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Wolfe & Vaughn Mysteries #1
Stitches
On a cool April evening, a killer stalks its prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. By the following morning, Stephen Carter is dead, tortured and murdered before being tossed in dumpster behind a grocery store in Boston.
While a pair of detectives from the Boston Police Department and the Chief Medical Examiner investigate the crime, private investigators Jim Wolfe and Scarlett Vaughn are hired by the father of the victim to look into his son’s death.
Between his questionable relationship with a Romanian restaurateur’s son, and investigating the disappearance of a famous musician’s daughter, Wolfe already has a lot on his plate. When a string of grisly murders centering on college students grab the city of Boston by the throat, Wolfe finds himself entangled in more than one mystery.
While Wolfe and his partner attempt to unravel the threads connecting the killings to their missing rock n’ roll heiress, Sebastian Codreanu discovers how deeply his father is tied to the recent crime spree, and the Mass Art Murderer plots his masterpiece. Everything is not what it first appears to be, and everyone has a secret.
(Please note that depending on what font size you're using on your e-reader, the chapter formatting may not be optimal. I'd recommend a font size of 4 or above.)
While a pair of detectives from the Boston Police Department and the Chief Medical Examiner investigate the crime, private investigators Jim Wolfe and Scarlett Vaughn are hired by the father of the victim to look into his son’s death.
Between his questionable relationship with a Romanian restaurateur’s son, and investigating the disappearance of a famous musician’s daughter, Wolfe already has a lot on his plate. When a string of grisly murders centering on college students grab the city of Boston by the throat, Wolfe finds himself entangled in more than one mystery.
While Wolfe and his partner attempt to unravel the threads connecting the killings to their missing rock n’ roll heiress, Sebastian Codreanu discovers how deeply his father is tied to the recent crime spree, and the Mass Art Murderer plots his masterpiece. Everything is not what it first appears to be, and everyone has a secret.
(Please note that depending on what font size you're using on your e-reader, the chapter formatting may not be optimal. I'd recommend a font size of 4 or above.)
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 3, 2019
2,5/5. This is a hard book to review in a constructive way. Not that it is that bad, it just hasn't a lot of thing that are great and nothing that is completely failed either. Everything is a big average and that is the feeling we get when we close the book. The intrigue, the characters, the settings, everything is just average. I think that the writer might be promising but we feel the lack of experience here and that writing more and more could improve that. The writing style really just feels to descriptive / factual for my personal taste. We too often go through long passage that alternate between dialogue and action descriptive sequence (like the character goes there, he made that, then go there, etc.). I first I had trouble to really get what was bothering me, but then it hits me, it was the absence of thinking (on society, humans, life, or anything) and the inner psychology of the characters. That is often what I like the most while reading book, to really get in the head of the characters and see their vision of the world through their eyes, and here we don’t get that much, for some reader this might not be negative maybe even positive) but for me it was a big minus. There was also a lack of personal style that made the book look very generic and that is not a good thing in a market where there is ton and ton of books and that you want to stand out to be seen and read.
November 22, 2018
If you are not into horror, description of explicit sadistic mutilations of people then you may consideration this is not your type of read. A sadistic mutilation starts the story and continue in many of the chapters.
There is not much LGB, and what is there is just suggestive.
Beyond the horror, this story is good; its a thriller and a mystery. There are many actors with the main characters well developed. There are twists and turns, some that may lead you to think you know who the “monster” is only to lead you down the wrong road.
There is a ruthless crime boss, Codreanu, who has several agendas. But one that has taken years is getting close to its conclusion – maybe.
Codreanu has lots of power and connections (through corruptions and intimidation). He has a new associate, a different kind of killer, to eliminate people who have a connection, even a slight one, to Jim Wolfe. Why - to locate the person he believes killed his oldest son. He also uses the killer to make other things go his way – such as arranging Danh Sang getting paroled which otherwise would not have happened. Sang is head of the Red Dynasty
- a vicious. And Codreanu arranges not so gentle persuasion to get zoning changes; and much more.
Jim Wolfe, previously an Army Ranger, and Scarlet Vaughn are PI partners. Jim has two brothers, Jake is an art student and Joshoa, the Chief Medical Examiner for the sate of Massachusetts. Jim and Scarlet have a couple cases that involve finding young women that are suddenly missing.
