A year ago, I saw the trailer for Prodigal Son, a new series on FOX, and loved the premise: the son of a serial killer becomes a profiler while battling his own demons and missing memories. It was one of those ideas I wish I’d thought of. But as we all know, great ideas can…
An edgy female police detective… An ambitious FBI special agent. Together they are at the heart of the ticking-clock investigation for a psychopathic serial killer. Detective Kara Quinn, on leave from the LAPD, is on an early morning jog in her hometown of Liberty Lake when she comes upon the body of a young nurse.…
This time last year I reviewed Liars’ Paradox by Taylor Stevens and said, “It’s fun, violent, fast-paced, and original. The comment, “I couldn’t put the book down,” is somewhat trite because everyone says that about a good thriller. Except, I literally could not put the book down until I read every page.” Now, multiply that…
Life Is Short and Then You Die is the Mystery Writers of America’s first teen anthology, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. Short stories aren’t easy to write. I wrote my first short story in Killer Year, an anthology edited by Lee Child, published more than a decade ago. It was one of the…
My mom loves Spenser. She has almost every Spenser book Robert B. Parker wrote. Parker himself wrote nearly 70 books, but his characters are so popular his series continued even after his death in 2010. Years ago, I read a couple of Spenser books because they were on my mom’s shelf, but I mostly loved…
This e-novella by Allison Brennan introduces readers to the world of Lucy Kincaid leading up to the release of the next in the series, Nothing to Hide. FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid and her colleague Nate are racing a severe storm, but the weather is the least of their worries… Lucy and Nate head to rural…
The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a YA thriller about family, secrets, and the search for a missing girl. The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a fantastic YA thriller that will appeal to anyone of any age. I’m a long, long way out of my YA years,…
Filled with explosive action, suspense, and powerful human drama, Liars’ Paradox by Taylor Stevens is the first book in the new Jack and Jill Thriller series. Eighteen months ago, Taylor Stevens told me about her new series, and I told her to send me an ARC when it was ready. Her editor sent it to me last…
Too Far Gone is the next intense installment in Allison Brennan’s New York Times bestselling Lucy Kincaid series. When a man who appears mentally unstable holds a group of people hostage and dies in a shootout with the FBI, Special Agent Lucy Kincaid is assigned to investigate what happened. Up until two months ago, McMahon…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, Allison Brennan’s fifth Max Revere thriller combines with Lisa Scottoline’s sixth Rosato & DiNunzio novel to highlight a great week of books!…
