Two years ago, five women went missing. Last year, ten disappeared. Both times, it happened in December. Now it’s December again, and five more have vanished.
To social worker, Madison Taylor, the women are not only her clients. They are her friends. Despite the recent discovery of the remains of five females, the police continue to be unhelpful because of the lifestyle the missing women lead.
Even after Madison is attacked and threatened, she stays determined to uncover the truth. How does her attacker know about the monster from her past? Madison’s identity was never made public.
Is this the work of a serial killer or something more horrific?
Mariëtte Whitcomb studied criminology and psychology at the University of Pretoria. An avid reader of psychological thrillers and true crime books, writing allows her to pursue her childhood dream to hunt criminals, albeit fictional and born in the darkest corners of her imagination.
When Mariëtte isn’t writing, she’s either rock climbing or working on her golf swing.
Before writing my review, I want to thank BookSirens and Mariëtte Whitcomb for gifting me the ARC of SILENT DEATH. It was such a privilege to read this before publication. And I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!
As a reader of this series, I loved to see characters introduced in Book 1 come to life in this, Book 2. We were introduced to Maddie in DEATH ISN’T ENOUGH, who is a remarkable protagonist whom you grow to love as the book progresses. The story follows the mysterious disappearance and death of several young women, but given their reputations, the murders receive very little attention. But Maddie takes it upon herself to change this and force people to take notice of these invisible victims whose voices were never heard.
As the book progresses, the plot thickens, becoming intertwined with storylines from Book 1. This only adds to the suspense, though. Certain people are not who they seem, and as the mystery unfolds and identities are revealed, the reader is left on the edge of her seat.
Mariette Whitcomb has the extraordinary knack for writing likable characters who are so well developed that you begin to feel you know them personally. The power of love and hope again play center stage. Cannot wait for Book 3 to see what suspenseful storyline awaits us!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Firstly, I got an advanced reader copy, and I am writing this review of my own free will & BOOOYYYYY. Am I excited to share!
Firstly, I LOVED the fact that Maddie got her time to shine, and to see the growth from Death isn't enough. It is just amazing! I love the relationship between Maddie and Clay, and this was a cute little love story among the terrors that lurk into the night. Clay is a man out of any women's dreams, he is so patient, caring, a gentleman and all around just oozing yumminess 😍 Clay and Maddie have become my new favourite book couple and throughout the book it just got cuter and I fell deeper in love with them!
I honestly enjoy the way Mariëtte is able to put real life issues into the book and how true it is that some people really do take justice into their own hands because our law enforcement isn't doing what they should or aren't doing enough... sorry, not sorry! It's my opinion & haters gon hate!
Anyway, back to the story, the dual POVs were a really great detail in the book. It kept me guessing and, as always, on the edge of my seat! It was a good way to give me insight into each character, what they were thinking, and how they progressed in the story.
It was nice to see that the storyline from the first book still had a trace in this one. The way Mariëtte woved the web of lies, destruction, and intense yet horrific scenarios were just mind-blowing!
The characters in this book were absolutely perfect, and the premise to this book was absolutely incredible and I would recommend this book and series to anyone who loves a great psychological thriller. It honestly had me guessing and wondering how, what, where, and who was involved.
Well done to yet another amazing book! I can't wait for the 3rd book, "Even in Death" 😍
Wow! I loved the first book in the Death Triology series and was skeptical if this one would compare, but it was just as, if not probably more, amazing!
The author does such a great job intermixing the thriller and romance genres! There is plenty of suspense throughout the book and a very solid plot.
The multiple POVs really worked well for this book. I absolutely loved the strong female main character! And I adored Maddie and Clay’s relationship!
