Helen Phifer

I enjoyed this story, it was not at all what I was expecting. It is more of a paranormal thriller featuring supernatural elements and conflict between good and evil. It starts with four teenagers ghost hunting one night in an old abandoned mental institution. Only three come out and the lost girl Riley Holt is lost to who knows where. There is a malevolent force within the walls of the hospital that is keeping lost souls of former patients from moving on after their deaths and Riley has been taken by this force back in time. Agent Maria Miller and her partner Frankie have been called in to help find Riley as they have had former experience dealing with the paranormal. How will they retrieve Riley from another dimension is the question of the day. The story is short and fast paced. Recommended for fun. 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing for an ARC of this audiobook.… (meer)

Four friends exploring a haunted building leads one to being trapped inside.

Marie Miller is a homicide detective in New York. Her partner, Frankie, is asked to assist with a missing teen case in the next county. Marie and Frankie learn that the missing teen, Riley, may be trapped inside the decaying Beacon Hill Asylum. Marie discovers that a dark entity has trapped her in 1960 when the asylum functioned with staff and patients. Marie must race against time and travel back to save her before her eventual death.

Helen's description of Beacon Hill Asylum brings creepy and dark to vivid imagery. It makes you shiver as if you are walking and hearing things with the four teenagers. In addition to her descriptions of place, the author has strong characters. Marie is a sceptic at first until she is almost loses her life after encountering a dark entity. She becomes brave when she faces the entity to save Riley before it's too late. As a fan of scary and dark stories, I highly recommend this book.… (meer)

My second book by Helen Phifer...yes, I know that it's book 7. The book has plenty of the "thriller "element to give the reader all the thrills, chills and shocking moments that they can handle. Again, it seems that Detective Morgan Brookes draws murders to her small village. This time her team investigates a dead body found in local churchyard ditch and things start to escalate in an alarming way. They have to ask if there is a deranged killer in their small village and could the killer be someone that they all know? I enjoyed and felt that it was worthy of a 5 -star rating even though the ending was a bit abrupt and didn't completely answer all my questions or all the questions the team had during the investigation. I am looking forward to seeing what Morgan is up to next...and, where her relationship with her partner, Ben, is headed. It was good to see a few new characters make an appearance, and I liked what they added to the team. I don’t know if they will be back, but some guest appearances would be nice. Morgan is again a danger" magnet". If you've read any of this series, you will know what I'm saying. If you haven’t read and met Detective Morgan Brookes, I do highly recommend this series. You can easily start this series with this one, or any of the first 6 books, but I know that may not work well for everyone, but you wouldn't be entirely lost. I didn’t mention on of my favorite characters, Declan...but I have to give him his due credit. He is written as one of the kindest souls I have ever encountered whose job it is to deal with the dead. He has the most caring manner. I love the character of Morgan Brookes and believe if you are a Mystery/Suspense/Thriller fan that and you will like this series and its characters also.… (meer)

A group of young women who are survivors of attacks have formed a support group. They are all “final girls”, the women who lived. Now it seems someone is trying to kill them off. One of them, Lexie, is already dead. This is personal for Detective Morgan Brookes, herself considered a “final girl”, also having survived attacks by perpetrators of some of those crimes and she feels guilty that she was not able to save Lexie a second time. All of them are in grave danger.

This is the eleventh in the Morgan Brookes series; I have read three of them. This is another engrossing, if somewhat macabre, fast paced read for those who enjoy British police procedurals, mysteries, and thrillers. It works well as a standalone, but you will have a better understanding and appreciation of the characters background if you read some of the earlier ones as well.

I have added Phifer’s Morgan Brookes series to my list of mystery/thrillers I enjoy that feature capable female detectives with amiable supporting characters.

Thanks to #netgalley and @bookouture for the ARC.… (meer)