A great suspense to keep you guessing the whole time. I truly didn’t see the end coming. At the end it made me wonder what happened to the family and how he recovered

I was under the impression this was a brand-new author! Hands down a great first novel I look forward to reading more! This book kept me up when I should have been sleeping but deserves all 5 stars!

Tina gets a call from her brother in the middle of the night but when she gets to him, she finds a dead body. Her brother is missing, and she can’t help but think he’s holed up in a drug den. As she’s about to dial 911, she gets a text that simply says “shh”. Tina doesn’t believe in coincidence and is sure the death and her brother’s disappearance are connected. As things hit close to home, is Tina willing to risk her own freedom – and her life – to uncover the truth?

This one was one that I kept trying to enjoy, but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t commit. Unfortunately, about the 70% mark I just stopped because it clearly wasn’t for me. I felt the writing style was not quite where I expected it to be, it seemed unpolished and not quite put together. This was marketed as a psychological thriller, and I normally enjoy those, but this one just didn’t fit that bill for me. I think this one would have benefited from having multiple POV’s, but it was told in one POV entirely and I didn’t enjoy the character that was telling the story. I just found it lackluster, and it didn’t grab me like I hoped.

I have seen many four-star reviews for this one saying how much people enjoyed the book. So please, do not take my opinion for it only. If you’re a fan of Harlan Coben or Karin Slaughter this one might be for you! Check this one out on July 18th of next year! I want to thank @netgalley and the publisher, Cooked Lane Books, @crookedlandbooks, for my e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Not By Blood by Chris Narozny is about Tina Evans, who gets a call from her brother in the middle of the night. But when Tina gets to his location, he is missing.

The story is a bit predictable, and it took me some time to get into the story. The past/present timeline gave me clues as I read.

I didn't really connect with any of the characters. There were some good, surprising twists.

Overall, the story was okay. I give this a solid 3 out of 5 stars.

#NotByBlood #NetGalley @crookedlanebks

First things first, this was not a bad book, but I don't think that it was for me. That being said, this was a solid book and I did give it a 3-star rating. I did finish this book today and my thoughts may be all over the place, but I will be as honest as I can without giving any spoilers.

The biggest thing that I didn't like about this book was the ending. I do wish that the ending was a little different because there were things that felt like they got rushed a little bit. I did feel a little underwhelmed with how everything wrapped up. I don't know if it was because I have read thrillers before. I also wasn't a big fan of how some things were kind of repeated pretty often to where it was a little repetitive. The other con that I had about this book was the pacing. There were some spots in the middle that seemed to drag a little bit and I wish had been condensed. I did find some of the scenes in this book interesting, but it didn't seem to help a lot.

I want to talk about some of the pros that I had. The first pro is that I loved getting to know the characters. I loved getting to know what made them who they were and why they did the things that they did. I loved seeing how a person's past can affect their future (both the positives & the negatives). Another pro in this book was getting to see the process of figuring out who did it and what the process was to weed out the ones who weren't.

Overall, this book was a solid 3-star for me. I'm interested to see what this author comes out with next. I would say that this book is worth giving a chance if you want to start reading thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC.

Overall I enjoyed this. The writing was very well done and I would say it hooked me from the beginning and kept me turning the pages. I read in two days! If I could give half stars I would rate it 3.5. The reason I didn't rate it higher was because I was missing emotionality. The MC was a woman and I could tell the author was a man by some of the word choices. It was also a little hard to follow at the end with two characters starting with the letter J I had to pause and remember who was who. I also figured out who the "bad guy" was maybe a little over halfway. I would recommnd it if anybody asked for a good read.

This book grabbed me from the start and didn't let go. Lots of interesting twists and tie ins to people' s past traumas. It was not predictable, which was a nice change since this genre can get repetitive. Tina tries to find her addict brother and a chain of events that affects every part of her life. Well written and absorbing

Good book! This book was a bit different but good different! It had light suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery and a bit of a who done it! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thank you to the publishers for allowing me to read early.

I will admit that this one took me a while to get hooked on. I did put it down a couple times, but was glad when I came back. There are a couple great twists that pulled me in and made me speed thru the 2nd half and NEED to know the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the digital ARC!

This was an enjoyable psychological thriller! The opening was especially captivating and fast-paced, with action that kicks off from the very first page.

The first-person POV was well done and the plot kept me turning the pages until the end. It did slow down a bit in the middle and unfortunately, the title was a dead giveaway for the main twist.

That said, I’d definitely read more from Norozny.

I have to say this is not really the type of thriller book I like but the way the author wrote this book I was interested since page 1 and usually it's not like that I have to get a few pages sometimes a few chapters in so that was a plus. I would Definitely read something from this author again I enjoyed that the chapters weren't super long either I hate stopping in the middle of a chapter. Thank you netgalley for the copy I really enjoyed reading this one.

