The Good Neighbour

The Good Neighbour by Alison James
9/12/25; 321 pages
Bookouture

The Good Neighbour by Alison James is a highly recommended psychological thriller. Rounded up from 3.5

After living in Australia for five years, Bryony, a radiographer, returns to London and buys an apartment near the hospital and her friend Claire. A near accident on move-in day introduces her to Kyle, a strange young man who subsequently continues to insert himself into her life. As Bryony begins work and attempts to start dating, she also recalls her previous relationship with Robbie, a young man she dated briefly before moving to Australia and a past she would like to keep hidden. Soon it becomes clear that keeping the secret is no longer up to her.

The first half of the novel is glacially slow moving but the second half makes up for it and actually raised my rating. Just read through the first part of the novel as quickly as you can and try to overlook all of Bryony's bad decisions. The sense that something is wrong does begin to very slowly grow. Then, when the big secret is exposed, things finally do begin to happen. As the action takes off, the tension also rises.

The plot does require you to set a large dose of disbelief aside while reading as Bryony is the queen of bad choices and poor decisions. Really, she annoyed me throughout the whole novel, mainly because she never made a logical, intelligent decision. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Crime Writer

Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen
9/9/25; 303 pages
Level Best Books

Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen is a recommended thriller set in the California coast city of Playa Maria.

Zoey Kozinski is with Officer Austin from the local police department on a ride-along when a routine traffic stop turns deadly. Officer Austin is shot and Zoey as the only witness, calls it in on the police radio. A good Samaritan, Jimmy, stops just before help arrives and both Zoey and Jimmy are detained and questioned. Zoey is looked at with more suspicion when pages from the book she is try to write are found in the police vehicle. Her living situation on an illegal cannabis farm with no address doesn't help. When she notices someone who might be following her, she's rightfully nervous.

The shooter, whose car had stolen plates on it and was full of illegal substances, is ordered by his boss to clean up his mess and take care of the eye witness. He finds Zoey's name in the news account of the shooting and begins looking for her. At the same time, the officer’s widow is angry and claims Zoey's ride-along was a distraction.

What follows is a cat and mouse game as Zoey evades someone she doesn't know while suffering from writer's block, and making numerous bad decisions. The short chapters are mainly from Zoey's point-of-view, with some from the antagonists. The opening and end of the novel are engrossing and compelling, but the majority of the plot drags while jumping from one thing to another. For me, Zoey was an annoying character from start to finish which also made it a challenge to be invested in the narrative. 

Thanks to Level Best Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

A Killer Motive

A Killer Motive by Hannah Mary McKinnon
9/9/25; 400 pages
MIRA 

A Killer Motive by Hannah Mary McKinnon is a very highly recommended tension-packed thriller. Once this thriller takes off it is impossible to put down.

Six years ago Stella Dixon's almost eighteen-year-old brother Max slipped out of the house and went with her and her boyfriend Jeff to a beach party.  Then Max disappeared without a trace. Now Stella and Jeff are married and she has a true crime podcast, A Killer Motive. When she is interviewed on a local radio someone calls in and asks why she isn't looking for her brother Max, Stella says if she had just one more clue she'd find Max. Someone took this seriously and starts a dangerous game where they make the rules.

This well-written, lightning-fast-paced psychological thriller gets better and more intense as the plot unfolds. Once the deadly game initiated by someone using the code-name Anwir starts, Stella knows that she can't tell anyone or people will die. Whoever Anwir is, they know everything Stella says or does. When you start reading the tension and stress ramp up very quickly and explodes as it heads toward the shocking ending. 

Stella is a believable, fully realized, intelligent character with strengths and weaknesses. She is also a sympathetic character and you will want her to get through this and find closure. All the other characters are portrayed as realistic individuals with flaws. Everyone is a suspect, you'll get whiplash considering which character is responsible. 

Readers will be very well rewarded if they set some disbelief aside and go with the plot. Admittedly, very early on when Stella receives the first two anonymous emails from AL and subsequently deletes everything, I questioned her actions and wondered why she didn't immediately go directly to the police to at least have it on record. Of course, this action would have changed the entire novel. The last half of the novel makes up for any initial doubts I had.

A Killer Motive would be an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys fast-paced psychological thrillers. Thanks to MIRA for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Elements

The Elements by John Boyne
9/9/25; 496 pages
Henry Holt & Company 

The Elements by John Boyne is a very highly recommended collection of four interconnected literary novellas. Each story explore a different perspective on crime and sexual abuse/assault and are presented as an element: water, earth, fire, and air. Water is the enabler, Earth is the accomplice, Fire is the perpetrator, and Air is the victim. This is a complex, powerful novel and among the best I've read this year. 

In Water, Vanessa Carvin flees to a remote island off the west coast of Ireland. Her husband has been convicted of abusing children and she wants to escape the publicity and notoriety while reflecting on any role she played in enabling his crimes and find healing. 
In Earth, Evan Keough escapes his life and abusive father on the same island. He wants to be a painter, but instead works as a prostitute before finding success on a soccer team. He ends up being on trial as an accomplice in a crime.
In Fire, Dr. Freya Petrus, is a successful burn surgeon during the day and deals with her childhood trauma by being a predator at night.
In Air, Aaron Umber, a child psychologist in Australia, is still damaged by abuse he experienced as a child. He and his teenage son are taking a trip back to Ireland which results in some healing.

