Meet BTB Reviewer Teresa Brock

Background: Empty nester trying to get as many book babies into the world as possible.  

Go-To Author: The Orphan X Series by Gregg Hurwitz is something that I always look forward to.  Whatever and whenever the next book in this series comes out I will literally take a day off to read.  I found the first book in the series at a thrift store and the rest is history.  

Author People Should Discover: Robert Dugoni is actually the author that probably started this obsession back up when I read The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell.  I think that is a book that should be mandatory reading.  If you ever read it you will never forget it.  

Book You Would Recommend From 2025: My top book from 2025 is Welcome to Cottonmouth.  Imagine a town full of retired assassins and assets with secrets, skill and arthritis.  I couldn't get enough of this one.  

Most-Anticipated Book Of 2026: All the Little Houses by May Cobb was my most-anticipated pick for 2026 and for good reason.  It is devious, delicious and full of drama.  A totally over the top binge read.  May Cobb is an auto read author for me.  

Favorite Local/Indie Bookstore: A Likely Story in Midway, Kentucky and Carmichael's Bookstore

Favorite Charities: The Wounded Warrior Project.

Follow Teresa on Twitter or Instagram or contact her via the site.

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View Teresa’s Latest Reviews (book pub. dates)

Dead Matters by Josh Berman (1/17/27)
Fire Fall by Brad Thor & Ward Larsen (1/5/27)
Exhumation by Nicholas Binge (12/1/26)
Tom Clancy The Coldest War by MP Woodward (11/24/26)
Baby Queen by Ty Landers (11/17/26)
Middleman by Brendan Flaherty (11/10/26)
Tales from the Caribbean by Jack MacTavish (11/10/26)
The Woman I've Become by Debra Webb (11/1/27)
Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child (10/20/26)
The Way You Say My Name by ME Proctor (10/13/26)
Truth to Power by S.A. Cosby (10/13/26)
Atomic Coffin by Benedict Anning (10/6/26)
Return to Breakneck Island by Tom Ryan (10/6/26)
Double Tap by Don Bentley (9/22/26)
The Need by Megan Mostyn-Brown (9/22/26)
Wildwood by Ashley Woo (9/8/26)
Target Down by Ryan Steck (9/8/26)
Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Phillipi Ryan (9/1/26)
Echoes in a Stone by Rodger Carlyle (9/1/26)
Pressure Depth by Jack Stewart (9/1/26)
Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier (8/25/26)
The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes (8/18/26)
The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen (8/4/26)
Before the Devil Knows by R. John Dingle (7/29/26)
Indie Darling by Lauren Nossett (7/28/26)
Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan (7/21/26)
Insurgent by Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson (7/21/26)
Sisters of the Midnight Sun by Rebecca Wright Stevens (7/14/26)
Every Lie I Told By Hilary Davidson (6/16/26)
Choke Point by Brad Thor (6/16/26)
Tell Your Friends by Lauren Wilson (6/2/26)
The Girl in the Lake by Lauren Oliver (6/1/26)
The Tuxedo Society by Paul Rudnick (5/26/26)
The Memory Foundation by Amanda West (5/26/26)
Beneath a Broken Sky by Joshua Moehlin (5/26/26)
Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister (5/20/26)
Rules of Engagement by Ward Larsen (5/19/26)
Mist and Malice by Rachel Howzell Hall (5/19/26)
The Fourth Option by Jack Carr & MP Woodward (5/16/26)
The Pawn by John David (5/14/26)
The Anniversary by Alex Finley (5/12/26)
Dear Mother by Rea Frey (4/28/26)
The Girls in the Dark by Avery Bishop (4/24/26)
The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer (4/21/26)
Last One Out by Jane Harper (4/14/26)
A Wound that Will Not Heal by Eric Beetner (4/7/26)
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas (3/31/26)
The Survivor by Andrew Reid (3/24/26)
Dig by J.H. Markert (3/24/26)
She Fell Away by Lenore Nash (3/10/26)
Judge Stone by James Patterson & Viola Davis (3/9/26)
Turn Off the Light by Jacquie Walters (3/3/26)
One Beautiful Year of Normal by Sandra K. Griffith (2/24/26)
Adrift by Will Dean (2/17/26)
Children of the Savage City by Elizabeth Heider (2/17/26)
Murder at 30,000 Feet by Susan Walter (2/17/26)
The Hard Line By Mark Greaney (2/17/26)
Cold Zero by Brad Thor & Ward Larsen (2/10/26)
The Better Mother by Jennifer van der Kleut (2/10/26)
Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz (2/10/26)
In Her Defense by Phillippa Malicka (2/3/26)
Impostor by L. J. Ross (02/3/26)
The Cormorant Hunt by Michael Idov (1/27/26)
Detour by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart (1/26/26)
Very Slowly All At Once by Lauren Schott (1/20/26)
All The Little Houses by May Cobb (1/20/26)
The Bourne Revenge by Brian Freeman (1/20/26)
Such Sheltered Lives by Alyssa Sheinmel (1/20/26)
Robber Barons by Rodger Carlyle (1/20/26)
Dead in the Water by John Marrs (1/20/26)
The Method by Matthew Quirk (1/20/26)
Inside Man by John McMahon (1/13/26)
Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester (12/9/25)
Silent Bones by Val McDermid (12/2/25)
Dead Ringer by Chris Hauty (12/2/25)
Executive Power by Andrews & Wilson (11/25/25)
Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino (11/25/25)
The Picasso Job by Avanti Centrae (11/18/25)
The Adversary by Andrews & Wilson (11/4/25)
The Secret Sand Circle By Christina M. Abt (11/3/25)
Trigger by Jennifer Stockdale (11/1/25)
The Mannequins by C. Toms-Arbel (10/31/25)
Remain by Nicholas Sparks & M. Night Shyamalan (10/24/25)
The Midnight Knock By John Fram (10/21/25)
War on the Porch by Travis Davis (10/16/25)
