Review & Giveaway - - Shattering Dawn

Shattering Dawn

by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Lost Night Files - Book 3

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: January 7, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

 

Amelia Rivers, a member of the Lost Night Files podcast team, hires private investigator Gideon Sweetwater to catch the stalker who has been watching her. Amelia suspects the stalker may be connected to the shadowy organization responsible for the night that she and her two friends lost to amnesia—a night that upended their lives and left them with paranormal talents.

Gideon suspects that Amelia is either paranoid or an outright con artist, but he can’t resist the chemistry between them. He takes the case despite his skepticism. For her part, Amelia has second thoughts about the wisdom of employing the mysterious Mr. Sweetwater. She is wary of the powerful attraction between them, and deeply uneasy about the nightmarish paintings on the walls of his home. She senses they were inspired by his own dreamscapes.

Amelia knows she doesn’t have time to find another investigator, and Gideon is forced to reckon with the truth when he disrupts what was intended to be Amelia’s kidnapping. Now the pair is on the run, with no choice but to return to the haunting ruins of the old hotel where Amelia’s lost night occurred. They are desperate to stop a killer and the people who are conducting illegal experiments with a dangerous drug that is designed to enhance psychic abilities. If they are to survive, they will have to trust each other and the passion that bonds them.

PJ's Thoughts:

The conclusion to Krentz's Lost Night Files trilogy is another high-intensity story brimming with danger, action, edge-of-the-seat suspense, and plenty of twists, psychic and otherwise. 

This book pulled me into the story from the opening pages and held my interest right through to the end. I love Krentz's psychic world. While logically I can tell myself that many of the events and abilities that inhabit her fictional world are just that - fiction - I still find myself wondering, what if? She immerses me in her imagination and makes it all seem so real.

Her characters have depths that make them relatable and layers that slowly reveal themselves throughout the story, both to the reader as well as one another. I was fascinated by both Amelia and Gideon, especially as those layers fell away and I learned more about who they were at their core. The romance is not the heart of the book but it definitely is a facet. 

You could enjoy Gideon and Amelia's story as a standalone but I'm happy I read the three books in order. There is an overarching mystery that runs through the trilogy, as well as twists in Shattering Dawn that had a greater impact because of things that happened in the first two books. 

I don't know what Jayne Ann Krentz has planned for her next book but I'm already looking forward to it. 

Have you read any of the books in The Lost Night Files trilogy?

Do you enjoy psychic elements in novels, suspense or otherwise?

Do you remember your dreams?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, January 10 will receive a hardcover copy of Shattering Dawn. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Tour Review - - The Night Island

The Night Island

by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Lost Night Files - Book 2

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: January 9, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn, and Amelia Rivers, bonded by a night none of them can remember, are dedicated to uncovering the mystery of what really happened to them months ago—an experience that amplified innate psychic abilities in each of them. The women suspect they were test subjects years earlier, and that there are more people like them—all they have to do is find the list of others who took that same test. When Talia follows up on a lead from Phoebe, a fan of the trio’s podcast, she discovers that the informant has vanished.
 
Talia isn’t the only one looking for Phoebe, however. Luke Rand, a hunted and haunted man who is chasing the same list that Talia is after, also shows up at the meeting place. It’s clear he has his own agenda, and they are instantly suspicious of each other. But when a killer begins to stalk them, they realize they have to join forces to find Phoebe and the list.

PJ's Thoughts:

Yes, I know this is fiction but I can't be the only reader who on some subconscious level feels like there are echoes of actual government parapsychic experiments on remote islands in the Pacific Northwest. That's how vivid - and realistic - Jayne Ann Krentz's imagination is. 

This second book in Krentz's The Lost Night Files trilogy hits the ground running and never lets up. The characters, both primary and secondary, are intriguing, with hidden layers that kept me guessing through a number of twists and turns. The sense of place that Krentz creates on the island is a character in itself: immersive, evocative, highly suspenseful, and vital to the overall storyline. 

The slow-growing romantic relationship between Luke and Talia is forged in their unlikely partnership as they race against time to find and free Phoebe, try to uncover what happened to Luke during his lost night, and stop the bad guys who are determined to take them out. I was with them every step of the way, frequently on the edge of my seat, gasping out loud more than a few times, always eager - though sometimes apprehensive - to discover what was lurking around the next corner. Set aside plenty of time before you turn the first page. This is another Krentz story that is impossible to put down. 

While The Night Island can be enjoyed as a standalone, there's an overarching storyline that continues through the three books. I enjoyed this second book much more for having read book one, Sleep No More, first (click the title to read my review). For maximum enjoyment and understanding, I recommend reading the series in order. 

~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt

The Night Island

 There would be nightmares again tonight.

She'd always had a knack for finding misplaced keys, glasses, and pets. She was fine with that. But her new psychic ability for tracking down the bodies of those who had died by violence was not only depressing but frequently led to anxiety attacks and disturbing dreams.

Why couldn't it have been a talent for something more positive-like, say, picking winning lottery numbers? Why did it have to be dead bodies?

Talia March clenched the dead man's gold cuff link in one hand, gathered her nerve, and flattened her other hand against the metal side of the industrial-sized trash bin. She was braced mentally and physically, her core Pilates-tight; nevertheless, the jolt of psychic lightning rattled her nerves and her senses. In the past few months she had learned that the energy laid down by violence always came as a shock.

She had finally figured out that what she detected with her new ability was the psychic stain of the killer's emotions-or lack thereof-and the pain and fear of the victim. It made for a toxic brew that seeped into the crime scene and, to her, was as obvious as a pool of blood.

She was aware of a weak frisson emanating from the cuff link. The owner was dead but the item that he had worn frequently in life was still infused with the hollow echo of his vibe.

She could work with almost any object that had belonged to the missing or the deceased, but over the course of the past several months she had learned that some materials absorbed and reflected paranormal energy more efficiently than others. Gold was a particularly strong conductor, almost as good as crystal.

"Shit," she whispered. She took a quick step back. "He's in there."

Roger Gossard, the head of Gossard Consulting, a crime scene consulting company, studied the trash bin with a pained expression. "Are you sure?"

"You hired me for my best guess," she said. "This is it."

Roger grunted but he did not argue or demand more details. He knew better than to ask her to explain her conclusion. He looked at the unhappy man wearing a security guard uniform emblazoned with the logo of the company that controlled the loading dock.

"Okay if we take a look?" Roger said. "We need to find out for sure if there's a body inside before we call the police."

The security guard shrugged. "Boss says I'm supposed to cooperate but I'm telling you right now I'm not going into that bin to look for a dead body. You're on your own."

"Right." Roger switched his attention to the two members of his team who were waiting for instructions. "Bailey and Thomas, take a look. We need to make sure."

Grim but resigned, the pair pulled on heavy gloves, climbed into the bin, and went to work sorting through the trash generated by the several hundred office workers employed in the building.

Talia retreated to the front of the loading dock and contemplated the view of the alley. The rain was coming down in the steady way that was typical of Seattle in the late fall. The heavy skies indicated the weather was not going to change anytime soon. The Big Gray was just getting started.

In the past she had been comfortable with the drama of the city's dark season. But the night she had lost to amnesia had changed a lot of things. Now she was aware of a relentless sense of urgency simmering just beneath the surface, a sensation that was intensified by the late dawns and early twilights.

She tuned out the noise of the trash bin excavation process and opened her phone. There was no new text from her mysterious informant. She was starting to lose hope. Maybe she had been conned. It was a discouraging thought because the lead had appeared so promising.

"Looks like we found Clayton, boss," Bailey called. "Wrapped in plastic sheeting. Not a pretty sight."

 

Excerpted from The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz Copyright © 2024 by Jayne Ann Krentz. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name and futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. Learn more online at www.jayneannkrentz.com.

 

Photo credit: Marc von Borstel

Review & Giveaway - - Sleep No More

Sleep No More

by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Lost Night Files - Book 1

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: January 3, 2022

Reviewed by PJ

Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.
 
After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women's mysterious tipster.
 
Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

PJ's Thoughts:

Sleep No More may be the title of this newest Jayne Ann Krentz novel but it was also what happened to me once I turned to the first page and began reading. Krentz plunged me straight into the heart of the pulse-pounding action of this story and had me completely hooked before I reached page ten. And then she kept me hooked, guessing how it would all turn out, through unexpected twists and turns right up until the final scene. There would be no sleep for me until all of my questions were answered!

There are many things I enjoy about a Jayne Ann Krentz book. Her characters are complex and multi-layered; it usually takes me an entire book to figure them out. Her plots are twisty and, again, rarely do I guess the final outcome before the reveal. Her attention to detail is superb, creating an atmosphere that highlights both the suspense and romance. But what I find most fascinating about these novels is the fine line the author navigates between fact and fiction, between reality and possibility. The psychic/paranormal elements of these romantic suspense novels, while clearly fiction (Are they, though? Really?), walk that line, leaving me swinging between thoughts of "This could never happen" and "Whoa, what do I really know about that sleep clinic I made an appointment with?" She creates an immersive reading experience where it's all too easy to place myself in the positions of Pallas and Ambrose, thereby heightening both my enjoyment and my reader anxiety as I navigate the murky, murderous waters of Sleep No More. 

Sleep No More is the first book in Krentz's new trilogy and a great place to begin if you're new to her writing. The romantic (and mystery) portion of Pallas and Ambrose's story is completed with this first book though there is an overarching mystery which will continue through the next two books in the series. I can't wait to find out how it will all play out. 

Have you read Jayne Ann Krentz?

Do you enjoy romantic-suspense books with a paranormal/psychic twist?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, January 14 will receive a hardback copy of Sleep No More.

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

*Void where prohibited