The killer is doing more than just killing his victims for Codreanu – or even just torturing them for his pleasure, He was using them as his canvas to create a masterpiece. He believed he would live on because the memory of what he had done, and the fear of a whole city, would be chronicled.
Then there is the Xander – the monster’s informant. Xander, though he does not take up much space in the story, is a weird, even somewhat macabre, character who attend classes at the Mass Art school, and works at Caruso’s Grocery.
Why did Codreanu want Sang out of jail?
Who is David Wolfe?
What was Xander’s final project idea at Mass Art?
The monster was jealous of whom? Why?
What was carved into his last victim’s skin?
What is the bizarre connection between the killer and the Wolfes?
There is not much LGB, and what is there is just suggestive.
Beyond the horror, this story is good; its a thriller and a mystery. There are many actors with the main characters well developed. There are twists and turns, some that may lead you to think you know who the “monster” is only to lead you down the wrong road.
There is a ruthless crime boss, Codreanu, who has several agendas. But one that has taken years is getting close to its conclusion – maybe.
Codreanu has lots of power and connections (through corruptions and intimidation). He has a new associate, a different kind of killer, to eliminate people who have a connection, even a slight one, to Jim Wolfe. Why - to locate the person he believes killed his oldest son. He also uses the killer to make other things go his way – such as arranging Danh Sang getting paroled which otherwise would not have happened. Sang is head of the Red Dynasty
- a vicious. And Codreanu arranges not so gentle persuasion to get zoning changes; and much more.
Jim Wolfe, previously an Army Ranger, and Scarlet Vaughn are PI partners. Jim has two brothers, Jake is an art student and Joshoa, the Chief Medical Examiner for the sate of Massachusetts. Jim and Scarlet have a couple cases that involve finding young women that are suddenly missing.
The killer is doing more than just killing his victims for Codreanu – or even just torturing them for his pleasure, He was using them as his canvas to create a masterpiece. He believed he would live on because the memory of what he had done, and the fear of a whole city, would be chronicled.
Then there is the Xander – the monster’s informant. Xander, though he does not take up much space in the story, is a weird, even somewhat macabre, character who attend classes at the Mass Art school, and works at Caruso’s Grocery.
Why did Codreanu want Sang out of jail?
Who is David Wolfe?
What was Xander’s final project idea at Mass Art?
The monster was jealous of whom? Why?
What was carved into his last victim’s skin?
What is the bizarre connection between the killer and the Wolfes?
August 7, 2023
This quick-paced thriller is smart, fun, and way bloodier than I had expected! I had a great time reading this book. It doesn’t totally reimagine the thriller/crime-lord genre, and it hits a lot of the expected notes—an ex-special forces private eye with PTSD, police detectives that aren’t especially effective, a serial killer’s killing spree that seems to have connections with our protagonist, a young hacker with an attitude, and so on. Yet it does everything well. I felt all the characters were believable and all had something interesting to do. There were quite a few, and so sometimes it felt that there was more telling than showing regarding how these characters experience the world, but it never felt like the story relied on easy stereotypes for the sake of laziness. There was this weird combination of being both thinly sketched amidst a whole lot of details, but they still felt genuine. Additionally, they had a firm foundation to grow upon in future installments in the series, and I enjoyed spending time with them. The story was fun, moving at a somewhat breakneck speed, which I appreciated. Again, chasing serial killers and dealing with crime lords isn’t exactly new material, but everything was pieced together in exciting ways that were creative and was more than a simple cut & paste job. And the writing was able to keep pace with the story. While we mostly stayed with our lead detective it jumped around to other perspectives enough to keep things feeling urgent, and to make sure you were always on the edge of your seat. It also did a great job of giving the reader more information than the protagonist in a way that kept you engaged. Given how few were the actual clues, our protagonist was able to make some deductions a little too easily, but the story did a good job of clueing the readers in on a lot of these revelations before the character was, so it never felt like cheating. Actually, I really appreciated how the story set up red herrings but then knocked them down for the reader even if the characters might still have doubts, it created an interesting dynamic, a tension between the reader and the world of the story that was fun. This story was set in and around Boston, and I grew up in a city outside of Boston and went to grad school in one of the cities neighboring Boston, so I knew all the references, and even knowing them all, or maybe because of knowing them all, they felt a little bit too much. The number of specific streets and traffic patterns and so forth that were mentioned, it just felt like a lot. Some of these never-ending specific details maybe could have been trimmed down without the story losing its very real sense of place. Yet that said, the writing was fun and had believable dialogue, and it really worked well with the story, and that is what matters most, that the story and writing work together to give the reader an experience. I was impressed by how well everything came together—or didn’t—at the end, and how the story managed to feel like it had a resolution while leaving a lot of threads dangling and clearly setting up future installments.
