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mwagers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
tasha_fullybooked's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
idkrach's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
kaitlinlaughlin's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ⭐️ Fast pace thriller. I liked the overall story but Easton isn’t going to tell Mia that he’s been stalking her for weeks?! I didn’t like the romance aspect of this book but I love Mia and her character development. Overall, I enjoyed it and excited for book #2.
aldarakamey's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't going to give feedback on this book but honestly, it just wasn't for me i think that the romance and the mystery would be more balanced but it wasn't, it wasn't that bad, it was just more for other audience
haleighluvsreading's review against another edition
5.0
I received this ARC for free through BookSirens in exchange for a voluntary/honest review
booksplantsandtea's review against another edition
5.0
"There were too many pieces being added to the puzzle, and the problem was that none of them seemed to fit."
Are you looking for a book that will hook you from the very first line, one that will keep you guessing throughout and will make your mind race with the endless possibilities, that will make you the most suspicious person by second guessing literally everything that is happening, and all of that while simultaneously slowly falling in love with the main characters who start bonding and finding their safe haven in each other? Well, then look no further, because this book brings you everything I've just described.
Buried Deception is an amazingly thrilling romantic suspense novel set in the small town of Skull Hollow, that will try to make you answer the question the whole town is in uproar about: Who is the Black Cat stalker? Who has been stalking young girls while hiking, but seems to have suddenly changed his MO when a young girl goes missing in the swamps? But also, what does this all have to do with dr. Mia Frost, the towns rather unconventional psychologist, who keeps having strong trauma responses, including flashbacks and anxiety attacks, but gets called in by the police to interview the rescued girl and provide a psychological profile of the Black Cat Stalker, solely because the girl had booked an appointment at Dr. Frosts office the following week? And what is former military officer and CEO of a search and rescue unit, Easton Crew's role in all os this, apart from rescuing the missing girl and teaming up with Mia when another one of her patients goes missing?
These are just a few of the questions that kept raging through my mind while reading. The mysterious writing style succeeds at making you think you've figured it all out by throwing little bread crumbs of suspicious information at you, to then later on present you with new facts that will make you doubt everything once again... It all culminates in an ending you probably won't have seen coming, but may have suspected even though you were thrown off the scent right after (like me).
Amanda McKinney isn't only masterful at deceptive twists and turns, she also excels at incorporating the exact right amount of research she has done into various psychological and criminological subjects, such as PTSD, dissociative amnesia, sexual abuse, psychological profiling, hypnosis, etc. to further the story while holding your hand through it all. I must tip my hat at her for writing some excellent depictions of trauma responses, such as a triggered flashback and anxiety attacks.
Now, was this book perfect from a psychological standpoint? No, but there weren't any major disinformations that made my rating go down. However, I'll go over a few things that bothered me or that I would like to clarify for those of you that are interested. Mia is said to be an unconventional therapist as she uses hypnosis and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to treat PTSD, when CBT is actually still a mainstream treatment lots of psychologists use to treat PTSD (alongside EMDR and body-focused therapy treatments that are gaining in popularity). The chapters describing sessions between the therapist and client were amazing to add to the mystery aspect, but contained reactions from the therapist that weren't optimal. For example, I think we can all agree that begging someone to open up will likely not be very effective, especially in therapy. Therapists are firm believers in letting clients decide what they feel safe to share. We will not pressure people into opening up, because we believe they will open up when they feel safe enough to do so. Sometimes a few corners were cut in explanations or statements. The biggest one was an oversimplification of how to heal from trauma, which one of the characters said would be to just accept what had happened. While that is definitely an important part of the process, there's actually a lot more that goes into healing trauma, such as dealing with the effects it had on the body (which had been beautifully mentioned in the book). Another oversimplification was the scene at the tree at the end of the book (which I'll keep very vague to prevent spoiling it, but if you've read it, you'll know which one I'm talking about). Although it was certainly a beautifully romantic scene, from a psychological standpoint it was lacking as such a situation would have elicited a lot more trauma response in both characters. Also, it quite bothered me that one of them decided that they were ready to take the next step in their healing journey and kind of made the other join them in their journey, even though they may not have been ready. But hey, it's fiction and we can't expect everything to be perfect. I did appreciate that the diagnosis was more plausible than it was in Rattlesnake Road. And honestly, these were just small things in a book that was heavily infused with lots of psychological themes and information. I must credit the author for the amount of research she has done and put into this book to make the story work the way it did.
"Two imperfect disasters that somehow, when united, found absolute peace."
