BOOK REVIEW: AFTERLIFE BY MARCUS SAKEY

Title: Afterlife

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fantasy, thriller

Published on: July 18, 2017 by Thomas & Mercer

Between life and death lies an epic war, a relentless manhunt through two worlds… and an unforgettable love story.

The last thing FBI agent Will Brody remembers is the explosion — a thousand shards of glass surfing a lethal shock wave. He wakes without a scratch. The building is in ruins. His team is gone. Outside, Chicago is dark. Cars lie abandoned. No planes cross the sky. He’s relieved to spot other people — until he sees they’re carrying machetes.

Welcome to the afterlife.

Claire McCoy stands over the body of Will Brody. As head of an FBI task force, she hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. A terrorist has claimed eighteen lives and thrown the nation into panic. Against this horror, something reckless and beautiful happened. She fell in love… with Will Brody. But the line between life and death is narrower than any of us suspect — and all that matters to Will and Claire is getting back to each other.

When it comes to novels (especially sci-fi) it all has been done before. Even novels about a life after death. Still, Afterlife manages to feel fresh and intriguing. I’ve read a few books by Marcus Sakey before—the Brilliance saga. He has a distinctive writing style and extraordinary imagination. I started this book with high expectations. Is Afterlife as compelling as it sounds? Read on to find out.

The main character is Will Brody, an FBI Special Agent. He’s in Chicago working an unusual serial killer case. An unknown subject has been murdering random people with his sniper rifle. Leading the task force to catch this murderer is Claire McCoy, the Assistant Director of the Chicago FBI office. After 18 casualties, the city is in full panic. One day Will follows a clue that he hopes will end in him catching the sniper. He goes to a church to stop the killer’s reign of terror once and for all. Unfortunately, Will doesn’t realize he walked into a trap until it’s too late. A bomb goes off, killing Will instantly.

BOOK REVIEW: THE PROFILER'S DAUGHTER BY P.M. STEFFEN

Title: The Profiler's Daughter
Author: P.M. Steffen
Genre: Mystery

Published on: October 19, 2012 by Lion Dog Press

A grisly murder. A six-year-old eyewitness. A gun from the grave.

The Profiler's Daughter is a psychologically haunting thriller that combines murder mystery, love triangle, and family intrigue in one satisfying page burner.

Sky Stone was born into the wealth and privilege of Boston's oldest Brahmin family but chooses instead to follow in the footsteps of her deceased father, legendary FBI profiler Monk Stone. In the chilly morning hours before the Boston Marathon, when a beautiful university student is found strangled and mutilated, her body left at the base of Heartbreak Hill, Sky returns from self-imposed exile to investigate. Thirty-six hours into the investigation, Sky's world turns upside down when she is fired from the Homicide team. They pin the murder on an innocent man, forcing Sky into a life-threatening game of cat and mouse with the real killer. From the stately mansions of Beacon Hill to the flat scrubland of central Texas, Sky keeps the reader on a razor's edge, culminating in a no-holds-barred shoot-out.

This is one of the best novels I read in 2013. At first glance, I didn't think it would be so good, reminding one not to judge a book by its unremarkable cover. I liked the main character, Skylar Winthrop Stone (a really cool name). She's a forensic psychologist, daughter of legendary FBI profiler Monk Stone, and heiress to the Winthrop fortune. Sky has just returned from a self-imposed exile after a tragedy that happened months ago. She leads the investigation of a college student’s murder, the morning before the Boston Marathon. This crime baffles the police throughout the book.

Skylar, whose youthful looks conceal her real age (she’s 24), already has a doctorate. She also has a variety of other talents, including interviewing and crime scene analysis. Sky is described as having great beauty, especially when she dresses up. She doesn’t have a flock of guys after her, though. That’s not to say men are immune to Sky’s charms. O’Toole and Axelrod (two of Sky’s cop friends) have a small crush on her, but they’re otherwise just friendly. Sky’s also very smart and observant. She obviously inherited her father’s talents. Despite her sophistication, Sky has one little quirk. She’s a bit of a kleptomaniac. Sky even acknowledges this quirk. It’s amusing and harmless. As she’s already rich, Sky obviously doesn’t steal for gain.