The Gunman Jackson Swagger by Stephen Hunter (10/14/25)
The Gallery Assistant by Kate Belli (10/14/25)
The Devouring Light by Kat Ellis (10/7/25)
Keep this for Me by Jennifer Fawcett (10/7/25)
Cry Havoc by Jack Carr (10/7/25)
Victim #8 by Traci Hunter Abramson (10/7/25)
Silent Creek by Tony Wirt (10/7/25)
Photograph by Brian Freeman (10/07/25)
The Hitchhikers by Chevy Stevens (10/7/25)
Denied Access by Don Bentley (9/30/25)
The Whisper Place by Mindy Mejia (9/16/25)
The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards (9/16/25)
Scar the Sky by J. Todd Scott (9/9/25)
Family Ties by Michele Packard (9/9/25)
The Quietist by Daniel David Gothard (9/2/25)
In Deadly Company by L. S. Stratton (9/2/25)
Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley (9/2/25)
Spider to the Fly by J. H. Markert (9/2/25)
8114 by Joshua Hull (8/26/25)
Leverage by Amran Gowani (8/19/25)
The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan (8/12/25)
The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd Robinson (8/5/25)
A Noble Sin by Andrew Bridgeman (8/5/25)
The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen (8/5/25)
The Ever End by Audrey Wilson (8/5/25)
Departure 37 by Scott Carson (8/5/25)
Fade In by Kyle Mills (7/29/25)
The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr (7/22/25)
Blood and Treasure by Ryan Pote (7/22/25)
The Red Letter by Daniel G. Miller (7/22/25)
Whatever Kills the Pain by CW Blackwell (7/18/25)
Welcome to Cottonmouth by Jay S. Bell (7/8/25)
Remote: The Five by Eric Rickstad (7/8/25)
The White Crow by Michael Robotham (7/1/25)
Edge of Honor by Brad Thor (7/1/25)
Proof by Jon Cowan (6/24/25)
Gone Dark by Ryan Steck (6/17/25)
Of Flesh and Blood By Hunter Burke & N.L. Lavin (6/10/25)
Sister Butcher Sister by KD Aldyn (6/10/25)
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (6/10/25)
Blood Feud by Martin Rooney (6/3/25)
The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark (6/3/25)
Be Mine by Lizzy Barber (5/27/25)
Tell Them You Lied by Laura Leffler (5/27/25)
Lay Your Armor Down by Micahel Farris Smith (5/27/25)
The Safari by Jaclyn Goldis (5/20/25)
The Palace of Sinners and Saints by Ammar Merchant (5/20/25)
Spontaneous Remission By Joel Shulkin (5/13/25)
Fog and Fury by Rachel Howzell Hall (5/13/25)
Marguerite by the Lake by Mary Dixie Carter (5/8/25)
No Man's Ghost by Jason Powell (5/6/25)
See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (04/29/25)
Bop City Swing by ME Proctor and Russell Thayer (4/22/25)
Vatican Daughter by Jonie Marie Iraci (4/15/25)
Streets of Nashville by Michael Amos Cody (4/15/25)
Remote: The Six by Eric Rickstad (4/8/25)
The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer (4/8/25)
Dark Rising by Andrews & Wilson (4/8/25)
Heartwood by Amity Gaige (4/1/25)
Flames of Deception by Travis Davis (3/25/25)
Gothictown by Emily Carpenter (3/25/25)
Nowhere by Allison Gunn by (03/25/25)
Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski (3/22/25)
The Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (03/18/25)
Another Try by Gene Koon (3/10/25)
The Extraterrestrial Zoo by Samantha van Leer (3/4/25)
The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica (3/4/25)
The Memory Ward by Jon Bassoff (3/4/25)
Real Bad, Real Soon by Eric Beetner (2/25/25)
Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz (2/11/25)
Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker (2/11/25)
Dark Vector by Ward Larsen (2/4/25)
A Long Time Gone by Joshua Moehling (2/4/25)
The Department by Jacqueline Faber (2/4/25)
The Enigma Girl by Henry Porter (1/28/25)
At Dark I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca (1/28/25)
Penitence by Kristin Koval (1/28/25)
Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade (1/25/25)
The Spear and the Sentinel By J. L. Hancock (1/18/25)
Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson (1/8/25)
The Dragon the Eagle and the Jaguar by Rodger Carlyle (01/14/25)
Assume Nothing by Joshua Corin (12/10/24)
The Good Bride by Jen Marie Wiggins (12/10/24)
Nobody's Hero by M.W. Craven (12/03/24)
Baker by Michele Packard (12/01/24)
The Egyptian Enigma by David Darling (11/26/24)
Out in the Cold by Steve Urszenyi (11/12/24)
Burn This Night by Alex Kenna (11/12/24)
The Lake of Lost Girls By Katherine Greene (11/5/24)
In Too Deep by Lee Child & Andrew Child (10/22/24)
Good Looking Ugly by Rob D. Smith (10/22/24)
Origin Story by A.M. Adair (10/22/24)
The Slate by Matthew Fitzsimmons (10/8/24)
Hometown Vendetta By Traci Hunter Abramson (10/1/24)
Somewhere by Matthew Reed Williams (10/10/24)
The President's Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins (10/8/24)
Not Yours to Keep by Zelly Ruskin (10/8/24)
Fortunate Son by Andrew Bridgeman (09/24/24)
Heroic Measures by Joel Shulkin (09/17/24)
The Bachelorette Party by Sandra Block (9/3/24)
Love You Till Tuesday by M. E. Proctor (08/12/24)
The Chamber by Will Dean (8/6/24)
The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley (8/6/24)
Homecoming Queen by Chad Boudreaux (8/6/24)
Stone Creek by Kate Brandes (8/6/24)
May the Wolf Die By Elizabeth Heider (7/2/24)
Tempest North by Rodger Carlyle (7/16/24)
Show Game by Steve Anderson (7/2/24)
The Midnight Rambler by Don Carr (6/20/24)
Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten (6/18/24)
Dreams in Incarceration by Cillian Dunne (6/18/24)
The Vixen Amber Halloway By Carol LaHines (6/11/24)
The King Street Affair by Jon Sealy (6/6/24)
Moneymaker by Josh Boldt (6/5/24)
A Better World by Sarah Langan (4/9/24)
Relentless by Michael Maloof (11/17/23)
The Hollywood Con Queen by Scott C. Johnson (6/6/23)