Definitely recommend reading this one (as well as book 1 in the series- Death Isn’t Enough)!🖤
Thank you @mariettewhitcomb for the #gifted eARC copy!🫶🏼
Spoilers! Talk about a story within a story. This one follows Madison, the youngest in the Taylor family. After her horrific abduction, now 6 months later she is working hard to help those...from the streets. Madison is working to be a social worker and has discovered a pattern in missing sex workers. After bringing it to the police a few times. Madison is attacked. But little does she know that her attacker may be linked to the very man who abducted her.6 months ago. But how can that be? He's behind bars. Not only could this all be orchestrated by the man who abducted her but it is also believed that the murderer is said to be...a cop. But wait there is a medical examiner who cannot be found or gotten into contact with and he has worked the cases of 15 murderer women all known sex workers. So could the medical examiner be the one who is murdering these women? Not to mention there are 5 more women Madison can't get ahold of. Are they the next 5 to be murdered? Will Madison figure out who the murderer is? Will she save these women? Will Foster Ericson get to her from inside the prison? It's all a matter of time before you find out. This one is riveting the moment you think you know...you don't. I cannot wait for the 3rd book in the trilogy! Highly recommend. As with all of Mariette's work it is spectacular and leaves you; mouth agape.
4.5 ⭐️ rounded to 5. If you’re looking for a dark story mixed with romance, murder and deception, Mariette does it again with Book 2 of this series. I really appreciate the way the author is able to incorporate the lightness of romance and family mixed in with sex, rape and murder, and even sprinkles in some humor with it. Not sure how much more the Taylor family can take, but if there’s another installment, I’m here for it!
Definitely recommend this book, as well as the first book in the series, Death Isn’t Enough.
I love this series and can’t wait for the next book! I have grown so attached to these characters. Can the Taylors adopt me please? 🙏🏼😂 I think this is a perfect mix of psychological thriller, police procedural, and a little romance / spice sprinkled in!
I received this book as an advanced reader copy and below is my honest review.
All I can say is wow, what a ride! This book is a hold onto your seat kind of book and you won’t know where it’s headed. With multiple POV, twists and turns and a very deep plot, I guarantee you wont be guessing what happens next. Each and every time I thought I had something figured out I was very much wrong. I love books that keep my attention from start to finish and this is one of those books. There are so many likable characters but by far my favorite is Madison. She is such a strong and powerful woman. The drive she has and the mindset she Carrie’s is amazing. The ending of the book was one of my favorite parts throughout the whole thing. I don’t want to give too much away but I could talk about this book all day. I am glad I was turned onto this book and I can’t wait until the next one is out.
Madison is a social worker who helps abused young women and regards them as friends Now five of her friends are missing. Is this incident related to ten women who disappeared the previous year? When the bodies of some of the missing women are found, Madison is sure it's the work of a serial killer. A well crafted plot which is gut churning. The author has portrayed the psyche of the killer very aptly.
In Death Isn’t Enough, Madison Taylor was my favourite character, And here she is with her own story. At the end of the previous book, she had been abducted by Eric Foster aka Foster Ericson, who was obsessed with her now sister-in-law Noa, who he called Emily. Do keep up!
Foster is safely locked away in prison, so Madison should be safe. Except there’s another villain on the scene this time. And he knows more about Madison than he should. Her name was never revealed to the press and Foster hasn’t had any visitors in prison.
Madison was rescued from her abductor by Clay Davis of the SWAT team and they are gradually becoming closer, though she can’t believe he would want her after everything that happened. As a social worker, Madison sets out to help the women who have resorted to prostitution to pay their way, but too many have disappeared and the police aren’t taking it seriously.
On an island near Shadow Bay a group of men have booked two weeks on a so-called ‘singles’ holiday. It’s actually an opportunity to drink loads and have sex with the women provided for them. Everyone uses a false identity – the women with names like Vegas and Dakota, the men being renamed Blade and Crush. But we know the organiser is called Adam and he’s a sadistic monster.
Can the women be rescued in time before they end up disappearing like the others? Madison has been threatened, her flat broken into and messages left for her. But it’s not enough to stop her investigating with the help of Clay, detective Gina Larson, her partner Duke, and let’s not forget King the dog, who technically just provides furry moral support.