Congrats to Chris for his debut thriller!! Although Chris is not new to writing this is his first thriller on his own. Thank you for the advance readers copy. Here is my honest review.

Such a well written and suspenseful book. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next! Crime, murder, father in jail, drug addict brother, husband in a coma, and so many secrets, what more could a gal ask for? Such a mix of twist, turns, and lies!

I recommend this book to those who like domestic thrillers, and surprises!

Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Chris Narozny for the opportunity to read an advance copy of NOT BY BLOOD, which is scheduled to be published 18 July 2023. Drugs, private detectives, police, murder, suspense, mystery and mystique are all part of this novel. It centers around a person who works as an EMT and her relationships with her family, both close and distant, and her husband who is independently wealthy which causes it’s own problems. I enjoyed the ongoing intrigue and really wanted to get to the end quickly to see how it all worked out! Great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.. I love mysteries and thrillers so I jumped at the opportunity to read and review Not By Blood.

This is the story of Tina and her family of sorts. Tina and her brother, Bill, grew up in foster care when their father killed their mother. Tom, on the other hand, grew up with a silver spoon and manages a family money foundation. The story opens with Tina receiving a strange call in the middle of the night which leads her to go looking for her brother, who is an addict. What she discovers...a dead man., a missing brother, a husband in a coma, and the police looking at her for answers, sets off an interesting chain of events.

This was such a fast read for me. I found that I was pulled into the drama and guessing as to who killed whom and why. It is very twisty and action packed. The characters could have been better developed but overall, the story held my attention and had me swiping faster towards the end! Although I did figure out the mystery, it did not bother me as I was invested in why the story took the turns that it did.

This publishes July 18, 2023 and I highly recommend it!!!

This was just amazing from the start! It's such a unique plot and the pace does take a while to build but then once it gets going, it does tlet up. The characters are well written and fascinating in their own right and there aren't and massive holes or predictable outcomes. I was definitely recommend

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Not My Blood. Solid mystery centered on a woman who’s family is in turmoil. She has a brother who is an addict. Tina is an EMT and she is married to a rich man. Her father is in prison for murder. So Tina always feels like life can change any time
Until a call comes in and her life as she knows it is gone. A strange call and message lead her to look for her brother. And what she finds is more than she bargained for - a dead man., a husband in a coma, and the police looking at her for answers.
Good book. Somewhat predictable 3 stars

It was a little hard for me to get into in the beginning but once it got going, I was in. I liked the twists that I was not expecting !

When Tina Evans gets a call from her brother in the middle of the night, she doesn’t think much of it; she’s been fielding distress calls from Bill for the last twenty years, ever since the day their father killed their mother.
At first, this call seems just like all the others: Bill’s holed up in a Brooklyn drug den and needs her to come rescue him. But when Tina gets there, her brother’s nowhere to be found. Instead, she discovers the body of a private detective hidden in the junk heap out back. He’s been shot to death, and his gun is missing from its holster.

I am loving all these new authors I am being introduced to lately and again another very enjoyable read. I would not say that it is the best book I have read this year but it definitely held my attention. The past and present are interwoven which provide the reader with clues along the way and I stayed up reading this one late at night as I needed to find out how everything would pan out. Brother and sister relationships are often complicated but generally that involves either a lot of love or a lot of grief, sometimes you need the grief to make the love stand out and the relationship between Bill and his sister definitely has a combination of the two. Throw in a father that seems to be a catalyst for further trouble and you have a complicated scenario that makes for excellent reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. 4 stars

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Not By Blood releases July 18, 2023

Tina is no stranger to the many phone calls she gets from her drug addicted brother, Bill, looking for someone to lend a hand at odd hours and at sketchy places. So when she gets a phone call from him at 1 am with a location leading to a drug den, she shows up, because that’s what family does right? Except, Bill is no where to be found. In his place, is a dead detective, a missing gun, and a sketch book that was left behind. Right when Tina’s about to call in for help, she gets an anonymous text message saying “shhhh…”
Not three hours later, when Tina arrives back home, she finds that her husband Tom is now missing and has even left their six year old son unattended.
How are all of these things connected? And where is her brother Bill?!

This was an okay thriller. A bit lackluster and not as gripping as I would have hoped. There were a lot of secrets between characters that were slowly revealed along the way.
I didn’t think the addition of a past event between Tina and Desmond was all that necessary.
Perhaps making this a multi-pov story would have helped to propel this further and be more three-dimensional.
Also, the title of the book was sadly a dead giveaway for the plot considering that this had an adoptive family dynamic.

A thriller with healthy storylines on how to cope with substance abuse, unhealthy family relationships, and maybe slightly unhealthy lies to cops. I really enjoyed this book, I do wish there had been less fluff in the beginning and it had gotten to the main plot quicker. I would've loved to hear more about her dad in jail/prison and what happened there.