Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick 400 pages

Britt has been training to hike the Teton Range over spring break with her best friend Korbie. Britt knew that Korbie's boyfriend Bear was going to join them, but she was unprepared for Korbie's brother, Calvin who is Britt's ex-boyfriend. As Britt and Korbie head up to the mountain, they get stuck in a snow storm in the middle of the road. The girls decide to get out and look for help. They come across a cabin where two men are staying. At first, they seem like they are going to help until the hold the girls hostage. Britt is forced become their guide off the mountain. Britt must do what she has to, to survive. She tries to escape, but is caught by Mason. When they walk back to the cabin where they were staying, Britt sees Calvin kill her other kidnapper. Britt just thinks that Calvin is worried about her and will do anything to find her. But when Britt arrives to Korbie's and Calvin's family cabin, learns a secret while on the  her in more danger than before. Who will make it off the mountain alive?  

Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams 256 pages

Ruth Carver is in for the fight of her life. When Ruth wakes up in the back of a truck underneath a pile of shavings and manure, she has no idea how she got there. Once Ruth and her kidnapper reach their destination, Ruth learns the reason as to why she was kidnapped. Ruth is to be punished because her kidnapper believes her to be a bad girl. However, Ruth is not like the other 6 victims, she is ruthless. Ruth escapes into the wilderness with a hunter on her trail. 

Time of Death by Mark Billingham 436 pages

Time of Death is the thirteenth installment in the Tom Thorne series. Detective Inspector Tom Thorn and his girlfriend Helen are on vacation when two girls go missing in Helen’s hometown. When her childhood friend’s husband is arrested for the crime they head to Helen’s hometown, she to offer support and Tom to investigate even though he has no jurisdiction, the local police want nothing to do with him and the evidence overwhelmingly points to the husband’s guilt. But then that’s Tom all over. With help from his good friend Phil, Thorn sets about getting to the truth and Helen faces a past that had kept her away for over twenty years.

I love this series. I love the time and effort that Billingham puts into his characters, the relationship between them and their very human foibles that make me wonder if Phil will find true love and if or perhaps when will Tom and Helen part.

Shatter the Bones by Stuart MacBride 453 pages

DS Logan McRae of the Grampian Police Force, Aberdeen is sent in to investigate when a mother and daughter singing team is kidnapped. The public is asked to pay the ransom which they seem willing to do and it becomes a race against the clock as the police try to meet the media’s and the kidnapper’s demands. To add to the tension, there’s an alternate story line of a bumbled drug bust where the dealer gets away and his wife cries rape and names Logan as the culprit resulting in a mandatory visit to the Professional Standards board.

As much as I love this series and the interaction between the characters, the laugh out loud humor that’s prevalent in every book despite the fact that the Grampian Police are often outmanned and out gunned by the criminal element, I was almost ready to lay it down. Because I’ve noticed a what’s-the-use kind of thread running through the later volumes and  more brutal story lines that make me want to beg MacBride to give Logan a break, some sleep, and his moment in the sun.

Shatter the Bones is the seventh book in the series. I would highly recommend starting from the beginning with Cold Granite.

The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton 306 pages

OMG! Hang on tight when you read this book!  This is a ripped-from-the-headlines, dark and distrubing, triumphant, edge-of-the seat thriller. Reeve "Edgy Reggie" LeClair was the victim of a kidnapping.  Snatched 10 years ago when she was twelve, she was held in a basement, naked and hand cuffed, raped and tortured.  Rescued only when her kidnapper attempted to move her to another location, then was involved in a car accident.  Now she has been asked by her therapist to help another young girl, also rescued when her kidnapper attempted to move her.  Reeve is stronger than she thinks she is, and she needs to be.  The" Master Monster" is an expert at  surveillance and is not happy one of his girls has escaped. He will stop at nothing to keep from being discovered.  Can Reeve handle the challenge? She must if she wishes to live.

Just What Kind of Mother Are You? By Paula Daly 312 pages

Lisa Kallisto has her hands full taking care of her husband, three children and the animal shelter she runs. When the young daughter of her best friend goes missing and Lisa is blamed for it because she was supposed to be watching her, Lisa decides to investigate. What she finds sets the town on its ear and her life upside down. A grand read. Fast paced, well written, great characters, enough sub plots within the plot to make this a one stop read. Can’t wait for her next book. 

Gone Missing by Linda Castillo 277 pages

Gone Missing is the fourth installment in the Kate Burkholder series. Kate is the Chief of Police in the small, mostly Amish town of Painters Mill OH. When BCI Agent John Tomasetti calls and asks her to consult on a missing Amish teen case in a neighboring town (Kate is ex Amish) they find links to other cold cases dating back several years. Things get a bit tricky though when a body is found and then another teen –this one really close to home goes missing as well.

This is a well written, edge of your seat, lots of plot twists and turns kind of a series. The only thing I don’t like about them is the horrendous and detailed nature of the crimes that are committed.

Just One Evil Act by Elizabeth George 719 pages

Elizabeth George is one of my favorite authors but I almost didn’t read Just One Evil Act because Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers is my least favorite character, I didn’t want to wait 700 pages to find out who the killer was and I had too many other books to read. But it’s Elizabeth George and I have to say I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed one of her books so much. The daughter of Barbara’s friend and neighbor is kidnapped in Italy and Barbara and Inspector Lynley work together and at odds to bring her back. But Barbara is too close to the situation and puts her job, her life and her friendships at risk to save the girl. I loved traipsing around the Italian countryside but I wasn’t too fond of all the Italian since most of it wasn’t translated and I had to guess what was going on. It was easier to just skip over it. When the denouement came with still hundreds of pages left I was at first surprised and then delighted. I really didn’t want it to end.

Six Years by Harlen Coben 351 pages

Jake and Natalie fall head over heels in love. Inexplicably Natalie breaks off their relationship and within weeks is married to another man. They disappear into the sunset but not without first extracting a promise from Jake that he won’t bother them. Six years later Jake sees an obituary of Natalie’s husband, figures the promise is null and void and sets out to find her. The action heats up from there. In his quest to find his one true love he is kidnapped at gun point, smacked around a lot, shot, and told over and over and over again that people would die if he didn’t leave it alone. And of course he doesn’t listen. And people die. Six Years is full of non-stop action, twists and turns seemingly in every chapter, intense, and just plain good reading. I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending another weekend with Harlan.