As this is a romantic suspense, the romance part needs to be discussed as well. I think the mystery aspect is the most prominent in the book, with the romance being more of a subplot. Also, do not go into this book expecting a fluffy romance story, or you'll be very disappointed. However, if you like slightly twisted romance stories between two traumatized and hurt people trying to figure out what is happening, trying desperately to keep it together and finding they can let down the defenses in the presence of the other solely because they make them feel safe, this will be your cup of tea.
I'd suggest you read this book if you like:
- Romantic suspense
- Twisted romance
- Heavy in psychology and criminology
- Lots of twists and turns, unforeseen events that will throw everything off course
- You're mine
- You're the only one who makes me feel safe
- Shows such as Criminal Minds, Perception and Lie To Me (or others that focus on solving a mystery by using profiling and psychological information/studies...)
Please beware of the following trigger warnings: sexual violence (past and present, descriptive), stalking, PTSD, trauma responses, anxiety attacks, attempt at murder, child abuse (descriptive, in the past)
Have you read this and you need more of it? Try Rattlesnake Road by Amanda McKinney, or Moonshot or Black Lies by Alessandra Torre. Both authors excel at writing twisty romances with lots of mystery and plot twists that will keep you guessing.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.* Thank you!
Are you looking for a book that will hook you from the very first line, one that will keep you guessing throughout and will make your mind race with the endless possibilities, that will make you the most suspicious person by second guessing literally everything that is happening, and all of that while simultaneously slowly falling in love with the main characters who start bonding and finding their safe haven in each other? Well, then look no further, because this book brings you everything I've just described.
Buried Deception is an amazingly thrilling romantic suspense novel set in the small town of Skull Hollow, that will try to make you answer the question the whole town is in uproar about: Who is the Black Cat stalker? Who has been stalking young girls while hiking, but seems to have suddenly changed his MO when a young girl goes missing in the swamps? But also, what does this all have to do with dr. Mia Frost, the towns rather unconventional psychologist, who keeps having strong trauma responses, including flashbacks and anxiety attacks, but gets called in by the police to interview the rescued girl and provide a psychological profile of the Black Cat Stalker, solely because the girl had booked an appointment at Dr. Frosts office the following week? And what is former military officer and CEO of a search and rescue unit, Easton Crew's role in all os this, apart from rescuing the missing girl and teaming up with Mia when another one of her patients goes missing?
These are just a few of the questions that kept raging through my mind while reading. The mysterious writing style succeeds at making you think you've figured it all out by throwing little bread crumbs of suspicious information at you, to then later on present you with new facts that will make you doubt everything once again... It all culminates in an ending you probably won't have seen coming, but may have suspected even though you were thrown off the scent right after (like me).
Amanda McKinney isn't only masterful at deceptive twists and turns, she also excels at incorporating the exact right amount of research she has done into various psychological and criminological subjects, such as PTSD, dissociative amnesia, sexual abuse, psychological profiling, hypnosis, etc. to further the story while holding your hand through it all. I must tip my hat at her for writing some excellent depictions of trauma responses, such as a triggered flashback and anxiety attacks.
Now, was this book perfect from a psychological standpoint? No, but there weren't any major disinformations that made my rating go down. However, I'll go over a few things that bothered me or that I would like to clarify for those of you that are interested. Mia is said to be an unconventional therapist as she uses hypnosis and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to treat PTSD, when CBT is actually still a mainstream treatment lots of psychologists use to treat PTSD (alongside EMDR and body-focused therapy treatments that are gaining in popularity). The chapters describing sessions between the therapist and client were amazing to add to the mystery aspect, but contained reactions from the therapist that weren't optimal. For example, I think we can all agree that begging someone to open up will likely not be very effective, especially in therapy. Therapists are firm believers in letting clients decide what they feel safe to share. We will not pressure people into opening up, because we believe they will open up when they feel safe enough to do so. Sometimes a few corners were cut in explanations or statements. The biggest one was an oversimplification of how to heal from trauma, which one of the characters said would be to just accept what had happened. While that is definitely an important part of the process, there's actually a lot more that goes into healing trauma, such as dealing with the effects it had on the body (which had been beautifully mentioned in the book). Another oversimplification was the scene at the tree at the end of the book (which I'll keep very vague to prevent spoiling it, but if you've read it, you'll know which one I'm talking about). Although it was certainly a beautifully romantic scene, from a psychological standpoint it was lacking as such a situation would have elicited a lot more trauma response in both characters. Also, it quite bothered me that one of them decided that they were ready to take the next step in their healing journey and kind of made the other join them in their journey, even though they may not have been ready. But hey, it's fiction and we can't expect everything to be perfect. I did appreciate that the diagnosis was more plausible than it was in Rattlesnake Road. And honestly, these were just small things in a book that was heavily infused with lots of psychological themes and information. I must credit the author for the amount of research she has done and put into this book to make the story work the way it did.