Once again this is an exciting, if dark read, but with a lot of warmth because of the love, friendship and family dynamic. And I know there’s another book coming after.
Silent Death by Mariëtte Whitcomb Releases on Nov 15
“The queen ensured the man had his own gold, enough to keep him from asking questions. And enough to show the sheriff that the man was a very bad and evil man. For years, the man did as he pleased. The queen allowed it, until one day.” Eva pressed her lips to Adam’s clammy forehead. “And then, one day arrived. You see, the sheriff will find gold in the man’s bank accounts. The queen was kind enough to register the castle in the undeserving man’s name. The man will spend the rest of his miserable life in a dungeon. As for the queen? That’s a story for another day.”
⚠️ check trigger warnings ⚠️
My Thoughts: First off I do love Mariette Whitcomb's writing it because it draws you in from the first page. Don't get me wrong the book was amazing just like Death Isn't Enough was a thrilling read. But for some reason this none seem to feel like not much was really going on like it was missing more to it the story. The story is told in dual POV from Maddie and Clay( which I love how he is with Maddie after all her trauma). But otherwise that's my only reason for a 4 star and will be checking out her next book in the series. I would still recommend to read Silent Death just make sure to read Death Isn't Enough first.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Maddie is moving on wither life after some trauma. We met her in the previous book, Death Isn’t Enough. Maddie is a social worker who fights strongly for women in poor situations, being sexually assaulted and pimped out. Each December, women go missing. Now, Madison cannot contact another 5 of her female clients. She continuously goes to the police for help but they seem to downplay it each time, because of their lifestyle. With Clay, a police officer, Madison tries to uncover what’s happening. Right at this same time, there are 5 females on an island with a group of men, paid to be their sex toy while they are on the island. It is very suspenseful while Maddie and Clay try to find the killer and save the girls. There are some twists along the way that keep the reader wanting more. I loved this book by Mariette Whitcomb. The characters all have their own backstory which makes you feel for them. I received an ARC copy from the author and this is my honest review.
*recieved this as arc for my honest opinion voluntarily *
WOW! I mean Fantastic.
I was on the arc team for book one of this trilogy, and I absolutely loved it so much.
Coming into book two, I wasn't sure how the story could unfold. I was blown away. As much as I loved the characters is book one. I'm extremely attached to the characters in book two. Madison and Clay have my whole heart.
Everything about this story was executed so well. Every moment in this story, I was hooked and trying to figure out what was going on. I loved the twists and turns, the cnon stop guessing and trying to put this puzzle together for it to work.
Once again, I was shocked by the end of the book, when everything unfolded and was revealed.
What a story. Fantastic job. I can't wait for the next book.
Maddie has survived the unthinkable. Now she is determined to help those she can. For the last few years women have gone missing in December. No one seems to want to help Maddie figure out what has happened to them, due to their life choices. When more girls go missing Maddie will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of things and help find her missing clients...even when her own life is in danger.
When I thought I couldn't love anyone more than Noa and Luke, in walks Maddie and Clay. (Of course my favorite is still and will always be, King). I've said it before, and I will say it again, I love a strong female main character. It is so refreshing to see one who will do whatever she needs to do to protect the ones she cares about. I really liked Maddie and Clay. Their friendship/relationship just seemed to flow so well. Maddie's family was once again amazing. I would totally feel safe surrounded by them!
This is the second book in the Death Trilogy (make sure you read Death Isn't Enough first). Once again we were in for a rollercoaster of a ride! The twists I didn't see coming. I can't wait to see what is in store for book 3!!! Thank you Mariëtte for the advanced copy!!
