Review: Remnants by Carolyn Arnold

Title: Remnants (Brandon Fisher FBI Series #6)

Author: Carolyn Arnold
Publisher: Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc.
Publication Date: April 11, 2017
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, FBI, Procedural
GoodReads Description
All that remains are whispers of the past…

I received an eARC of the novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

When multiple body parts are recovered from the Little Ogeechee River in Savannah, Georgia, local law enforcement calls in FBI agent and profiler Brandon Fisher and his team to investigate. But with the remains pointing to three separate victims, this isn’t proving to be an open-and-shut case.

With no quick means of identifying the deceased, building a profile of this serial killer is more challenging than usual. How are these targets being selected? Why are their limbs being severed and their bodies mutilated? And what is it about them that is triggering this person to murder?

The questions compound as the body count continues to rise, and when a torso painted blue and missing its heart is found, the case takes an even darker turn. But this is only the beginning, and these new leads draw the FBI into a creepy psychological nightmare. One thing is clear, though: The killing isn’t going to stop until they figure it all out. And they are running out of time…

My Thoughts

There is nothing worse than not starting a series with the first book.  Nothing.  Not even watching your OTP split up is worse than the pain of starting a series with any other book than the first.  I am always wary when publishers tell me that I can read their books as a standalone.  To be honest, it was for that reason that I was not expecting to enjoy Remnants as much as I could have.  I was pretty happy to be wrong.  This is definitely a standalone novel, even though it is the sixth installment in the series!

I LOVED Brandon Fisher!  He is definitely a character that warmed my heart and opened my eyes a bit to more of humanity.  As a female, it's pretty easy to think of love and loneliness through "female" eyes.  It was very refreshing to see these topics written about in such a strong way from the male perspective.  Not only did I watch the amazingly well-written development of Brandon Fisher, but of the rest of his team.  Arnold's use of character development definitely helped her to grow this novel from only a procedural book to a true journey filled with real people.

I also loved that her mystery was not easy to solve.  Sometimes, books can be far too predictable.  I spent the entire flipping book thinking, "Oh!  It has to be this guy!"  But then it wasn't.  So I'd find another character.  "It's him this time!  I'm right!  I have to be"  And, I wasn't.  There was no way I could have seen that conclusion.  But, when I thought back to the plot and all of the descriptions, it made total sense.  I love that Arnold made the intelligent effort to put herself into the minds of her audience to best lead them astray.

I am having a hard time critiquing this novel.  I WILL be reading the entire series (in order, of course) and I WILL make sure that I have a copy of each.  Brandon Fisher is the Bones of the average man, or woman, and I look forward to enjoying the entirety of his saga.

My Rating

About the Author

Carolyn Arnold is the international bestselling and award-winning author of the Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher, and McKinley Mystery series. She is the only author with POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.

Carolyn was born in a small town, but that never kept her from dreaming big. On par with her large dreams is her overactive imagination that conjures up killers and cases to solve. She currently lives outside Toronto with her husband and beagle. She is also a member of Crime Writers of Canada.

                                                    For more information and a FREE book offer, visit her website:

www.carolynarnold.net

Website: www.carolynarnold.net

Facebook: facebook.com/authorcarolynarnold

Twitter: twitter.com/carolyn_arnold

Review: Lemoncella Cocktail

Title: Lemoncella Cocktail
Author: Rene Natan
Publication Date: July 11, 2016
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Rating: 3/5 "It was OK."

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

GoodReads Description
Because of his troubled past, twenty-five-year-old Patrick Carter is determined to live a life without confrontation. A lifeguard by day and a bartender by night, he's content with his care-free daily routine, whiling away the summer on the shores of Lake Huron in southern Ontario.

But one day, as he walks along the Ausable River on his way home, a cry for help makes him plunge into the river's strong current and pull fourteen-year-old Samantha McLeod to safety. Samantha, believed to be a witness to a massive weapons exchange, is marked to death by ruthless arms dealers-along with the man who saved her.

A task force, established to safeguard the country against terrorist attacks, hunts down Oscar Calander, responsible for the weapons trade that is spreading from the Yukon to Ontario. They don't spare efforts or technological advances, even using drones in the attempt to destroy the deadly traffic.

Patrick Carter is not keen on cooperating with the task force, reluctant to move from his comfort zone to a world of suspicion and violence. He wavers-and his hesitation could be costly.

My Thoughts

Uffda.  I hate giving books less than 4/5.  It makes me feel like a bad guy.  Overall, I genuinely enjoyed the story.  However, I refuse to promise my honesty and then not give it.  So, let's start with the positives... 

First, I loved the McLeod family.  I really thought that they were mostly believable and that they worked really well as a family unit.  They felt pain and joy together, but still had their unique problems and quirky moments.  If everything would have been cheery all the time or sad all the time, this family would not have worked well.  As that was not the case, I think it worked out superbly.

I also loved being able to see from the point of view of the bad guys.  I really didn't expect the villains to be as well-devloped as the victims and was impressed by this level of characterization.

There were a few places where the timeline wasn't quite spot on.  This made it difficult to follow from time to time. Overall, I was able to make sense out of it even if it was difficult in a few places.

Where I had the most trouble, however, was that Natan didn't seem to know her own character's names.  At one point, she refers to the McLeod family as the McLean family and is talking about Patrick attending kindergarten when it is Justin who is the student.  Additionally, I found a large number of typographical errors.  I'm not sure if these were due to the formatting change from computer to kindle, or if they are genuinely in the book.

