No One Knows ~ J.T. Ellison (earc) review [@GalleryBooks @thrillerchick #NoOneKnows]

No One Knows
Gallery Books
March 22, 2016
368 pages
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In an obsessive mystery as thrilling as The Girl on the Train and The Husband’s Secret, New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison will make you question every twist in her page-turning novel—and wonder which of her vividly drawn characters you should trust.

The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage—they were happy, weren’t they?—screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?

In No One Knows, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. This masterful thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins will pull readers into a you’ll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops…no one knows

No One Knows gives you a thrilling mystery full of turns in an excellent way. From the beginning we know what Josh Hamilton, Aubrey's husband, missing for one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five days, has been officially declared dead. We know that he never made it to his friend's bachelor party, was never seen again. What we don't know is what happened to Josh.

Aubrey and her mother-in-law (former mother-in-law?) Daisy are our main characters in the present. They are fantastically different. Each cares for Josh, loves and misses him incredibly; how they feel about each other on the other hand . . .

In No One Knows we go back and forth in time and with different narrators. It really allows us to see who the different characters are, what their past (both the parts that overlap and those that don't) was like and seems to, sometimes, give us more insight into what happened the night Josh vanished.

The one thing I did dislike about the book was the several instances of drunken sex - usually with the girl/woman either the only one drunk of significantly more so. There's an argument that each was necessary for the plot and/or character but . . . It's one of my things.

I have to say that from the beginning I could barely stand Daisy. It's clear that she loves her son but the way that manifests - how she feels about Aubrey, how she treats others, the things we learn from the past about her - is not right. At times it was almost an inverse Oedipus complex (whatever that'd be called). J.T. Ellison does do a brilliant job keeping her a difficult, hard to like character but also showing us more of her history and some of her 'why's.

I loved that things that, in the beginning, were innocuous and innocent sounding, things that you hardly noticed or paid any mind, often took on more weight and were seen in a different light as the story unfolded.  At the outset, Aubrey is Josh's wife, technically now his widow and Daisy is his mother. As we read, we find out just what each of those roles may have meant for and to them (and Josh).

The characters, the events of that night, who did what and when, why they did what they did (or didn't do), all leaves you guessing - and often second guessing - things right up until the very, very end.

"Enthralling! Ellison's twisty, turny thriller is my kind of novel; interesting characters, complex plotting, and an ending you'll never see coming. Suspense at its finest!" Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Find Her






digital copy received for review, via NetGalley, from publisher

What Lies Behind ~ JT Ellison (earc) review [@thrillerchick @HarlequinBooks]

What Lies Behind (Dr Samantha Owens #4)
Mira
May 26, 2015
400 pages
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* My reviews of Dr Samantha Owens Books 1-3 and the Taylor Jackson series 1-7 *

Critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author J. T. Ellison delivers another riveting novel featuring the incomparable Dr. Samantha Owens

Waking to sirens in the night is hardly unusual for Samantha Owens. No longer a medical examiner, she doesn't lose sleep over them, but a routine police investigation in her neighborhood has her curious. When her homicide detective friend, Darren Fletcher, invites her to look over the evidence, she jumps at the chance and immediately realizes the crime scene has been staged. What seems to be a clear case of murder/suicide—a crime of passion—is anything but. The discovery of toxic substances in hidden vials indicates that something much more sinister is at play…

As Fletch and Sam try to understand what and who they are dealing with, they are summoned to a meeting at the State Department. High-level officials are interested in what they know and seem to be keeping secrets of their own. It's up to Sam and Fletch to uncover what lies behind the deception as the threat of bioterrorism is exposed, and her boyfriend, Xander Whitfield, may be in the line of fire.

Unsure who to trust, Sam and Fletch find themselves up against very powerful people at every stage in the investigation. No one is who they appear to be and with every minute that passes, the danger escalates. It's Sam's most complex case yet and the terrifying reality is beyond anything she could have imagined.

What Lies Behind is another great installment in JT Ellison's Dr Samantha Owens series. Sam has moved from Nashville to Washington DC, has a new home, a new job and a new man in her life. Her fresh start doesn't take her away from crimes and investigations as much as she expected, though.

While she is now a professor, no longer a medical examiner, Sam is now working for the FBI with John Baldwin and seems to keep helping with homicide investigations.

