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The McKays #1 - 5

The McKays Box Set

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** Over 900, 5* reviews across the series! **

Box set comprising: To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time, Gang Land & Killing Fields.

To Kill For:

Former LA Cop, Kat McKay, vows she'll never return to Brecon Point after leaving years ago. But when tragedy strikes, she returns to help solve a crime that hit a little too close to home. Uncovering the truth about her missing niece means that Kat will have to face the demons of her own past. And the only way to do that is by enlisting the help of the one man she left behind.

Local cop, Finn Groves will do anything to solve the case--even if it means letting down his guard around the one woman who broke his heart years ago. With her niece's life on the line, Finn and Kat must put their past behind them in order to find Kat's niece. Will the McKays survive the explosive results or will they find one more reason to kill for?

Blood Sport:

The discovery of an injured child along a lonely road leads Kat and Finn to uncover a terrible sport that has been flourishing on their own doorstep.

Hard Time:

When it comes to family, Kat will do anything. Even if that means going against everything she believes in, and risking her already fragile relationship with the man she loves.

Faced with a problem that is too much for her alone, she enlists the help of her one time partner, Kyle.

Together they must uncover a deadly secret before any more innocent lives are lost.

Gang Land:

Leaving Brecon Point, Finn heads to L.A. in search of the one person that haunts him.

Killing Fields:

Jake McKay is coming home and bringing trouble with him.

As he attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his family he finds himself plunged into a nightmare unfolding on their doorstep, the consequences of which will rock the entire family.

1227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 8, 2014

487 people are currently reading
729 people want to read

About the author

A.J. Carella

25 books264 followers

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5 stars
369 (48%)
4 stars
236 (30%)
3 stars
121 (15%)
2 stars
34 (4%)
1 star
7 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Deborah.
3,860 reviews500 followers
March 26, 2016

My dads favourite book so far.

My dad is 86 years old and a couple of years ago I gave him my old kindle, it's perfect for him since he can adjust the print so he can actually read it, before this he was using a magnifying glass.
Every time I come across a free book I think he'll like I send it to his kindle and he's fairly easy to please but only twice before has he made me promise to write a review which is harder than you'd think because he doesn't give me a lot to work with.
This is a long book at 891 pages and therefore it's taken him a long time to get through it and he's talked about little else for days and days apart from how great this book is.
I'm not sure he fully understands the review process because when I asked for something to put in the review he said "just tell people to read it" and that's all I got from him but he's adamant it's the best book he's ever read and he's sent me back to look for other books by this author.
Profile Image for Mary Rowe.
2,640 reviews9 followers
February 20, 2016
Good Enough Entertainment

Some editing quibbles, some transparent plot devices, shameless cliffhanger endings. Glad I got a boxed set instead of separate volumes. Okay reading.
Profile Image for Chris Grew.
9 reviews
August 25, 2018
Just finished reading all 7 books in the set.

They were enjoyable but a few criticisms.

I would rather these books were separated not contiguous. I prefer knowing how much of a book I have read and how much to go, not for a complete set.

If a family had this much grief in their life, they must have drawn the short straw. One of the many problems would be enough to drive someone to insanity!

There were a lot of errors, incorrect words and spelling mistakes. This happened towards the end of every book as if rushed. The implication is the author wanted to get to the end, which was also amplified by how quick some of the endings were, compared to more interesting drawn out beginnings! A shame really as apart from the above statements, this series is reasonably well written.

Hopefully AJ Carella, will grow into this role and I look forward to keeping an eye on her future work.
681 reviews4 followers
September 13, 2017
Outstanding story

This series truly makes you appreciate family even though we all have our moments . Fantastic job of linking each story in such a way that you could continue to know what happens totally love this office work keep up the good work
2 reviews
September 14, 2017
Mckay books

Good books, keeps your attention.
Characters are well defined and plots are very good and real. I will read more of this series. I've read A J Carella before and enjoy his books.
Profile Image for Michael.
319 reviews5 followers
September 18, 2017
I Loved It!

This series was so good in so many ways. It is almost a textbook on the enduring effects of child abuse. Each story wouldn't have happened had not a child been abused. In the last story, the boy had been abused by adoptive parents. I hope to read more by this author.
Profile Image for Pamela.
14 reviews
January 8, 2019
There are a couple of interesting moments in the series...but overall, very predictable. I was very disappointed Kat was presented as a detective ready to solve crime, when in reality, she exhibits no skills or techniques. By the end, I was overloaded with the good luck she and Finn experience.
15 reviews
January 13, 2019
Great read

I really enjoyed this series. The characters grew on me and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I would love to read another book about Jamie and Matt, Julie and Callahan, Kate and Finn..m
Profile Image for Carol Sue Alexander.
75 reviews2 followers
June 22, 2017
A fast paced, fun read!

Good character development. Interesting story line. Fast paced, entertaining. You find that you want to know what happens to each member of the family.
Profile Image for Brittany Pepiot.
16 reviews
July 3, 2017
The storyline is ok but under developed causing the story to feel rushed. Entertaining if you can ignore the numerous grammatical errors and story inconsistencies.
Profile Image for keith portale.
30 reviews1 follower
September 3, 2017
Time wasted

I really did not enjoy this book. The characters were week . The plot took forever to make sense. Not a good read
35 reviews
September 12, 2017
Okay read

Fun character set to read. Good summer read while going through a hurricane and waiting for it to end with no dama6

3,323 reviews30 followers
September 17, 2017
The McKays Box Set

Started out slow but suddenly increased in intensity with a vengeance. So much going on with twists and turns galore.
8 reviews
September 19, 2017
Loved the series