"Two imperfect disasters that somehow, when united, found absolute peace."
As this is a romantic suspense, the romance part needs to be discussed as well. I think the mystery aspect is the most prominent in the book, with the romance being more of a subplot. Also, do not go into this book expecting a fluffy romance story, or you'll be very disappointed. However, if you like slightly twisted romance stories between two traumatized and hurt people trying to figure out what is happening, trying desperately to keep it together and finding they can let down the defenses in the presence of the other solely because they make them feel safe, this will be your cup of tea.
Spoiler
Something I would've liked to have seen, was how Mia would have responded to the knowledge that Easton had been observing her every night. I wonder if this would have taken away her sense of safety she felt when near him, or how they would've dealt with that.I'd suggest you read this book if you like:
- Romantic suspense
- Twisted romance
- Heavy in psychology and criminology
- Lots of twists and turns, unforeseen events that will throw everything off course
- You're mine
- You're the only one who makes me feel safe
- Shows such as Criminal Minds, Perception and Lie To Me (or others that focus on solving a mystery by using profiling and psychological information/studies...)
Please beware of the following trigger warnings: sexual violence (past and present, descriptive), stalking, PTSD, trauma responses, anxiety attacks, attempt at murder, child abuse (descriptive, in the past)
Have you read this and you need more of it? Try Rattlesnake Road by Amanda McKinney, or Moonshot or Black Lies by Alessandra Torre. Both authors excel at writing twisty romances with lots of mystery and plot twists that will keep you guessing.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.* Thank you!
labraden's review against another edition
5.0
The Black Cat Stalker has been causing panic in the Louisiana swamp town of Skull Hollow. When a young girl, Courtney, goes missing, rescue specialist, Easton Crew and his LINX group are called in to help find the girl. Hypnotherapy specialist, profiler, and psychologist, Dr. Mia Frost is called in to help create a profile of The Black Cat Stalker. Once Courtney is found, Mia offers her services to help Courtney describe her rapist and deal with the trauma, but the more Mia learns, the more she sees similarities between Courtney's case and incidents in her own past. Little does Mia know but she has a stalker of her own.
Buried Deception is an excellent romantic suspense/mystery. The descriptions of the settings and characters creates an atmosphere that draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the very end of the book. The author uses the common elements of romantic suspense masterfully to create feelings of uncertainty and anticipation. Even though the romance doesn't inhabit as much of the story as the mystery, it's still very evident in the plot. Unfortunately the conclusion of the story and some of the character motivations don't reach the same level as the rest of the story. Overall, however, Buried Deception is a very effective romance with enough suspense and tension to make it difficult to put down and is well worth the read. 4 1/2 stars
Buried Deception is an excellent romantic suspense/mystery. The descriptions of the settings and characters creates an atmosphere that draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the very end of the book. The author uses the common elements of romantic suspense masterfully to create feelings of uncertainty and anticipation. Even though the romance doesn't inhabit as much of the story as the mystery, it's still very evident in the plot. Unfortunately the conclusion of the story and some of the character motivations don't reach the same level as the rest of the story. Overall, however, Buried Deception is a very effective romance with enough suspense and tension to make it difficult to put down and is well worth the read. 4 1/2 stars
readwitray's review against another edition
4.0
Good book, I don’t know why it look more so long to finish this book. It’s a good mix between romance and a thriller.
I really got rapped into this storyline. Mia is a therapist who helps clients with PTSD. Easton is the owner of the Lynx Group. Ex military who help find missing people. Together they track down a serial killer.
This book had a storyline!! I really enjoyed getting lost into this book. This is not a smutty romance but one that is deeper then that and I love it.
Mia and Eason were two broken two people helped each other help. I can’t wait to read more by this author.
I really got rapped into this storyline. Mia is a therapist who helps clients with PTSD. Easton is the owner of the Lynx Group. Ex military who help find missing people. Together they track down a serial killer.
This book had a storyline!! I really enjoyed getting lost into this book. This is not a smutty romance but one that is deeper then that and I love it.
Mia and Eason were two broken two people helped each other help. I can’t wait to read more by this author.