Emery HayesRecensioni

I’m not really sure why this book got such bad reviews. Granted, at the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it and I was having a hard time understanding what was going on. But as the book progressed and I started to understand where the storyline was going, I really enjoyed reading Chloe’s story. It was heartbreaking and very emotional but ended very hopeful. I would like to look into reading one of this authors books again.

Good book. Held suspense the whole time. Wrapped up well.

Back From the Brink starts with a chaotic scene that left me scrambling for a moment to breathe.The bulk of the book keeps up the pace, detailing the investigation trying to both piece together and unravel what happened.

The fast paced yet meticulous investigative process was fascinating to a geek like me. Instead of just providing the time of death for a character, the Medical Examiner and Sheriff’s Office discussed the evidence leading to the conclusion. For example, determining whether someone could have swam from a boat to the shore required calculating how far an average man could swim based on the distance to shore, the water temperature, and subsequent onset of hypothermia.

It felt authentic to have flawed characters who knew their own shortcomings. They made mistakes and second-guessed themselves. They weren’t cut out or omniscient characters, which made the story more compelling.

By the end of the book, all storyline questions had been answered, good guys and bad guys were sorted out, and the door was firmly left open to tell more stories about Blue Mesa, Montana.

This is not the first Nicole Cobain thriller published, but it is the first one I’ve read. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the earlier book, because Hayes provided just enough background to explain how that case’s results contributed to characters’ motivations in the second. The characters and locations are introduced well enough for new readers to become acquainted without boring those who had read the first book.

I will happily read more of Emery Hayes’ books based on this introduction to her work. I also happily recommend Back From the Brink to any thriller fans who enjoy digging into the details of a fascinating story.

This episode of the Nicole Cobain mysteries sees Sheriff Nicole Cobain dealing with dead bodies, corrupt cops, and missing evidence. She's called by the Border Patrol because of a found body encased in ice on a lake where the ice is breaking up. When she arrives the Border Patrol officers are missing.

As she and her medical examiner and boyfriend MacAulay investigate the body, they discover another crime scene. This one has an execution style killing and a missing pregnant girl. She's an undocumented alien in an area known for them because of its near proximity to the Canadian border.

Nicole doesn't know who she can trust when she knows the local Border Patrol is filled with corruption. She can't trust any of the evidence they discovered relating to the body on the lake or the young man killed execution style.

This was a tension-filled and fast-paced thriller. I also liked that Nicole was working on her relationship with MacAulay and growing to trust him more. I liked her relationship with her young son as she tries to fit in motherhood while holding a much-more-than-full-time job.

"Cold to the Bone" is a first-rate beginning to author Emery Hayes' suspenseful crime-procedural series, "A Nicole Cobain Mystery". Former Denver homicide detective Nicole Cobain left big-city life behind to evade her abusive, dominating husband, Benjamin Kris, and start life anew. She and her young son, Jordan, settled in the small ski resort community of Blue Mesa, Montana, which was located in Glacier National Park and was bordered to the North by Canada. After serving six years in local law enforcement, she was the first woman to have been elected as the Sheriff of Toole County. Working to solve the murder of a young girl whose father is involved with producing a new drug for a major pharmaceutical company becomes increasingly complex, with the girl's family acting in a strange, suspicious manner. The case takes on a nightmarish quality when Nicole's ex-husband, Benjamin, who has his own evil agenda, is also connected to the drug company. Nicole must fight to protect her son and the good life the two of them have made in Blue Mesa, but she must also do her sworn duty and find justice for a young girl whose life ended in a frozen, unfeeling landscape. I very much enjoyed "Cold to the Bone"--the characters are well-drawn, the setting is appropriately remote and forbidding, and the investigative work is excellent. The lead character is very appealing, and I look forward to more entries in the "A Nicole Cobain Mystery" series.

Book Copy Gratis Crooked Lane Books

This first book in the Nicole Cobain series begins with the murder of a teenager who is vacationing in the Montana mountains. Sheriff Cobain is the first female sheriff but her big city experience in Denver makes her a good fit for the job. She left Denver in order to get away from a man and to raise her son in a safer environment.

However, the man she left has finally come to find her and he has revenge on his mind. Benjamin has improved himself from a low-level drug dealer to a broker in much more lucrative and high-powered deals. The victim's father is in negotiations to sell his important medical discovery in an auction which has drawn the attention of the biggest pharmaceutical companies. Some of them want his discovery in order to suppress it and others want it for personal reasons.

While Nicole and her officers are trying to discover who murdered Beatrice Esparza and discovering quite a few suspects, Benjamin is getting closer and closer to making his dreams of revenge come true.

The story was tense and fast-paced. I liked that Nicole had something of a questionable background herself. I liked the interesting connections between the various drug companies and all the politics around a discovery that could change medicine.

Fans of medical thrillers would be a good audience for this one.

I liked this one.
In a morbid sort of way.
Why do I like reading about destroyed teens?

This is the harrowing story of a seventeen year old girl who has been rescued from a life of prostitution. Instead of being grateful and looking forward to the future Chloe can only look at the past, she can't begin to imagine a future. One of the doctors in the Madeline Parker Institute for Girls finally starts to get Chloe to open up about her troubled past and let go of her feelings. The story is told through a series of flashbacks and life in the home. We are introduced to her troubled childhood and the other girls in the home that are struggling with equally bad and sometimes worse problems. It's chilling and heartbreaking.

This book was fascinating because it takes you into the mind of the type of person society prefers to ignore a prostitute. He characters were very 3 dimensional, this book forced you to connect with them. I read this book because of the summary on the back and the title was intriguing.

It makes you want to change the bullying that happens. It also has may twists, and things you don’t expect to happen. It is very well written. I read this book because I read the back and I got thrown into it.

I found the book Burn to be a very interesting, intense, and sad story. In this story the main character, Cameron, gets bullied by the high school jocks, “The Red Coats.” Cameron receives a sense of burning throughout his whole body when he thinks about “The Red Coats” going after him and his classmates. Being hit like a punching bag, being humiliated in front of all of his classmates, and being abused in all different ways, destroys Cameron mentally, physically, and emotionally. Towards the end of this story, Cameron makes a huge mistake unintentionally, causing him to feel like the monster in the situation.
I liked many thing about this book, but there were also many things I disliked. I really enjoyed how easy this book was to read. It’s so intense that at some points I couldn’t stop reading. The author uses detail that makes you visualize events, people, and actions as you are reading. I also enjoyed how the author gives you something to think about while you are reading. I had many thoughts about the several school shootings and deaths in the world that are from bullying and how saying the wrong thing can break someone apart and even ruin their life.
My dislikes mostly pertain to the information given and the intensity of the action. Sometimes in the book the author would explain in very great detail the different ways “The Red Coats” bullied Cameron and how Cameron would burn his own body to feel pleasure or relief. Also, the intensity of some of the bullying was very high. At some parts I got sick to my stomach. I hate hearing about kids who get physically abused and a majority of Cameron’s freshman year he was a target.
Overall, I think Burn was an enjoyable read and I recommend it. This story could possibly stop people from bullying or bring more nice people into the world. I know sometimes it could just be you and a friend messing around, but if you say the wrong thing, it could emotionally damage the person.

I read this book in just under 3 hours. Which is really something for me because I have two little ones and generally can't sit down for that long. But I couldn't put it down. Phillips's character "Cameron" pulled me right in and wouldn't let me go until I knew how his story ended. Sad and thought-provoking, "Burn'' shows us just how damaging bullying can be. I think this should be a must read for teen (and perhaps even pre-teen) kids.

Intense, enjoyed it very much

The book is very compelling and has a bit of a twist to it. You feel as if you're right there, seeing it right before your eyes. the last 50 pages or so, when the police start to investigate and the court process [were compelling]. I wasn't sure what could happen and didn't have high expectations. When he started the fire, I don't understand how everything burned so easily. I'm pretty sure it had been running hot too long before the fire took place, so everything would be damp. But when it came to the fire, it was described as the trees burning quickly, like the wood and leaves were dry. I don't find this realistic or consistent. AHS/EK

It relates to teens who are bullied, in a way. Most teens dont' go that far though. Disappointed that Cameron killed a boy and set a fire. Teens don't realistically go that far. Cameron's thoughts were right on tack, he was a 3D character, but no teen ever goes that far. Wasn't very realistic or consistent. Bullying is a good subject to write about though teens need to more about it. AHS/KR

I read this book as an adult, even though the target audience is young adults. This book has given me the courage to confront some of the same problems I faced growing up.

Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com

"You're ours Grady.....This is just the beginning."

The horrors of high school are real; just ask Cameron Grady.

Freshman year at Madison High School has been the most miserable experience of Cameron's life. The bullying begins the first day of class. Rich Patterson and the rest of his jock friends zero in their radar and Cameron becomes #1 on their hit list.

The "Red Coats" taunt Cameron, calling him Cameron Diaz and stalking him in the hallways. High school becomes a war zone for Grady. The lines between reality and fiction begin to blur, and Cameron finds himself "checking out" from time to time. Cameron also begins to experiment with fire; an obsession that proves to be dangerous.

Unlike most stories, Cameron's does not have a happy ending, but it's real - it's life. Life is not always full of happy endings.

Suzanne Phillips has created a gripping novel that discusses extremely tough issues. Cameron deals with both physical and sexual abuse, bullying, and post-traumatic stress. Many teenagers may be unfamiliar with post-traumatic stress disorder, and this novel does an excellent job of shedding some light on the subject.

BURN is a well-written story that may be difficult to read at times, but the message is clear. Teenagers face hardships on a daily basis. These problems can range from getting into a fight with their parents to being subjected to some kind of abuse. They all want someone they can confide in - Cameron finds that person, but it's a little too late for him.

i just finished reading the book b8urn.it was by suzanne pillips.i chose to read this book because the inside flap was good.also the front cover made it look worth reading.this was a very original story.i loved the reactions cameron has to everything.
i know of no other book with a story like this.the way he reacts to being bullied to the limit is very odd.instead of lashing out at the people who did it he lashed out at someone who went through close to the same kinda things.he ends up killing the kid.
overall this was a very interesting read. i would recomend it to anyone.i also thought it had a very good ending it did not leave any openings in the story. i was also very glad he didnt get 25 years in prison that wouldve been a sad way to end the story

This was a disturbing novel. The story is one that I wasn't sure that it could really happen, and yet, I thought maybe it could. Domestic abuse and bullying victims certainly are sometimes overlooked by the school system and don't get the help they need. I think this book does a good job of making that point.