I really like Sam's friendship with Fletch and how it creates a very plausible (and easy) way for her to become involved in the cases. Their characters fit well together and have different, but complimentary, ways of approaching investigating crimes. I'm glad that (most) of the romantic questions/feelings/possibilities of their pairing are in the past. I'm also glad that it hasn't been completely forgotten, it feels more authentic that way.

It seemed that Xander was in this book less than the others, despite him having his own, parallel storyline. It is possible that there were just fewer scenes with Xander and Sam (especially after the previous book). I do still really like his character, the little bits we seem to find out about his past each time and love him and Sam, together.

When I first heard about this series, I wasn't sure what to think. I liked Sam in the Taylor Jackson books but didn't know how a series revolving around her would work, if I would like it. Now, four books in, I really love both the series and the character.  Part of what I loved about the Taylor Jackson series was how creative, surprising and well done the mystery (the crime, the suspects, the solving) of each books was. I love that in this series, too, but in this series there is more of a scientific side to things. It fits with Sam especially well

A few things were left as questions at the end of the novel. One or two may just be mysteries that the characters - and, therefore, readers - will never know, but the other(s) have me really, really looking forward to the next book.

(What Lies Behind is part of a series - and the series itself spins-off of another series - but each novel is pretty self contained. You'll, of course, know more about the characters and better understand their relationships, etc the more of the books you've read, but it isn't required.)




digital copy received for review from publisher, via NetGalley

A Deeper Darkness ~ JT Ellison

A Deeper Darkness (Dr Samantha Owens #1)
Mira
April 17, 2012
400 pages
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** Review of Book 2 coming next week! **

Dr Samantha Owens the character of focus in JT Ellison's new series, starting with A Deeper Darkness was also one of the characters in her earlier series, the Taylor Jackson series. As Taylor's best friend, Sam appeared quite frequently in the seven books of that series - but now it's time for her to have her own series.


A bit about spoilers/the earlier series: this series really is a fresh start for Sam. Though she appeared in the earlier books - and we know her back story - this is her time to develop her own life, apart from the Taylor Jackson series -- and Taylor.

It's not necessary to read the series to know what's happening in A Deeper Darkness as there's almost no carry over the seven Taylor Jackson books that isn't recapped. It's what happened to Sam in the time between the two books that makes going back and reading the previous series almost reverse spoiler-y. [My reviews for that are here (books 1-4), here (book 5),  and here (book 6 & 7). ]


**Spoilers for Samantha's character below if you plan to read the Taylor Jackson series first **

Dr Samantha Owens has always loved her job as Nashville's forensic examiner. But after the death of her husband and twin children in Nashville's floods, every day is a practice in surviving for Sam.  So long as she keeps working - just not on drowning victims - and doesn't spend time at home, maybe she can escape her guilt.  Someday.

So far, though, nothing's been helping so Sam's only too ready to leave Nashville behind for several days when the mother of her ex-boyfriend, an ex-Army Ranger calls and asks Sam to do a second autopsy. On the surface it looks like Eddie was the victim of a carjacking gone wrong, but his mother doesn't think so. At first Sam thinks she's just humoring the woman, but soon it looks like there's much more involved. Something that might put Sam in danger - or bring her a whole new life. Or both.


It took me a little while to figure out just how the time line in A Deeper Darkness was working. The floods in Nashville were in May of 2010, Where All the Dead Lie, the seventh (and currently last) Taylor Jackson book came out in September of 2011. A Deeper Darkness takes place two years after the floods which were after something that happened in So Close the Hand of Death (book 6, published May 2011).

Confusing, no? What I decided was that there was a bit of never mind when the books came out. All the Taylor Jackson books now took place before May 2010, then Nashville flooded, Sam's husband and twins died, there was two years, then A Deeper Darkness happened/was published. (And maybe no one else needed any of that but as I was not clear on some of it/it never really got explained, it's in the review.)

Though it was not at all necessary to read any of the books in which Sam previously appeared prior to reading this one, I'm glad I did. Glad and kind of sad. Knowing how happy Sam was in the earlier books, the life she had, the family and the friendship, gave m a deeper feeling for the character.

