Review #721: The Knife Slipped by Erle Stanley Gardner (Cool and Lam #1.5)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The truly scary thing about undiscovered lies is that they have a greater capacity to diminish us than exposed ones.”

                                                                              ----Cheryl Hughes


Erle Stanley Gardner, an American lawyer and author, writing under the pen name of A.A. Fair for his sassy detective series, Cool and Lam. A hidden gem have been discovered after almost a decade with Gardner's book called, The Knife Slipped which was never published due to scandalous story line that revolves around two detective duo, one being the sassiest queen of her investigation agency and the other being her part time detective whom she loved to dominate with her orders, who find themselves muddled in a cheating man's deadly lies and his fateful murder.

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Review #718: Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow by Tilly Bagshawe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

----Mark Twain

Tilly Bagshawe, the New York Times bestselling author, is back with a bang with another gripping Sidney Sheldon mystery called, The Silent Widow. This story revolves around a top shot psychiatrist, whose husband died in a car crash a year ago, and is still in grief, but soon her patients and acquaintances are dropping dead like flies, and the local police mark the poor widow as the prime suspect, even though her life too is in danger. Eventually forcing her to take help of a local PI, who uncovers a lot of dirt about a missing girl case 10 years ago to her husband's tragic death to the serial killings of her patients, which might even make him a victim out of it.

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Review #703: Keepers of the Kalachakra by Ashwin Sanghi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.”

----Carl Sagan

Ashwin Sanghi, the country's bestselling mythological author, has penned a compelling part sci-fi and part mythological thriller called, Keepers of the Kalachakra that revolves around the murder mystery of the world's prominent leaders under strange circumstances while an Indian scientist along side with his colleague is trying to figure out the real purpose behind his research at his new employer's lab, located somewhere deep within the forests.

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Review #702: Conspirator by R.V. Raman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Newspapers are not made any longer by news or journalism. They are made by sheer weight of money expressed in free gift schemes. They serve not the interests of the many, but the vested interests of the few.”

----Oswald Mosley

R.V. Raman, an Indian author, has penned a gripping thriller called, Conspirator that sheds much light into the dark underbelly of new trend setting belief called fake news that are tailored as per the standards and requirements of the high-profile and elite class clients from politicians to shady business tycoons. This story surrounds around the murder of two influential journalists at a media tycoon's private party at a resort somewhere secluded in Coorg, and little did the assigned detective knew that the world of journalism would not only be cutthroat, but would also be unexpectedly dark with zero ethics and is owned by the filthy rich people of the society.

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Review #700: A Closetful of Skeletons by Tanushree Podder

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.”

----Haruki Murakami

Tanushree Podder, an Indian writer, has penned an interesting and slightly intriguing thriller called, A Closetful of Skeletons that revolves around an actress of yesteryear who escapes the silver screen glory to a quiet life at a sleepy hamlet somewhere up on the hills, but her life drastically changes when she meets an ambitious and mysterious young woman, whom she asks to ghost-write her autobiography. But little did the actress knew that her birthday party with her guest list of ex-lovers would go so terribly fatal when she announces about her tell-all autobiography.

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Review #699: Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“A liar is always lavish of oaths.”

----Pierre Corneille

E. Lockhart, the New York Times bestselling author, has penned an interesting young adult part-thriller and part-contemporary book called, Genuine Fraud that revolves around a teenage orphan girl, who is on the run, and in probably impersonating myriad identities, but why is she on the run? And for that, you need to trust the author as well as the story and not compare with some other book from where the author has found her inspiration. So kindly respect that and let's stop comparing the two and two, and rather talk about this book in particular. Debates can be taken up elsewhere, review is not the right place to talk about it.

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Review #698: The Birthday Girl by Sue Fortin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“There is still no cure for the common birthday.”

----John Glenn

Sue Fortin, an English author, has penned an atmospheric and compelling thriller called, The Birthday Girl that revolves around a mother, of a teenage son, who has recently lost her husband, receiving the best birthday surprise that she cannot ever imagine in her lifetime from someone really close to her heart, even though she has three best friends and one of her friends has already planned out a surprise weekend getaway somewhere away from the regular noises of the city, and in there unfolds a deathly mystery when the host of the holiday, reveals the secrets of each women through a creepy guessing game, finally turning fatal.

