A. F. Carter

Who D.I.D. it?


Having studied psychology in college when this book came to Netgalley I rushed to request it. This type of mystery is completely up my ally. So, thank you to all parties involved in my getting a copy of this book. A.F Carter you have a new fan with me I really enjoyed this new twist to a thriller so thank you. Carolyn Grant had been subjected to extreme and horrible sexual and physical abuse from her biological father, then by the foster family, she was sent to. Even after she aged out of the system, she continued to be exploited by others around her. She had fractured into several different people all sharing the same body, all with the goal of surviving one day at a time. Their lives are put at risk when Eleni the rather promiscuous personality gets picked up by the police and their freedom is questioned. The story takes an even more interesting turn when the father who abused Carolyn for so many years is paroled after serving a large part of his sentence. I don’t want to give two much of the story away but I will say someone does die and we don’t know who did it until the very end.

This is one of those novels that will do well with book clubs and friends because it opens the discussion for mental health. I love how the author treats the subject with respect and gives the reader a proper insight on treatments. I enjoyed that the separate personalities had a great deal of details and independence to them. Who I hated was the psychiatrist that the court appointed I will say that I enjoyed that he made all the personalities work together to better support the collective but that is about all I liked of him. Overall a 4.5 star read. I will continue to support this author in the future because I enjoyed the original concept.… (más)

Published: September 20, 2022

3.5⭐

Captain Delia Merola of the Baxter Police Department has a lot on her plate. With the new Nissan Car Company plant promising to boost the economy of the small town of Baxter, she is in charge of cleaning up the local drug trade, making Baxter a safer place to live and work. She spends her days busting meth labs and arresting dealers and pushers while balancing her role as a single mom to her fourteen-year-old son Danny. When the fifteen-year-old daughter of a rich family, who also happens to be the highest bidder on the construction contract of the new plant, Delia is instructed by her boss to let the FBI handle the case. When the FBI advises the family to pay the ransom and wait for Elizabeth’s release, the family reaches out to Delia and asks her to run a parallel investigation- one that does not involve sitting and waiting.

Elizabeth Bradford was born with a golden spoon in her mouth. She is a smart teenager two years ahead of her peers in school, aware of the privileges of her family background but realistic in her observations of the world around her. When she is kidnapped, she is aware of the potential peril that awaits her despite her kidnapper’s assurance that she will be released once the ransom is paid. She trusts no one and though she appears to be the perfectly meek hostage, her mind is working in ways her captor would never guess.

Narrated by both Delia and Elizabeth in the first person, The Hostage by A.F. Carter is atmospheric, gritty and exciting. The procedural aspects and the dynamics in an understaffed police department were very well executed as were Elizabeth’s moment in captivity. The author does a great job of describing the setting of a struggling, crime-infested small town. Delia’s personal life and her dynamic with colleagues and friends form an integral part of the narrative. Both Delia and Elizabeth are two strong and smart protagonists who manage to keep the reader engaged. The emphasis on local crime fighting often overshadows the kidnapping case , which at times dampened the thrill for me. Though the narrative did drag a little towards the end, I was happy with the way the story was resolved. I would be interested in more stories featuring the fearless Delia Merola in the future.

Thank you to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for providing a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.… (más)

If you like tough grimy mysteries this is for you! Very strong character development, and I just loved Git from the start. She is only a young woman who has dreams of getting out of town, but she also has sexual needs. She occasionally dresses up and careful to hide her true identity while going to the local bar looking to score.
Git did just that and hooked up with this guy going to a hotel, which was a terrible mistake. He went to the bathroom and overdosed on heroine, which only she knows. The town is infested with drugs and completely run down. Git has been wishing to get out of town and now she finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place, and is hoping the police doesn’t find out that she was there with him at the hotel.

It was a super fast read and the ending was a a mind blowing shocker!… (más)

This book is alright. The problem is the story is told from 3 points of view:
Git, a white trash female who makes bad decisions where men are concerned and is trying to better her life.
Delia, a lesbian police detective assigned to the crime.
Connor, the bad guy.
The story takes place in I think Iowa although it is never terribly clear.
The story is not much of a mystery, and all three characters are tough and hardened by life’s lessons.
Sadly what they really are is stereotyped caricatures.
I seriously doubt the author has been out of New York City.
I also have a real problem with male authors trying to write from a female perspective, and in this case a lesbian character as well. Once you strip away the stereotype behavior all three characters are flat.
Again the story was good and a few twists were enjoyable, but other than checking all the politically correct boxes for characters in a book in 2021 I don’t know why it was told by a male author using 2 main female characters.… (más)