Heartbreaking story of a boy who was already suffering with post-traumatic stress from being emotionally and physically abused by his father until his mother divorced the dad and moved Cameron and his brother Robbie away. Starting at the new school just didn't work out for him cause the jocks picked on him and finally sexually assaulted him.

"Tormented by bullies on the football team, high school freshman Cameron Grady feels increasingly alienated and disassociated from those around him. After being sexually assaulted, Cameron violently takes matters into his own hands. Phillips provides a gritty, unflinching look at teenage bullying and its aftermath." Horn Book (Spring 2009)

An interesting but not totally satisfying read. Cameron is bullied at school by the jocks and reacts to it by setting things on fire. When the bullying escalates to a whole new level, Cameron snaps and takes revenge on the wrong person.

Harrowing and disturbing, the book would make for a great discussion group with teens. I would definitely recommend it to teens, especially the reluctant readers.

Possibly one of the most raw, gut-wrenching books I've ever read. Poor, poor Chloe. This book tore at my small town girl heart.½

This was a pretty good book. It wasn't a novel I could just breeze through; It made me do some thinking, which is always good. It definitely plays on a very well-known cliche about prostitutes but didn't irk me too much. I really liked Suzanne Phillips' writing style. It reminded me a bit of Jacqueline Woodson's. It's a bit hard for me to explain, but I loved the construction of dialogue and I liked the way the protagonist, Chloe, only gave the reader what she felt were the necessary details and had you fill in the blanks.

I also really loved how different the two sides of Chloe were. The story goes back and forth between the "before" Chloe, as in before the incident that led her to where she was, and "after" Chloe. As I was reading the "before" chapters, all I could think was, How on earth did she end up at the center? She seemed so young and naive, so different. And then a few years later, boom! It was like she had aged ten or fifteen years. So I really liked that aspect of character development and construction. The difference in the two sides of her were very interesting and well done.

However, there were two issues I had with the book. One, even though I liked the writing style, I have to admit that it was a bit difficult to follow at times. There were instances when I couldn't tell who was speaking, or whether or not certain things were being said out loud or simply in the mind of a character. And two, I couldn't really feel anything for Chloe. I felt the writing style and story were realistic, the pace and ways in which Chloe changed worked well, and I could definitely identify with her experiences in therapy and the ways in which she chose to deal with her issues before ending up at the center. But the book fell flat for me in terms of being able to really connect on an emotional level with her. I'm thinking that this might be because, as a reader, I was only given snippets of Chloe and her life. I wasn't really given the opportunity to get to know her. I feel like I got enough - and I like what I got and how I got it - but it would have easily been a four star book if I had gotten more, if that makes sense.

I definitely think it's worth the read, especially for teens dealing with issues resulting from tumultuous childhoods, as well as those working with them.½

Seventeen year old hooker gets picked up in a seedy motel by cops in a sting. She has two choices, juvenile detention or a home for "wayward girls"

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

CHLOE DOE is a wrenching, unflinching portrayal of a girl on the fringes of society. On and off the street since the age of eleven, having worked as a prostitute for most of that time, seventeen-year-old Chloe has little patience for the attempts of The Madeline Parker Institute for Girls to reform her. However, as she speaks with the institute's "shrink" and starts to bond with the other girls, she realizes there may be more to life than what she's assumed is her lot.

Chloe, who narrates the story in chapters set in the institute and flashbacks to her life before she ran away from home, has a sharp, engaging voice that will grip readers quickly and bring them into her world. As her story unfolds, those shocked by her situation will come to understand it. Despite her untouchable front, Chloe slowly reveals all the pain and fear that lie underneath, making her sympathetic even though her outlook is so different from that of most teens. Her love for her older sister in particular makes her human and achingly believable.

The novel doesn't shy away from the harsh details of Chloe's life. Thankfully, it manages to relate her awful and sometimes tragic experiences without falling into melodrama or playing up for shock value. Everything is stated simply and directly. While the narrative rarely goes into graphic detail, enough is shown and the rest is skillfully implied to make it clear that Chloe's path has been far from an easy one. This makes her attempts to open up and escape her narrow, hopeless world-view all the more poignant and heroic. As the scenes in the present and the past lead up to the final revelation of what drove her from her home, the reader will be glued to the page. The ending, when it comes, is hopeful without being maudlin or unrealistic.

That realism, ultimately, is what makes CHLOE DOE worthwhile. It acknowledges both the good and the bad, letting readers make their own judgments about Chloe and her life. Many will find themselves wondering, how would they have reacted, if things had gone a similar way for them? Could they have done better? Could they, in the end, rise above it? Chloe's story will inspire them with the idea that no matter how far one falls, there is always hope.