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Review #697: Fear Is the Key by Juggi Bhasin

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


“All I have is me, myself and I and we are all getting really tired of each other.”

----Carl R White

Juggi Bhasin, an Indian writer, has penned a mildly intriguing thriller called, Fear Is the Key that revolves around the disappearance of a start-up company management executive from the company owner's party thrown by the owner himself at his own apartment, who was in a relationship with the girl went missing strangely from his flat at the peak hour of his office party. And when no clues or no amount of investigation by the local police detective could not bring back his girl, he decides to take the matters into his own hands but little did he or anyone knew that truth and reality can be really weirder than anyone can ever imagine.

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Review #695: Murder in a Minute by Shouvik Bhattacharya

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“You can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself.”

----Margaret Atwood

Shouvik Bhattacharya, an Indian author, has penned his debut thriller called, Murder in a Minute that revolves around the murder of a young and ambitious woman, who is the chairperson of her father's company, inside her own room and in the presence of her step brothers and sisters, along with her colleagues and her college boyfriend. And surprisingly each one in that mountainside cottage has an alibi, even though the initial investigations point at the killer being present in that house. Now the question is who or why, is it out of jealousy, ambition, greed or out of love, that the poor lady had to give up her life in such a tragic way?

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Review #688: The Tree Bears Witness (Birbal, #2) by Sharath Komarraju

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure.”

----J.K. Rowling

Sharath Komarraju, an Indian author, has spun a riveting thriller set in one of the greatest Mughal Emperor Akbar's court in Agra in his new book, The Tree Bears Witness which is the second book in the series Birbal that revolves around Akbar's new Rajput queen's dear brother's highly suspicious death in the gardens of the court and to solve the mystery behind the death of a young and powerful Rajput prince, Akbar assigns his favorite and most intelligent courtier/minister, Birbal in order to give appropriate punishment to the culprit(s).

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Review #686: East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.”

----Noam Chomsky

Khurrum Rahman, a Pakistan-born, British author, has penned a pot-boiling thriller, East of Hounslow that revolves around a low-key 30-something Muslim drug dealer, who still lives with his mum in the British town, Hounslow, who is not very religious, yet for the sake of religion, he attends the Friday prayers at a local mosque, but little did he knew that he has been on the radar of MI5 for a very long time, so when he loses the deadly supplier's money, this drug dealer gets caught up as a pawn in the war between religious extremists who wants the world to teach a lesson in the name of Allah and the MI5's one-man team who wants to stop the jihadists at any cost.

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Review #684: Little Secrets by Anna Snoekstra

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.”

----Roald Dahl

Anna Snoekstra, an Australian author, has penned a riveting psychological thriller called, Little Secrets that is centered around a small Aussie town, where a female wannabe journalist lives amidst her unhappy family and the haunting memories of burning down of the courthouse with a kid inside it, but when porcelain dolls looking like an exact replica of little daughters of the houses start to turn up into those houses' doorsteps, that wanna-be journalist is sure that she has found her new story that will make her a sure-shot journalist, not before she stumbles upon a strange man living in the town's motel whose arrival brought upon that dolls incident.

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Review #678: Copycat by Alex Lake

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“He who searches for evil, must first look at his own reflection.”

----Confucius

Alex Lake, a British novelist, has penned a subtly gripping psychological thriller called, Copycat that is centered around a well established doctor, wife and mother of three kids whose life takes a wild turn when one of her college friends moves back to her hometown who informs her about the fake profile that someone has been using under that doctor's name. Not only that, things get more weird, when the Facebook posts on that fake account gets a little too close to the home, leaving her husband dubious of his wife's mental health condition, owing to the fact that postcards, emails, handwritten notes, Amazon account all are being impersonated by someone who knows the doctor a little too well or maybe the doctor is doing it all by herself, who knows? Read the book to find out!

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Review #643: Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”

----Suzanne Collins

Kaira Rouda, a USA TODAY bestselling, multiple award-winning author, has penned a gripping psychological thriller called, Best Day Ever that is centered around a perfect married couple, where the caring husband plans a perfect weekend getaway for his darling wife at their lake house somewhere away from their two young boys and the bustling noise of their urban life style. Although the husband has planned everything meticulously to surprise his stupid wife, but gradually, the true colors of the husband's intention behind this trip comes out, but can the wife sniff that out or will it be too late before she figure things out. A crazy, psychotic marital tale of a perfect couple.

