Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
The part of reading that I find enjoyable the most is discovering an author that is new to me, and loving their work. In March of this year I read The Stranger Inside by Jennifer Jaynes. It was a twisty and often macabre thriller that closed with an ending that I did not see coming. After that I told myself that I would purchase more Jennifer Jaynes novels to read. And I definitely chose wisely with this one.
Disturbed is published by Thomas and Mercer, an Amazon imprint. In this novel we are introduced to a diabolical tale of terror. One early morning, on All Saints Day in 2010, Detective Robert Lang discovered a grisly scene. Two female Springfield College students lie dead in their apartment, butchered to death. While in the bathroom of the apartment sits their roommate, Chelsea Dutton; bloodied, dazed, and confused. On the bathroom mirror, written in red marker, are the words: YOU MADE ME. The only other person left at the party was Chelsea's new beau, Ethan. His friend, Boyd, had also attended, but had to leave early to go to work that evening delivering pizzas. In the aftermath, Ethan had disappeared and remained the only suspect.
Nearly five years later Chelsea has made a name for herself as a Medical Transcriber. After years of therapy and recovery, she lives with the fractured memories of the night of the murders. She has nightmares almost daily, and she believes she sees Ethan around every corner. Her best friend, Elizabeth, does her best to comfort Chelsea, but she knows that the young woman struggles with the past. Then at a local farmer's market Chelsea bumps into Boyd Lawson. Through the years he has tried to contact her about that night. But she has ignored him thus far. But not knowing the full details of the evening makes Chelsea want to speak with him. The reunion goes well, and the pair set a date for dinner. Chelsea begins to come down from her paranoia, and enjoys Boyd's company. But the next morning after their date, Chelsea finds a note written in red marker on the windshield of her car. It reads: YOU MADE ME.
Detective Lang, having suffered injuries from a car accident shortly after the murders, returns to work cold cases. When the note on Chelsea's windshield surfaces, he is back on the case determined to solve the murders to give the victims' families some peace. But things prove harder than he could ever have imagined. Has Ethan returned to finish off Chelsea? What secret does Boyd have to hide? Can Robert Lang stop a killer before Chelsea runs out of time? And when Chelsea does remember that night, what will she see?
Disturbed caught my attention immediately, and held onto me until the end. Jennifer Jaynes clearly is a mystery and thriller fan, because her writing is like a love letter to thriller fans. I was invested in her characters, and loved her use of flashbacks and police reports to help me fill in the pieces of the puzzle. I read this book in one day, and am now writing this review minutes after finishing Disturbed, because I could not wait to do so.
I read Disturbed in part with the narration of actress, Carly Robins. Her soft voice did well with presenting parts of this book. There were some moments when she strained to do male voices, but other than a couple of misread lines, she did an admirable job considering the subject matter. I would be willing to listen to another book narrated by Robins.
In the end, Disturbed was a four star read for me. I was interested in the plot from the first few pages. I connected with her characters, and enjoyed the pretzel-like twist at the end. When I finally figured out what was going on I was floored by the reveal. And as with The Stranger Inside, Jaynes left some room for a sequel that I hope that she is writing soon. This was a fun and quick Summer Read with a fantastic twist at the end.
Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.
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Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3
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