The Way You Say My Name By ME Proctor

Declan Shaw is back, and M.E. Proctor has delivered another outstanding addition to a series that deserves far more attention! When Amanda Spencer disappears without explanation, Declan takes on a missing person case that becomes increasingly complicated as he uncovers the secrets surrounding her life. His compassion for Amanda's family, particularly Beatrice, and his determination to understand what happened reveal a detective who sees far more than another case to solve. Meanwhile, Sam Chandler enters the picture, bringing an entirely different set of complications and some undeniable chemistry. As the two investigations become dangerously intertwined, Declan must rely on his instincts, intelligence, and unwavering loyalty to protect the people depending on him.

M.E. Proctor has an extraordinary ability to write a protagonist who commands attention without needing to dominate every room with violence or bravado. Declan Shaw has all the sharp wit, irresistible Texas swagger, and investigative instincts that make him such a memorable character, but his greatest strength may be his humanity. He listens. He considers the consequences. He treats people with dignity, even when their circumstances are complicated, and violence is never his first solution. The dialogue is razor sharp, the banter is exceptional, and the chemistry between Declan and Sam - well no spoilers here. Yet beneath the humor and unmistakable noir atmosphere is a thoughtful exploration of loyalty, grief, trauma, and the emotional cost of protecting others. Proctor tackles difficult subjects, including suicide, abuse, addiction, and mental health, with sensitivity and purpose, allowing these realities to deepen the characters without overwhelming the narrative. The pacing is beautifully controlled, with two compelling storylines converging naturally into an investigation that becomes increasingly personal.

This time Proctor does something remarkable. She pulls back the curtain on Declan's past, revealing the trauma that helped shape the man readers have come to know. This is a version of Declan that feels unexpectedly vulnerable, stripping away any illusion of invincibility and replacing it with something infinitely more compelling. His evolution across this series is exceptional, and understanding his history makes his compassion, restraint, and fierce loyalty all the more meaningful. Proctor doesn't simply give readers another mystery to solve. She gives them a character worth investing in, a man whose imperfections make him impossible not to champion. The Way You Say My Name is intelligent, emotionally resonant, wonderfully atmospheric crime fiction with the grit of traditional noir and the heart of a deeply character driven story. Three books into this series, Declan Shaw has become the kind of fictional detective readers will follow anywhere. M.E. Proctor has created something special, and the only disappointment is having to wait for another installment.

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Purchase The Way You Say My Name
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Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

Fire Fall By Brad Thor & Ward Larsen

When an archaeological expedition in Halmahera, an island in Indonesia, takes an unexpected turn, the search for a missing plane uncovers a chilling connection to World War II. What begins as a discovery buried in the past quickly becomes a global race for a drug capable of altering human behavior on an unimaginable scale, potentially transforming an otherwise unassuming person into a human weapon. As Dr. Sara Taylor and CIA operative Alex Ross are pulled deeper into the investigation, the line between an ancient threat and a modern catastrophe becomes dangerously thin.

Fire Fall is the kind of thriller that grabs attention from the opening pages and refuses to let go. The pacing is relentless, yet the story never sacrifices the details that make the plot work. Every discovery, technological development and historical connection has a purpose, creating the kind of narrative where paying attention matters. The technology used to infiltrate and manipulate has the capability to control the world and it is particularly unnerving because so much of it feels ripped straight from the headlines. It gives the story a level of plausibility that makes the threat far more unsettling than fiction has any right to be.

Another standout is the relationship between Dr. Sara Taylor and Alex Ross. Having two male authors place a highly capable woman at the center of a story like this is refreshing, and Sara is never reduced to a supporting role. Her expertise and determination make her an essential part of the action, while her partnership with Alex adds just the right amount of tension and heart. The result is a smart, fast-moving thriller that brings together espionage, technology, history and a terrifying scientific possibility without ever losing sight of its characters. Fire Fall is an absolute contender for book of the year and a thriller that deserves to be on every action and espionage reader's list.

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Purchase Fire Fall
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)

Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

Exhumation By Nicholas Binge

A dead woman, an empty grave, six journals, and £10,000 deposited into the bank account of a disgraced detective. All Arlo Abbas has to do is find Sophie Banik. The catch? Sophie was murdered five months ago. This cigarette smoking former Metropolitan Police detective turned struggling private investigator is clever, tough, and never short on a trick or two. His weary, sardonic inner dialogue gives the story its gritty noir foundation, and following his instincts is half the fun. Then the investigation takes a sharp turn into underground communities, secretive organizations, experimental sleep research, and reality bending science fiction. A journalist goes undercover, researchers pursue answers about people who seemingly cannot sleep, and the six journals reveal that this case is far stranger than anyone could have imagined.

Nicholas Binge builds an atmospheric, genre bending puzzle that refuses to stay in one lane. The journals, transcripts, and shifting perspectives offer different pieces of the mystery, inviting readers to connect the dots alongside Arlo. The underground world is unsettling, the ideas are wildly ambitious, and the story keeps expanding in directions a traditional detective thriller would never dare to go. Just when one thread seems to make sense, another raises a fresh set of questions. This is not a book that hands over all its answers neatly or immediately, and that is part of the appeal.

