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readwkatie's review
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Jason Pinter for an advanced copy in return for my honest review. A Stranger at the Door is available January 12, 2021! Be sure to go get yourself a copy!
Rachel Marin is not your average mom. One night she gets a mysterious email from her son’s teacher, who winds up dead only hours later. Rachel starts to investigate what’s happened when her past comes back to bite her. At the same time her son gets mixed up with the wrong crowd, she comes out in full force to make sure no harm comes to him.
This is the second Rachel Marin book and having not read the first one, I did feel a touch lost but not so much that the story was ruined for me. (As a side note, the first book, Hide Away is available on Kindle Unlimited, definitely read that one before diving into this one). Overall, this was a great book. It was clear how much Rachel cared for her children and I loved how much of a badass she is. I also loved seeing a little bit of her softer side when she realizes how strong her connection is with her boyfriend.
Rachel Marin is not your average mom. One night she gets a mysterious email from her son’s teacher, who winds up dead only hours later. Rachel starts to investigate what’s happened when her past comes back to bite her. At the same time her son gets mixed up with the wrong crowd, she comes out in full force to make sure no harm comes to him.
This is the second Rachel Marin book and having not read the first one, I did feel a touch lost but not so much that the story was ruined for me. (As a side note, the first book, Hide Away is available on Kindle Unlimited, definitely read that one before diving into this one). Overall, this was a great book. It was clear how much Rachel cared for her children and I loved how much of a badass she is. I also loved seeing a little bit of her softer side when she realizes how strong her connection is with her boyfriend.
dawns17's review
3.0
I liked this book. It was more of a 3.5 stars for me, but the banter between the characters annoyed me. I felt like they were over emphasizing several points. We get it, Rachel is funny, Rachel is tough, Rachel's daughter writes books, Cerano and Talley (the police officers) have lots of witty comebacks and everyone comments about how they are "not funny". It all just seemed forced to me. Aside from this, the story was actually engaging.
thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the second book in the Rachel Marin saga and hope there are more to come. While I did enjoy the first book slightly more, it was great to revisit these characters and see their growth. Bringing Evie back was fun, as I liked her character in book 1. I would have chosen to parent her son waaaaay differently than Rachel did, but it worked in the end. Thanks Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
chazmo1431's review
4.0
I absolutely love Mr. Pinter's resilient tough as leather character Rachel Marin. I love strong female characters and she wholly embodies that description.
Rachel Marin (an alias) relocated to small town of Ashby Illinois after the gruesome murder of her husband. The investigative skills she'd exhibited in her pursuit of the mayor's killer (see HIDE AWAY) had impressed Ashby PD enough that, now, Rachel works for them as a freelance forensics consultant.
The criminals in this book are gruesome so be forewarned. There are many surprises on who is saving who and how far a parent will go to protect their children. You won't be disappointed if you like murder mysteries and some gruesome ways to die. I look forward to the the next book and this book wrapped me in its clutches from the start. A must read!!
Rachel Marin (an alias) relocated to small town of Ashby Illinois after the gruesome murder of her husband. The investigative skills she'd exhibited in her pursuit of the mayor's killer (see HIDE AWAY) had impressed Ashby PD enough that, now, Rachel works for them as a freelance forensics consultant.
The criminals in this book are gruesome so be forewarned. There are many surprises on who is saving who and how far a parent will go to protect their children. You won't be disappointed if you like murder mysteries and some gruesome ways to die. I look forward to the the next book and this book wrapped me in its clutches from the start. A must read!!
thenextgenlib's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the second book in the Rachel Marin saga and hope there are more to come. While I did enjoy the first book slightly more, it was great to revisit these characters and see their growth. Bringing Evie back was fun, as I liked her character in book 1. I would have chosen to parent her son waaaaay differently than Rachel did, but it worked in the end. Thanks Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
adenise47's review against another edition
5.0
This was a very good book. First time reading this author. I will definitely look for more of his books. I felt I connected with the characters and was nervous for them. I wanted to go help!! I would definitely recommend this book.
helenkrondorfer's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chazmo1431's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely love Mr. Pinter's resilient tough as leather character Rachel Marin. I love strong female characters and she wholly embodies that description.
Rachel Marin (an alias) relocated to small town of Ashby Illinois after the gruesome murder of her husband. The investigative skills she'd exhibited in her pursuit of the mayor's killer (see HIDE AWAY) had impressed Ashby PD enough that, now, Rachel works for them as a freelance forensics consultant.
The criminals in this book are gruesome so be forewarned. There are many surprises on who is saving who and how far a parent will go to protect their children. You won't be disappointed if you like murder mysteries and some gruesome ways to die. I look forward to the the next book and this book wrapped me in its clutches from the start. A must read!!
Rachel Marin (an alias) relocated to small town of Ashby Illinois after the gruesome murder of her husband. The investigative skills she'd exhibited in her pursuit of the mayor's killer (see HIDE AWAY) had impressed Ashby PD enough that, now, Rachel works for them as a freelance forensics consultant.
The criminals in this book are gruesome so be forewarned. There are many surprises on who is saving who and how far a parent will go to protect their children. You won't be disappointed if you like murder mysteries and some gruesome ways to die. I look forward to the the next book and this book wrapped me in its clutches from the start. A must read!!
achoward's review against another edition
4.0
My usual disclaimer: this is the second book in the Rachel Marin series, and I have not read the first. However, I was able to read this as a standalone, with little to nothing lost or confusing.
