#NetGalley Book Review: The Voice Inside by Brian Freeman

This is a well written psychological thriller with a gruesome killer.

The Voice Inside: A Thriller (Frost Easton Book 2)
by Brian Freeman

File Size: 4052 KB
Print Length: 348 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (January 16, 2018)
ASIN: B01N6J535R
Genre: Crime, Psychological Thrillers
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

In the follow-up to bestselling psychological thriller The Night Bird, a serial killer mistakenly set free becomes a city’s worst nightmare—and a detective’s deadliest challenge.
Four years after serial killer Rudy Cutter was sent away for life, San Francisco homicide inspector Frost Easton uncovers a terrible lie: his closest friend planted false evidence to put Cutter behind bars. When he’s forced to reveal the truth, his sister’s killer is back on the streets.
Desperate to take Cutter down again, the detective finds a new ally in Eden Shay. She wrote a book about Cutter and knows more about him than anyone. And she’s terrified. Because for four years, Cutter has been nursing revenge day after stolen day.
Staying ahead of the game of a killer who’s determined to strike again is not going to be easy. Not when Frost is battling his own demons. Not when the game is becoming so personal. And not when the killer’s next move is unlike anything Frost expected.

Review:
Frost Easton lost his younger sister to a serial killer four years ago. Frost became a homicide inspector to fight foes like killer Rudy Cutter. But someone sneaks into Frost’s home to make him follow evidence that his best friend on the force, Jen, planted the piece of evidence that sent Cutter to jail. Frost struggles with the evidence: should he bury it or turn it in to his chief? When the truth is revealed Cutter is back on the streets and Jen is off the force.

Although the police try to follow Cutter he slips away and soon death stalks Frost and his friends. Frost gets help from author Eden Shay who suffered her own trauma as a young woman and is writing a true crime story about Cutter and his victims. Cutter seems to be one step ahead as Frost tries to find enough untainted evidence to put Cutter back behind bars.

The tension in this story is well developed from beginning to end. Cutter is a creepy, conniving, cruel killer. Frost is a real, conflicted hero and I liked his honest character as he tries to listen to the quiet voice inside. The writing is direct and moves along well. I enjoyed the twists in each chapter that keep it interesting all the way to the big twist at the end. I didn’t read the first book and this one read fine as a standalone. I may want to pick that title up. I recommend this to readers who like a well-written psychological thriller.

Source: 2017 NetGalley. This qualifies for 2018TBR, NetGalley and Alphabet Challenges.

Book Review: AFTERLIFE by Marcus Sakey

This was interesting but strange; not really my cup of tea.
AFTERLIFE
by Marcus Sakey

File Size: 2950 KB
Print Length: 320 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1477848401
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (July 18, 2017)
ASIN: B01NGT8YVM
Genre: Thriller, Ghosts, Romance
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0

Soon to be a major motion picture from Imagine Entertainment and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
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.
From the author of the million-copy bestselling Brilliance Trilogy comes a mind-bending thriller that explores our most haunting and fundamental question: What if death is just the beginning?

Review:
Brody is an FBI agent working under the direction of his boss, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Claire, who is also his lover, behind the scenes. Their FBI unit is pursuing a serial killer who always seems to be one step ahead of the authorities… as though the killer has insider knowledge.

Brody and a team follow a lead to an abandoned church. It appears to be a false lead until Brody looks out a broken window and sees a man on a balcony watching him. The building explodes and Brody wakes up without an injury but he soon faces three derelict types who clearly wish him harm. He learns that he is in a world that is similar to his “real” life but more like an echo or ‘shadow’ world.

Claire gets a vision that directs her to track down the killer. Events unfold that put her into Brody’s world. But the killer is there too and he is extremely powerful in the shadow world. Brody and Claire want to be together but their nature to protect others compels them to face the powerful evil. They don’t fully think it through which propels Brody on another unexpected path.

I can’t describe too much in this story without leaking into spoilers. Early in the story I felt like I was reading a horror rather than a thriller. The story did get deeper and offers an unusual view of life after death as well as offering a view of how evil develops and grows. The story is engaging although I felt there were inconsistencies and certainly I don’t agree with the after-death scenario. I did like the strong love connection, the moral good and the key elements that made the difference between evil and good.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as The Brilliance Trilogy which I would rather see in film than this book. This is more sensational and apt to be a bit controversial. The writing is good and the story moves along well. Although I wasn’t enthralled, I would recommend it to readers who like dark thrillers and are willing to look at an alternate view of death.

I received this through NetGalley by invitation from Little Bird Publicity. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge.

Book Review: A Better World by Marcus Sakey

This portrays an exciting and scary world - dreams of a better world but one that is ready to go up in flames.

A Better World (The Brilliance Trilogy Book 2)
by Marcus Sakey

File Size: 6407 KB
Print Length: 391 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1477823948
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (June 17, 2014)
ASIN: B00IA7N7C8
Genre: Sci Fi, Suspense Thriller
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

The brilliants changed everything. Since 1980, one percent of the world has been born with gifts we’d only dreamed of. The ability to sense a person’s most intimate secrets, or predict the stock market, or move virtually unseen. For thirty years the world has struggled with a growing divide between the exceptional…and the rest of us.
Now a terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities. Supermarket shelves stand empty. 911 calls go unanswered. Fanatics are burning people alive.
Nick Cooper has always fought to make the world better for his children. As both a brilliant and an advisor to the president of the United States, he’s against everything the terrorists represent. But as America slides toward a devastating civil war, Cooper is forced to play a game he dares not lose—because his opponents have their own vision of a better world.
And to reach it, they’re willing to burn this one down.

