Charlie Donlea Archives

Book review: Guess Again by Charlie Donlea

July 23, 20252 min read

Guess Again by Charlie Donlea is the eighth book I’ve read by the American author. I’m conscious that Donlea’s not a household name but certainly a go-to author for me – offering up consistently good thrillers. Here we’ve got a likeable lead in Ethan Hall – a cop-turned emergency room doctor convinced to return to try to solve one last case and maintain his (former) 100% solve-rate. It helps however that he’s being given clues by a prisoner – who killed Ethan’s police officer father 32 years earlier.

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Book review: Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea

May 4, 20242 min read

Long Time Gone by Charlie Donlea is the seventh book I’ve read by the American author, almost all of which have been consistently good four-star reads. His latest is no different and touches on a whole stack of contemporary and popular themes, including the solving of cold cases using DNA harvested from genealogy sites as well as the burgeoning popularity of true crime podcasts and the like. Of course we see the pros and cons of both here as Donlea wraps them up in a fascinating long-buried mystery.

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Book review: Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea

April 10, 20233 min read

A bookstagrammer I follow (Mandy) raved about Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea, saying it broke a meh-ness reading drought for her. I hadn’t seen it on anyone’s Australian listings and she said she’d gotten it from the US publisher so I requested it having read (and enjoyed) Donlea’s other books.

And though I didn’t love it as much as Mandy, it’s another great twisty read. The book opens with the murder of a family; the parents obviously the targets, but their teenage son is in the wrong place at the wrong time. And unfortunately for the killer, another family member escapes. (Though given the killer was using a shotgun, it’s not exactly surprising they were warned!)

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Book review: Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

August 7, 20213 min read

I’m a fan of US author Charlie Donlea. I’ve very much enjoyed some of his recent books including The Suicide House and The Woman in Darkness. They all feature past crimes and long-kept secrets and have leveraged popular culture, including podcasts, true crime documentaries (or similar); uncovering missed clues and injustice. Donlea maintains the intrigue and twistiness in his latest, Twenty Years Later.

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Book review: The Suicide House by Charlie Donlea

August 2, 20203 min read

I love Charlie Donlea’s books. In fact, I gave his last, The Woman in Darkness, 4.5 stars which is a rarity for me. I make the point in that book that his titles are always standalones but that I hoped to see one of the characters introduced there (Rory), again.

And, well… he was obviously listening cos, she’s back!*

Having said that, it doesn’t matter if you haven’t read The Woman in Darkness as Donlea quickly shares Rory’s quirks and the abilities her autism offers her.

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Book review: The Woman in Darkness by Charlie Donlea

April 24, 20193 min read

I’ve read and enjoyed Charlie Donlea’s first two books, The Girl Who Was Taken and Don’t Believe It and his latest is no different. In fact, I must admit if I have one gripe it would be that it was nearing its end far sooner than I wanted it to. I really did not want it to finish. (Which is rare for me nowadays as most books are longer than I’d like).

Each of Donlea’s other books has been a standalone but featuring such well-developed characters I ALWAYS find myself checking it’s not part of a series. I’m fairly sure I’d be happy to read more featuring each of the leads we’ve met, but Donlea manages to give them a story arc that – though brief – is completely fulfilling for the reader.

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Book review: Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea

May 14, 20182 min read

In my review of Charlie Donlea’s The Girl Who Was Taken I commented that I’d assumed the author was female. I wasn’t sure why but said it was perhaps because Donlea delivered the voices of the leads – all female – with great ease and realism.

It wasn’t until I opened Goodreads I was reminded of this again and I was similarly surprised. Again I can only think it’s because he writes the female perspective well. (And I don’t know what that seems strange…)

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Book review: The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea

April 3, 20173 min read

Back in the day… and before the series took a turn for the worse (or jumped the shark as they say in TV-land) I was a fan of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. I loved the coroner / sleuth combo. It was new at the time, though of course became increasing popular in books and on TV after Dr Scarpetta blazed that trail, leading to the likes of Silent Witness and iZombie. 😉

Although The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea isn’t really about the work of a coroner as such, it’s centred around one and I very much enjoyed the detail / research and expertise Donlea inserted into his plot and characters.

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