So, if you like detective and thriller fiction, have a soft spot for Boston and Dunkin’ Donuts, or just like the occasional grisly torture scene from a serial killer’s point of view, you will find a lot to enjoy here. That is especially true if you are looking for a compassionate exploration of interesting, somewhat broken, characters who are skilled at what they do and yet have their skills challenged as they rush to stop a horrific series of violent events.
I want to thank the author, the publisher BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
So, if you like detective and thriller fiction, have a soft spot for Boston and Dunkin’ Donuts, or just like the occasional grisly torture scene from a serial killer’s point of view, you will find a lot to enjoy here. That is especially true if you are looking for a compassionate exploration of interesting, somewhat broken, characters who are skilled at what they do and yet have their skills challenged as they rush to stop a horrific series of violent events.
I want to thank the author, the publisher BooksGoSocial, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 6, 2023
In the shadowy alleys and world of Samantha Simard's "Stitches," a private investigator named Jim Wolfe takes center stage. A former Army Ranger scarred by PTSD, Wolfe is a complex and compelling character with demons of his own.
Wolfe finds himself balancing on the precipice of danger with a web of mysteries intertwining in the labyrinth of his life. Caught in a turbulent romance with the son of a Romanian restaurateur and immersed in the investigation of a famous musician's missing daughter alongside his partner, Scarlett Vaughn, Wolfe's plate is brimming with suspenseful cases that promise to change his life forever.
The sinister underbelly of Boston sets the stage for the most harrowing of his investigations. A string of gruesome murders, all linked to unsuspecting college students, grips the city in a vice-like hold, sending shivers down the spines of its citizens. Wolfe, undaunted by the mysteries that encircle him, becomes inexorably entangled in a web of deception and darkness.
As he and Scarlett Vaughn strive to unravel the threads that connect these chilling murders to the disappearance of a rock 'n' roll heiress, the foundations of their world begin to crumble. Meanwhile, a young man named Sebastian Codreanu embarks on a chilling journey into the secrets that bind his father to the recent spree of heinous crimes, and the sinister figure known as the Mass Art Murderer orchestrates a deadly magnum opus.
In "Stitches," nothing is as it seems. Everyone harbors a secret, and every twist in the tale deepens the intrigue. Simard is a magnificent storyteller, expertly crafting a dark symphony that reverberates with suspense.
Prepare for a beguiling journey into the depths of human nature, a landscape where secrets fester, and the darkness within is laid bare. "Stitches" is a finely woven story that challenges readers to peel back the layers of deception, to uncover the truth hidden in the shadows.
Samantha Simard's "Stitches" is a dark and thrilling odyssey In this perplexing world, where every revelation is met with a new puzzle. Suspense and mystery echo through the corridors of the mind, leaving you breathless and craving more. Get ready to be forever ensnared in its web of secrets and suspense.
"Samantha Simard's 'Stitches' -- A dark symphony of suspense and secrets."
"A thrilling web of mysteries and suspense unveiled in every page."
"Prepare to be ensnared in the chilling world of 'Stitches.'"
"Intricate suspense, deception, and dark romance."
"A noir masterpiece."
"A gripping tale that leaves no room for respite."
"Immerse yourself in the intrigue and unravel the dark secrets within."
"The unpredictable twists will keep you on the edge of your seat."
"A book that echoes with the whispers of the unseen."
Get ready to unravel the mystery -- 'Stitches' tempts the curious."