After stating so many negative things, I want to reiterate that I truly enjoyed the story.  Natan has a wonderful way of presenting her story.  I just wish that some of the finer details had been more polished before it was sent to me for review.  Those small things can make a huge difference to the readability of the novel.

                                                                                                About the Author

I always wanted to be a storyteller. At recess time I gathered some of my schoolmates and entertain them with stories—some of my own, others just summaries of books I read. My life, however, took a different turn, and I ended up following a career in information technology (as Professor Irene Gargantini). This over, I reverted to my old passion: plotting intrigues and mysteries and creating romantic or passionate encounters. I took several e-courses on fiction writing and began jotting down my tales. So far I have written nine novels, several short stories and co-authored a novella. The genre varies from romantic suspense (Mountains of Dawn, The Collage, The Loves and Tribulations of Detective Stephen Carlton, The Woman in Black, The Red Manor) to thriller (The Jungfrau Watch, The Blackpox Threat, The Bricklayer, Fleeting Visions).

Two Mini-Reviews! A Poem and Short Story by S. M. Boyce

Good morning!

A few weeks ago, I was introduced to S. M. Boyce's work.  I was a little bit apprehensive at first.  However, I am glad that I gave her a chance.



To start out, let me tell you a bit about her poem A Life for Sale.  This poem tells the story of a woman with a final, mournful wish for the living, told through the guise of an estate sale. I felt that this poem was beautifully written. Boyce uses personification and imagery to bring this story to life.  Additionally, this poem has a very haunting tone that forces you to think about the theme and the life of the woman discussed.  


After reading A Life for Sale, I was feeling pretty good about reading her work.  I loved that she had her own style and a wonderful personal flair that really brought her poem to life.  But, I still wondered what she could do with prose.





To answer my question, I read Origins: To Each His Ghost.  This short story describes a woman's troubles and the dangerous situations she encounters after ignoring her own good ghost.  I was blown away by Boyce's use of description and characterization. Although she relies on flashbacks to fill in the missing gaps,  The flashbacks, however, were wonderfully placed.  She only used them when they would truly add to the story.

I currently have her book Lichgates on my TBR.  While it may take some time before I am able to read it, I am seriously excited for the opportunity!

About S. M. Boyce

I’m S. M. Boyce, a lifelong writer with a knack for discovering adventure and magic.  

Review: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

Title: The Wolf Road
Author: Beth Lewis
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Publication Date: June 30, 2016
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
Rating: 4/5 "I Liked It"
Buy it on Amazon!


I received an ARC of this novel from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Description from GoodReads
A debut literary thriller from an incredible new voice. What do you do when the man who gave you everything turns out to be a killer? 

Everything Elka knows of the world she learned from the man she calls Trapper, the solitary hunter who took her under his wing when she was just seven years old.

But when Elka sees the Wanted poster in town, her simple existence is shattered. Her Trapper – Kreagar Hallet – is wanted for murder. Even worse, Magistrate Lyon is hot on his trail, and she wants to talk to Elka.

Elka flees into the vast wilderness, determined to find her true parents. But Lyon is never far behind – and she’s not the only one following Elka’s every move. There will be a reckoning, one that will push friendships to the limit and force Elka to confront the dark memories of her past.

My Thoughts
When most of the girls in my class turned nine, they either ignored reading all together or chose Nancy Drew books.  I, on the contrary, headed straight for Stephen King.  When Beth Lewis was described to me as very similar to Stephen King, I could not resist the chance to review it.  I am still stunned.  Let me tell you why.

First, Beth Lewis knows how to make her readers fall in love with her characters.  Elka is so realistic that you feel all of the pain that she goes through.  You genuinely WANT to see something amazing happen for her.  You cheer her on.  You feel her triumphs as wonderfully as she does. And, you feel her defeat and devastation slap you upside the head with a million bricks right along with her.  For a long time, I was pretty angry about the way that Lewis handles this.  After all, most audiences want to see something good happen to the main character.  HOWEVER, now that I've finished it, Lewis was completely right to do so.  It adds to the suspense and the pain of the conclusion in a way that could not have been done had she approached characterization from any other angle.

Second, Lewis masterfully grosses out her audience.  YUCK.  I love Stephen King, as previously stated, but you expect gore, cannibalism, and much more from him.  While I expected some of these things from Lewis, I did not expect her to take them to the extreme that she does.  It's wonderful, but yet cringe-worthy.  I'll be honest, I cringed aloud when I found the twist.

If I could, I would only rate this novel on the above criteria.  I would give her a 4/5 and be on my merry way.  But, I promised an honest review.  Here is how The Wolf Road lost its point and received a 3.

This book is beyond confusing.  Yes, the author wants to make the audience feel as confused as Elka feels.  Yes, this is a suspense/thriller and in this particular genre, it is OK to slowly eek out details to your audience.  I felt that I spent way too much time trying to figure out what the heck Lewis was trying to hint at.  I knew that she was trying to encourage me to make predictions, but I wasn't sure what information I was supposed to use to do so.  I wasn't even sure if I had all of the information required to make the necessary predictions.

Final Thoughts
Even though The Wolf Road lost one point for being mildly confusing, I look forward to reading Lewis' future work.  I am sure that this is one author whose style we will see develop and grow into something amazing over time.


                                                                               About the Author
Beth Lewis is a managing editor at Titan Books in London. She was raised in the wilds of Cornwall and split her childhood between books and the beach. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and has had close encounters with black bears, killer whales, and great white sharks. She has been a bank cashier, a fire performer, and a juggler.

http://www.bethlewis.co.uk