Fair warning: there is a substantial stretch where the plot may leave readers wondering whether they missed something important or need to start taking notes. Then the bigger picture begins to emerge, and those details that seemed impossible to wrangle start falling into place. Suddenly, putting the book down is out of the question. The short chapters make this an easy read to fly through, even when the ideas are anything but simple. Exhumation is wildly inventive, deliciously disorienting, and exactly the kind of book that can drag a reader straight out of a slump. If unpredictable, cerebral, and gloriously strange thrillers are your thing, put this one on your list.

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Purchase Exhumation
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)

Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

Tom Clancy The Coldest War By MP Woodward

“We tighten rules of engagement, and we don’t go tromping around in a minefield with a blindfold on.”

This may be the hardest review I have had to write in 2026, and for good reason. M.P. Woodward has created an incredibly complex, meticulously researched, and deeply immersive story where naval warfare, intelligence, Arctic geography, technology, geopolitics, and nuclear risk all collide. From a three man British SBS team working alongside Katie on a rescue mission to find a downed spy plane, to Norwegian and Finnish troops, submarine crews, John Clark and his team, Donovan in Helsinki, and the machinery being used to carve new passages through the Arctic ice, there are so many moving pieces and I was completely invested in every single storyline. Woodward leaves virtually no stone unturned. The precision in the equipment, communications protocols, military operations, foreign terminology, and sheer volume of research made this feel less like reading a thriller and more like I had somehow gotten my hands on classified after action reports. The Arctic is not simply a setting here. It becomes the strategic battlefield, and Russia's attempt to literally change the physical environment to create new sea lanes raises the stakes to an entirely different level.

Then there is Jack Ryan, and this is where the story became much more than military strategy for me. He is facing the kind of decision no president should ever have to make, knowing that one wrong move could cost countless lives and potentially push the world toward a much larger conflict. He is not simply trying to figure out how to stop an enemy. He is carrying the weight of what happens if he does. Watching him wrestle with that responsibility while his own daughter is in Russia added an entirely different emotional layer to the story. Katie also continued to grow for me, and the similarities between her and her father are impossible to miss. The way they think, the way they care, the way they push themselves and refuse to stop when there are lives on the line made some of her moments particularly powerful. I can absolutely see Katie continuing to make a much bigger impact in the Ryanverse.

The Coldest War is a book that demands your attention, and I think that is exactly why it was such a tough one for me to review. There is an enormous amount of information here, but Woodward never loses sight of the people inside the machinery of it all. I found myself completely invested in the decisions being made, the lives hanging in the balance, and the sacrifices these characters were willing to make for one another and for the people they were trying to protect. The emotional turning points throughout this book that deserve just as much attention as the military action. Woodward has delivered a massive, meticulously researched geopolitical thriller that feels frighteningly real, intensely personal, and incredibly difficult to put down. If you read military thrillers for the strategy, the authenticity, the technology, and the high stakes, this one gives you all of that while still giving you characters you can become deeply invested in.

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Purchase The Coldest War
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)

Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

Baby Queen By Ty Landers

Baby Queen gives us a corpse preserved in honey, three generations of complicated Southern women, one of which isa grandmother with a criminal empire, family secrets, drug trafficking and a whole lot of questionable decisions! When Natalie Link returns to her family's honey farm in rural Alabama, she discovers that Grandma Lana has been running considerably more than a sweet little business. Throw in a decades old disappearance, dangerous criminal partnerships and a former detective who refuses to let the past stay buried, and you've got one gloriously messy Southern crime saga.

Ty Landers delivers an exceptional debut packed with Southern grit, wickedly dark humor, morally complicated characters and an outrageously original premise. Lana is an absolute force of nature, a criminal matriarch whose empire is changing faster than she can control it. Natalie faces a deadly learning curve, while Bob Sauk, a former detective haunted by an investigation that cost him his career, brings an unexpected layer of heart to the mayhem. Every character matters, much like the worker bees in a hive, the clever honey bee symbolism adds depth to a story about power, loyalty and survival. Sharp dialogue, laugh out loud moments and an escalating level of chaos make this darkly entertaining crime thriller downright cinematic.

Beneath the criminal mayhem are compelling questions about family loyalty, moral responsibility and the legacies we inherit. Can protecting family justify the unforgivable? Can anyone truly escape the sins of those who came before them? With twists as treacherous as the Alabama countryside and characters who are as unpredictable as they are unforgettable, Baby Queen is Southern noir at its finest. Some families pass down heirlooms. The Links pass down a criminal empire, and Ty Landers turns that inheritance into one hell of a debut.

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Purchase Baby Queen
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Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

Middleman By Brendan Flaherty

Meet Jake Flynn.

Jake grew up in Connecticut with a father who seemed to have life figured out. He was an attorney, a fixer, a peacemaker, the kind of man who always knew exactly what to say and how to make an impact. Jake? His life hasn't exactly followed that blueprint. He's overworked and underpaid at a remote tech job where the line between work and home has completely disappeared. His wife is burned out, and they have two young children. Now, his parents need help, and Jake desperately wants what seems like such a reasonable thing: a house, some stability, the American Dream. Surely a wife, two kids and a job are enough to make a person feel like they've made it, right? Nope.

Jake packs up his family and heads back to his Connecticut hometown, and suddenly the past is everywhere. Old memories resurface and people from his past reappear. The most unlikely group of people are now in his orbit, and life is about to get interesting.  His elderly neighbor Edwina is a local historian with a peculiar neighborhood newsletter, her son Eddie is an aspiring artist with a talent for bad decisions (emphasis on bad), and fifteen-year-old Trevor is a lonely kid trying to protect his family. Then there's an old cemetery with three mausoleums holding valuables, secrets and an opportunity that is just too tempting for the wrong people. Somehow, Jake ends up in the middle of it all. Literally and figuratively.