I liked seeing all that Sam's capable of on her own. So much of the focus in the previous books was (understandably) on Taylor, but  we saw glimpses of Sam. Now, after seeing - and hearing - how smart and strong this character is, we get to really experience it. Even if she's been broken by events that happened between the two series, the core of her character is still there and I'm anxious to see what JT Ellison will build her back up to.

When I saw that this was going to be in a new setting, I thought I would spend the whole time missing the old side characters, but I didn't. The new characters are really good. They have their own identities and quirks and I see a lot of potential for them bringing quite a bit to this new series.

As Sam's the main character here and a medical examiner, her focus being forensics, this isn't a police, detective mystery. There are police and detectives and murder and clues. But it's different in that Sam is involved in figuring things out using forensics -- it's kind of like Bones, actually. And I love it.


Rating: 9/10

Top Ten Tuesday: Imagined Co-Authorings

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten:

Top Ten Author Duos You'd LOVE To See Write A Book Together 

Lisa Gardner & Jeffery Deaver

Gardner's DD Warren character (and series) and Deaver's Kathryn Dance character (and series) are two of my favorites. While I would love if they created a whole new character together, I think I might most like to see these two in a book (or more) together.

Alyxandra Harvey & Kady Cross

These authors come up with great characters and fantastic fantasy/paranormal worlds. I would love reading how Harvey's great characters (I adore her her girl-friendships) and the steampunk worlds (and also, characters and relationships I love) that Cross creates would work together.

Gayle Forman & Stephanie Perkins

They are two of my favorite, favorite contemporary YA romance authors and I absolutely love the characters and romances they create. They are also not afraid of some conflict and both keep things very real - but still swoon worthy. If they wrote something together (especially with an international setting) I'd be right there, ready to read it.

JT Ellison & MJ Arlidge

This one feels a little like cheating since I've read so many more of JT Ellison's books than MJ Arlidge's (the discrepancy in how many each has published in the US helps), but I think it would work. Some of the plot lines in Ellison's Taylor Jackson titles and what her Samantha Owens has been through/deals with seem like a great fit with Arlidge's Helen Grace and those novels' content. The initial first names is just a bonus! (My reviews of Eeny Meeny and Pop Goes the Weasel should be up soon.)

Jennifer Lynn Barnes & Kiersten White

I really want to know how the authors of the Raised by Wolves series and the Paranormalcy series would write together! They have creative, original books and I love, love, love their characters, their relationships and their smart, funny writing.

AJ Pine & Jennifer Comeaux

AJ Pine's One Night books and Jennifer Comeaux's Crossing the Ice were two great new adult reads . They both have a limited amount of sexual content, but it really works for the stories. The two authors books also involved sports and characters who had something holding them back from relationships, I would definitely be interested in what they'd create.

Cat Patrick & Jennifer Lynn Barnes

If this actually happened, someone would quite possible have to sedate me or something. This could be a really fantastic almost-contemporary with a bit of science (real or fictitious - or some combination) included. Patrick's books (like Forgotten and Revived) are some of my favorite, favorites - add in Barnes' and it would all be more than perfect! Ooh, I really do like this idea! 

Marie Lu & Ryan Graudin

Between the Legend books, The Young Elites, All that Glows, All that Burns, The Walled City and Wolf by Wolf these authors have shown that they can do magic/fantasy or more contemporary (if dystopian) and I would be so excited to see what kind of world and characters they would create.

Mindy McGinnis & Mikaela Everett

Okay, this one may just be because of how much I love A Madness So Discreet and The Unquiet. But, also, McGinnis wrote Not a Drop to Drink so she can do dystopian. I think their writing styles are complimentary and they can both give you characters who are flawed and in horrible situations but who you still, very much, relate to. I would really love to see what sort of setting (past, present, real, imagined) they created.

Francesca Zappia & Anna-Marie McLemore

I loved the writing in both Made You Up and The Weight of Feathers. Though the first was more contemporary and the latter a bit fantasy, they had strong, unique characters and (though in quite different ways) that question of what was real. I think they could write a really beautiful book together, even if I don't know what genre!

Please leave a comment and let me know what authors you would love to see co-write something - and/or what you think of my picks!

