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Secret Memories #0.5

Secret Memories #0.5

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The small town of Adders, Tennessee was forever changed by a brutal double homicide. Twenty-eight years later, the only surviving victim, private investigator Angela Rhymer, has no recollection of that horrible winter night. Her only clue is the butterfly-shaped scar carved into her back. However, after happening upon a new clue, a memory triggers and sends her searching deep into the past to find the killer that shaped her entire existence.

122 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2018

212 people are currently reading
99 people want to read

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J.S. Donovan

106 books138 followers

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5 stars
59 (34%)
4 stars
50 (29%)
3 stars
38 (22%)
2 stars
11 (6%)
1 star
11 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Sheila Myers.
Author 16 books21 followers
July 8, 2018
An interesting, suspenseful plot and unique characters. J S Donovan has the makings of a very good book, but it needs some serious work. Typos, punctuation errors, and using one character's name for a different character led to so much distraction I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on in the story.
Profile Image for Carolan O'Neill.
2 reviews
March 7, 2018
Needs a new proofreader. Found several mistakes otherwise easy to read, interesting storyline. Did seem to skip around alot.
Profile Image for Tony Parsons.
4,156 reviews103 followers
February 26, 2018
12/28/1989, Appalachian Mountains. Ashton, TN.
Angela Rhymer (7, daughter) was putting a puzzle together as Thomas Rhymer (husband/father, PI, author/writer) looked on & felt very proud of her.
Kelly Rhymer (wife/mother, homemaker) was bringing in 3 cups of hot coca to warm everyone up.
Officer Hitch Shiffrin (29, husband/father, Ashton PD) was out cruising & noticed the Rhymer’s front door was wide-open.

The parents had been shot in cold blood.
Lazlo (golden retriever) was lapping up the blood.
Angela with a stunned look had survived.
28-yrs. later. Church basement mental health support group meeting. Mackie (group leader) was asking everyone if they wanted to share a life story. Mackie went 1st., Jason, then PI Angela Rhymer (35, BA, MS; CJ, PhD; Criminology).
On both doors of her 1970 Dodge Charger it read Rhymer Investigative Services.
Rosemary Sylvain wanted Angela to find Iris Sylvain (daughter) she had disappeared from the face of the earth.

She is a drug addict & prostitute.
Knoxville TN. Granger Rd. An abandoned tenement building.
The place stunk to high/heaven, cockroaches & mold everywhere. Hobos, homeless, & a mentally ill old lady.
Iris had been strangled to death.
911 Knoxville PD. This is Macy.
Funny thing is, Rosemary (50+) no longer existed.
Candy (receptionist) paged PI Frank Frankford (30+) for Angela.
Chattanooga, TN. Iris’ parents & brother were murdered also. She was found by the FedEx guy the next day duct-taped to the chair.
Frank followed her home.
They opened the door & tried to solve a word puzzle left everywhere.
Welcome Home, Angela.
Hitch Shiffrin (retired, Angela’s adopted father) welcomed the 2 of them.
They say opposites attract. Frank & Angela were piecing several cold cases together.

Warning: This book contains adult content, or violence, which is only suitable for mature readers. It may be offensive or have potential adverse psychological effects on the reader.

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one. All thoughts & opinions are entirely my own.

A very awesome book cover, & great font/writing style. A very well written murder mystery book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great murder mystery movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued? A very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Smashwords; DBS Publishing LLC; Author; PDF book
Tony Parsons (Washburn)
4,003 reviews15 followers
September 13, 2022
( Format : Audiobook )
" This isn't glamour work, what we do. "
Twenty eight years after her parents were murdered, Angela still can't remember what happened that night when they died and she, aged seven, was left alive but with a butterfly cut into her shoulder. adopted by the police office who found her, she became a private investigator. Then she finds a murdered young woman who also has the scars of a butterfly cut into her back, just like her own and with the help of a recently met, alcoholic investigator determines to find out just what had happened that night so long ago.
Despite the narrator's (Mikela Drew) very slow reading, this reader was instantly captivated by the rather gruesome story, which even included the description of the family dog licking up the blood of the victims. It felt gritty, mysterious and somehow real, even if 28 years of Not bothering to find out more about that past night which had so changed and haunted her life did sound somewhat fetched. As the story evolved becoming even more bizarre, even bigger question marks appeared in my head. Then it all fell apart as drugs failed to work and characters were transposed and the ending just finished without resolution.

