21 July 2015

Review #278: Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Dead by Lena Diaz



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Don't play his game. Play yours.” 


----Rachel Caine, an American author


Lena Diaz, an American romantic suspense author, has penned a terrific and gripping story, Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Dead, which is the third book in the Deadly Games series, that narrates the story of a cop named, Tessa who opens up an investigation based on some unknown and unnamed letters that her office received, which makes her hire her previous and younger-in-age partner to solve the probable case against a serial killer. Little did she knew that those letters might take her to an unknown alley of darkness and death and her forgotten past.




Synopsis:

What she doesn't remember ... will kill her.

One by one the letters arrive at the FBI office in Savannah, Georgia. Inside, each bears a name—a victim of a twisted crime—and the singsong phrase Ashes, ashes, they all fall dead. Special Agent Tessa James becomes obsessed with finding the killer whose victims are crying out to her for justice.

When sexy, brilliant consultant Matt Buchanan is paired with Tessa to discover who's sending the "Ashes" letters, he discovers a serial arsonist who is leaving nothing but murder in his wake. Inexplicably, the clues point to Tessa herself, forcing her to realize that if she can't remember the forgotten years of her past, the name on the next letter will be hers.



Tessa James, an FBI Agent, is pretty sure that the person sending anonymous letters, with various women's name along with a dark changes and variation to the famous nursery rhyme called "Ring a Ring o' Roses", to her office is a serial killer. But with no clues to lead further or even open an investigation on the case, Tessa's boss gives her a week's notice to prove him that this is worth a case to run an investigation on and on one condition that she takes help from a consultant named, Matt Buchanan. There are two problems, Tessa doesn't like Matt based on their not so glorious history and there is just a week's time to prove the worth of those cryptic letters.

Well, I don't remember if I've read any romantic suspense before this book or not. But I suggest every crime fiction fans must take a look at this genre as well as on this author, Lena Diaz, who have spun a tale that it so thrilling that I literally felt the thrills and the chills running down my spine. Only problem is that there is lot of heat, sweat, passionate and lusty love-making scenes, so if you can handle that amount of passionate chemistry while the suspense catches up like a wild forest fire through the story, then I highly recommend you to read this book.

The writing style is very strong and it seems like the author knows how to spin a love story along with a thriller. The narration is thoroughly engaging that kept me glued till the very last page. The prose is articulate with a very fast pace.

The mystery is over-the-top, constantly thrilling, and always misleading and forever challenging. Yes the story is layered with a sensual-and-intense-chemistry soaked rag which is highly flammable and as the story started unfolding, that rag is put on a suspense-and-adrenaline-rushing-actions-filled fire. Well that's pretty much sums up my entire feeling about this book!

The characters are bit dramatic which might have put me off the edge for a little while and not at all relatable. The main character, Tessa, is not a regular type of cop or one who has typical FBI Agent kind of demeanor. Tessa is firstly very confused when it comes to the matters of heart, but oh-well a bit too much determined when it came to that anonymous cryptic letters case. Matt on the other hand, doesn't exist in real world to be fair, I mean who manages to look like he's out of the cover of GQ magazine and with an Einstein-like brain is helping the FBI to solve a cryptic letter case while hitting on an older woman, Tessa?? Matt is deliciously handsome and annoyingly sexy who understands Tessa a little too well, maybe more than even she knows herself. And that's what I liked most about him, he had a habit of putting Tessa and the case on top of his priorities. Tessa, on the other hand, felt like a dull character but with a past and back story like that, I almost fell for her sorry past.

Verdict: This is one hell of a sexy thriller, I bet all thriller lovers will love reading this book.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Lena Diaz and her publishers from Avon, for providing me with a copy of the book, in return for an honest review.

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Author Info:
Originally from Kentucky, romantic suspense author Lena Diaz also lived in California and Louisiana before settling in northeast Florida with her husband, two children, and a Shetland Sheepdog named Sparky. A former Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® finalist, she won the prestigious Daphne du Maurier award for excellence in mystery and suspense and has been a finalist in the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Awards. She loves to watch action movies, garden, and hike in the beautiful Tennessee Smoky Mountains.  
Visit her here


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