Field of Graves ~ J.T. Ellison (earc) review [@thrillerchick @harlequinbooks @miraeditors]

Field of Graves (Taylor Jackson #8/Prequel)
Mira
June 14, 2016
368 pages
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All of Nashville is on edge with a serial killer on the loose. A madman is trying to create his own end-of-days apocalypse and the cops trying to catch him are almost as damaged as the killer. Field of Graves reveals the origins of some of J.T. Ellison's most famous creations: the haunted Lieutenant Taylor Jackson; her blunt, exceptional best friend, medical examiner Dr. Samantha Owens; and troubled FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin. Together, they race the clock and their own demons to find the killer before he claims yet another victim. This dark, thrilling and utterly compelling novel will have readers on the edge of their seats, and Ellison's fans will be delighted with the revelations about their favorite characters.

I think I like that Field of Graves is listed as both number eight in the Taylor Jackson series and as the prequel to the series. In a lot of ways, it really is both.

If, like me, you have already read the Taylor Jackson series, then Field of Graves gives you a look at how those characters you already know all came together. Since I finished reading the seven previous book in this series in 2012, I can't remember for sure how much of the beginnings of their stories we already knew, but this book let's you see it happen. I know we learned more about Baldwin in this book than, probably, in the other seven books combined. I liked his character before but always felt like he was on the periphery, how I feel more like I know him. (Which makes me like his character and what he's done in the other books - and in Sam's series - even more.)

If you have not already read the Taylor Jackson series books one through seven, or any at all, Filed of Graves will introduce you to the main characters, give you some of their background - like how long Sam and Taylor have been friends, what happened to Taylor's father, etc - all while having them solve a case. You can go into the other books already knowing who the characters are, their relationships with each other and some of what they've experienced.

I do not think that the case they're working to solve in this book or how they find clues, discover facts and piece it all together, was my favorite of the series (or the two if counting the Dr Samantha Owens books). That was very much balanced out, though, by the insight into the characters and getting more a look at their personal lives than it seemed like we did in other books. It is a great case for the story where Baldwin has as much involvement as he does.

I really loved learning more about the characters I already loved in the first seven books and getting a chance to revisit them with a new (of sorts) story. It was great seeing their beginnings, getting to know Baldwin better and seeing some more of that friendship between Sam and Taylor. (Plus, I realised reading it that I missed this Sam, from before. I do love her now, but I liked the reminder, too.)

I do still wish there would be more Taylor and Baldwin in Sam's series of books but this sort of flashback was great. It is a book you can read after reading the other Taylor Jackson books or one you can read to introduce yourself to the series. (And I love the series, so you really should read it.)

The only way it may not be the best book to read right now, is if you're trying to (or recently) quit smoking - there seemed to be a lot of characters who were quit, but then went back on it a bit.


. . . See my reviews of the Taylor Jackson series #1-#7 and the Dr Samantha Owens series #1-#4 . . .






received, for review, form publisher via NetGalley

When Shadows Fall ~ JT Ellison (earc) review [@thrillerchick @HarlequinBooks @MIRAEditors]

When Shadows Fall (Dr. Samantha Owens #3)
Harlequin MIRA
February 25, 2014
416 pages
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Dear Dr. Owens,

If you are reading this letter, I am dead and I would be most grateful if you could solve my murder…

Forensic pathologist Dr. Samantha Owens thought life was finally returning to normal after she suffered a terrible personal loss. Settling into her new job at Georgetown University, the illusion is shattered when she receives a disturbing letter from a dead man imploring her to solve his murder. There's only one catch. Timothy Savage's death was so obviously the suicide of a demented individual that the case has been closed.

When Sam learns Savage left a will requesting she autopsy his body, she feels compelled to look into the case. Sam's own postmortem discovers clear signs that Savage was indeed murdered. And she finds DNA from a kidnapped child whose remains were recovered years earlier.

The investigation takes Sam into the shadows of a twenty-year-old mystery that must be solved to determine what really happened to Timothy Savage. Nothing about the case makes sense but it is clear someone is unwilling to let anyone, especially Samantha Owens, discover the truth.

When Shadows Fall is the third book in JT Ellison's Dr Samantha Owens series. Sam's new life (after her life in the Taylor Jackson series) in Washington DC has started and she is now, truly, getting a full life established.

It's as she's preparing to start her new job at Georgetown University when a past - a job - she thought she had left behind returns. When she receives the letter, Sam knows, even if she denies it at first, that she'll conduct an autopsy on the man who penned it.