It's nice to have an ending.
I received this book at my request, from Free Audiobook Codes. Thank you. J. S. Donovan is a talented wordsmIth and story teller who seriously is in need of an editor, a faster speakIng narrator to keep up with the pace of the text- and a conclusion to her story.
Until then, sadly, don't bother.
238 reviews3 followers
March 8, 2018
This started out as an intriguing, if somewhat gory, mystery. J. S. Donovan used beautiful descriptions, for example, "The sky was the color of an old bruise." Then, small words began to be left out of sentences. Three-fourths of the way through, two male characters, a private investigator named Frank and the protagonist's adoptive father named Hitch, were suddenly switched for no reason. At the extreme height of the action, when the killer is about to be unmasked, the book ended. Does the word denouement mean nothing to this writer? I have never been as disappointed with a book in my life.
16 reviews27 followers
March 19, 2018
J. S. Donovan is a good writer but not a very good editor. I enjoyed the book, that is what was legible. I did not like the end. It was very confusing.
J. S., in your next book please write a better ending. I liked the descriptions you used, but that didn't make up for the disappointment of the ending. Don't wait until your next book to finish your last one. It's hard not to give you a 5 star rating. I'm sure your next one will be 5 stars!
19 reviews
August 4, 2018
No ending!

It was the beginning of a good story. Suspense...action...interesting characters, but you never got to really know them because the book was just a teaser. I really felt deceived and taken when I got to the non-ending...buy my next book...which may or may not have the ending! Is that what it takes for you to get someone to buy your books? I never would have started reading this book to begin with!
396 reviews2 followers
August 2, 2019
Twenty-eight years old unsolved murder mystery that is brought back to life.

In an unsolved crime from 28 years ago Angela Rhymer saw her parents murdered and she was left with a butterfly shaped cutting on her back. She is now a private investigator and new clues are being discovered including other victims left with the same scar. Teaming up with another investigator she is trying to solve the crime as well as save her life. Some editing is needed in this book.
Profile Image for Deedra.
3,933 reviews40 followers
January 17, 2023
audible:I loved it! Angela was seven when her parents were murdered and she was left maimed.When a similar murder happens years later,with a child recieving the same butterfly mark,Angela is there to investigate,and remember. Mikela Drew was a terrific narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Profile Image for Diana.
476 reviews12 followers
March 13, 2018
Murder game

Private investigators trying to find the killers of families who leave one little girl alone to figure out what happened. Strange circumstances lead to clues that leave you more confused as to why.
First time for this author a d going to read the next book.
1 review
January 5, 2019
Waste of time


Story was interesting, but ended abruptly. Lot of grammar errors and in a couple of places the names of the 2 make characters got mixed up. Poor proof reading. Not going to read the next book.
18 reviews
November 26, 2019
Good read....fast and interesting. Am on my way t o read book 2. I wood recommend to any mystery fan.

I would have rated a five if there were more fleshed out characters. Plot good and book kept my interest throughout
Profile Image for gwen graves.
1,227 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2019
Good

I liked the story, but then confused me. She was with Frank in the cabin, but then it was Hitch , the man who raised her, and then Frank again. Utterly confusing. Not sure if it was an error or if there is more to lt.
Profile Image for William Pizzino.
44 reviews
March 9, 2018
Started to be a good story. After reading I started to get confused.
Confusing ending. I will read book 1.
89 reviews1 follower
April 6, 2018
Ends abruptly with no conclusion to storyline. Last chapter has many errors on the character with the main antagonist. Just too open ended to be complete. Not a lot of character development.
Profile Image for Joy Kelly.
14 reviews
April 19, 2018
I couldn't put it down, I finished it in one day. Then I immediately bought the next book .
455 reviews2 followers
September 2, 2018
Very good book. I really enjoyed book 0 and am off to read book 1. Will let you know how I like that part of the 3 books.
Profile Image for Barb VanderWel.
1,819 reviews30 followers
September 22, 2018
I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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