He's caught between his wife and children, his parents, his job, his responsibilities, his desire for a home, Eddie's schemes and Trevor's vulnerability. Jake isn't a mastermind or a hardened criminal. He's an ordinary guy who keeps finding himself in the middle of other people's problems making one questionable decision at a time. Brendan Flaherty takes that very ordinary desperation and turns it into a darkly funny, wonderfully offbeat crime story about family, money, responsibility and just how easily a decent person can find himself standing somewhere he never intended to be. I loved that this isn't a story about some impossibly badass hero saving the day. Jake feels real. He's messy, overwhelmed, well intentioned and occasionally spectacularly misguided. Honestly - that made me root for him even when I wanted to shake him.

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Purchase Middleman
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)

Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

Tales From The Caribbean By Jack MacTavish

From there, the story takes off in directions that are nearly impossible to anticipate. As the plot unfolds, the connections between the characters and the constantly shifting adventure become increasingly intriguing, keeping the tension high and the questions coming. Jake's increasingly unbelievable circumstances remain compelling because, despite knowing this is fiction, the story makes it easy to become fully invested in what he has stumbled into. Each new revelation adds another piece to the puzzle, creating a gripping sense of anticipation as the seemingly disconnected threads begin to come together.

Jake can fall in shit and come out smelling like a rose. His IDGAF attitude somehow takes him from single and nearly destitute to politician, card shark, and even boy toy for a Russian spy. There really don't seem to be any boundaries to where his adventures will take him. Whether he's getting a tattoo, making deliveries of questionable value, or crashing a MiG-21, Jake handles it all with a smile, a little attitude, and a PBR.

Tales from the Caribbean is full of espionage, dark humor, danger, adventure, and characters who are morally complicated.  This book was an absolute blast, and readers will have a hell of a time riding along with Jake to see just how much trouble one man could possibly get himself into.

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Purchase Tales From The Caribbean
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)

Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen

The Woman I've Become By Debra Webb

Some thrillers pull you in. The Woman I've Become had me by the throat from the prologue to the very end.  Debra Webb delivers a twist-fueled psychological thriller that thrives on secrets, shifting loyalties, and the unnerving realization that the truth may be far more complicated than anyone wants to admit.

Twenty years ago, Julia escaped from a serial killer known as The Judge. She was his only surviving victim, and he has never been found or prosecuted. Now her husband is stepping into the political spotlight, and the past Julia has fought to leave behind is clawing its way back into the present. Threatening emails arrive, buried memories resurface, and the people around her become increasingly difficult to trust. Then there is Wendy, Julia’s secret friend, not friend, and the tangled history between them. 

The dual timelines are phenomenal, steadily reshaping the story as the past and present collide. Julia is a mother first, a wife and a woman with secrets of her own and a past that is dark. The question is not simply whether or not she is in danger again. It is how much of her history can be trusted, what she has kept hidden, and whether anyone in this story is exactly who they appear to be. Everyone has a motive. Everyone has something to hide. Trust is a dangerous game, and even Julia is not above suspicion.

Debra Webb is an author who earns the freedom to take readers wherever she wants to go, and this is precisely why. Go in as blind as possible, pay attention, and let the unraveling do its work. The psychological uncertainty, the shifting perspectives on the past, and the constant questioning of who to believe make this one a standout. Just when the pieces seem to be falling into place, the picture changes.  Debra Webb has absolutely delivered a twisty, deceptive, relentlessly compelling thriller that keeps you questioning everything and everyone.

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Chain Reaction By Lee Child and Andrew Child

Gravel, solar panels, five data centers, and two guys trying to take over the world with AI walk into a bar... and they meet Jack Reacher.

Susan Turner is back, and if you've been waiting to see her again since Never Go Back, you're in for a treat. She is now a one-star Brigadier General leading the Army's CSA G-99 Section.  When a CID Special Agent turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, Turner knows in her gut it wasn't a random mugging that led to his death. With her own unit compromised by a powerful tech organization known as Everything Everywhere Forever (EEF)  operated by Axel Brill and Cameron Saxby (in my head I totally saw Pinky and The Brain) , she needs someone completely outside the system. Enter Reacher.

This one feels different from recent Reacher novels. Yes, there's plenty of action, impossible odds, gallons of coffee, enormous meals, and, of course, pie. But there are also welcome nods to classic Reacher. We get those familiar habits that longtime fans love: setting an internal clock in his head, the way he presses his clothes, and relying on his gut. At the same time, he's evolving. Reacher shows more emotion in this book than all the books combined, and it hints that bigger changes may be on the horizon.

The story moves from Colorado to California to Washington, D.C., weaving together data centers, AI, surveillance, gravel companies (yes, gravel becomes surprisingly important), and a plan to dominate the AI world that never leaves U.S. soil. It is absolutely over the top, but that's part of the fun. This is Reacher—we're not here for subtle.

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Dead Matters By Josh Berman

A partially eaten body, security footage of what appears to be a walking corpse, and forensic evidence that defies conventional explanation? Welcome to Savannah, Georgia, where FBI Special Agent Ella Penrose and her Paranormal Crimes Unit have one heck of an investigation on their hands! Ella is brilliant, gritty, fiercely guarded, and determined to follow the science, regardless of how bizarre the findings become. From flesh eating dermestid beetles and mysterious fabric dyes to bite marks, bone fragments, and microscopic evidence, every discovery raises another question. For Ella, the more impossible a case appears, the more determined she becomes to explain it. 

Josh Berman's television background is unmistakable in this wonderfully cinematic forensic thriller. The investigative details are fascinating, the dialogue is sharp, and the imagery is so vivid that I cannot guarantee you won’t be seeing beetles! Yet the real strength of Dead Matters is how much Berman gives us beyond the central investigation. Ella's haunting nightmares, her complicated history with fellow agent Grant, and the unexplained disappearance of her brilliant mother gradually reveal the vulnerability beneath her carefully maintained exterior. Her mother's background and research in cryptozoology introduces another intriguing mystery, one that may hold answers Ella has spent years searching for. Equally compelling is the story of Ella's foster sister Celeste, whose decade behind bars following the death of an abusive man raises difficult questions about race, justice, and the consequences of a system that does not treat everyone equally. Add Celeste's son Holden, a newly minted FBI agent with a talent for testing boundaries, a terrific investigative team, and Lilly's dog Beaker (seriously, how perfect is that name?), and there is an entire cast worth getting invested in. 