Okay, i didn't pay attention and didn't realize this is book 2 of a trilogy. As a result, it was terribly confusing from the beginning because I had no idea what was going on or who these people were. That's on me. The writing is very well done, although I really couldn't relate to any of the characters for various reasons. For my taste, too much romance (I never read romances), and it really didn't fit in the midst of all the chaos. Because I hadn't read the first book, the characters didn't have a frame of reference for me. However, the book is well written, with one caveat: the author has apparently set the book in the US, but consistently used the British spellings for many words, which grew a bit confusing. I'd recommend the book(s) as it's a good read, but strongly suggest one start with the 1st book.
Thank you to BookSirens and Mariette Whitcomb for the ARC. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.
Oh my!!! I wanted to burn through this one is was so good and yet I didn't want it to end. The relationships in this series are amazing, some thing we all deserve ( well the ones not including the bad "guys"). I started writing this review in my head a day ago and it just wasn't even close to what I wish I could say. Finding this series has truly been a gift. I can't wait for the next one.
As always I encourage you to read the first book and then dive head first in to this one. You shouldn't be sorry. Happy reading!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Silent Death is an intriguing dark thriller! Madison is such a strong protagonist, with a passion for justice and a heart for the reality of her clients.
The commentary on sex workers is a difficult pill to swallow because it echoes much of reality - these victims get overlooked and unwillingly, are forced to carry the blame. Madison, however, sees the people underneath the stigma, and she’ll do what it takes to bring their identities back to them.
Mariette’s writing draws you in from page one and continues to encourage you to flip page after page. It’s a little bit of romance, a little bit of humor, and a whole lot of dark twists and turns that wrap around hidden social commentary. Absolutely love!
When someone is taking the city’s prostitutes, no one seems to care except for Madison. She visits the station regularly to see if anyone is looking into the disappearance of these forgotten women. The police always give the same answer; they just moved on. When bodies start turning up, Madison becomes the target of attacks for continuing to look into the cases.
This book was filled with action and trepidation. I could feel the frustration Madison felt when the police ignore her pleas. I felt the desperation of the girls as they knew they were a toy, nothing else. All the characters in this book were so real. They were all human with fears and insecurities. This book was another great read in this series.
My love of reading has gone more towards the Psychological thriller than just straight romance. I love reading and trying to figure out who, what, when, how, and why. Omg mind blown! I didn’t see that coming at all. I loved the twists that was in this book!!
I can not wait to read the final book in this trilogy. CAWFILE: 10.0 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes! Read more from this author? Yes!
This was a 5 star read!!! I did receive this as an advanced reader copy and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to read it! The intensity in this story is non stop and as soon as you think you have it figured out there's another twist.
I really enjoyed the dual POV, it gave great insight into each character. It really built up the story brilliantly.
I absolutely adored Maddie and Clays relationship. As the book went on, I just fell more and more in love with them (I think clay is my new book boyfriend).
Overall I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller with a little spice mixed in.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
If you have read this first book in this series, you should read this book as it carries on the story quite nicely, focusing on Madison from the first book, but does have elements of the first book in terms of the other characters.
I would personally recommend not reading this book if you haven't read the first book.
There were a few things in this book that I found a bit frustrating, hence only four stars. Might just have been me, but the soppy sentimentality got a bit old for me.
There were also some parts where it wasn't clear who was speaking, and also where I felt like I'd skipped a few pages, a bit disappointing turns in the story (don't want to spoil it) plus some grammatical issues.
Despite all that, I enjoyed the book. Nice pace and character growth.
Silent Death was a little hard to follow with too much happening at once. Along with the confusing storyline, there’s a lot of miscommunication with the main characters.
I was lucky enough to read the book as ARC reader. I was caught right from the start and even though I hadn’t read the first book, I picked the story up easily. It had lots of surprises and I definitely loved the twist right at the end. Whoever would have thought!!
I need to read the first book now and will certainly get the third book
I received a free ARC of this book and I am leaving an honest and voluntary review. Madison finds herself in danger again when five women go missing in a chilling echo to a previous case. This was well written and had me desperate to find out what was going on! The twists and turns made this an enjoyable read
First of all I recommend reading the first book in this series before reading this one , this book was amazing dark thriller that had me at the edge of my seat, I couldn’t put it down!!!
