Thriller Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: $20,000 Under the Sea by Sam Locrian

An exceptional high-stakes drama on the high seas that brims with encroaching horror, $20,000 Under the Sea by Sam Locrian is a timely historical commentary and a masterclass in psychological suspense.

In this alternate historical timeline of 1920, an elite but odd cadre of unusual characters arrive on board The Prince’s Emblazoned, a luxury liner bound for adventure, with gambling on international waters, and a healthy dose of ulterior motives. The larger-than-life quartet of entangled protagonists is set to duke it out in a poker game, which includes a pot that may be big enough to die for. However, there […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-09-03T17:28:01+02:00August 4th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Heaven’s Debris by Suzan Denoncourt

A tangled mystery of desire, deception, loyalty, and sisterhood, Heaven’s Debris (Cisco Series Book 2) by Suzan Denoncourt is a stark and gritty portrait of guilty consciences teetering on the edge.

When her seven-story apartment building mysteriously crashes to the ground, Faye is devastated in multiple ways, particularly because her sister’s husband Gerry was waiting secretly inside for Faye to return, and continue their torrid love affair. Day by day, Faye’s internal torment grows, but when Gerry is miraculously rescued from the rubble, he becomes a media darling, and his inexplicably naked presence in the condo leads to questions that […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-07-25T14:03:14+02:00July 25th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Chain Reaction by Malabika Ray

Secrets of the past blur with tragedies of the present in Chain Reaction by Malabika Ray, the inventive second entry in The Diary of a Sloppy Sleuth series.

When an aspiring model plunges to her death under decidedly suspicious circumstances, Sri, Matt, and Neil are pulled into a new mystery that is anything but open and shut. The unfortunate victim is not only Sri’s upstairs neighbor and one of Matt’s ex-lovers, but she also bears a striking resemblance to a legendary spy and opportunistic thief from another age. What begins as a curious case of an unlikely suicide becomes a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-07-24T16:15:40+02:00July 24th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

The Magician Killer by Diane Merrill Wigginton

A macabre and suspenseful thriller that uncovers the pain of permanent scars, The Magician Killer by Diane Merrill Wigginton is a sprawling police procedural tied together with a riveting personal drama.

Years after narrowly escaping the clutches of a murderous maniac, Special Agent Sam Stevens – a prodigious investigative profiler – finds herself begrudgingly hunting that same twisted killer through her home state of Alaska. Teaming up with the charming Agent Nicholas McElroy and his four-legged partner, the trio connect the dots of more than a dozen missing waitresses who have seemingly vanished without a trace. Haunted by the memory […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-07-18T15:22:26+02:00July 18th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Hindsight by W.D. County

A timeline-twisting thrill with a sinister splash of the occult, Hindsight by W.D. County is a supernatural mystery driven by an enigmatic pair of investigators.

Nathan Ember may occasionally feel cursed by his ability to see one day into the past, but it makes him a great PI and the begrudging asset to a suspicious police force. Galena Torres is a psychic who can communicate with restless spirits, and while she is convinced that Nathan is actually a ghost, they cautiously join forces to unravel the truth behind a heinous crime. As they search for an embezzling reverend, hunt a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-07-11T20:19:06+02:00July 11th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Paranormal Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Toxic Minds by Anthony Lee

An ominous and timely collision of medicine and murder, Toxic Minds by Anthony Lee exposes a shadowy side of alternative healing and the deadly power of disinformation.

Just hours after an appointment with a young pregnant mother, Dr. Mark Lin is an unwilling witness to her murder at the hands of a suicide bomber. While initial clues and assumptions point to an anti-abortion extremist group, Mark was uniquely privy to the bomber’s chilling last words: “Purity is Mine.” Recognizing the ominous phrase from some of his patients who had been treated by a secretive healing cult called the Path of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-05-07T12:20:27+02:00May 6th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: The Haunted Artist by Larry Witham

The death of a rising star in the art world launches a cross-country hunt for dark answers and old secrets in The Haunted Artist by Larry Witham, the fourth installment of the Julian Peale Art-Crime Mystery series.

When reclusive painter Sam Mason is found dead from an apparent overdose, eccentric denizens of the art world mourn the loss of a potential legend gone too soon, but Colleen Mason isn’t sold on the classic tragic ending for her younger brother. She enlists the services of Julian Peale, art crime investigator extraordinaire, who soon discovers a bizarre trail of suspects and clues […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-05-28T07:37:34+02:00April 29th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: A Place to Lodge by George Sanchez

An international hunt for a missing man turns into a breakneck whirlwind of intrigue and sinister stalking in A Place to Lodge by George Sanchez.

Years earlier, Jeff came across the Atlantic in search of Bryna, but the tables have turned, and now she is the one to jet off to Europe and locate her vanished partner, along with a dynamic posse of interlinked pals and in-laws. What follows is a manic mash-up of frenetic sightseeing, narrow escapes from mysterious men, vulnerable moments of self-reflection, and more than a few vicious hangovers, drawing this wild bunch of revelers and investigators […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-05-16T10:19:43+02:00April 23rd, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|