The writing is exceptional in this compelling literary collection. While the stories can be disturbing and are not always emotionally easy to read, the abuse and crimes are brutally but honestly depicted. The impact of the crimes and abuse experienced by (or doled out by) these deeply wounded characters is handled with candor and authenticity. The impact and consequences of the abuse is far-reaching.

All of the characters are portrayed as fully realized, complex individuals with strengths and weaknesses. Each of their voices are distinct in each story and the relationships between characters is organic. Not every character or choice made induces sympathy or understanding, but the grim reality of their situations is there.

The Elements is one of the best books of the year and would be a great choice for a serious book club. Thanks to Henry Holt & Company for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Deepest Cut

The Deepest Cut by P. J. Tracy 
9/9/25; 320 pages
Crooked Lane Books
Monkeewrench Series , #11

The Deepest Cut by P. J. Tracy is a highly recommended procedural featuring the Monkeewrench crew, cyber and software experts, who assist the Minneapolis PD and Dundas County Sheriff's Office. This is the eleventh book in the series. The plot continues the story started in the tenth novel, Ice Cold Heart from 2019. Readers new to the series will want to start with earlier novels or at least Ice Cold Heart before reading The Deepest Cut.

Wolfgang Mauer escaped from a maximum security mental hospital in a rural area and it set on revenge against those responsible for his incarceration, including Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth along with the Monkeewrench gang. He leaves a trail of three dead bodies and kidnaps a ten-year-old boy, Travis. Sheriff Iris Rikker is a new, inexperienced sheriff and needs the help of Magozzi, Gino, and Monkeewrench in the search before more lives are lost.

This is an action-packed fast-paced manhunt for Mauer and young Travis. The action follows both Mauer's actions and those searching for him. During this same time Magozzi is getting ready to retire to stay home with Grace MacBride (a member of Monkeewrench) and their daughter, Elizabeth. These are all well known characters for those who have been following the series and fans will be pleased to see them again. 

The Deepest Cut will be best appreciated by Monkeewrench fans and those who have read the previous book in the series, Ice Cold Heart. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Couple's Secret

The Couple's Secret by Lisa Regan
9/1/25; 370 pages
Bookouture
Detective Josie Quinn #23

The Couple's Secret by Lisa Regan is a very highly recommended mystery/procedural. This is the 23rd novel in the Detective Josie Quinn series but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. In fact, after reading it you will want to read more in this series.

A call comes in alerting the Denton Police department that a car has been spotted in the river at a remote area. Detective Josie Quinn and her partner Gretchen go out to investigate and Josie determines the car has been there for several years. It is revealed that inside the car are the skeletal remains of Tobias Lachlan and his fiancée Cora Stevens, a couple who disappeared seven years earlier. 

The medical examiner reveals that the couple were both murdered which means the car was pushed into the river and the missing persons case is now a murder investigation. Tobias and Cora’s children, Jackson, Zane and Riley, are now adults and Josie is determined to find who murdered their parents because someone always knows something.

The writing is excellent, the pace is lightning-fast, and the tension rises with each chapter as all the clues are all logically followed up on in this compelling murder mystery. There are some obvious suspects, but, as the investigation unfolds, secrets are uncovered and seem to multiply. There are several twists in the plot as new information is uncovered and changes the direction of inquiries.

In Josie's personal life, Noah, who also works for the police department, is still recovery from the aftermath of a previous case. The two are now custodial parents to Wren, a teenager who is still grieving from her parents deaths. All the backstory and history of the characters is covered enough that new readers can follow along and appreciate this latest addition to the series. I really enjoyed all the realistic interaction between characters which helps bring them all to life as fully realized individuals.

The Couple's Secret is a natural choice for anyone following the series, but new readers can jump into it this time and enjoy the excellent mystery/procedural. Thanks to Bookouture for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Fallout

Fallout by Logan Ryles
9/2/25; 334 pages
Severn River
Prosecution Force #8

Fallout by Logan Ryles is a highly recommended thriller. This is the eighth book in the Prosecution Force series and very highly recommended for those already following the series. 

There have been two nuclear blasts, at the Panama Canal and in Azerbaijan. Reed and four other members of the CIA's elite Prosecution Force are being held and tortured in Azerbaijan. The White House is trying to prevent global war, but with the president ill,  Vice President Stratton is in charge. The world is careening toward WWIII while leaders from Russia, China and Iran are missing and unavailable to contact. Separated from the others, Lucy is shell-shocked and in a daze, and, while Turk has the intelligence information needed, he has no way to get the information back to Langley. He also needs to rescue the missing team members, but it is clear that troops in Azerbaijan are preparing for war at the border with Georgia and Russia. 

This is a tension-filled, action-packed, heart-stopping thriller that takes off at a gallop and doesn't let up until the end, which will leave readers longing for the next installment of the series. It will hold your complete attention throughout. Fallout really is a riveting thriller. The strength and sense of purpose of all the characters is impressive. The only drawback for me was starting the series here, with the eighth book. After reading Fallout it became clear it might have been better to start at the beginning and follow the team to this point. 

Fallout is a perfect choice for those who enjoy action-packed thrillers and are already following the Persecution Force series. Thanks to Severn River for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.