Wolfe finds himself balancing on the precipice of danger with a web of mysteries intertwining in the labyrinth of his life. Caught in a turbulent romance with the son of a Romanian restaurateur and immersed in the investigation of a famous musician's missing daughter alongside his partner, Scarlett Vaughn, Wolfe's plate is brimming with suspenseful cases that promise to change his life forever.
The sinister underbelly of Boston sets the stage for the most harrowing of his investigations. A string of gruesome murders, all linked to unsuspecting college students, grips the city in a vice-like hold, sending shivers down the spines of its citizens. Wolfe, undaunted by the mysteries that encircle him, becomes inexorably entangled in a web of deception and darkness.
As he and Scarlett Vaughn strive to unravel the threads that connect these chilling murders to the disappearance of a rock 'n' roll heiress, the foundations of their world begin to crumble. Meanwhile, a young man named Sebastian Codreanu embarks on a chilling journey into the secrets that bind his father to the recent spree of heinous crimes, and the sinister figure known as the Mass Art Murderer orchestrates a deadly magnum opus.
In "Stitches," nothing is as it seems. Everyone harbors a secret, and every twist in the tale deepens the intrigue. Simard is a magnificent storyteller, expertly crafting a dark symphony that reverberates with suspense.
Prepare for a beguiling journey into the depths of human nature, a landscape where secrets fester, and the darkness within is laid bare. "Stitches" is a finely woven story that challenges readers to peel back the layers of deception, to uncover the truth hidden in the shadows.
Samantha Simard's "Stitches" is a dark and thrilling odyssey In this perplexing world, where every revelation is met with a new puzzle. Suspense and mystery echo through the corridors of the mind, leaving you breathless and craving more. Get ready to be forever ensnared in its web of secrets and suspense.
"Samantha Simard's 'Stitches' -- A dark symphony of suspense and secrets."
"A thrilling web of mysteries and suspense unveiled in every page."
"Prepare to be ensnared in the chilling world of 'Stitches.'"
"Intricate suspense, deception, and dark romance."
"A noir masterpiece."
"A gripping tale that leaves no room for respite."
"Immerse yourself in the intrigue and unravel the dark secrets within."
"The unpredictable twists will keep you on the edge of your seat."
"A book that echoes with the whispers of the unseen."
Get ready to unravel the mystery -- 'Stitches' tempts the curious."
July 26, 2023
Okay. Um. WOW. This was intense. It's no light reading at all and I'm still a little shaken up as I write this.
Easily one of the most uncomfortable books I've read. Serial killer stories are far from uncommon, but one where you actually read in their perspective, written in second person view, was downright eerie, on top of the nasty things that they're doing to their victims.
Overall, I like the multiple POVs throughout the book, it gives a feeling of depth to the story. There are a lot of characters and they're plenty of fun, but given that this is the first entry to what is going to be a series the character development is only just beginning so there wasn't much to tell. But the foundation is there and there will be much to explore in future books so I will say the author as done a really good job as for as introductions of the characters and their world are concerned.
And that ending. YIKES. Not a cliffhanger exactly but a bomb was dropped. Definitely one way to keep the audience engaged for the sequel. Can't wait.
Easily one of the most uncomfortable books I've read. Serial killer stories are far from uncommon, but one where you actually read in their perspective, written in second person view, was downright eerie, on top of the nasty things that they're doing to their victims.
Overall, I like the multiple POVs throughout the book, it gives a feeling of depth to the story. There are a lot of characters and they're plenty of fun, but given that this is the first entry to what is going to be a series the character development is only just beginning so there wasn't much to tell. But the foundation is there and there will be much to explore in future books so I will say the author as done a really good job as for as introductions of the characters and their world are concerned.
And that ending. YIKES. Not a cliffhanger exactly but a bomb was dropped. Definitely one way to keep the audience engaged for the sequel. Can't wait.
November 26, 2018
This book was recommended to me by the author herself, a mutual on bookstagram, and I’ll admit when I started reading it that I was immediately turned off by the use of the second person narrative. I’ve never been a fan of second person perspective, and it was the only thing I really didn’t like about this book, though it was clever in the way it hid who the murderer was. I didn’t really get invested in this book until about halfway through, but then I just kept reading until the end. I felt that some of it was disjointed and didn’t connect well in the beginning and middle, but it got better towards the end, and had really good plot twists that kept me guessing. I thought I guessed who the murderer was but I didn’t until the very last page. I liked the characters and the unexpected turns and I’m definitely interested enough to read the sequel (which I assume there has to be. Come on. That ending.)