Berman balances meticulous forensic investigation with complicated family relationships, personal trauma, unsettling possibilities, and just enough unanswered questions to make the future of these characters every bit as intriguing as the crime itself. The multiple storylines give the novel substance without sacrificing its investigative momentum, and the developing relationships make this feel like the beginning of something much bigger. That final breadcrumb concerning Ella's mother? Oh, there had better be more where that came from! For readers who love intelligent crime procedurals, fascinating forensic science, unconventional mysteries, and characters with plenty left to uncover, Dead Matters is an excellent introduction to a world worth revisiting.

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Truth To Power By S.A. Cosby

Stepping outside my usual reading lane for Truth to Power by S. A. Cosby was an easy decision for two reasons: (1) Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, and (2)  the fact that it is S. A. Cosby behind the wheel. What I didn't expect was just how much fun it would be to stretch my imagination into the superhero universe while still getting the gritty, hard hitting storytelling Cosby does so well. His voice rings through every page, bringing his signature intensity, sharp observations, and unflinching look at human nature to Marvel's bulletproof hero.

When Luke Cage leaves Harlem for rural Virginia to investigate his cousin's suspicious death, he finds himself facing far more than a dangerous adversary. Beneath the surface lies a community shaped by prejudice, corruption, and entrenched power structures, where the official version of the truth doesn't always tell the whole story. Luke's greatest challenge isn't simply taking down the bad guys. It's learning when to temper his strength, when to listen, and how to protect people who cannot protect themselves without allowing anger and grief to dictate his choices. His unbreakable skin doesn't make him immune to loss, guilt, or the moral weight of doing what is right.

Family, justice, racism, and the abuse of power give this story substance beyond the action, while Cosby asks a question that feels every bit as relevant outside the superhero world: Who gets to define the truth, and what happens when the people with the power have the most to hide? Truth to Power proves that even in a world of extraordinary abilities, the hardest battles are often the ones rooted in ordinary human cruelty.

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Atomic Coffin By Benedict Anning

It’s December 1984, and British SIS operative Heidi Sperling, codename Thistle, escapes East Berlin carrying intelligence about a Soviet submarine that should not exist. TK 15 has been sitting motionless in the North Atlantic for three years, completely undetected, until it suddenly transmits a single word: ACTIVE. Heidi is sent aboard HMS Viking as part of the mission to investigate, expecting a Cold War mystery and finding something far more terrifying. What begins as espionage and submarine suspense steadily descends into psychological horror when the crew discovers something profoundly wrong inside TK 15. An unknowable force is waiting there, and its influence begins driving the Viking crew toward psychological collapse. As Heidi's own perception fractures, her memories shift, timelines blur and reality becomes increasingly difficult to trust. What actually happened? What was manipulated? What is this force? The deeper they go, the harder it becomes to separate reality from perception. The first portion of this book establishes reality. The second portion destroys it.

Atomic Coffin is a claustrophobic descent into the unknown that doesn't just make you question what is lurking in the darkness; it makes you question whether your own mind can be trusted to recognize it. I loved Heidi as an unreliable narrator, and the shifting timeline and fractured perception had me questioning practically everything right along with her. The submarine setting is absolutely suffocating, and Anning turns that isolation into another layer of horror. There is nowhere to go, nowhere to surface and eventually nowhere to be completely certain of what is real. The descent into the cosmic void, the dark presence and the feeling of something all-consuming closing in around these characters created an atmosphere that genuinely got under my skin. Then came the ending! It is exactly the kind of ambiguity I love in horror. I promise you will finish this book turning the pieces over in your head and wondering what you actually witnessed. I finished this book knowing two things: I have absolutely no desire to step foot on a submarine, and I may never look at a mirror quite the same way again.

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Return To Breakneck Island By Tom Ryan

Return to Breakneck Island by Tom Ryan is the follow up to The Treasure Hunters Club, so when I was given the opportunity to return to Maple Bay, I jumped on it. Could you read this one as a standalone? Technically, yes. Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. Read book 1 first. You will become invested in Cass, Dandy and Peter, and understanding everything they have already been through gives this story so much more weight. The mystery is new, but the series isn't starting over, and Ryan assumes you have some history with these characters and this little corner of Nova Scotia. 

This time, Cass, Dandy and Peter aren't immediately working together. Instead, each finds themselves pulled toward the same mystery from very different directions. Cass receives a cryptic tip about a treasure connected to Breakneck Island, Dandy is dealing with an unexpected change in her personal life, and Peter finds himself unexpectedly charmed by a professor. Then a sudden death changes everything. At the center of it all is the MacLeary family, who lived on Breakneck Island and tended its lighthouse for generations before disappearing during a devastating storm in 1932, leaving behind a missing fortune and plenty of questions.

Told through multiple POVs and two timelines, the story moves between present day Maple Bay and 1932 as the truth about the MacLearys slowly comes into focus. I especially loved the historical storyline because it was intriguing, atmospheric and unpredictable, and I enjoyed watching the separate threads gradually begin to reveal how connected they really were. Ryan has created a cozy thriller that delivers murder, secrets, treasure hunting, small town charm, humor and plenty of twists without losing sight of the characters at its heart. The way the clues are planted along the way and all come together at the end?  Perfection!