The book opens with the musings of a teacher at the local high school on his ordinary, content life. There's something he knows, though, and he sends an email to the titular Rachel Marin, couching it in somewhat vague terms, and asking to meet her to discuss it. We can tell this will not end well for him, and it doesn't. When he answers to door and opens it for someone he appears to know, he is viciously beaten to death.
Rachel herself, and her two children, have settled into smallish town life in Ashby, Illinois. She's seeing a detective with the Ashby PD, John Serrano, and working as a consultant for the APD. This was one area where reading the first book probably would have helped, but I'm not going to ding the story for that reason.
Serrano gets a call about a house fire and heads out. Rachel isn't far behind. As it turns out, the house belongs to the (now dead) teacher, who happens to be one of Rachel's son's teachers. They find his body in his bed, and several hot points where accelerant has been used. But whoever set the fire has not bothered to try to hide the fact - meaning they are not concerned at all that anyone knows, and very likely want people to know.
The story moves from there into the whodunnit. We get a short intro (no names) to the bad guy's right hand man, who is instructed to get close to Eric. This is fortunate the next day as Eric is about to get beaten up by bully. But once he's under the wing of right hand man Ben Ruddock, who now has a name and who looks like a football linebacker, suddenly those types of issues go away. Ruddock invites Eric to join a fraternity of sorts - the description of it sounds like recruitment to some Dickensian group of misfits, with another man, Brice Bennett in the role of Uriah Heep.
As the investigation continues, Eric becomes more and more distant from his mother and sister, and the detectives are not having much luck finding anything as to who killed the poor teacher. Serrano interrupts at 1 AM meeting of the boys Ruddock has recruited, saving one of the boy from having his shoulder ripped out as Ruddock pins him.
Now the bad guys know they're in trouble, and things get murkier and more dangerous along the way, with Rachel herself being clocked in the head by someone with a gun as she's following Ruddock and Eric as Ruddock makes his rounds, handing out manila envelopes to various people.
In the middle of all this, someone from Rachel's past shows up, telling Rachel they should work together because they're on the same side, but Rachel doesn't see eye to eye with her on this.
Eventually, the hunt picks up speed, snowballing to a dramatic and action-filled resolution.
The writing was good, and while I'm generally not a fan of continued inner monologues from characters to tell us how they're feeling, I gave it some leeway this time for Rachel and Eric, as they're going through a tough time. The relationships between the characters was quite good, and while there is violence, it is crucial to the story and not overly gruesome except for the autopsy scene with the dead (and burned) teacher. I recommend you not skip that unless it's far too much for you. LGBTQ representation: Serrano's female partner Tally is married to another woman, and they have kids.
There were a couple of points that could probably have been trimmed just a hair, and the actual scheme Bennett was running seemed to be a tad overly complicated, but overall, it's quite a good read.
A solid four out of five stars.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the review copy.
The book opens with the musings of a teacher at the local high school on his ordinary, content life. There's something he knows, though, and he sends an email to the titular Rachel Marin, couching it in somewhat vague terms, and asking to meet her to discuss it. We can tell this will not end well for him, and it doesn't. When he answers to door and opens it for someone he appears to know, he is viciously beaten to death.
Rachel herself, and her two children, have settled into smallish town life in Ashby, Illinois. She's seeing a detective with the Ashby PD, John Serrano, and working as a consultant for the APD. This was one area where reading the first book probably would have helped, but I'm not going to ding the story for that reason.
Serrano gets a call about a house fire and heads out. Rachel isn't far behind. As it turns out, the house belongs to the (now dead) teacher, who happens to be one of Rachel's son's teachers. They find his body in his bed, and several hot points where accelerant has been used. But whoever set the fire has not bothered to try to hide the fact - meaning they are not concerned at all that anyone knows, and very likely want people to know.
The story moves from there into the whodunnit. We get a short intro (no names) to the bad guy's right hand man, who is instructed to get close to Eric. This is fortunate the next day as Eric is about to get beaten up by bully. But once he's under the wing of right hand man Ben Ruddock, who now has a name and who looks like a football linebacker, suddenly those types of issues go away. Ruddock invites Eric to join a fraternity of sorts - the description of it sounds like recruitment to some Dickensian group of misfits, with another man, Brice Bennett in the role of Uriah Heep.
As the investigation continues, Eric becomes more and more distant from his mother and sister, and the detectives are not having much luck finding anything as to who killed the poor teacher. Serrano interrupts at 1 AM meeting of the boys Ruddock has recruited, saving one of the boy from having his shoulder ripped out as Ruddock pins him.
Now the bad guys know they're in trouble, and things get murkier and more dangerous along the way, with Rachel herself being clocked in the head by someone with a gun as she's following Ruddock and Eric as Ruddock makes his rounds, handing out manila envelopes to various people.
In the middle of all this, someone from Rachel's past shows up, telling Rachel they should work together because they're on the same side, but Rachel doesn't see eye to eye with her on this.
Eventually, the hunt picks up speed, snowballing to a dramatic and action-filled resolution.
The writing was good, and while I'm generally not a fan of continued inner monologues from characters to tell us how they're feeling, I gave it some leeway this time for Rachel and Eric, as they're going through a tough time. The relationships between the characters was quite good, and while there is violence, it is crucial to the story and not overly gruesome except for the autopsy scene with the dead (and burned) teacher. I recommend you not skip that unless it's far too much for you. LGBTQ representation: Serrano's female partner Tally is married to another woman, and they have kids.
There were a couple of points that could probably have been trimmed just a hair, and the actual scheme Bennett was running seemed to be a tad overly complicated, but overall, it's quite a good read.
A solid four out of five stars.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the review copy.