Reviews
Sunburn – The BOLO Books Review
Sunburn is a Pandora’s box of a novel – looking harmless on the exterior, but ultimately harboring complexity beyond measure within. It represents Laura Lippman’s homage to the masterpieces of noir, while never being anything less than authentic Lippman. Sunburn is...
The Perfect Nanny – The BOLO Books Review
Leila Slimani’s The Perfect Nanny is an odd little book; at first seeming superficial and sparse, with time, the story – and in fact the storytelling itself – burrows into the mind of the reader, haunting and horrifying in equal measures. Leila Slimani wastes no time...
The Gate Keeper – The BOLO Books Review
The mother and son writing team behind Charles Todd are so consistent; they release two books a year without ever sacrificing quality. What is truly amazing is that they never write the same book twice. Next week, The Gate Keeper will be released. This is the...
19 Souls – The BOLO Books Review
With 19 Souls, J. D. Allen grabs the gritty PI genre by the balls and delivers a solid punch to the reader’s solar plexus. This book is certainly not for the faint of heart, but for those readers who are willing to explore the more sinister side of the human psyche,...
Force of Nature – The BOLO Books Review
Force of Nature is not only the title of Jane Harper’s second novel, but is also an apt description of the author herself. As it was released in country after country, Harper’s debut –The Dry – caused a seismic shift in the crime fiction landscape, collecting...
Need to Know – The BOLO Books Review
Karen Cleveland’s cinematic debut, Need to Know, blends elements of domestic suspense, traditional thrillers, and spy novels to craft something that feels both fresh and familiar. The resulting novel will have widespread appeal for readers everywhere. Just moments...
American Fire – The BOLO Books Review
Monica Hesse’s American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land is a non-fiction book examining a string of arsons that plagued a Virginia county in the Fall of 2012 and Spring of 2013. In looking at the case from first burning ember through to conviction,...
Anatomy of a Scandal – The BOLO Books Review
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines anatomy as “a separating or dividing into parts for detailed examination” and scandal as “a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral conceptions or disgraces those associated with it,” which makes...
The Wife – The BOLO Books Review
“Misunderstandings don’t happen when a situation is black and white. They only happen when there are shades of gray, when there could be two different versions of the same damn thing.” (Burke, The Wife) Few art forms examine society’s ills as incisively as does crime...
The Widows of Malabar Hill – The BOLO Books Review
Sujata Massey burst on the crime fiction landscape in 1997 with her award-winning debut, The Salaryman’s Wife. This was followed by several more critically-acclaimed novels in the Rei Shimura mystery series. In 2013, Massey took a brief detour to explore India’s past...
The Wife Between Us – The BOLO Books Review
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s The Wife Between Us continues the domestic suspense boom readers have noticed in crime fiction publishing of late. Theirs is the story of a marriage, the story of an affair, and the story of the truth between these two commonplace...
The Woman in the Window – The BOLO Books Review
Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to over-hype something. Take for example, A. J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window. This is a solidly-written debut novel that will please most psychological suspense readers, but the pre-pub buzz wants to make it out to be this...
The Chalk Man – The BOLO Books Review
King has Derry, Maine and Dickens had London, England. And now C. J. Tudor takes readers to the tiny English village of Anderbury in a style that echoes both of these legends. Similar to how Dickens opens A Tale of Two Cities with that now famous “It was the best of...
Seasonal Work – A BOLO Books Short Story Review
It is the holiday season and Laura Lippman has decided to gift her readers with a new story. Called "Seasonal Work," this holiday-themed short story can be read for free online at The Rumpus. "SEASONAL WORK" @ The Rumpus "Seasonal Work" tells the story of a struggling...
Spliced – The BOLO Books Review
The teenage years are fraught with insecurity, exploration, and rebellion – which happens to make them a prime backdrop for an exciting thriller. Throw in a dystopian landscape, some social study, and a unique set of characters and one just might be describing...
The Dry – The BOLO Books Review
The oppressive heat across the Kiewarra landscape permeates every moment of Jane Harper’s debut, The Dry. Crime fiction out of Australia continues to gain popularity and this talented author is most certainly at the forefront of the attention. The Dry is a...
Insidious Intent – The BOLO Books Review
Insidious Intent is the tenth book in Val McDermid’s longest running series. Readers have followed the trials and tribulations of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan – both in print and on-screen – for years. At this stage of the game, they are an iconic duo and their creator...
She Rides Shotgun – The BOLO Books Review
When starting a debut novel there is always the sense of the unknown, so when a reader discovers something truly excellent by a new-ish author it can feel like the discovery of a secret treasure trove that will enrich life for years to come. This is the experience...
Whiteout – The BOLO Books Review
Christmas in Northern Iceland may look like a holiday postcard, but Ragnar Jónasson’s Whiteout proves that the ghosts of the past continue to haunt regardless of the calendar date. Just days before the holiday, Ari Thór’s former boss, Tómas, asked the Siglufjörđur...
Unholy City – The BOLO Books Review
With the release of Carrie Smith’s Unholy City, readers will once again embrace Claire Codella and her brand of New York City. This police procedural series continues to impress with each new addition to the franchise.. Unholy City finds Claire working closely with...