There is something wonderfully character driven about this series that makes you want to spend more time with these people. Most importantly, I am not convinced the Treasure Hunters Club is finished yet, and if Cass, Dandy and Peter are coming back for another adventure, I will absolutely be there. Tom Ryan has once again given me a clever, entertaining mystery with a cast I genuinely enjoy spending time with, and I am already hoping we don't have to wait too long to return to Maple Bay.

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Double Tap By Don Bentley

Some characters never lose their edge, no matter how many books they've starred in. Twenty-five novels into the Mitch Rapp universe, Don Bentley somehow manages to take readers backward in time and still make the journey feel fresh. Double Tap fills another crucial chapter in Mitch's early career, proving there are still corners of his story worth exploring.

This installment was an absolute treat for longtime fans, especially those of Stan Hurley. His presence is woven throughout the novel, reminding us why he remains one of the defining forces behind the assassin Mitch Rapp is destined to become. Bentley captures Stan's grizzled, uncompromising nature with remarkable authenticity while continuing the mentor student dynamic that has always been one of the series' greatest strengths.

Mitch is exactly who readers expect him to be. Focused. Ruthless. Unrelenting. Once the mission is set, there is no hesitation and no wasted movement. This time the hunt centers on a kidnapped Pakistani chemical weapons scientist whose knowledge could reshape the balance of global security. The pursuit stretches from the streets of Verona into a dangerous web of terrorism, intelligence operations, and international politics where every decision carries enormous consequences.

This is where Mitch Rapp thrives. Deep cover operations. Split second tactical decisions. Precision planning. High risk espionage. Bentley orchestrates every moving part with confidence, delivering an adrenaline-fueled geopolitical thriller that never loses sight of the people behind the mission. While Mitch remains the unstoppable force fans love, Bentley also allows quieter moments to surface, revealing flashes of compassion and reflection that continue to shape the man he is becoming. 

Bentley's background as an Apache helicopter pilot and former FBI SWAT operator shines through in every operation. The technical details never feel like they exist simply to impress. They serve the story, grounding the action in a level of realism that has become a hallmark of his writing. More importantly, he understands the responsibility of carrying Vince Flynn's legacy. Rather than imitate Flynn, Bentley honors the foundation that was built while confidently adding his own voice to Mitch's evolving history.

I had the privilege of reading Double Tap early, and keeping quiet about its biggest moments has been far more difficult than reading it. There are scenes I cannot wait to discuss once everyone else has the chance to experience them (shout out to Irene). For now, I'll simply say this - Don Bentley continues to prove that there is still rich, compelling territory to explore in Mitch Rapp's early years, and he does so with confidence, respect for the characters, and an unwavering understanding of why readers keep coming back.

If you thought you already knew everything there was to know about Mitch Rapp, Double Tap is here to remind you that legends are not only defined by their victories, but by the stories still waiting to be told.

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The Need By Megan Mostyn-Brown

Imagine being born with a genetic condition that means you need human flesh to survive. You cannot outrun it, cure it, or simply decide you want to be normal. It is part of you, and in The Need, Megan Mostyn-Brown takes that horrifying premise and turns it into something surprisingly layered, darkly funny and completely addictive. Talia has spent years trying to protect her children and keep The Need hidden, while the wealthy Armstrong family has embraced it as part of their bloodline, treating their supposedly perfect genetic legacy as something worth protecting at any cost. Money, power, control and family secrets collide when these worlds intersect, and what follows is a deliciously dysfunctional fight over who gets to define family, who gets to belong and what happens when that carefully protected lineage is threatened.

I am a sucker for a debut author, and Megan Mostyn-Brown absolutely delivered for me. The Need is fast, bizarre, gory, emotionally complicated and just the right amount of unhinged. I especially loved the multiple POV's because every character had a distinct voice, and moving between a teenager, a mother and an increasingly unhinged grandmother was perfect. What really grabbed me, though, was the way horror is wrapped around questions of inheritance, identity, motherhood and the pressure to live up to something you never asked to inherit. The Armstrong's see The Need as a legacy and their bloodline as something approaching perfection, while others are left questioning what that legacy actually costs. And let me tell you, this family drama is off the rails. Somehow, with all the blood, secrets and cannibalism, cannibalism isn't even the messiest part. Megan Mostyn-Brown has given us one hell of a confident entrance with this bingeable, outrageous, disturbing and completely different cannibal story and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

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Wildwood By Ashley Woo

Elinor and Topher Leighton are at a turning point in their marriage when Elinor discovers she is pregnant, unemployed and unexpectedly inherits an estate from an estranged uncle in rural Vermont. For Topher, an ER doctor who loves the energy of city life, Wildwood is not exactly the dream, but it could be a chance to start over, slow down, raise their child and perhaps understand why Elinor has become so estranged from her extended family. Of course, arriving at Wildwood comes with one tiny problem. Nothing is quite what it seems.

I was completely hooked by the atmosphere of this book. A creepy mansion, Vermont woods, autumn, ghosts, witch history, mysterious neighbors and enough family secrets to make me suspicious of everyone? Yes, please. Woo creates this delicious sense of dread through nightmares, unexplained noises, apparitions and the woods surrounding the estate, but it is the Forest of the Dead mural that really got me. It is not simply creepy decoration hanging on a wall. It becomes part of the mystery, and as Elinor becomes increasingly obsessed with it, the line between what she is seeing, what she is remembering and what may actually be happening begins to disappear.

The big question remains – Is Elinor experiencing something supernatural, or is everyone around her slowly convincing her that she is imagining it? I loved that uncertainty. I loved not knowing who could be trusted. I loved watching the past begin bleeding into the present, Elinor questioning her memories and her dreams and realizing that Wildwood had far more to say than simply “welcome home.” With its haunting atmosphere, buried family secrets, and history that refuses to stay buried, Wildwood is gothic suspense at its most patient and unsettling.