Sam's findings pull her into the case, its investigation and, of course, the danger posed to those involved - Sam, in particular, as each piece of the story comes to light. She says it's so, but has Sam really left cases and investigation behind?

I am really loving Sam's new life. In the beginning of A Deeper Darkness, the first book of the series, I was a little unsure of the new timeline and life that was being introduced for Samantha Owens. I so enjoyed her in the Taylor Jackson series that it was a bit startling for her to have something so different.

As the books have progressed, though, I've really come to love her life in Washington DC. The series' other characters are ones that I love more with each book. Xander, Thor and Fletcher are a great compliment to Sam and each (Thor, too) have a skill set that gives them a unique edge in the investigations. I really enjoyed that Fletcher's character is given some more development in When Shadows Fall. We found out about his past and he became a part of Sam's life in the first two books, now he gets to have some more story of his own.

Once again, Sam's medical knowledge and her strong desire to uncover the truth are essential to solving the case. That  case that the characters get pulled into is a terrific one. We're given some insight into a character who is obviously no good, but whose role in things remains a bit hazy. Even as the 'good guys' are hunting for details, for the unknown, readers get a look into some of it through this character.

Even as the character side of the story is so incredibly strong, as their stories continue to progress, the mystery does not, at all, suffer. Ellison's created a mystery thriller that keeps readers guessing; things are not as they seem. Once it all does come together, things are definitely surprising yet they all make sense. When Shadows Fall is a very strong mystery where the pieces fit together perfectly, with fantastic characters. I'm looking forward to both more mystery in Book 4, as well as watching the characters continue to grow and develop.


Rating: 10/10


Lt Taylor Jackson series (where we meet Dr Owens)
1) All the Pretty Girls (review)
2) 14 (review)
3) Judas Kiss (review)
4) The Cold Room (review)
5) The Immortals (review)
6) So Close the Hand of Death (review)
7) Where All the Dead Lie (review)


Dr Samantha Owens, ME series
1) A Deeper Darkness (review)
2) Edge of Black (review)
3) When Shadows Fall 



 

thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for my egalley for review

Lie to Me ~ JT Ellison (earc) review [@thrillerchick @MIRAEditors ‏ @HarlequinBooks]

Lie to Me
Mira Books
September 05, 2017
426 pages
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They built a life on lies

Sutton and Ethan Montclair’s idyllic life is not as it appears. The couple seems made for each other, but the truth is ugly. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her.

Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair. As the police investigate, the lies the couple have been spinning for years quickly unravel. Is Ethan a killer? Is he being set up? Did Sutton hate him enough to kill the child she never wanted and then herself? The path to the answers is full of twists that will leave the reader breathless.

J.T. Ellison's Lie to Me leaves readers unsure of who - if anyone - they can trust . The way the story is told from who is narrating it to the jumps between the past and present not only add to the uncertainty of just what is really the truth but serve to increase the tension, as well. It is hard to even be sure which characters you like because no one seems to have quite the same view of anyone else. This person thinks that person is nice and sweet and naive while this second person thinks they're calculating and manipulative.

Some may be lying, some may be trying to implicate (or exonerate) someone else, but some are also telling the truth as they see it. In Lie to Me the author does a fantastic job using all of the different sides of her characters - the different parts of themselves they share with different people - as well as the different way people see each other; the things one person notices and latches on to versus what a different person focuses on.  It makes the characters that much more believable and easier to relate to - while also leaving you less sure of, well, anything.

The narration changes made the story even better. Those different first person insights really show us what the characters is thinking, as opposed to what another narrator attributed to them.

Lie to Me was a thriller that kept me guessing right up to the very last sentence and was full of multifaceted characters and complicated histories. This novel really used all of who each character was, their pasts, their secrets, their hopes and their fears, their relationships with each other to build a mystery that is satisfying and unexpected.







digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

Talyor Jackson series (#1-4) ~ J.T. Ellison audio reviews

I listened to the audio versions of these and as my links go to info on the print versions, here's the Audible page. The audio version is narrated by Joyce Bean who does a great job!

All the Pretty Girls
Mira Books
November 1, 2007
411 pages
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When a local girl falls prey to a sadistic serial killer, Nashville Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson and her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, find themselves in a joint investigation pursuing a vicious murderer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene -- the prior victim's severed hand.

Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. She has no idea how close this story really is -- or what it will cost her.

As the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth -- that the purest evil is born of private lies.

14
Mira Books
September 1, 2008
410 pages
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Ten victims, each with pale skin and long dark hair. All have been slashed across the throat, the same red lipstick smeared across their lips.In the mid-1980s the Snow White Killer terrorized the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. Then suddenly the murders stopped. A letter from the killer to the police stated that his work was done.

Now four more bodies are found, marked with his fatal signature. The residents of Nashville fear a madman has returned, decades later, to finish his sick fairy tale. Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson believes the killings are the work of a copycat killer who's even more terrifying. For this monster is meticulously honing his craft as he mimics famous serial murders...proving that the past is not to be forgotten.

Judas Kiss
Mira Books
Janurary 1, 2009
395 pages
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It was a murder made for TV: a trail of tiny bloody footprints. An innocent toddler playing beside her mother's bludgeoned body. Pretty young Corinne Wolff, seven months pregnant, brutally murdered in her own home.Cameras and questions don't usually faze Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson, but the media frenzy surrounding the Wolff case is particularly nasty...and thorough. When the seemingly model mommy is linked to an amateur porn Web site with underage actresses and unwitting players, the sharks begin to circle.

The shock is magnified when an old adversary uses the sexy secret footage to implicate Taylor in a murder--an accusation that threatens her career, her reputation and her relationship.

Both cases hinge on the evidence--real or manufactured--of crimes that go beyond passion, into the realm of obsessive vengeance and shocking betrayal. Just what the networks love.

The Cold Room
Mira Books
March 1, 2010
401 pages
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Homicide detective Taylor Jackson thinks she's seen it all in Nashville--but she's never seen anything as perverse as The Conductor. Once his victim is captured, he contains her in a glass coffin, slowly starving her to death. Only then does he give in to his attraction.Later, he creatively disposes of the body by reenacting scenes from famous paintings. Strangely, similar macabre works are being displayed in Europe. Taylor teams up with her fiance, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, and New Scotland Yard detective James "Memphis" Highsmythe--a haunted man who has eyes only for Taylor--to put an end to The Conductor's art collection.

Has the killer gone international? Or are there dueling artists, competing to create the ultimate masterpiece?

reviews below....

The Immortals ~ JT Ellison

The Immortals (Taylor Jackson #5)
Mira Booka
October 1, 2010
389 pages
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** Reviews of previous books in series **

It is Samhain--the Blood Harvest. Nonbelievers call it Hallowe'en. The night when eight Nashville teenagers are found dead, with occult symbols carved into their naked bodies. It's a ritual the killers believe was blessed by Death himself. (from Goodreads)

Recently reinstated - and with almost her entire team back together, plus one new member, McKenzie - Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson is ready to get back to work. What she's not ready for is  the mass murder. What the team expect to be one murder soon turns into much, much more.

And something so different than what they're used to dealing with. There's always more at stake when children are the victims - more pressure from the public and from investigators themselves - and this time it's more than one young victim.

A case seemingly involving Satanism, witchcraft, drugs and young people at every turn has people both horrified and angry. It's up to Taylor and her team - along with some unlikely contributors - to bring the perpetrators to justice and keep the public safe.


The Immortals is pretty much a perfect book to review on Halloween. The crimes happen on Halloween - or Samhain or Hallowe'en, whichever. Not only that, the crimes involve the occult and there are witches, spells and magic in The Immortals.

The Immortals' magic using characters are not happy, light characters at all. Yes, they killed people, but there's some squicky stuff going on with them, too. While it was not always fun stuff to read about, I like that in this Taylor Jackson series, we get both sides of the story. We see Taylor looking for the killers while also seeing who the killers are. No, they're not just these horrible, evil, no-good-very-bad people she's out to find and capture but it makes the story much better.

Even if they're not people you'd want to hang around (at all), Ellison makes them human to readers, they're not just the bad guy.

This fifth book did feel quite a bit different from the others. I'm not sure if the type of crime gave the novel a different tone or if it was the flashbacks. Along with the story of Taylor in Nashville working to solve the Halloween murders, there was a sort of separate story involving Baldwin.