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Review #637: Charlatans by Robin Cook

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“We can't possibly have a summer love. So many people have tried that the name's become proverbial. Summer is only the unfulfilled promise of spring, a charlatan in place of the warm balmy nights I dream of in April. It's a sad season of life without growth...It has no day.”

----F. Scott Fitzgerald

Dr. Robin Cook, the international best-selling author, is back with a bang and this time with an intriguing and pot-boiling medical thriller called, Charlatans that no-doubt, revolves around the cutting edge technology and advancements in the field of medicine and medical practices, but mainly centers around the educational backgrounds of the doctors, where the two protagonists, one, a chief medical resident and the other, a star anesthesiologist of the Boston Memorial Hospital who get tangled up in the OR deaths of three patients, and the investigation behind the death puts doubt in the minds of the chief medical resident about the star anesthesiologist's training and the fancy educational background, even though they get emotionally and sexually involved with one another beyond the premises of the hospital.

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Review #636: The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down.”

----Malcolm X

Karin Slaughter, the No. 1 bestselling author, has penned a hair-raisingly chilly and terrifying family thriller, The Good Daughter that centers around two crimes in a small American town, occurring in a time gap of 28 years, one the murder of a popular defense attorney's wife, that left the two daughters mentally and physically paralyzed for life, and the other, is a mass shooting at a local school, to which the younger daughter becomes a sole witness. And after the second crime, the daughters are pretty sure, that the memories of past crime that ripped their family apart won't stay buried under and that there is more mystery and buried lies behind both the crimes, and are they willing to explore all those mysteries, now that they have walked on the career footsteps of their father?

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Review #635: Final Girls by Riley Sager

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Even in times of trauma, we try to maintain a sense of normality until we no longer can. That, my friends, is called surviving. Not healing. We never become whole again ... we are survivors. If you are here today... you are a survivor. But those of us who have made it thru hell and are still standing? We bare a different name: warriors.”

----Lori Goodwin

Riley Sager, a pen name for an American author, pens her debut horror-cum-thriller book, Final Girls that revolves around three female mass murders survivors, whom the media coined them as the Final Girls, yet the last final girl, never wanted to live her life as a final girl, instead she pretended to live a normal life in Manhattan with her handsome boyfriend, while she blogged about cakes, but soon her pretentious perfect life crumbles to ground, when the first final girl is found dead at her home, followed by the surfacing up of the second MIA survivor at her doorstep, making her wonder, even after so many years later, are they still safe?

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Review #634: Bite of the Black Dogs by Sanjay Bahadur

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”

----Mark Twain

Sanjay Bahadur, an India author, pens a terrific, nail biting and gripping real-life special operations of Indian Special Forces book based on a true story, and it is called, Bite of the Black Dogs that is set across the idyllic yet challenging landscape of Kashmir, India, where an Indian special force group is assigned to eradicate and extract the terrorists and the alleged killers of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus settled in Kashmir) belonging from the infamous militant group of Hizbul Mujahideen ("Party of Muslim Holy Warriors") who are funded and supported by various countries and various states of India. This real life account of the militants as well as the special task force men, who would do anything for their countrymen.

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Review #633: The Rome Affair by Karen Swan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning.”

----Giotto di Bondone

Karen Swan, an English author, has penned a compelling, stirring and riveting contemporary romance novel, The Rome Affair that revolves around a former British barrister who after escaping a not-so-sweet-past into the Rome and works as a tour guide besides writing a blog, but one day she chances upon a stolen handbag in a dust bin that belongs to an Italian socialite and aristocrat old lady living in a grand mansion, with her own past demons and when these two women's paths are crossed, history is bound to get unraveled amidst of lies and secrets, and taking the tour guide to places, where she could never imagine to be, until she comes across the mystery of the old lady's not so grand life.

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Review #631: Here Falls The Shadow by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you're allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.”

----Shannon L. Alder

Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, an Indian author, has penned a terrific and nail biting thriller, Here Falls The Shadow that surrounds around the death threat of a notable author and the killings of his family estate's dogs, as a result of which, the infamous and ingenious PI, Janardan Maity jumps to the rescue with an old acquaintance of his, into this sleepy little town covered by forests, to uncover the author's family curses, old traditions, nemesis, and many untold family secrets.

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