulder. Quickly he rolls off me and pushes me towards a desk. I scoot underneath it, banging the side of my head on the sharp metal corner of a drawer unit. I let out a cry.

‘Shhh.’ His hand clamps over my mouth.

I tug his arm away. ‘What’s going on? What’s happening?’ I whisper.

Before he can answer me, the shooting stops and a silence falls that is even more terrifying than the gunfire. The boy and I both freeze, staring at each other unblinking, just a few millimetres between us. Together, enclosed in the tight space beneath the desk, we strain to listen, and over the radio static and the whir of the air conditioner overhead, I pick out faint cries coming from somewhere in the distance; the unnatural keening howl of a wounded animal.

Book Blitz: The Silence of Six

The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: November 5, 2014
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

“What is the silence of six, and what are you going to do about it?”

These are the last words uttered by 17-year-old Max Stein’s best friend, Evan: Just moments after hacking into the live-streaming Presidential debate at their high school, he kills himself.

Haunted by the image of Evan’s death, Max’s entire world turns upside down as he suddenly finds himself the target of a corporate-government witch-hunt. Fearing for his life and fighting to prove his own innocence, Max goes on the run with no one to trust and too many unanswered questions.

Max must dust off his own hacking skills and maneuver the dangerous labyrinth of underground hacktivist networks, ever-shifting alliances, and virtual identities — all while hoping to find the truth behind the “Silence of Six” before it’s too late.

♥ ♥ ♥
Trailer

Review: Before They Find Us

Before They Find Us by Michelle A. Hansen
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: November 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

I’m going to make you wish you were dead. Just a text. Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Hales tries not to worry. Probably a wrong number. 

Not really meant for her, and definitely not related to the crime she witnessed six years ago. Right? Then two states away, a bomb goes off in her best friend's locker. Soon Ryan is labeled a terrorist and runs to the safest place he knows—Rebecca’s house in small-town Wyoming. 

It doesn’t take long for the FBI to show up asking questions. Rebecca lies, of course, and says she hasn’t seen him. Now she's neck-deep in it with him, whatever "it" is. The only way out is to return to Vegas, where Ryan is a wanted man. The city of lies and illusion tests Rebecca’s wits as she struggles to find the person who framed Ryan and why. 

Is Rebecca’s text linked to the bombing? And what does it have to do with a six year old murder? Rebecca needs to find out before she loses Ryan—and her own life.

♥ ♥ ♥
"Before They Find Us" by Michelle A. Hansen was one of those books that I literally could not put down. It was such a page turner that I was up until two in the morning because I was determined to finish it and see the end of Rebecca and Ryan's journey before I went to bed.

The book starts off with a Prologue that seems out of place, until you realize who the characters were and what they were planning. Starting the book this way shows the reader that there is an elaborate plan about to go down, and our main characters are going to be at the heart of it. We are clued in right away to the fact that this is going to be a book with some twists and turns that will leave us at the edge of our seat.

I really enjoyed the main character, Rebecca. The main story was told in her point of view, and Hansen did a great job of making a well rounded character out of her. She has suffered from nightmares since she witnessed something traumatic when she was younger (and is still living with some of the repercussions), but that doesn't turn her into a complete basket case.

Cover Reveal: Peaceful Genocide

Peaceful Genocide by J.A. Reynolds
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller,
Release Date: November 25, 2013
Book Description:

Seventeen-year-old Mitzi and Deuce can recall how many drops of water were on a leaf from a rainstorm five years ago and conversations from last week, month, or year. They have the ability to remember every second of everyday—since birth.

This gift has blessed Mitzi with a history of being sexually assaulted by researchers and abused by her own parents. She trusts no one. Likes no one. Deuce, however, is a high school standout. His gift has made him a superstar on the football field and his memory promises him endless opportunities.

Book Blitz: Breaking Glass

Breaking Glass by Lisa Amowitz
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: July 9, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ B & N

Book Description:

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears.

When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he's not sure whether they're real or if he's losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.



♥ ♥ ♥
Excerpt:

“So where is he?” She cranes her neck, trying to spot Ryan in the crowd. Heart pounding, my mind hiccups through its storehouse of facts. I reposition myself to block her view. There’s no time to try texting Ryan a warning.

I could tell Susannah. Tell her how Ryan has been sneaking around behind her back for over a year, even hooking up with two college juniors in a motel room during one of our out of town meets. But defying the Morgan machine by pointing this out takes too much energy. Instead I blurt, “Did you realize the Watch Hill carousel was once part of a traveling carnival?”

She laughs and shakes her head. “What? Jeremy, sometimes you can be such a--”

But her voice trails off as her gaze wanders past mine, her smile crumpling like a paper bag. I follow her line of sight and I know this is it. The crowd has thinned around Ryan, enough for her to see him with his mouth smashed against Claudia’s.

Promotional Event: Alexander Drake's Extraordinary Pursuit

Alexander Drake's Extraordinary Pursuit by Elizabeth Parkinson Bellows
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

Meet Alexander Drake, a curious young man living in a drab, oversized mansion with his secretive father. He spent his days playing alone. In the back of his mind he wondered what happened to his mother, and why his father was tight-lipped about the past; but secrets have a way of getting out.

It all started with a stay at his grandmother’s cottage. Alexander found strange clues tucked away in his father’s old bedroom. With a mysterious key and several maps in his pack he set off on an innocent search for answers about his family.

When he discovered a secret passageway the search took a dramatic turn. He suddenly worried about what was searching for him. Alexander was being hunted by a sorcerer from his father’s past. Answers lead to more questions and the journey of his life.

Review: Hysteria

Hysteria by Megan Miranda
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Young Adult: Psychological Thriller
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon ♥ Book Depository

Book Description:

Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can't remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn't charged. But Mallory still feels Brian's presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past. But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others.

In another riveting tale of life and death, Megan Miranda's masterful storytelling brings readers along for a ride to the edge of sanity and back again.

♥ ♥ ♥
This book was a fascinating read. I’ve read a lot of negative reviews about it, and while I can kind of see where the other reviewers are coming from with some of their statements, I actually did like this novel. Maybe, though, I didn’t like it for the right reasons. Let me preface the rest of this review by stating that I work at a domestic violence shelter, so I’m extremely familiar with the cycle of violence.