debbilynn42's Reviews (654)

Hit man Gustavo Toro left behind a cryptic treasure hunt for the FBI to follow in the case of his death. Toro's video message sends Agent Dani Vega and her colleagues around the country to uncover his secrets.  Unfortunately, they are not the only ones following the clues - someone else is reaching their contacts before Dani can get the answers they need. Can they reconstruct Toro's past and find the messages he left for them before they become the targets themselves?

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I found this book stood okay as a stand-alone for the plot, but there were gaps in building out the characters. Reading book 1 first, which also featured Toro, might have helped fill in the character for me. Same for understanding Wu & Vega's interactions.

I appreciated the author's thoroughness throughout the book - the descriptions and details for agency-specific procedures truly immersed me in their world. Reading the Author bio afterwards confirmed that the author has experience with law enforcement and is writing about areas she has experience. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC for this early review. 

This book tried to do too much and in the end it did not do any of them very well. It was an okay read, but I found myself constantly annoyed with the author, the characters, and the plot ... not much was left. I was riveted for the wrong reasons, just trying to see where the novel would leave us with every new thread that was introduced. In the end I'm left with just a "meh" feeling and I'll be onto the next book.

"...but i work here" is a collection of personal reflections on chronic illness. It uses both photographic imagery of the spaces and the physical artifacts that are collected through the author's journey. Its format is one that I've not encountered before. 

There are some portions where the white text is blurry or unreadable against the background images. I did read this book as an ARC though, so there might be changes for the final publication that improves the readability of the content. 

Thank you to Querencia Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this chapbook as an ARC.

Gwen recommended this one to me and I'm glad I picked it up! 

‘Don’t Let Him In’ is a psychological thriller that questions whether you ever truly know those you let into your life. Ash Swann is concerned about the new man in her widowed mothers’ life, but Nick Radcliffe seems to have an answer for every lie she tries to catch him in. Martha Grey cannot rely on her husband Alistair to be home to help her with their daughter, and yet his frequent work trips do not help their finances either. As these women, and more, question the stories they are told, their lives begin to intersect and they uncover a chilling realization that they all never should have let him in. 

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Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book for my review. I was already excited to read another novel by Lisa Jewell as I really enjoyed her 2023 novel ‘None of This is True’, and I was not disappointed by ‘Don’t Let Him In’!

The intertwining perspectives and timelines are engaging and make this story a page turner. Even during the POV of a non-loveable character, I found myself searching for more clues to the larger story at play. I enjoyed seeing the strands of the story all come together in the end. Some reveals were predictable while others left me gasping. I made myself read the final chapters aloud to keep myself from skimming ahead on the page, and I was cheering on the women as the story came to a close. 


Content Warnings:

Death of Parent, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic Relationship, Infidelity, Stalking, Body Shaming / Fatphobia, Vomit, Death, Mental Illness, Domestic Abuse