Rambles of a SAHM

The Raven

Coffey & Hill #2

Mike Nappa

Suspense

As part of his street performance, a deception specialist who goes by the name The Raven picks his audience's pockets while they watch. It's harmless fun--until he decides to keep the wallet of a prominent politician, hoping for a few extra bucks. When he finds compromising photos of the councilman and his "personal assistants," The Raven hatches a plan to blackmail the man. However, he quickly finds himself in over his head with the Ukrainian Mafia and mired in a life-threatening plot code-named "Nevermore."

Private investigators Trudi Coffey and Samuel Hill must scramble to sort out the clues to rescue The Raven from a wild card bent on revenge.

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My Thoughts

As soon as I finished Annabel Lee I began to eagerly anticipate the next book in the Coffey & Hill series. Mike Nappa's writing style is very compelling. I found myself caught up in all the action and unable to put the book down.

The follow-up novel, The Raven, is even better than the first. Once again Mr. Nappa uses a clever rendering of one of Edgar Allen Poe's famous works. This time the main character is a street performer that goes by the name of The Raven. This character is one that you will grow to like and find yourself cheering for even as he makes bad choice after bad choice. There's just something about him that makes you want better for him.

Another interesting character is Mama Bliss. She's a very beloved fixture in her Atlanta neighborhood. Everyone knows Mama and Mama knows everyone and everything going on in the neighborhood. I really liked her, even when the story started opening up and we find out some questionable things about her, I still liked her.

Then there's Trudy and Samuel, aka Coffey & Hill Investigations. I know there is so much in their past that it seems they will never be a couple again . . . but oh I want them to be! The sparks that fly when they are anywhere near each other make for a fast-paced story. Trudy is spunky and Samuel is suave, which should mix like oil and water but there's an emulsifier from their past relationship that just keeps blending them together.

If you enjoy a suspenseful read that has clever overtones and sizzling undercurrents of romance then this is your book. I recommend going back and reading Annabel Lee first to get all of the context. You can of course read this book as a stand-alone title, but why cheat yourself of the pleasure of getting in at the start?

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Goodreads

Annabel Lee

Coffey & Hill, #1

Mike Nappa

Suspense

Fourteen miles east of Peachtree, Alabama, a secret is hidden.

THE SECRET'S NAME IS ANNABEL LEE.

She doesn't know why her enigmatic uncle has stowed her deep underground in a military-style bunker. He's left her with a few German words, a barely controlled guard dog, and a single command: "Don't open that door for anybody, you got it? Not even me."

Miles away in Atlanta, private investigator Trudi Coffey is visited by a mysterious older man calling himself Dr. Smith. He's been trailing a man for a decade--a man she met through her ex-partner Samuel Hill--and the trail has led him to her office. The last thing Trudi wants to do is to contact Samuel. But it will take both of them to unravel this mystery--before it's too late.

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My Thoughts

If you enjoy a good suspense novel then I suggest you go ahead and pick this one up. Annabel Lee is the first book in the new Coffey & Hill series. I expected it to be slow in parts because it would need to introduce us to the characters and set the stage. I was completely wrong. Instead the reader is just thrown into the midst of the plot and left to figure things out as they come to light.

There are some gruesome parts that just seem downright evil. And in fact they are. But there are other parts that aren't what they appear to be at all. At the beginning of the story Annabel Lee's uncle locks her in a hidden underground shelter with a barely controlled guard dog. Why? What craziness is this? As the story unfolds the unknown comes to light and even though you will understand the reasons they are still scary.

Trudi Coffey and Samuel Hill are former business and marriage partners. They've got a complicated history that just adds to the tension in this novel. I really like their characters and look forward to watching their story unfold in the coming books.

I don't give away endings but this one is a doozy! Take a bathroom break and get yourself a snack because you're not going to be able to put this book down as the story line comes to a climax. The epilogue will be a soothing balm to all the crazy of the previous chapters. Read the preview of the next book, The Raven, at your own peril. I say that because it doesn't come out until September and you will be left wanting to read it NOW. On a final note the acknowledgements were the best I've ever read. (Yes I read those and you should too! Gives you insight into who the author really is.)

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