Another standalone by Kerry Wilkinson. Lucy has a routine and the 24 bus is part of it. She gets on each day to get to work, but rarely pays any attention to fellow passengers. Today, things are not so routine, when she leaves the bus her purse feels a little different--because someone has stuffed an envelope with thousands of pounds into her purse.
Lucy has spent years paying off debts incurred in her name by her boyfriend. She only discovered this when Ben dies in a train crash; now she is bitter, but determined to pay the debts. How could she not have known the man she loved and planned to marry better?
She will turn the money in the envelope over to the police. She will. But first she will wait and see if anything develops, if someone notifies the bus company of a loss or posts a flyer.
Then she spends a little. Then a little more--on necessities and on helping others. Disturbing phone hang ups. A date with a man she met online. The apartment across from her begins playing her favorite song, but no one has seen the occupant.
This is not my favorite by Wilkinson, but he has a fairly high-standard to live up to, and A Face in the Crowd is still an intriguing mystery with some twists and red herrings. His Jessica Daniel series remains my favorite, but I haven't read anything by him that didn't keep me engrossed.
Review scheduled for May 24.
NetGalley/Bookouture
Mystery. June 6, 2019. Print length: 295 pages.
I didn't realize that I'd forgotten to review A Merciful Fate which I read in March or April as part of the Mercy Kilpatric series. Mercy is both an FBI agent and a prepper. I've reviewed the first four books, but somehow skipped this one.
Poor Ollie finds a skeleton in the woods that is associated with a 30-year-old armored-car robbery. Only one robber was arrested, the other four got away and the money was never found.
With a definite connection to Eagle's Nest, Mercy suspects that maybe one or more of the folks she knows may be one of the robbers that escaped.
Truman is dealing with two cases of harassment and vandalism against two local women. A tabloid reporter who has been stirring things up is murdered.
Someone Mercy and Truman knows has built a new life in the three decades since the robbery and is determined to remain secret.
NetGalley/Montlake Romance
Mystery/Suspense. January, 2019. Print length: 359 pages.
The sixth book in the Mercy Kilpatrick series has Mercy going undercover, reluctantly, into a radical militant group. She is a last minute replacement because the ATF agent assigned to the mission has shingles. No time to prep thoroughly, Mercy gets dropped in with little information to help her navigate the dangers.
Truman is dealing with a puzzling body dumped on Britta's property. The body is in Detective Evan Bolton's jurisdiction, and as the investigation continues, it turns out there have been similar execution-style body dumps.
The Mercy Kilpatrick series is concluded with A Merciful Promise, which is a little disappointing, but understandable. I'd like to see more of Britta, her trauma and personality have been covered in earlier books, and I also like Detective Evan Bolton. There are other characters, too, that I'd like to see more of even if Mercy and Truman are no longer main characters.
Hopefully, Elliot will not completely abandon the Eagle's Nest setting completely.
NetGalley/Montlake Romance
Suspense. June 18, 2019. Print length: 359 pages.
The Last One by Alexandra Oliva is a cross between a reality survivor show and a genuine catastrophe, a pandemic of which the contestants and even the crew in their isolation are unaware. The illness is widespread and rapid, and people die so quickly that there is little apprehension or appreciation of the danger until the population is decimated.
Twelve contestants, who have been given short epithets connected to their careers (Doctor, Tracker, Waitress, Engineer, Zoo), have been chosen to participate in a reality show that will challenge them mentally and physically. They are all secluded in a wilderness area and unaware of what is going on in the outside world.
The story alternates between the chapters about the challenges the contestants face and the POV of Zoo, a young woman who wants a last big challenge before she and her husband settle down to start a family.
There is unnecessary confusion about who the contestants are. Zoo will refer to them sometimes by the reality show moniker and sometimes by their real names. Eventually, some of the characters become clearer, but this uncertainty prevents a real connection to most of the contestants.
Everything from the reasons the contestants have been chosen, the names assigned to them, the way the film is edited to present a particular point of view and "good television"(regardless of the context). Incidents are scripted, staged, and amended. In the meantime, Oliva does the same to her readers, keeping them off-balance.
Eventually, Zoo continues alone in what she believes is a solo challenge. The stress of the various challenges, an illness she believes the result of polluted water, lack of food, and lack of rest have diminished her ability to reason well, but she refuses to say the words the producers gave the contestants that would signal her desire to quit. She is determined to finish, and she keeps walking, using every skill at her disposal. Any question she may have about the changes she sees, she attributes to the show's script, to props, to the theatrical exploitation of both contestants and audience.
An absorbing glimpse at the way we are manipulated by media (more obviously by reality shows--but only slightly more subtly by press, propaganda, and politics).
A couple of things did bother me, but they would be spoilers, so I'll ignore them for this review.
Review scheduled for June 27, 2016.
NetGalley/Random House/Ballentine
Suspense/Post-Apocalyptic. July 12, 2016. Print length: 304 pages.
