Book Review - This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

 

'

Nearly twenty-five years ago, Eve Knox, a young sixteen-year-old is found dead in the caves near her home in Grotto, Iowa. Eve's body was discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and Eve's sister, Nola. The police have a handful of suspects including Eve's boyfriend, Nick, but they lack solid evidence to convict anyone. The case has gone cold for years until one eventful day.

Maggie has been haunted by Eve's death and finding her body. Maggie is now a detective and seven months pregnant when she is thrust back to that night when new evidence emerges. Maggie is assigned to the case when it is reopened. As she begins to investigate, she discovers that someone knows more than they are letting on and they will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

I was really torn while reading this book. I didn't care for any of the characters and I didn't find the plot to be believable. When reading the book, I had a hard time believing Maggie was a detective. There was an incident that happened to her and it was never explained who was behind it and the book just chalked it up as "we will never know".  And then one of her neighbors in the community, she knows they are a pedophile that targets young girls and she knows that people like that never change but, she does nothing to try and stop it. The novel moves very slowly until a "bombshell" is dropped but, even then it doesn't redeem this tedious book.

Book Review - The Memory House by Rachel Hauck

Photo Credit - Amazon

Beck Holiday is still reeling eighteen years later over the death of her beloved father. She and her mother lost him during the attacks on 9/11. She can no longer remember him and lost most of her memories of him. Recently, Beck was suspended for police misconduct with a suspect. She is struggling to get her life back in order especially, with life alternating secret. She is unsure what her next steps in life should be.

When Beck receives a mysterious letter in the main alerting her of an inheritance from a woman she doesn't remember, she is confused but, takes it as a sign. She travels to the northern coast of Florida to view the house she inherited. During her stay in Florida, Beck realizes that there are some things she can't forget forever. Will the trip be able to heal her heart and restore her memories?

I have a few books from Rachel Hauck on my TBR pile. Out of the three, I decided to start with this novel first. Boy, was I sadly disappointed. The book was told from the perspective of four different people who all share a connection with the house. They all had a connection with each other. I was hardly able to build a bond or connection with any of the characters. More than 75% into the book, I lost interest in the book. There was nothing interesting going on that warranted me to waste more time reading this novel.  I think some portion of the book was poorly written and felt choppy in some parts. For example, when Beck experience a flashback of her memories and Beck believes God is speaking to her, she stumbles around into Bruno's childhood home. Then Bruno and his mother were talking about her and the incident like she can't overhear them and it's an everyday occurrence. I am not sure why, but that whole incident just felt weird to me. Overall, the storyline did not grab me enough to want to finish this novel.

 **Disclosure - I received a free  copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no any extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Book Review - Curse of the Ancients by Hawk MacKinney + Giveaway

Craige Ingram and Grayson MacGerald are a part of special elite SpecOps SEAL team. The duo is used to the sight and smells of a dead body. However, when Grayson and Craige are called into a police investigation with a victim found dead, something doesn't quite smell right. When Mihály Keaulescu invites Craige to once in a life search for ancient artifact, things might end up deadly. Will Craige be able to escape?

The book had an interesting premise but I found it very hard to get into. I felt like it had too much military lingo to be enjoyable. I also felt like I didn't understand how some of the scenes changed. The book is about an interesting topic but the writing style made it hard for me.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Details:

Book Title: Curse of the Ancients by Hawk MacKinney
Series: The Moccasin Hollow Series Book 3
Category: Adult Fiction, 278 pages
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Sage Words Publishing
Release date: April 2018

Content Rating: R (This book is rated R for explicit murder scenes.)

Book Description:

As Craige Ingram climbed the stairs of the derelict building, that peculiar stench of a dead body hit him. It was the same smell no matter where—SpecOps SEAL encounter gone sour, or in a vacant, roach-infested apartment. Inside, his SEAL buddy-turned head of Buckingham Parish Homicide’s Investigative Support Division, Grayson MacGerald, was huddled with the coroner next to a swollen decaying corpse that was days old and hardly more than oozing dead meat.

The PI inside Craige had a gut feeling that there was more to this than a dead body, and Craige’s Grannie always told him, “Trust your feelin’s.” But that was before Mihály Keaulescu set down two of his Black Falcon choppers on Craige’s Moccasin Hollow private airstrip in an uninvited stopover. It got worse. From his airstrip to Israel, to Turkey and a nightmare-dream of one-of-a-kind ancient artifacts that not only threatened the serene life Craige knew and loved at Moccasin Hollow, it would destroy the world.

Buy the Book:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Add to Goodreads

Watch the book trailer:

Meet the Author:

With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions at several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to his work in classrooms and laboratories, he has written numerous professional articles on chordate neuroembryology and authored several novels that reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his protagonist in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Hidden Vault of Secrets and Westobou Gold, Books 1 and 2 in the series, have received national and international attention. Hawk is also writing a science fiction series, The Cairns of Sainctuarie.

Connect with the author: Website

Enter the Giveaway!

Ends on June 23, 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway