Taken in the Cold by Roger Stelljes Blog Tour for Booktoure

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Taken in the Cold by Roger Stelljes Synopsis: "Make sure you wrap up warm for school, honey. A blizzard is on the way." Ten-year-old Teddy rolls his eyes at his mother. But then he hears a bang... By the time police arrive, Teddy's mother is dead. His open school backpack is strewn across the hallway. And Teddy is nowhere to be found.   When gunshots ring out from an exclusive family home on the edge of Northern Pine Lake,  Agent Tori Hunter  races through the gathering snowstorm to discover that  ten-year-old Teddy Marist has disappeared . His mother and her new boyfriend are dead in the family kitchen, breakfast still cooking on the stove. And racing to track down Teddy's father,  Tori finds he is missing too.   Local police are certain this is a simple case of a jealous ex-husband turned violent over his recent divorce. But interviewing everyone she can about Teddy's father, Tori's gut has her questioning if he would really kidnap his own child?  An...

I Will Make You Pay by Teresa Driscoll


Title: I Will Make You Pay
Author: Teresa Driscoll
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense
Format: Kindle
No. of Pages: 317
Date of Publication: October 10, 2019


Description: Every Wednesday, like clockwork, the terror returns.

It seems like an ordinary Wednesday, until the phone rings. A mysterious caller with a chilling threat. Journalist Alice Henderson hangs up, ready to dismiss it as a hoax against the newspaper. But the next Wednesday, the stalker makes another move—and it becomes clear that this is all about Alice.

Someone wants her to suffer, but for what? Her articles have made her a popular local champion—could it be her past rather than her work that’s put her life in danger? Alice is determined not to give in to fear, but with the police investigation at a dead end, her boyfriend insists on hiring private investigator Matthew Hill.

With every passing Wednesday the warnings escalate, until it’s not only Alice but also her family in the stalker’s sights. As her tormentor closes in, can Alice uncover what she’s being punished for before the terrifying threats become an unthinkable reality?


My Thoughts: Alice is a journalist for a small local country paper in England. When she answers the phone at work on a Wednesday she is shocked by the callers threat, "I am going to use cheese wire on you." Little did Alice know at that time that Wednesdays for the next several weeks would be filled with fear and the unknown of what the next threat from her stalker would be. Her boyfriend, Tom, hires a private investigator Matthew Hill because he does not have much faith in the police and their ability to keep Alice safe. Matthew is an ex-cop and works with this old partner DI Melanie Sanders who has been assigned to Alice's stalker case. As DI Melanie Sanders starts to look into Alice's case and her past, she discovers that Alice may not be who she said she is. Is it possible that Alice's past has caught up to her? Could her ex-fiancee Alex really be behind the stalking? Alice doesn't think so, but the that the police learn about Alex, the more they start to think that he is behind the stalking of Alice. 

***warning- this story contains hints to sexual child abuse endured by "Him" (the stalker) as he was younger by a neighbor that occurred over the course of several years. It also talks about Alice's ex-fiancee and him having multiple sexual relationships with underage girls. The story does not go into any great detail, only hints or mentions the above events, but wanted to mention this as I know that this may be bothersome to some readers. 

This book is written with multiple narrators, and as previously mentioned, I am not often a huge fan of this style of writing. However, this was done really well in this book and I found that it helped provide different perspectives to the story that were quite helpful. The multiple narrators are: Alice, Matthew, and Him - before. 

The story itself was very fast paced and draws you in almost immediately with Alice getting the phone call with the "cheese wire" threat. It is filled with many twists and turns. Teresa does an excellent job at keeping you guessing who the stalker is. Honestly, I couldn't figure it out. It definitely has a surprising twist at the end that will shock you. 

Rating: 3 out of 5. I am knocking off two points from my rating because of the hints to sexual child abuse, which I don't feel like added anything to the story.

Purchase book: Amazon

About the Author: 
Teresa Driscoll - a former BBC TV news presenter - is now a million-copy #1 bestselling author. Her debut psychological suspense I AM WATCHING YOU hit Kindle #1 in the UK, USA and Australia and has also been a bestseller in Italy in translation. Her second thriller THE FRIEND again made Kindle #1 in the UK and Australia while THE PROMISE hit #2.

Teresa's work has been sold for translation to 20 countries and optioned for film. She also writes women's fiction; RECIPES FOR MELISSA was auctioned at the Frankfurt book fair between seven German publishers and her second women's fiction title is LAST KISS GOODNIGHT.

During her long career as a journalist, Teresa worked for newspapers, magazines and television, including 15 years presenting the BBC TV news programme Spotlight. Covering crime for so long, she was deeply moved by the haunting impact on the relatives, the friends and the witnesses and it is those ripples she explores now in her darker fiction.

Teresa lives in glorious Devon with her family and blogs regularly about her "writing life" at her website - www.teresadriscoll.com

Thank you Netgaley and Thomas and Mercer for the early review copy. This is my honest opinion.

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