August 27, 2024
Wow. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was absolutely blown away by the tension, vivid descriptions, and multi-layered mystery that I found as soon as I dived in. I don’t know how, but the parts where we’re following the murderer...it feels repulsive and intimate and captivating all at once, even though on the surface it should really only inspire revulsion. There’s just something about the way everything is described that sparks your imagination in all the right? wrong? ways. I greatly enjoyed the varied characters in this, and while neither Wolfe nor Vaughn were trying to pass themselves off as psychics, there was a bit of a Psych vibe to the way Wolfe interacted with certain detectives. Overall, it was just an amazing read, and I found myself so interested in the different threads that wove together to form a story overall, that it was hard to set down. I look forward to reading more mysteries in the series in the future!
January 10, 2025
I took this book in as a good read. I was more drawn into the serial killer than the backstory of Wolf and Sebastian’s story. Their story was entertaining for the story, but it was very dark. Dark as not so much dark themed for a serial killer book. I wanted the action and excitement from a thriller book.
The book missed out on giving me the feeling for the character, like look out behind you! He’s right there! What the you know what is he doing to you child? Fight! Kick! RUUUNNNN! I got nothing from the book.
I felt that there was so much directed at a LBGTQ romance between all the male characters except the women, which took away from the emotional aspect of the story. I have no issues with the LBGTQ romance. I believe that it was poorly used for this book. Until next time my fellow readers. Read on!
The book missed out on giving me the feeling for the character, like look out behind you! He’s right there! What the you know what is he doing to you child? Fight! Kick! RUUUNNNN! I got nothing from the book.
I felt that there was so much directed at a LBGTQ romance between all the male characters except the women, which took away from the emotional aspect of the story. I have no issues with the LBGTQ romance. I believe that it was poorly used for this book. Until next time my fellow readers. Read on!
November 19, 2018
Omg
Hey think this might post wrong but this is one of the best books I've ever read. It showed up on my kindle so I guess I preordered.it sometime but I read it on a plane and oh my god. It was like really gross but you could tell Samantha did a lot of research and I LOVED all the characters (sebastia n was my favorite of scarlett) and I'm really excited for the next thing you put out! I'll be sure to follow all your new work when the ending came i legit gasped out loud if i what my favorite part was but great job. Also pma!!!
Hey think this might post wrong but this is one of the best books I've ever read. It showed up on my kindle so I guess I preordered.it sometime but I read it on a plane and oh my god. It was like really gross but you could tell Samantha did a lot of research and I LOVED all the characters (sebastia n was my favorite of scarlett) and I'm really excited for the next thing you put out! I'll be sure to follow all your new work when the ending came i legit gasped out loud if i what my favorite part was but great job. Also pma!!!
December 29, 2018
I absolutely adored this book! I'm just starting to get into mystery/horror/thriller books, and this was a perfect addition! It's just the right amount of gruesome without playing for shock value, and the plot is very well thought out. I love all of the characters! They're incredibly realistic and badass and conflicted. There were so many twists that I never expected, but they're carefully set up. If you like mysteries and don't mind some gore, pick this book up!
Happy reading!
-Katie
Happy reading!
-Katie
August 26, 2024
so-so
While I finished the book and thought there was potential it fell flat for me. One reason was all the snark in the middle of dangerous situations. The other is that there wasn’t enough development of the main characters.
While I finished the book and thought there was potential it fell flat for me. One reason was all the snark in the middle of dangerous situations. The other is that there wasn’t enough development of the main characters.
October 24, 2023
Im rounding this up from 3.5. It took me quite some time to get into this story. It's not a bad story. I did enjoy it in the end.
I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion
I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion
Did Not Finish
February 4, 2024It's a huge struggle of mine to read and take seriously anything with a second POV, and this book opens with just that. I wish I could read it, but I can't make it past the opening.
It also reminds me of Dexter SO much that I simply went back to Darkly Dreaming Dexter and reread the book for the third time.
It also reminds me of Dexter SO much that I simply went back to Darkly Dreaming Dexter and reread the book for the third time.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews