From the bestselling author of Crash comes a riveting thriller rife with murder, misdirection, and ghosts from the past.Florida homicide detective Maggie Novak has seen hundreds of brutal murder cases, but when she is called out to investigate the charred remains of a young woman, in what appears to be a Halloween prank gone wrong, she is confronted with a twenty-year-old secret. The body is … secret. The body is formally identified as that of school counselor Dana Cullen, but a distinguishing mark makes Maggie look again. She believes it is the body of her school friend Rita, who perished in a fire twenty years ago.
Maggie’s hunt for the truth behind the murder takes her back to a cruel high school trick she’s desperate to forget. And when another body turns up, Maggie realizes she too may be the target of a sinister plot creeping toward its final act.
Maggie needs emotional distance to do her job, but she’s so close to this case that she can’t even breathe. Will Maggie be able to uncover the truth of who wanted Rita dead? Or will her past mistakes catch up with her first?
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When it comes to murder-mystery crime novels, Don’t Even Breathe by Keith Houghton is up there as one of the good ones.
This is a genre I’m always very wary of reading; when written well, murder mysteries can be haunting and grip at your mind. But, unfortunately, this genre is also stock piled with books that just aren’t good. Every murder mystery I’ve ever read at some point in time falls into into the same-old same-old cliches… and this book is no exception to that.
Yes, I have admitted this novel does have its cliches,
Like the classic “I don’t have time for a personal life, I’m all tunnel vision work-only” detective, the “The best friend was the killer the whole time???!” trope, the epilogue/first chapter is the killer’s thoughts, and the SUPER classic investigation-forces-detective-to-confront-her-past plot line.
And yes, these cliches definitely weigh down this novel
But, I will give the author credit still. For one, I was thoroughly entertained reading it, and as soon as Maggie found the “Leave me alone” note I definitely couldn’t put the book down.
Maggie, the lead detective in the story, is definitely very….intense. But, her character is well balanced out with Nic and Loomis’s light personalities that give the comedic relief.
One thing I loved about this book was the diversity. The cast wasn’t cookie-cutter; it featured characters with vitiligo, characters born in South Africa, characters raised in New York streets, and all different sets of personalities: goth, preppy, intense, light, funny. The diverse set of characters brought so much life into this story, so many different backgrounds and specialties, I loved it.
Overall, I would recommend this story. As far as cliches, I have never read a murder mystery that didn’t fall into them; and Keith definitely makes it up with fantastic characters and chair gripping fight scenes.
I’m torn between giving this a 3 or 4 * review. I like the ‘story line’ which I would give the 4* but at times it was slow paced (3*) and a little ‘unbelievable. I couldn’t figure out why the identify of the corpse wasn’t verified by some means earlier in the story. Not trying to give spoilers but if you’re in witsec programs wouldn’t they have a ‘file’ on you to compare dental, dna, etc?? Just saying.
I enjoyed the characters and can see a great bond between Maggie and her partner Loomis developing greatly.
I did enjoy reading this book and may continue reading Mr. Houghton’s work.
More of a police procedural rather than a gripping thriller like it makes out. Really disappointing. This really needs more of a description in the blurb to determine the tone for this book.
The story itself was slow moving with way too much time spent on ruminating narratives and pondering thoughts. An important rule of writing is to “show” and not “tell” the story and that was breached here. The story itself is based on a twenty year old high school incident that is constantly alluded to, but not revealed to the reader until almost the end of the book. I got tired of hearing about it, but never knowing any details. The time lapse of twenty years between the incident and the recent crimes in the story also wasn’t plausible. It just didn’t hold my interest.
Deathtectives Squad
Maggie Novak is a Homicide Detective with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and has been for five years. She grew up in the area and went to high school there.
Her and her partner, Loomis, are called out to a homicide at what used to be an area for teens to ditch school, drink or hook up. They find a woman that has been murdered and Novak is stunned to recognize an old friend that supposedly died twenty years ago.
As Novak and Loomis start investigating, they are led on a convoluted maze through the past and the present. Sometimes it was a bit too twisty but it’s fiction so why not?
This is the first book in a series featuring Maggie Novak. She’s not a totally likeable character but is believable.
I’m now off to read the second book in the series A PLACE CALLED FEAR.
There are no two ways about it, book one in the Maggie Novak series—DON’T EVEN BREATHE by Keith Houghton—is a fast-paced, heart-pounding thriller! If you’re an adrenaline junkie like I am, you’ll love this book! I’m looking forward to devouring book number two—A Place Called Fear.
I enjoyed this book so much that I finished it in record time! A real page turner, murder mystery, kept me guessing until the end. Very well written. Complex story but easy to follow, did not get lost trying to follow the plot. WELL DONE!
An edge of your seat mystery thriller. Maggie is trying to solve a murder that has personal connections for her. The author does an excellent job of displaying the menace and evil of the killer. With each word you read and page you turn, you feel the tension increase as the danger lurks nearer. There is nail biting suspense as you question the motives of each character and wonder are they killer or victim. This is a thrilling start to a new series that shows excellent potential.
A relatively decent police-procedural by Keith Houghton. The prologue is gripping and succinctly draws the reader in from line one. However, the pace of plot slows dramatically going into the first few chapters as more focus is placed on detailing police work and internal dialog. The characters are decently developed but lack a natural cohesion with one another. It feels as if the character’s description versus their actual portrayal is in conflict with one another. In addition, veteran readers of this genre may find Houghton’s foreshadowing presumptuous, leading to an easy depiction of the plot twist. Overall an okay read. 3 stars.
Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #DontEvenBreathe in exchange for an honest review.