female protagonist

Scorpion by Christian Cantrell – Book Review

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Scorpion by Christian Cantrell – Book Cover

The pace of the cross-border killing spree is picking up fast. But the motive? Murky at best. The only clue comes in the form of cryptic four-digit number sequences tattooed on the victims’ bodies. CIA analyst Quinn Mitchell has never faced a tougher assignment. Scorpion, Christian Cantrell’s philosophical techno-thriller, offers a glimpse into the brutal future knocking at our door.

The Future Is Now

Just a stone’s throw away. And yes—it’s just as ugly as we imagined. Scorpion could be set five years from now. Or ten. Or the day after tomorrow. The staggering pace of technological advancement has already brought the achievements of the near future into view. And artificial intelligence—as we’re already experiencing—is changing everything, day by day.

Christian Cantrell—an engineer and software developer in civilian life—offers a vision that’s filled with both the familiar and the unknown. The tech and gadgets in Scorpion are so convincingly real, you’ll find yourself wondering whether you read about them here first—or in yesterday’s news.

In any case, they’re surrounded by the gentle warmth of familiarity—and thankfully, by credibility as well. That’s where many future-set thrillers stumble right out of the gate, either trying to say too much or trying to say it all at once.

But there’s one thing you definitely haven’t heard of: no one has ever received a message from the future. (Or at least, no one’s been willing to admit it—so far.)

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The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith – Book Review

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The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith – Book Cover

Cormoran Strike and his partner, Robin Ellacott, are up against a ruthless religious cult. In The Running Grave, the seventh installment of the Cormoran Strike series, the private detective duo is on a mission to rescue a young man from the clutches of fanatics. But the stakes are higher than ever, especially for Robin, who’s thrust into more danger than she’s ever faced before.

The Running Grave is Bursting with Skeletons

Charismatic conman Jonathan Wace—aka “J Papa”—and his exceptionally diabolical wife, Mazu, hit the jackpot when they founded the Universal Humanitarian Church. Their brainwashed followers are completely devoted, eager to fulfill even the most twisted desires of their beloved leaders.

Once this pair sinks their claws into someone, they don’t let go until they’ve wrung them dry. Saving the well-meaning but easily influenced Will Edensor is no small task for Cormoran Strike and his small but dedicated team.

Robin’s Up for This Too!

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Firestarter by Stephen King – Book Review

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Firestarter by Stephen King – Book Cover

Oh, we know all about the CIA and the likes of them, don’t we? Of course we do! If some genius over there comes up with the idea to inject shady concoctions into unsuspecting college students as part of an experiment, well, they don’t hesitate. They just go for it. And if a few people drop dead in the process, they probably figure it’s not too steep a price to pay for developing psychic abilities… Of course, messing around with the secrets of the universe always comes with a side of danger. You can bet the real trouble only begins if the experiment actually works. When the genie’s out of the bottle. Or when someone shows up who can set things on fire. With their mind. Easily. And on any scale. A Firestarter, if you will.

Firestarter Walk With Me

Stephen King has never shied away from the supernatural. (There. We said it.) The pyrokinesis that serves as the basis for Firestarter may have been heard of before—if nowhere else, then at least in connection with so-called spontaneous combustion. And it’s no secret that during the Cold War, both the Americans and the Soviets were digging into the mysteries of the human mind. (With, let’s say, varying degrees of success.)

Still, having a real, living, breathing fire mage? That’s a whole different level!

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Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner – Book Review

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Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner – Book Cover

Frankie Elkin is a skinny, petite white woman—with a complicated relationship with alcohol and a massive savior complex. In Boston’s immigrant-populated Mattapan neighborhood, she stands out like a lighthouse on a dark sea. So what the hell is she doing there?!

Well, Frankie specializes in missing persons—specifically, cold cases where the police have already failed. So far, she’s found fourteen people. Every single one of them dead. But with Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who disappeared eleven months ago, maybe—just maybe—things will be different this time…

Before She Disappeared is the first book in Lisa Gardner’s Frankie Elkin series.

The Power of Personality

If you’re not a towering, unstoppable muscle-bound force like, say, Major Jack Reacher (see: Lee Child’s Die Trying), who typically extracts information from reluctant witnesses and suspects with a well-placed, bone-rattling punch, then you’ve got no choice—you’ll have to rely solely on the power of your personality.

And that’s exactly what Frankie Elkin does.

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The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons by Karin Smirnoff – Book Review

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The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff – Book Cover

Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy—better known as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series—put Scandinavian crime fiction on the global map in the mid-2000s. The books, which were later adapted into film and television, became so wildly popular that even after Larsson’s death, the adventures of the eccentric yet unstoppable hacker and her loyal (though occasionally unfaithful) collaborator, Mikael Blomkvist, continued. Karin Smirnoff’s The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons is now the seventh installment in the series.

The Controversial Past of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

What started as a crime series quickly evolved into something more. Something bigger. The protagonist, Lisbeth Salander—a woman who, even with the bed included, barely weighs 40 kilos—soon became an action hero. More than that, she transformed into a vengeful angel, a strong, independent woman who made life a living hell for the men who deserved it.

Then came the sequels by David Lagercrantz, and… well, I have no idea. In my humble opinion, Lagercrantz is one of the weakest among the ever-brooding Nordic crime authors. I haven’t been able to finish a single book of his that I picked up. Naturally, that includes the three Millennium installments he cobbled together.

