Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman is a very dark story about a woman Lisa Power, who finds a boy, and she will do anything to keep him safe. This book was just not my cup of tea. I have read Mr. Freeman's other books and enjoyed them. A lot of people might love this book, guess you will have to judge for yourself.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was an interesting read, I am in agreement with a number of other reviewers about the ending, I didn’t care for it. Though kudos to the author for keeping me guessing through the book, and for keeping the characters interesting and fully developed. Lisa Power finds a young boy on her rural property late one night and rather than calling the police, decides to investigate on her own after the boy tells her the police are the bad guys. Her investigation leads her to believe the boy is telling the truth and that he is in danger. They decide to go on the run but due to a snow storm end up in Thief River Falls, a town that Lisa had grown up in. The pace is very quick, the plot moves quickly and I was engaged with the characters. As I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of the ending, however, the book overall was enjoyable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A quick read, with a steady paced plot and well-groomed characterization. The overall feel of this novel plays toward suspense with less tilt toward the thriller genre that it is marketed for. Freeman creates an apprehensive main character that he holds at arms-length from the reader. It plays well to the framing of her psyche although some readers may be put off by not getting into all the gritty details behind the character. While some of the plot felt predictable, the book is well written and intriguing. Overall a good read. 4 stars.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #ThiefRiverFalls, which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

Thanks to Netgalley for this review copy.

Lisa lives under a " Dark Star" as she refers to her life and the series of events she has endured. She's an author who is known for a book named after her hometown, Thief River Falls. After a series of losses of those close to her within a span of a few years, all she has left is her twin brother who she doesn't speak to. One night there is a young boy who is just standing in her yard, and he knows nothing about himself that can identify him, but he does know that he saw a murder and that the cops were in on it. Lisa takes this boy in and tries to maintain his safety. Things spiral out of control from there.

This book was fast paced at first, but then it just slowed down. It was a struggle to get through it even though the twist at the end was good, it wasn't enough to save the book for me.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

As a Minnesota native, I was really excited to read this book. Though it sucked me in right away and kept me intrigued enough to want to finish, I will say that the farther along I got into it, the more disappointed I became.

The character development was weak and hollow. Lisa was just a bizarre character - she kept doing weird things, acting too stupidly, and speaking too oddly. The rest of the characters were not developed enough, so you didn’t find yourself caring for them or their stories at all.

When it comes to the plot, it was too predictable and the ending too neat for a psychological thriller. All in all, I’m glad it was a quick read, but it lacked a lot of the qualities that make up a “good book.”

A mystery/thriller where the main character is an author of mystery/thrillers. Novel concept and Brian Freeman made it work as he tells us the story of an author who has become somewhat of a recluse when the life she knows is lost. Thief River Falls is the name of the town and the name of her book. Both play a big role in the sudden twists in the plot. Just when you think you have figured out how each character will finish, circumstances change and you are left looking back in the book to see where you missed that clue! This is a quick read, the story moves at a quick pace and will keep you engrossed in finding out how one lonely, damaged woman can save herself and the young boy she has vowed to protect.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman. This author has a long history of successful engaging characters that I really like alot. This is a stand alone book, but set in similar environment.
An author, Lisa Powers, takes in a young boy who is hiding from dangerous individuals who have committed murder. Lisa feels compelled to save this child, at any cost. She is willing to risk it all because she understands suffering more than most - but will saving this boy mean that she may put her own life in peril?
Different book than the Jonathan Stride series that i adore. I did not connect with the lead character and for me this is important.
Freeman is a great author, but his departure from his "sweet spot" was a bit disappointing for me as a fan.
3 stars.

Duplicate - please refer to my earlier review! A most excellent story as are all Brian Freeman's books. Thank you!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me. When the ultimate premise is just too unbelievable and over the top I have lost the ability to give a fair review. The adult/child dynamic that is introduced in the beginning of the book is so inappropriate and bizarre that I began caring less and less about the overall story. I know that it is probably unfair of me, but part of what made it so unbelievable was that this "child" also communicated with the language of a child, and the savvyness of an adult and I can't stand that.

This book is free here and i downloaded it because i want to made my Ratio high but really i regretted that i read it.

This novel is okay for me, just okay, i thought that i will love it or found something that attract me to this novel but i felt disappointed.

Lisa Power is the bestselling author of a thriller called Thief River Falls, named after her rural Minnesota hometown. But Lisa's life is tragic as she lives alone in her remote house after losing her entire family through a series of tragedies she calls the “Dark Star.” Then a nameless runaway boy shows up at her door claiming he has escaped death after witnessing a brutal murder. Obsessed with the boy’s safety, Lisa resolves to expose this crime. But powerful men in Thief River Falls are desperate to get the boy back, and now they want her too.