Took just three days to finish four books and I even took time to sleep, eat and clean my house
Profile Image for Barb VanderWel.
1,819 reviews29 followers
August 27, 2018
I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.
Profile Image for Jyll Hoyrup.
Author 1 book1 follower
April 1, 2019
I enjoyed the flow of the writing (though there are edits and grammar and removal of British-speak needed), the development of the characters and the Mysteries, in general.
27 reviews
June 1, 2019
Great

I love reading your work. You are a wonderful writer!!! I am looking forward to your next set!!! Keep them comming!!!!!
Profile Image for Tere J.
266 reviews3 followers
March 30, 2016
To Kill For: What a great read, I couldn't put it down, hence why I gave it 5 stars. What a refreshing approach to read a story where the main character was introduced 1/2 way in the book! It's more of a 4 star rating, but because of the put down factor, it got bumped up to 5. At first I thought I was reading the wrong book because I knew the tag info & hadn't encountered it! Even though some of the mystery isn't a mystery, and you know who did what, whether it unfolds, or partially unfolds left me screaming at the book - like a good episode of the Walking Dead does! I enjoyed it, glad I got the set, curious to read the rest!

Blood Sport: I'm back to yelling at a book! I like that the 'secret' from book 1 was revealed, I would have thought it was cheesy if it had dragged on, so kudos it didnt! The theme with this one involved children, so that was rough, but the author is not gruesome in details, so you get the idea without gore. Another book I couldn't put down. I finished it in a day!

Hard Time: A tiny bit predictable, IMHO, but still a fun, quick read. I liked how this author ties characters, but can concentrate on a storyline and it can run on it's own! Still intrigued and wanting to read the rest..

Gang Land: Another quick read. This one seemed to be the most predictable to me for a part of the storyline. I love Finn, so I'm happy this book had more of him. I very much am enjoying this author, none of the books have disappointed and keep me intrigued, even if I guess a bit of the plot or not.

Killing Fields: Crazy storyline continuing for the McCay family. There is ONE line in the book, that my jaw just dropped!! OUCH!! A little more to be continued in this book than the previous McCay's, and I want to see how it turns out, so I will read book 6. This author is kind of like Walking Dead or Game of Thrones creator - doesn't matter who you are - you may not be safe, and I like that! The book has the same typo's of character name swap, which makes you re-read, but not too much.

True Deceit I did enjoy this book, maybe more 3.5 stars than 4, IMHO, as I read it as part of the 1 book series of the McCay's. I felt the story line was a bit familiar to a book in the McCay's (no spoiler, but if you read it, you'll know what I mean). It was different enough, and I did enjoy the 'twist', because I was SURE, it was someone who it wasn't. Unlike the McCay series, this left a lot more unanswered items. Unsure if I'll pick up the next one at this time, but I definitely purchased Blood Ties (McCay book 6) as before I finished this.

I'm ok with the occasional predictability (if I guess it). All the books had a couple of typos, and character mix up - just enough to notice and do a double take or reread, but nothing major and not many of them.
Profile Image for Kary.
1,638 reviews
April 11, 2016
Just finished first book, To Kill For. I think it was a good book to introduce the characters. Looking forward to finding out Kat's story. About to start book two, Blood Sport. Fished Blood Sport, happy I know Kat and Finn's secret and look forward to finding out what happened to Jake, in next installment with Hard Time. Finished third book, tied up all loose ends of story now on to Gangland to find out about Finn's adventure and see if he finds his son. Bring on Gang Land. Wasn't sure what to expect, didn't see the end coming with the LA policeman but so glad Finn, Kat and Drake have each other. Now on the Killing Fields for last story. Moved quickly can't believe the ending I think the family needs to catch a break. Finished True Deceit new characters like the plot line looking forward to True Lies to find out about Sarah and Mike and Jennifer.
388 reviews2 followers
January 28, 2019
Not good

When I first got my kindle I downloaded a vast amount of dross if it was free, including this set. I recently started going through it all to see what I could get rid of and skimmed through these.
Each book has references to previous books and leaves loose ends. This is something poor writers do to try to sell more books.
No one could ever accuse these books of being thrillers ! ! !
I have made a new years' resolution not to read any more american rubish.
Profile Image for Patricia.
144 reviews9 followers
February 14, 2016
Extraordinary

This set of books from the first to the last is absolutely awesome. They're so well written with a great cast of characters and wonderful storylines. You're going to welcome the opportunity to wrap yourself up in this world of page turning excitement. Definitely a must read
6 reviews3 followers
November 11, 2016
Meh

Predictable predictable predictable. Not bad plots, good characters and good character development but the ending became very apparent early on and the story continued exactly as I thought it would. You could basically quit reading it with 5 chapters left because you've been correct in figuring out the ending.
Profile Image for Anna.
157 reviews2 followers
March 2, 2016
How many tragic events can a family possibly endure?
Having said that, I really enjoyed this boxed set. Great characters, great story, great page turner from start to finish though I was truly disappointed with there being so, so many typographical errors, hence only 4 stars.
68 reviews
Read
March 28, 2016
DNF. Although all the reviews are glowing, there isn't much to grab my interest after just a few chapters. I think I get the idea as to where the story is leading, and I am going to stop before wasting anymore time on this.
105 reviews2 followers
February 21, 2016
Very good read

Story line is great hard to put down but errors in spelling and syntax is very irritating. I will go on to next book but hope you find a better proofreader
Profile Image for Yvonne Sowards.
10 reviews1 follower
March 7, 2016
Fantastic read

Loved the McKays series box set,awesome read,hard to put down once you start reading,loved it. I strongly recommend this boxed set.
Profile Image for Chane Osantowski.
1 review
January 12, 2017
Page turner

Couldn't put it down. I hope there are more to cover the loose ends. Love the McKays, great read. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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