But let’s see how Karin Smirnoff approaches the iron-willed, tattooed girl—who, after two decades, is undoubtedly a tattooed woman by now.

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Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado – Book Review

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Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado – Book Cover

Antonia Scott is the smartest person in the world. She’s a member of a special covert police unit designed to crack the most complex criminal cases. Her codename? Red Queen. But for the past three years, Antonia has been in a state of near-hibernation after an attack took away the one person she cared for most in the world…

The Red Queen Is Back in Action

With Red Queen, Juan Gómez-Jurado has broken through the nearly impenetrable barrier of international recognition after publishing numerous books in Spanish. Not an easy feat if you’re not writing in English. To pull it off, you need something truly extraordinary—something that grabs readers’ attention immediately.

And Antonia Scott is precisely that.

The superintelligent yet quirky and eccentric personality commands both your admiration and your sympathy, making her even easier to relate to. (Much like Lisbeth Salander, a.k.a. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.)

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In the Darkness by Mike Omer – Book Review

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In the Darkness by Mike Omer – Book Cover

Being a serial killer isn’t easy. Take, for example, the one who buries their victims alive—an exhausting amount of digging is involved. And in the scorching heat of San Angelo, Texas, no less. Not to mention the hassle of dealing with that sticky clay soil. But don’t think I’m trying to drum up sympathy here—anyone who does this sort of thing is a total scumbag and deserves to suffer for it. Still, what about the victim (in this case, as is often the norm, a pretty young woman) who suddenly finds herself buried in the darkness? …

… Zoe Bentley and her partner, Tatum Gray, once again delve deep into the twisted mind of a serial killer in this second installment of the series.

Something’s Missing in In the Darkness

What’s most lacking is a distinctive voice—something truly original that would set Mike Omer’s writing apart from the dozens of other thrillers featuring serial killers.

In many ways, In the Darkness is an average piece of work. The characters aren’t particularly compelling, the plot lacks genuinely exciting twists or scenes, and the writing as a whole feels rather bland.

The acknowledgments at the end of the book give a telling glimpse into just how many collaborators it took to piece together something coherent. It gives the impression that Mike Omer might not be capable of putting a finished product on the table by himself. And maybe that’s the case.

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No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen – Book Review

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No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen – Book Cover

Ellery Hathaway, a police officer, shot a ruthless criminal under controversial circumstances, which got her put on mandatory leave. Now, the protagonist of No Mercy is being required by her psychiatrist to join a group therapy program designed for victims of violent crimes. Ellery, who survived being abducted by a serial killer in her youth, still can’t seem to escape her past.

But once a cop, always a cop. Group therapy is an ideal place to stumble upon numerous unsolved or puzzling cases. A particularly brutal rapist? Smoldering tensions in an old arson case? Ellery dives into the investigation, sparing no one – least of all herself.

A Distinctive Detective

Joanna Schaffhausen begins No Mercy in a way that’s almost misleading. Recently, there’s been a trend of books featuring slightly sociopathic anti-heroines, who takes down her own family or colleagues in a lighthearted way, or gets mistaken for a dangerous assassin. Well, the opening line of No Mercy seems to channel this same genre.

But it only takes a few pages to realize you’re mistaken. Schaffhausen quickly builds a heavy atmosphere, and before you know it, you’re drawn in by Ellery Hathaway, a character who carries both physical and emotional scars – and your sympathy along with them.

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The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood – Book Review

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The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood – Book Cover

A.K. Larkwood’s The Thousand Eyes has one big flaw: it marks the end of the story. With this second book, Larkwood wraps up the Serpent Gates series. Other authors might fall to their knees, thanking the heavens for such a unique and brilliant concept, stretching the series across at least five books, knowing this could be the magnum opus of their career. After all, who can guarantee they’ll come up with anything even close to this good again?

The Thousand Eyes Hisses Ominously

Orc girls in love, crazed death-worshipping cults, divine incarnations roaming the earth, and countless worlds you can literally sail between through the Serpent Gates. The setup is monumental. But where Larkwood really shines is in her depiction of gods. In The Unspoken Name, her debut novel, she introduced three deities, any one of which would elevate any fantasy novel.

A goddess of serpents, shattered into a thousand pieces scattered throughout the universe; a terrifying dragon, banished to the cold of space, burning with eternal murderous rage; or an all-knowing entity that kurking in the mysterious depths of a mountain, forever hungry for human sacrifice. These gods create a fantastic foundation for Larkwood’s series.

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Wool (Silo #1) by Hugh Howey – Book Review

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Wool (Silo #1) by Hugh Howey - Book Cover

If you’re the homebody type who likes keeping fit by taking the stairs but isn’t particularly keen on having kids, then the Silo is just the place for you. Everyone else, though? Well, they all got totally screwed! In Hugh Howey’s sci-fi novel Wool, humanity has moved underground. Well, the few remaining souls, anyway. The Silo, drilled 144 floors deep into the earth, is the perfect setting for a claustrophobic sci-fi thriller.

Better Stay Inside the Silo

Human nature is predictable: lock someone up, and they’ll want to get out. At all costs. And as soon as you start reading Hugh Howey’s book Wool, you figure that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Surely, the whole story can’t possibly take place in this confined setting. They’ll find a way out.

But Hugh Howey has other plans. He says, “Yep, it all happens right here!” And you can forget hoping otherwise—Howey slams you right back down into the Silo.

That’s when you realize two things:

  1. There’s a reason this series is called Silo.
  2. Wool makes for a perfect adventure novel.

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