Over The Edge by Jonathan Kellerman

What the cover says:
"Is it all in your mind?
Jamey Cadmus is clearly a deeply troubled young man but is he guilty? Found clutching a bloodied knife at the scene of a brutal double homicide he must be the vicious serial killer who's been terrorising LA, what other explanation can there be?
The public are demanding the death penalty but his lawyer is pleading diminished responsibility. Psychologist Alex Delaware is asked to make an assessment of Jamey's mental health but to do that he needs to look into Jamey's past and no one - not the police, not his family, not even his lawyer - wants Alex digging there..."

This is a fantastic Kellerman novel - lots going on, characters you can care about and an ending that is both happy and sad all at once.

8/10

The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross

What the cover says:
"They say bad luck comes in threes. But for Karen Friedman's family, bad luck is just the beginning.
It starts with her husband Charlie's investments going wrong and the sudden death of a much-loved family pet. Then one morning Charlie takes the train to work - straight into a lethal terrorist blast. For Karen and her children, all that remains of Charlie is a memory.
Or is it? When the Friedmans being to receive terrifying threats Karen turns to Detective Ty Hauck for help. Hauck's family fell apart too after a tragic accident he still blames himself for. Now he's determined to keep Karen's family safe. But Hauck doesn't know how the people who investigate Charlie have a way of ending up dead..."

This is an ok book, keeps moving along, keeps you guessing, but didn't grab me somehow. Similar to the ones that Andrew Gross has co-written with James Patterson - good but not great.

7/10

The Timer Game by Susan Arnout Smith

What the cover says:
"CSI Detective Grace Descano gets a call to work a routine crime scene, but two hours and three dead bodies later, Grace is the one under investigation.
When her 5 year old daughter is snatched, Grace is thrown into a nightmare world of timed riddles, which must be solved - if she wants to see Katie again.
She's got 24 hours.
Welcome to the Timer Game."

A breathless chase from beginning to end. You're thrown straight in from the first chapter in a completely unexpected way, and the pressure doesn't really let up from there. Twists and turns along the way add to the suspense, and this could easily be read in one sitting - not because it's short, but because you won't want to stop till the end.

9/10

Scream For Me by Karen Rose

What the cover says:
Special Agent Daniel Vartanian has made a horrific discovery - photographs, taken years ago by his brother Simon, showing a gang of teenagers raping young girls. Disgusted, Vartanian is determined to bring the rapists to justice.
Alex Fallon's family fell apart when her sister was murdered thirteen years ago. And history now seems to be repeating itself with her stepsister Bailey's disappearance. When Vartanian meets Alex, and realises that her dead sister was in the photos, he starts to believe that the rapists may be behind Bailey's disappearance.
Bailey Crighton is being held captive by a monster. Alone and unable to escape, all she can do is scream for help. Vartanian and Alex must confront their pasts head-on if they are to find Bailey - before it's too late...

Excitement from beginning to end. It does get rather confusing at times, particularly with the use of code names, but this really is part of the story, and it wouldn't work as well otherwise. Gripping and unputdownable.

9/10

Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris

What the cover says:
"They spend their days - and too many of their nights - at work. Away from friends and family, they share a stretch of stained carpet with a group of strangers they call colleagues.
There's Chris Yop, who is clinging to his ergonomic chair; Lynn Mason, the boss, whose breast cancer everyone pretends not to talk about; Carl Garbedian, secretly taking someone else's medication; Marcia Dwyer, whose hair is stuck in the eighties; and Benny, who's just - well, just Benny. Amidst the boredom, redundancies, water-cooler moments, meetings, flirtation and pure rage, life is happening, to their great surprise, all around them.
Then We Came to the End is about sitting all morning next to someone you cross the road to avoid at lunch. It's the story of your life, and mine."

A huge great disappointment. Described as 'The Comedy Debut of the Year' yet I didn't find a single sentence even remotely amusing. And as for being a story that everyone can relate to, it bore no resemblance to any office I've ever worked in. I was hoping for an amusing day-to-day account of normal office life, where this  was actually a tale of a firm going through the process of 'downsizing', when if it had been a real company and these the real employees it would have just needed to be closed down for everyone's sake.

3/10

Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein

What the cover says:
In District Attorney Alexandra Coper's line of work, the discovery of a corpse isn't unusual. Not even the corpse of a young woman who was bound, bludgeoned and tortured to death. It's the location which is unusual - an abandoned ferry terminal at the southern tip of Manhattan, from where the ferries only went to one destination... Governors Island.
The corpse is identified as that of a part-time prostitute with a side-line in kink and a high-end client list. A list to kill for and, clearly, to die for.. but the list is missing, and so is another girl. The her body is found. Another deserted location, another viciously violent killing.
There is a faint trail to follow, but when another young woman disappears not far from Governors Island, Alex joins the desperate hunt for a singularly depraved murderer. A chase which catapults her into one of the most chilling encounters of her life.

This one is quite a slow burner, and doesn't feel to really get going until at least two-thirds of the way through. Not one of the best 'Coop' novels, but fairly readable nonetheless.

7/10

Every Breath You Take by Sheila Quigley

What the cover says:
"A stranger stalks the streets of Houghton-Le-Spring and for Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt he is getting too close for comfort.
Selina, the daughter of Lorraine's partner, DS Luke Daniels, is a beautiful and wilful sixteen-year-old with a dark past. Just as it seems she's finally getting back on her feet, she is attacked. Is Selina's past catching up with her? Or is there an even more sinister motive for the assault?
Before long, Lorraine and Luke's worst fears are realised, and a body is found. A young woman, brutally murdered, her heart cut out, and in its place - a single white rose.
Soon the White Rose Killer steps up his campaign. Is DI Hunt imagining it? or does he have a message specially for her? As he circles ever closer, nobody escapes suspicion and Lorraine faces her toughest case yet."

This isn't a bad book, good characters and storyline, with a highly exciting ending. Unfortunately, the inconsistent and wholly unnecessary use of "yer" for "you" was deeply irritating. Writing in dialect is all well and good, but changing just one word on an intermittent basis adds nothing to the storyline and detracts on reading pleasure.

6/10