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Target Down By Ryan Steck

Fifteen years ago, Aaron Decker disappeared from the world of black operations and built the life he thought he'd never have: a quiet home in Michigan, children he loves and a chance to leave his past behind. Then someone finds him and keeps finding him. When a Russian mafia hit team comes after his family, Decker knows the past hasn't forgotten him. With nowhere else to turn, he calls Matthew Redd, the one man he trusts to help him figure out who is hunting him and why. What follows is a race to uncover the identity of Nightshade, expose the traitor and cut the head off the snake before the people they love become collateral damage. This isn't simply another Matthew Redd mission. At its heart, Target Down is about two highly capable men who will do whatever it takes to protect their families while confronting the ghosts of the lives they thought they'd left behind.

Ryan Steck had me so completely locked into this story that I lost track of time. This is cinematic thriller writing at its best. I could see the action unfolding in my head, but what really pulled me in were the characters. Redd and Decker aren't invincible superheroes. They're flawed, believable men who feel fear, make mistakes and carry the weight of their pasts. They're fearless when they need to be, fiercely protective and absolutely family first, but they're also guided by a moral compass that matters making every decision, every confrontation and every loss hit harder. I loved the relationship between Redd and Decker and the debt of loyalty that binds them. There is something incredibly satisfying about watching two men who know exactly what they're capable of put all that capability toward protecting the people they love. I also appreciated the parallel storyline with Emily and the children as the danger closes in. The stakes aren't abstract. These are families. These are people and the threat feels frighteningly plausible.

Target Down is unapologetically Christ-centered without ever feeling forced, and I appreciated that immensely. There are no gratuitous bad words, no need for them, and while there is violence and some seriously tough stuff, it serves the story rather than existing simply for shock value. Everything feels grounded enough that you can believe it could actually happen. That's what makes the tension work.

This is book five in the Matthew Redd series, and apparently, I have a problem because I need at least five more. Target Down is the kind of thriller that makes you forget you're sitting in a chair reading a book because suddenly you're watching the whole thing play out like a movie in your head. It's fast, it's intense, it's emotional, it's faith-filled and it has the kind of brotherhood and family stakes that make you care about what happens to these people.

(PS. I listened to Hard Fought Hallelujah while reading. It is currently the soundtrack in my head.)

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Mother Daughter Sister Stranger By Hank Phillipi Ryan

Eliza and Bea Ramsey have spent eleven years bound together by a tragedy that changed the course of their lives. After surviving the plane crash that killed their parents, the sisters have made it a tradition to commemorate the anniversary together. When Bea fails to show up to pick up her daughter, Piper, Eliza immediately knows something is wrong. Her search for her missing sister quickly becomes far more complicated than a simple disappearance as long buried family secrets begin to surface and the version of the past Eliza thought she understood starts to unravel. Determined to find Bea while protecting Piper from whatever is happening around them, Eliza refuses to stop searching even when every new piece of the puzzle seems to create more questions than answers.

Eliza is exhausted, relentless, and determined to find the truth, yet her own instincts can sometimes make the search even more complicated. Her professional life has trained her to look for patterns, connect the pieces.  She was raised wanting to create her own ending and between those two things  she quickly finds there are no clear paths to the truth. Everyone has something to hide, everyone feels suspicious, and every revelation made me question what I thought I knew. Ryan keeps the tension moving with short, propulsive chapters, shifting suspicions, family secrets, red herrings, and twists that kept me happily chasing the wrong answers. Trust issues? This book will happily add a few more to the collection.

I have been reading Hank Phillippi Ryan for quite some time, and I honestly think this may be her best yet. The title itself becomes such an important part of the story. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Stranger. Those words represent relationships we think we understand, yet Ryan continually challenges what it really means to know someone. This is exactly the kind of domestic thriller I love, packed with family dysfunction, buried secrets, relentless pacing, and enough twists to keep my thriller brain working overtime. I trusted approximately nobody, including my own theories, and I was completely fine with that. This was bingeable from beginning to end and absolutely had me messaging my reader friends with one simple instruction: mark this one down because you need to read it. Everyone has a family story. The Ramsey family just happens to have one that could get you killed.

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Echoes In A Stone By Rodger Carlyle

I’ve been reading Rodger Carlyle for a while now, and I’ve been fortunate enough to interview him and spend time talking with him in person, so when I had the opportunity to read the newest addition to the Team Walker series, I jumped at it. Echoes in Stone introduces Andrea and Brandt Stoupp, a husband and wife who have spent ten years in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness chasing their fortune through gold mining. When they finally decide it’s time to leave that life behind and return to civilization, an unknown object literally rocks their world. What they discover could change everything, and suddenly the questions are bigger than what the object is worth or whether it could give them the fresh start they desperately want. Why is everyone so interested in it? Who wants it, and more importantly, what happens if it ends up in the wrong hands?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from reading Carlyle, it’s that he does his homework. The amount of research behind Echoes in a Stone is impressive, but what really makes it work is the way he turns those details into an experience. You don’t simply read about Alaska; you can practically feel the cold, picture the terrain, and understand the significance of the rock formations, mining, and even the helicopters. That attention to detail extends far beyond the setting. Carlyle knows that a great thriller needs characters you care about, and the relationships here carry just as much weight as the mystery. Military connections, friendships, neighbors, loyalty, trust, and the complicated bond between a husband and wife all feel genuine. His characters are constantly forced to decide who they can trust, what their moral compass demands, and what they are willing to risk for the people and principles that matter most. That balance between the big story and the very human relationship at its center is something Carlyle consistently gets right.

Echoes in a Stone pushes the Team Walker series onto a much larger stage, blending the raw beauty of the Alaskan wilderness with scientific mystery, international espionage, military intelligence, and a discovery capable of shifting the balance of power.  It’s ambitious, deeply researched, and steadily raises the stakes until you have to know where this is all going.  This is Carlyle at full throttle: immersive, unpredictable, and relentlessly paced, with enough twists, tension, and danger to keep you completely locked in.

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