Category Archives: Mystery/Thriller

A Patriot’s Betrayal

The Book Ends Reviews avatarPosted on by

by Andrew Clawson

Product Description:

The last thing Parker Chase expected to find after burying his murdered uncle was a cryptic letter from the dead man. Parker realizes that his death was far more than a robbery gone bad, and soon finds himself pursued by the very men who killed his uncle. Joined by his brilliant ex-girlfriend, Parker fights to stay one step ahead of a shadowy organization hell-bent on silencing him forever.

Desperate to discover why his uncle died, Parker realizes that he had uncovered information about a centuries old mystery involving America’s Founding Fathers. Soon both the CIA and police join the death-dealing group of murderers in the chase to capture Parker, who must run for his life while unraveling the greatest conspiracy in American history.

My take:

“A Patriot’s Betrayal” is a brilliant debut novel and clearly a 5-star read.  This is my first experience reading Andrew Clawson’s writing, I must say it was extraordinary in every way; it inspires me to read more of his writings.  The characters were well developed and authentically true to life.  The story was incredible, realistic, and historically intriguing.  “A Patriot’s Betrayal” did remind me of the movie “National Treasure” with Nichols Cage; maybe it was the similarities of the clues that lead Parker and Erika down the path to find the reason behind the murder of Parker’s Uncle Joe.

“A Patriot’s Betrayal” will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

Share

Running Dark

The Book Ends Reviews Posted on by

Running Dark by Jamie Freveletti

Running Dark: A Novel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

“From internationally bestselling author Jamie Freveletti comes a riveting new thriller featuring brilliant biochemist Emma Caldridge, except this time there’s nowhere to run. . . .

Emma Caldridge is on mile thirty-six of the fifty-five-mile Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa when a roadside car bomb explodes. Dazed and disoriented, she regains consciousness after the blast to find a man standing over her with a white plastic injector. She feels the prick of a needle and the rush of medication under her skin, but before she can make a sound, the man is gone.

Shaken by the event and unsure of what substance was pumped into her, Emma calls the one person who can help her figure things out: Edward Banner of the security company Darkview. But Banner has his hands full with another emergency: Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden have attacked a cruise ship, and Darkview has been hired to assist with the rescue.”

My take,

The book starts off with a “bang” with the roadside bomb that throws Emma Caldridge to the ground and she is approached and stuck with an object that looks like an epi-pen. She is able to get herself to her feet and is compelled to finish the race at breakneck speeds considering the injuries she sustained in the blast. She is very concerned with what might have been injected into her at the bombing site and proceeds to do testing to diagnose the substance. While this is going on Cameron Sumner (a coworker) is on a cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden and pirates proceed to overtake the ship and Cameron is forced to expose his identity to help protect the cruise ship and its occupants from the pirates.

Edward Banner is the head of Darkview which is a security company that was hired to protect areas of the Gulf of Aden and convinces Emma Caldridge to sneak onto the cruise ship and help Cameron Sumner. Emma’s main objective is to determine what the cargo is and how dangerous it may be to the world.

I won this book in the Librarything.com Early Reviewers Giveaway. This is the first book by Jamie Freveletti that I’ve read. I had heard great things about her first book “Running with the Devil” but did not have the opportunity to read it. As I read “Running Dark” there were some areas that probably would have been better understood had I read her first book. There were also times while reading Running Dark that things seem to be cut short or left hanging or unfinished. I hope that some day I will have the opportunity to read her first book and then read Running Dark and maybe things will come to light.

Share

The Wake of Forgiveness

The Book Ends Reviews Posted on by

The Wake of Forgiveness:

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” Paul Boese

What a fantastic debut novel, this begins in the late 1800’s with the birth of Vaclav Skala fourth son, Karel, and the death of his loving wife Klara during childbirth. We then jump to 1910 where Vaclav uses his four sons as he would horses to plow his fields. Vaclav keeps his horses rested and ready to race, the prize is a bet on a parcel of land. His youngest, Karel, is the rider in the race and he hasn’t lost yet, that is until Guillermi Villasenor shows up with his three daughters. Villasenor has come to find his daughters a husband. Vaclav’s three oldest sons are very pleased with what they see and are ready to marry them.

Villasenor challenges Vaclav to a race for a parcel of Vaclav’s land. The race is set and Karel, his youngest son, and Graciela Villasenor’s daughter will race her horse against Karel. The race will not turn out the way Vaclav expects as Karel loses to Graciela.

Now Vaclav is upset that Karel has lost and a fight ensues between Vaclav and his four sons. The three older sons fight against Vaclav and Karel. This fight causes a great strain on the relationship between Vaclav and his three older sons. It seems that Vaclav has much stronger feelings for Karel and Karel stays with and learns from his father as well as takes care of him until his untimely death.

Karel has married Sophie and has two daughters. Sophie is pregnant with their third child. Karel becomes a proud father of a baby boy. It seems that Karel is much closer to his children than his father was with him and his brothers.

The story jumps between the past and the future to encompass the way things were as they were growing up and what they’ve become in the future as adults.

What was once a seemingly happy family turns into a very strained relationship for all and as the book progresses a tragic turn of events brings the brothers and their wives back together.

The author did exceptionally well with the writing of this debut novel. I always felt that I was right there entwined in the events as they unfolded. I never lost interest as I read and highly recommend this book and will read other books authored by Bruce Machart.

Share

Hanged to Death

The Book Ends Reviews Posted on by

Hanged to Death:  A Museum Mystery by Ellis Drake

Product Description

When Rachel takes a college internship at a museum, all she expects to do is help with exhibits. What she doesn’t expect is to find her boss murdered.

The list of suspects includes a cranky museum director, a sweet administrative assistant, and a know-it-all board member. Throw in a cute detective who plans on shutting down Rachel’s exhibit unless the murderer is found, and you have one college intern who might just be in over her head. However, the show must go on, and Rachel finds herself getting more than college credit to find out who killed her boss.

My Take

This is a short story of a museum intern that gets more than she bargained for to earn her college credit.  It should have been a slam dunk.  I enjoyed reading this novella and felt the characters were memorable and believable.  If you’re looking for something to do for about 45 minutes you should give this a try.  At the time of this writing this novella was .99 at Amazon.com.

If you found this review helpful, please click here and select yes on the amazon.com review page.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Based Upon a Review Copy, I have a material connection because I received a review copy (book, CD, software, etc.), or an item of nominal value that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Share