This was a thrilling psychological thriller and a great read.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

Lisa Powers is a local author of bestselling thriller, Thief River Falls, named after her hometown. One night, she finds a boy on her property. He doesn't remember his name or where he has been, but he knows he witnessed a brutal murder involving the police. Now, he needs sanctuary, because he insists every cop in town is searching for him. Their intention: silence the witness. Lisa becomes obsessed with both the boy's safety and unraveling the mystery of what really happened.

The best part about Thief River Falls was the immediate pacing. I am not a fan of most slow-burn stories, and since the author jumped right into the plot, I was hooked right away. Sadly, it went downhill from there. The plot was predictable, the characters made too many questionable decisions, and I foresaw the twists. I found myself skimming pages without having missed crucial information. To me, the most important part of a book, regardless of genre, is realism. I need to BELIEVE the plot. If I can't believe the plot, I need to at least believe the characters' actions/motivations/choices. I found both to be lacking, and since I didn't find many plot points to be realistic, I didn't care enough about the characters.

Unfortunately, Thief River Falls didn't tick all the right boxes for me, but even though this wasn't a good book for me, I still recommend it. Others might have a better experience than I did. Remember, not every book is for every reader. :)

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed this book, it was fast-paced and well-written. I didn’t see the twist coming, but the twist did make me question the plausibility of the events that occured prior. Nonetheless, it was a good read. I really enjoyed that the main character was an author of thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I really enjoyed the writing style. The plot was full of tension. It was fairly easy to figure out part of what was happening. However, it took a surprising turn. My issue was with the way it was all just allowed to happen. I don't want to give spoilers, but it felt unrealistic. How could so many sit by and just do nothing? On the other hand, it is so well written and intense that I couldn't put it down. This one will stick with me for awhile.

I want to throw this book at the wall. Just no. The plot of this book is everything a movie producer would love as it would make a ton of money. We put up with a lot in movie and tv for a little action and suspense. We can suspend our imagination particularly when the movie has a good script with great actors to pull us along. But this does not work the same way in a book. You can have a great plot but if your execution sucks your readers will roll their eyes and ask for their money back.

The story was initially interesting and had my attention though I immediately became suspect as the main character, author Lisa Powell, just starts doing things that make no sense whatsoever. When she finds a lost injured boy with amnesia in her yard she starts acting even more bizarre and things go south from there. It was all very unrealistic and often plain silly. I honestly didn’t see the twist coming so that made the reading even more tedious as I am sure if you are smart and figure it out early you may not feel as aggravated by the actions of the protagonist. It makes up for some of the problems with they plot but I still felt the writing style was low brow. Much of it felt cliched and predictable though you are faced with an unreliable narrator which, if you are easily conned like me, you don’t realize for some time. That didn’t make up for the lack of sophistication in the plot that I was looking for. When the twist was revealed I had finally started to figure it out but it seemed very abrupt and lacked finesse in the telling. It all just felt so contrived. Finally everyone lived happily ever after. Everything was wrapped up with a nice big bow. The author using his book in the story seemed very pretentious to me. I hope Reese Witherspoon really did choose to make a movie from this book. Otherwise if I were her I think I would be pretty miffed.

I have read several books by Brian Freeman and this did not disappoint. There were a few parts where it seemed a little far fetched as far as the choices Lisa was making but it was necessary for the book to come together. I was totally blindsided and shocked by the ending. This book had several heart pounding moments and it was a quick read. Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC. #ThiefRiverFalls

The book started off great, but unfortunately ended up falling a bit flat. The writing was great, but the story itself was a bit predictable and frustrating. I’d give the author another try though as I really did enjoy the writing and the twist at the end was enjoyed!

A really interesting premise that kept me glued until the very big twist at the end. I really enjoyed this thriller a lot and thoroughly recommend. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

As I reader, I found the characters to be well-developed and easy to feel invested in, which may be part of why I found this to be such a great read. I also found the premise of Lisa and the runaway boy being thrown together trying to solve a murder and survive the consequences of getting too close to what happened. This was a great read!

This book drew me in and held me delightfully-captive from beginning to end. The palpable tension held me in thrall. The plot kept me guessing. The characters were realistic, likable and identifiable. And, every setting was described in such a way as to make me feel like I was an actual bystander in that scene. Once I started reading this story, I knew this was a book I wasn’t going to be able to put down!

#ThiefRiverFalls #NetGalley