Review:
This story picks up where book 1, Brilliance, left off. Nick Cooper has exposed the villainy of the American President and Nick’s own boss, the head of the Department of Analysis and Response. Those men had staged a massacre, blaming it on John Smith, a brilliant who they labeled as a terrorist. Now John has been exonerated and is free to move around the country to fulfill other plans.

Nick is pulled into the position of advisor to the new President where Nick is a single voice struggling to find a way to defuse the fear, animosity and tension between the brilliants and all ‘normal’ humans. Nick learns that scientists have been searching for the secret to the Brilliant gnome. Nick believes this work can solve the problem and he seeks to protect the scientist before others destroy him and his research. But other men in power have a different vision for a better world than Nick’s harmonious vision.

Soon Nick begins to think John has some serious conspiracy plans of his own and, to Nick’s dismay, he has been played as a puppet. Even though Sharon and Nick have grown close, they keep their own secrets so they are not certain if they can trust each other as the lines of right and wrong seem to waver. Nick continues to race against time and opposing forces but each plot he exposes, instead of diffusing the tension, seems to fuel the fires of unrest and civil war. The Federal Government threatens the brilliant community that has been developed to provide a safe haven for brilliants.

This story presents a scary (for its possible realism) picture of how a handful of powerful men can manipulate facts, people, news and resources to meet their own agenda. The characters are complex and the plot twists, constant action and suspense kept me turning pages. This is a good second installment but it ends rather mid theme so I am glad that I have book three to finish out the excitement.

I received this series through NetGalley for an honest review. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge.

Book Review: Brilliance (The Brilliance Trilogy Book 1) by Marcus Sakey

This is a well written sci fi thriller with social parallels and lots of suspense.

Brilliance (The Brilliance Trilogy Book 1)
by Marcus Sakey

File Size: 4301 KB
Print Length: 453 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (July 16, 2013)
ASIN: B00AESRRQS
Genre: Suspense Thriller, Sci Fi
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

In Wyoming, a little girl reads people’s darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called “brilliants,” and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in—and betray his own kind.
From Marcus Sakey, “a modern master of suspense” (Chicago Sun-Times) and “one of our best storytellers” (Michael Connelly), comes an adventure that’s at once breakneck thriller and shrewd social commentary; a gripping tale of a world fundamentally different and yet horrifyingly similar to our own, where being born gifted can be a terrible curse.
A 2013 Edgar Award Nominee
“The kind of story you’ve never read before.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher Series
“Ridiculously good. I love this story so much.” —Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl
Nominated for the Edgar, Lovey, Sideways, and Prometheus awards.

Review:
Nick Cooper is a federal agent in a special division (Department of Analysis and Response, Equitable Services) whose job is to hunt down “Brilliants” deemed to be terrorists. “Brilliants” are humans gifted with extraordinary skills. The skills may be reading the emotions of others, being able to move with great speed or stealth, being able to instantly see patterns in movement or numbers, and other “extra” skills that help the Brilliants excel beyond the normal humans. Although the Brilliants, aka “abnorms”, make up only a small portion of the population their high level of achievement frighten the normal people causing authorities to seek ways to control the Brilliants.

Cooper is extremely successful as a DAR agent since he himself is a one of those Brilliants. The team has a particular target terrorist, John Smith, who has evaded them for years. Smith is accused of a massacre of a Senator and 70+ other innocent civilians. He is also suspected of planning an upcoming bombing. As Cooper gets closer to the target, he begins to learn facts about the treatment of gifted children who are tested at age 8 and removed from their homes to be raised in academies. Cooper has cause for concern when the testing issue impacts his own family.

When Cooper runs into blocks trying to get Smith, he decides to go undercover to try to infiltrate Smith’s organization. Cooper collides with Shannon who is suspected to be one of Smith’s top operatives. Their joint escape from attacking DAR agents leads to a prime opportunity to get close to Smith. The people Cooper meets and the facts he uncovers will change his world.

The writing is crisp which fits the intensity of the talents of the Brilliants. I really enjoyed the creative observational details shared as part of Cooper’s skills. Cooper’s character is well developed, including building the relationship with his ex-wife and children. There are interesting pieces of news articles or songs that begin or end chapters and help to create an atmosphere of racial tension in this alternate society. The author uses this as one parallel with our real-life conflicts and conspiracies.

This is a good page-turner with twists and (suspected but still) surprises. There is just a touch of sexual grittiness but not enough to mar the overall engaging and remarkable effect of the work. The sci-fi element is an alternate society world and should not deter the interest of those who love a well crafted, fast paced thriller. I highly recommend this and I look forward to continuing in the series!

I received this through NetGalley. This is a contemporary Sci Fi for Sci Fi Experience. It qualifies for my NetGalley challenge, “B” for Alphabet Soup Challenge and TBR Triple Dog Dare.