Following on from Death isn’t Enough, so I do recommend reading book one first. Madison is working as Social worker, and trying to discover what has happened to the missing women, she’s worked with. Only her digging for answers puts her in world of trouble…
This story had me on the edge of my seat. It was full of twists, turns, and jaw dropping moments.
A great book with well developed likeable characters, well executed gripping story. The author writing style is so well written that you feel your in the story.
Tense - Exciting - Powerful - Impossible to put down. A determined social working searching for the truth about missing women with a serial killer on the prowl. Brilliant writing and wonderful story that is highly recommended and worthy of five stars.
Madison Taylor has been through hell. Abducted by a serial killer and haunted by it 6 months later, she is trying to fix the damage and the ever-present Clay Davis is attempting to help. Back in her home and her work as a social worker, she busies herself, trying to help women in bad situations and find the ones who have disappeared.
I loved the storyline for this series! I had a little trouble with the dialogue from the first book, which made it hard for me to connect with the characters, but that is not present in this one. Its unusual for book 2 to beat the first, but it most definitely does for me.I really enjoyed the alternate Pov's and that we got a lot of insight into the twisted minds as well as the MC's. Overall, it kept me super engaged, I couldn't put it down, and I finished it in one sitting. I can't wait for the next book in this series.
Thank you to the author and book sirens for the opportunity to review this ARC 💓
Silent Death is the second book in the Death series by Mariette Whitcomb and just like the first book Death isn’t Enough it did not disappoint. I felt Mariette Whitcomb did a good job interconnecting the main family characters (the Taylor family), Noa & Luke, along with Foster from the first book into Silent Death but also giving Maddison and Clay (Slay) their own love story. All the while unfolding the mystery of the missing women that happen to go missing in December and are sex workers. So naturally no law enforcement is going to care to much when they are reported missing. However, Maddison is a social worker and works with these women, cares for these women, and will stop at nothing to help figure out what has happened to them. There were plenty of twist and turns throughout this book that kept me interested. I did not see the end coming (the reveal of the last individual involved) wow. Would recommend:)
Clay, Clay, Clay. Asking for a blessing from the men in the family to pursue anything with Maddie and the palms up 'I swear I didn't touch her' is taking Maddie out of the equation. It's such an unattractive caveman-esq quality and should be an insult to the woman Maddie is. I enjoy it when male characters aren't afraid to be vulnerable with other male characters. The men in these books are not like that.
At the end of Death Isn't Enough: A psychological thriller I thought Maddie would be okay. But her internalisation of everything makes me sad for her. Maddie thinking she is unworthy because she'd slept with a serial killer before she knew he was a serial killer, is something she should be working on with a therapist. She's the type of social worker who tells her clients they are worthy if the same thing happened to them. I think part of the mind block for understanding Maddie comes from the fact that I didn't even know she was in college or a social worker. In the first book, Maddie is painted as a carefree singer, not a hardcore social worker who has the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Vigilante crime-solving is one of my favourite tropes. And even though most of the actual crime-solving is done by detectives, Maddie's forward thinking when helping women off the streets was applaudable and honestly, something anyone who works with sex workers should do.
I liked Gina as a character. She's tough but knows when to take people at face value. The end of this didn't go where I thought it would go. I feel like it's setting up the next book, but the twist came out of nowhere. We were never given any indication of another person with a previous connection to any of the main players who could be responsible. I hope to see more of her and Duke. How this plays into the next book, if it even plays into it, is something I can't wait to read.
Maddie and Clay's relationship is one of the good ones. Once they learned to communicate and rely on each other for more than safe comfort. Their banter adds some much-needed humor to a heavy book. Maddie's family are as wonderfully warm in this book as they were in the first book. I love a good, healthy family unit.
I received a copy via BookSirens and all opinions are my own.