false 0 4 4 true 6043469 read 0 true 4658779 currently-reading 0 true 4658778 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56216843 to: Pressure (Leisure Fiction) by Jeff Strand
If you've not previously read anything by Jeff Strand there couldn't possibly be a better place for you to start than with his new release, Pressure. Though Strand is the author of over a dozen books, including the outstanding Andrew Mayhem series, with the publication of Pressure Strand has taken his already incredible talent to another level entirely.

What would you do if your best friend turned out to be a sociopathic killer? One who was obsessed with you and everything about your life? That's the situation Alex faces when his friend Darren becomes increasingly manipulative and violent over the course of their relationship. Starting when they meet at boarding school, Pressure follows the twisted relationship between Alex and Darren as it builds from kids being cruel, to young men pushing boundaries, to adults who end up in the fight of their lives, figuratively and literally, against each other.

Pressure is very aptly titled because the pressure in this book builds relentlessly... almost to the point of uncomfortableness at times it is so skillfully written. Strand pushes Alex to the brink over and over, seeing just how much he and the reader can take, before finally pushing him over the edge for a climactic showdown that will leave you both stunned and impressed at its unflinching, uncompromising resolution. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56216696 to: Pressure (Hardcover) by Jeff Strand
If you've not previously read anything by Jeff Strand there couldn't possibly be a better place for you to start than with his new release, Pressure. Though Strand is the author of over a dozen books, including the outstanding Andrew Mayhem series, with the publication of Pressure Strand has taken his already incredible talent to another level entirely.

What would you do if your best friend turned out to be a sociopathic killer? One who was obsessed with you and everything about your life? That's the situation Alex faces when his friend Darren becomes increasingly manipulative and violent over the course of their relationship. Starting when they meet at boarding school, Pressure follows the twisted relationship between Alex and Darren as it builds from kids being cruel, to young men pushing boundaries, to adults who end up in the fight of their lives, figuratively and literally, against each other.

Pressure is very aptly titled because the pressure in this book builds relentlessly... almost to the point of uncomfortableness at times it is so skillfully written. Strand pushes Alex to the brink over and over, seeing just how much he and the reader can take, before finally pushing him over the edge for a climactic showdown that will leave you both stunned and impressed at its unflinching, uncompromising resolution. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55961808 to: Flipping Out: A Lomax & Biggs Mystery (Hardcover) by Marshall Karp
Flipping Out is the third book in a wonderful series by Marshall Karp featuring LAPD Homicide Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs. If you haven't read the first two yet, never fear. Karp's style of writing is such that you can jump right in and hit the ground running... then go back and order books one and two, The Rabbit Factory and Bloodthirsty. :-)

The premise of Flipping Out revolves around a group of women who form a business to renovate and "flip" houses for profit. Lomax & Biggs become "involved" with the project when a member of the house flipping group, who was also the wife of one of their fellow detectives, is murdered at the location of the group's most recent house flipping project. Before Lomax & Biggs can figure out whether the victim was targeted because she was a police officer's wife or because she was a member of the house flipping team a second murder occurs, also of a woman who was a member of the house flipping team and a police officer's wife. Clearly, Lomax & Biggs have their hands full with a serial killer, and from there the pursuit is on in a race against the clock to catch the killer before he/she can work their way through the entire house flipping team.

It's not easy to write a book that is both edge of your seat mystery as well as laugh-out-loud funny, but Karp pulls it off effortlessly. The black humor banter between Lomax & Biggs is razor sharp, and the one-liners fly fast and furious. But beneath the surface jocularity there is real depth to the characters in Karp's novels. Even the most bit player comes across as three-dimensional, and Lomax & Biggs are fully realized characters, wonderfully painted in a million shades of grey... there is nothing "stock" about these Hollywood Detectives.

Far from putting it into cruise control for his third book, Karp just keeps getting better. This is easily the most complex mystery of his three offerings to date. The "who" of the "who dunnit?" is never obvious, and even when you think you've got it figured out Karp manages to serve up a wicked curve ball of an ending. If you like mysteries, police procedurals, characters with depth, and laugh-out-loud writing then look no further... Flipping Out has it all, and then some! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49882785 to: Afraid (Mass Market Paperback) by Jack Kilborn
Nothing ever happens in Safe Haven, Wisconsin, a sleepy little town isolated from neighboring towns by thick woods and accessible by only a single road in and out. And that's the way the 907 residents of Safe Haven like it... until that idyllic isolation turns into their worst nightmare.

On a peaceful evening under a hunter's moon an explosion lights up the sky as a helicopter carrying a Red Ops military unit crashes into the woods just outside of town. The Red-Ops team is made up of psychopathic killers who have been scientifically enhanced and specially trained to exploit their individual perversions for military objectives. Unfortunately for the town's residents, the Red-Ops team survives the crash, descends upon the town, cuts them off from the outside world, and unleashes utter destruction on everyone and everything in their path.

In the face of brutal circumstances thrust upon them, ordinary people are forced to confront their beliefs and to look deep within themselves to see what they are really made of. What does the lifelong supporter of Amnesty International do when violence threatens her child? How does the fireman who has never had to do anything heroic in his sleepy little Midwestern town react? And if you're the Sheriff who's old and alone, beaten and broken, do you give up and lay down, or do you keep putting one foot in front of the other because people are counting on you to do so? Such are the soul testing situations the hapless people of Safe Haven find themselves facing.

The relentless pace and extreme terror of Afraid are the hooks being used to promote this book, justifiably so, but if you focus a little deeper there's much more going on here than just a scary story. Kudos to Mr. Kilborn for creating a genuinely terrifying story that actually has depth to go with its death and destruction.
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