The Treasure Hunters Club - Tom Ryan

When I was young I loved maps. (And I still do). I would trace the lines on the map, marking the final destination. I kept also kept copious lists of places that my family's station wagon drove through. And yes, I dreamed about finding a map to a treasure chest. I'm still looking - and I've found a treasure in Tom Ryan's new book - The Treasure Hunters Club.

There is so much to love in this book. I loved the setting by the sea, and the town of Maple Bay. The legend of the pirate's booty draws in quite a few tourists. As well as a number of permanent residents.

Ryan tells this wonderful tale with three main characters - Peter, Cass and Dandy (she's my favorite!). Each of the three have their own voice. There's a wealth of supporting players from the present and the past. 

Who's telling the truth? Who are lying? Is the legend of the pirate plunder true? 

Ryan kept me on my toes the entire way to the final ah hah! There's a twist that is epic! Things did not turn out as I had thought they would. And I adore being wrong! 

Get comfy in your favourite reading spot - you're not going want this one down. Bravo Tom Ryan!

Storm Child - Michael Robotham

Storm Child is the fourth entry in Michael Robotham's Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac series. 

Quick catch up if you've not read the first three books. Cyrus is a  psychologist and is the person who found Evie as a child, hiding in a house of horrors. Evie doesn't remember much of her early years - until now...

Robotham has added clues about Evie over the course of the first three books. But fans of this series thrilled to know that this new book does give readers answers at last! But at what cost to Evie?

I really these two characters - Cyrus's slower pace and thinking before acting is the exact opposite to Evie's scattergun approach. They play off each other well. And the care is there between them. I've become invested in both of them.

Robotham's plotting has been wonderful in each entry. This latest could have been torn from newspaper headlines. The plot has a satisfying finish, but I thing there is still much in store for Evie and Cyrus. There are a few questions left...

An easy five star read. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Storm Child. 

The Off Season - Amber Cowie

If you love suspense novels, you're going to want to pick Amber Cowie's new book - The Off Season. 

The set up for this tale was perfect! Jane has just married a man she's known for only six months, he's thirteen years older, has a teenage daughter and has been married already. Jane doesn't want children and is rebounding from something that went very bad in her work. A recipe for disaster? Maybe. How about adding in being caretakers for a remote lodge in the winter? Oh definitely yes...

The setting is wonderfully described. The lodge is large and luxurious. The forest surrounding the lodge beautiful - but also dangerous. And this crossed my thoughts...Redrum...

Cowie's character building is perfect. The dynamics between Jane and Dom are still in the honeymoon stage. But relations between Jane and Dom's daughter Sienna, are fractious, to say the least. The past is also a character in the plot. But is anyone telling the truth at all?

Oh my gosh - with every chapter Cowie builds and builds the tension in the lodge. There was no way I was going to stop reading! The plotting is great - I had no idea how things were to going to play out. Cowie kept me guessing right through to the last pages.

The Off Season is a fantastic entry for your summer reading list! 

See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Off Season.

Gull Island - Anna Porter

Gull Island is Anna Porter's new novel. 

Jude's father has not been seen in almost a month. Him disappearing is not unusual, but Jude's mother wants her to look anyway. One of the last places left to look is Gull Island, a private island and home to the family cottages. It's early in the season still with snow still on the ground. She doesn't think he'll be there, but her mother has also asked her to look for some documents. 

The lead characters is of course Jude. Everything we see and hear is from her view and perceptions. With every new picture she finds or a treasure found from her younger days, memories of her childhood are remembered and inspected.

Is what she remembers the truth? Has she covered up the ugliness and hidden it away all these years?  As a reader, can I believe what she is saying and seeing? Why? Well, Jude is a (very) unreliable narrator, for a number of reasons. She's a raging alcoholic for one. But what about the noises she's hearing? This uncertainty kept me turning pages to the final chapter. I had to know what the truth was. Porter teases the reader, dropping foreshadowing many times and alluding to what happened in the past. 

"My dreams were leeching into my consciousness, making it hard to know what was real. That's all. I had to focus." 

Porter has given us a detailed setting for the novel. I was able to easily build the island in my mind.

Gull Island is a slow burning read, one that takes the reader through a disturbing exploration of a dysfunctional family. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Gull Island.

The Only Survivors - Megan Miranda

Megan Miranda is one of those authors that I automatically pick up. The Only Survivors is her newest release.

The premise is an oft used vehicle, but Miranda puts her stamp on the plotting. Ten years ago, a group of high schoolers on a field trip crashed. Some of them made it out - and some of them didn’t. For the last ten years, a group of those who did survive get together at a cottage.

But there’s more to the reunion story than just a get to together. Something happened the night of the crash. They never speak of it and the reunion is always a reminder that no one else should know what really happened that night. But this year’s get together is different. One of their group has died. Keeping the secret has taken a toll on all of their lives. Accusations and suspicions abound.

The story unfolds in a past and present narrative, which I always enjoy. As readers, we are privy to more than one piece of information. I had my suspicions which were proven only partially right by the final pages.

Like I said, I've always enjoyed Miranda’s books, but I did find the pacing a bit slow in this latest. The reveal of that secret from the past is never fully explained until the end. I did get a bit frustrated with the drawing it out for so long.

Cassidy is the main character and is her point of view that drives the bus. Some of the supporting players are given a point of view as well, but we really only come to know them through Cassidy‘s eyes.

The book is set in the Outer Banks, and Miranda has done a really good job of bringing the setting to life, especially the storm.

I enjoyed this latest, but am hoping for a faster paced tale in the next book.