BOOK REVIEW: OUT OF TIME BY JEN MCLAUGHLIN

Title: Out of Time
Author: Jen McLaughlin
Genre: Romance, New Adult

Published on: December 1, 2013, self-published

Desperate to keep him...

I've finally gotten everything I ever wanted: love, freedom, happiness, and, most importantly, Finn. Our love is everything I expected it to be and more. We've finally found each other, but the world seems determined to tear us apart. We thought my father was the only obstacle between us, but now it's the military. With Finn’s departure looming, we’re squeezing in every moment together before we run out of time.

Trying to make every moment count…

Being Carrie’s bodyguard was one thing. Being her boyfriend is another. Every day she’s mine is a day the sun shines in my life. Yet our time together is running out. Her father will never think a tattooed Marine will be good enough, so I’ll do whatever it takes to be worthy of her love. But the road will take me away from the girl who makes me feel alive--the girl I can't live without.

Time only gets us so far...

This is book two in the Out of Line trilogy. It’s a New Adult romance, and the main character is Carrie Wallington. She’s a college freshman who moved from the East Coast to LA to have more freedom. Her father, a prominent senator, takes overprotective to the extreme. The senator wanted to send Carrie with bodyguards, but she put her foot down. He deployed one anyway: Finn Coram. He’s a Marine, selected to protect Carrie in secret because his youth allows him to blend in among college students.

Carrie and Finn are now dating. She spotted him early on, and he couldn’t stay away from her. They ended up falling deeply in love. Carrie was furious when Finn told her who he really was. That’s all over now, and Finn promised Carrie there wouldn’t be any more lies. Senator Wallington can’t know about their relationship, though. Carrie is sure her father would not approve of her dating a guy like Finn, partly because of his tattoos. Finn is acting as if nothing had happened, keeping Senator Wallington updated about Carrie.

BOOK REVIEW: DARE YOU BY JENNIFER BROWN

Title: Dare You

Author: Jennifer Brown

Genre: Mystery, Young Adult

Published on: February 14, 2017 by Katherine Tegen Books

In the second book of the suspenseful Shade Me trilogy, Nikki Kill becomes embroiled in another mystery where only her synesthesia can help her unravel the dark truth.

Nikki Kill didn’t realize that trying to find out who killed Peyton Hollis would tangle her in a web of dangerous family secrets that would rock her identity to the core. But now that Nikki knows the truth, the all-powerful Hollises want to frame her for Peyton’s murder.

And now Nikki’s only chance at escaping the cold black bars of prison or the crimson grip of death is teaming up with the enigmatic Detective Martinez and relying on an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of clues....

After the stunning events in Shade Me, I readily bought a copy of Dare You. It continues the story of Nikki Kill, a teen sleuth with an unusual condition. This sequel takes place several months after Shade Me ended. Nikki’s graduated from high school, but she isn’t sure what’s next. She hasn’t really stopped to think about what she wants to do with her life. It’s almost a given that Nikki won’t go to college. She has synesthesia, a condition that makes some of her senses overlap. While it’s been really useful for memorization and following clues, it makes reading difficult.

In the previous book, Nikki got tangled in a criminal investigation. Someone beat up Peyton Hollis (the school’s queen bee) brutally. Unfortunately, she couldn’t survive her injuries. After following several clues that Peyton left behind, Nikki discovered they were half-sisters. She also found out what led to Peyton’s attack…and it almost cost Nikki her life. Now, she’s left all that behind to lead as normal a life as possible. While Nikki’s just minding her own business, the police turn up and arrest her. It appears someone planted drugs in Nikki’s car. For what reason, it's revealed soon afterward.