Baldwin and Taylor were separate through most of the book and his story involved Charlotte - who will be more familiar to readers of 14, but you don't have to have read that one - and some flashbacks. It was really it's own story and the chapters almost alternated. I'm almost nervous to see where this story line takes things in the next book (or two) but it likely did need to happen.

It was nice to see most of the old team back together and I'm glad McKenzie got to stay, he seems to really add something to the mix.

I like that this series, while still being able to be read as standalone books, moves the characters and their relationships along each book. Ellison also seems to be developing a 'Big Bad' who is present - and getting bigger and badder - across a few books as well as adding some new characters.


Rating: 8/10

Edge of Black ~ JT Ellison (earc) review

Edge of Black (Dr Samantha Owens #2)
Harlequin MIRA
November 13, 2012
368 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon

Dr Samantha Owens has left her old life -- her job at Forensic Medical, her best friend Taylor Jackson, the home she shared with her late husband and their twins -- behind. She's sols her Nashville home, has a new job teaching and somewhere very new, and different to call home every night

Sam's ready to try to move on from the crushing grief -- and guilt -- she feels after losing her husband and young children in the Nashville flood.  Also a part of her new life in Washington DC: Xander Whitfield, whom she met in A Deeper Darkness and who was a catalyst for her move.

Sam's just getting into her new life when an unknown pathogen is released in the Washington Metro. Soon three people are dead and Sam is called in to consult.

With the FBI and Homeland Security a part of the case, it's Sam, Xander and Fletcher who are soon uncovering parts of the case that make it a very interesting one indeed. And definitely not what they expected.


After reading the Taylor Jackson series and already knowing Sam, I was really hurting for her in A Deeper Darkness and all of the pain she was in, still feeling so much guilt and sorrow over losing not only her husband but also both of her children. So soon after losing another child, as well.

Though I was a bit sorry knowing she wouldn't be back in Nashville for this second installment in the series, after reading it, I couldn't support the decision more fully.

The things I loved in the first book about Sam having her own series: getting to see her sine, seeing those attributes of hers (her whit, her intelligence, her love and loyalty) as the main focus were even stronger in this book. Now that we've been properly introduced to Sam with the first book, we really get to see her work and be a great character.

Both Xander and Fletch are back in pretty big supporting roles, the two other main characters next to Sam, in Edge of Black. I loved them both in A Deeper Darkness and I love them here. Nocek is back as well and just as quirky as before, I'm glad he's still a part of the story.

It's only two books in but I think I like this series even better than the Taylor Jackson series. The characters here each have their own great background which we didn't get as much of with the previous series and I do love my 'character' books. We also get a good bit of Xander's life in this series and it's fun to see where he comes from and know who he is.  Then to see how he works with and connects with Sam. On the surface they seem like they'd be contradictory characters, but they have something that really does work.

That's all on top of the great plots that Ellison has created. They're not your run of the mill mystery or thriller plots and even the ones that seem to start more simple or predictable definitely don't play out that way. That the characters backgrounds as well as the setting are used is even better.

I'm looking forward to more from this series and this author.


9/10

thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advance galley

Top Ten Tuesday [Auto-Buy Authors]

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten:

Top Ten Of Your Auto-Buy Authors

I didn't actually come up with ten but I did decide to split it between YA and adult. There's a link to each author's Goodreads Author Page and to any posts and/or reviews I've done.

The book covers of books I've read by each author don't link, sorry!

Three are a few authors that almost made it to the list but I need to read just one more book by them to be sure.

YA Authors:

Alyxandra Harvey

Posts/Reviews

Books Read:
The Lovegrove Legacy:

The Drake Chronicles:

Standalones:

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Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Posts/Reviews
Books Read:

Raised by Wolves:

The Naturals:

The Fixer:

Standalone:

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Ryan Graudin

Posts/Reviews
Books Read:

All that Glows:

Standalone:

Reading Soon(!):

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Adult Authors:

Lisa Gardner

Posts/Reviews

Books Read

Tessa Leone:

DD Warren:

(and The Survivors Club - almost forgot that one!)

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JT Ellison

Posts/Reviews
Books Read:
Taylor Jackson:

Samantha Owens, ME

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Heather Gudenkauf

Posts/Reviews

Books Read

Please leave a comment and let me know your auto-buy authors! (And, let me know if you've read any of the books by the authors in this post - and what you thought!)