Sequel's Book Nook

It’s hard to believe that I was first introduced to the enigmatic Agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast back in 1995 with the release of Relic. That novel was phenomenal—intelligent, atmospheric, and chilling in all the right ways - and I instantly began reading every book by the authors and waited expectantly for each new release. Life, as it tends to do, intervened, and I eventually fell behind. So when I discovered they had written an origin story for one of my all-time favorite characters, I was beyond thrilled. Pendergast takes us back to the very beginning. The novel opens with Special Agent Dwight Chambers at his lowest point. In six devastating months, he has lost both his partner and his wife. Returning to work in the New Orleans Field Office, grief-stricken and unmoored, he is assigned to mentor a peculiar new recruit: A.X.L. Pendergast. From the start, the dynamic between Chambers and the young Pendergast is electric. Chambers is grounded, wounded, and practical. Penderga...

  Eminence Front  is a chilling winter horror novella that leans heavily into atmosphere, dread, and the slow suffocation of inevitability. Set on a quiet suburban street in New England, the story unfolds as a winter storm descends—bringing with it something far older and far more dangerous than snowdrifts and power outages. This was my first experience reading Rebecca Rowland, and her writing immediately stood out. The opening of the novella does an excellent job establishing both setting and character. Rowland’s prose is clean, controlled, and evocative, grounding the reader firmly in the everyday lives of the residents before unsettling that normalcy piece by piece. The creeping sense that something is wrong —the whispers beneath the snow, the storm that seems to know each resident intimately—is handled with restraint and confidence, echoing the quiet unease found in classic suburban horror. Where Eminence Front  truly shines is in its buildup. The tension escalate...

  Eradicate  is a fast-paced action thriller centered on Kyle Quinn, a former elite operative turned black-ops mercenary known as a “Custodian.” Tasked with dismantling a child abduction cult hidden within Louisiana’s Cajun underworld, Quinn quickly discovers the mission is far from routine. The deeper he goes, the more personal it becomes—entangling him with a shadowy family, a skilled assassin, and ultimately, the father he fears most. The novel delivers exactly what action-thriller fans expect: relentless momentum, high-stakes confrontations, and a steady stream of danger. Mazza’s writing is solid and competent, and the book moves quickly once it finds its footing. The action sequences are clear and frequent, making this a fairly easy and accessible read. That said, Eradicate  was a bit hard to get into at first. While the premise is strong, the characters didn’t fully land for me, which made it difficult to become emotionally invested early on. Kyle Quinn functions we...

  Night Terror is the second installment in Vincent Ralph’s Bleak Haven series, though chronologically it takes place before Dead Fake . Set in 1987, the novel dives headfirst into the town’s dark past and offers readers a deeper look at the horrors that shaped Bleak Haven long before modern technology entered the picture. The story centers on 17-year-old Noah, a survivor of the town’s most devastating tragedy to date. He works at a bookstore in the local mall—until a robbery quickly turns into something far more sinister. The masked attackers aren’t after money; they’re searching for Bleak Haven’s infamous urban legend, The Burning Book . When something hungry and inhuman crawls from its pages, Noah must rely on his knowledge of the town’s grim history to keep himself and the other hostages alive and prevent Bleak Haven from descending into yet another massacre. Compared to Dead Fake , Night Terror leans much more heavily into traditional horror. Cursed objects, undead threa...

  Dead Fake introduces readers to Bleak Haven—a town with secrets, shadows, and a disturbing relationship with technology. When a mysterious website allows students at Bleak Haven High to view AI-generated “deepfake” videos of their own deaths, it initially feels like just another morbid online trend. That illusion shatters when those fabricated deaths begin to play out in real life. The story follows Ava Wilson, who refuses to participate in the craze. As the niece of an infamous murderer, she already carries enough unwanted attention. But when her classmates’ deepfakes start becoming reality, Ava is forced into a deadly game where solving the mystery may be the only way to survive it. This was my first experience reading Vincent Ralph, and while the novel is written in first person—a point of view I don’t typically prefer—Ralph handles it well. Ava’s voice is clear and engaging, and the pacing keeps the tension high throughout. The premise is timely and unsettling, tapping i...

Secrets You Can’t Keep is my second time reading Debra Webb and the third book in the Vera Boyett series, and once again she proves she knows exactly how to pull readers into a tightly woven mystery without leaving anyone behind. One of the things I appreciate most about Webb’s writing is her commitment to accessibility. You don’t need to have read the earlier books in the series to follow this one. The story stands firmly on its own, yet the subtle breadcrumbs about Vera’s past and previous cases are woven in so naturally that they actually make you want to go back and read the earlier installments. If this is your first Vera Boyett novel, don’t worry—you’ll be able to follow along just fine. The plot centers on two parallel investigations in a small Tennessee town already on edge: a brutal triple homicide at a secluded cabin owned by one of the wealthiest men in the country, and a deeply personal case involving Vera’s own family. As evidence begins to point toward her pregnant ...