Reading this book was like eating a stale pack of cookies. As from the first bite, you know it's a real bad idea to continue, but you can't stop yourself even if you discover only a hint of the original flavor and the texture is all wrong. At the end, you just feel sorry you've spent your calories/time on something that should have been better.

What was it that I didn't like?
Let's start with the characters. First there is Lily, she has been in a car accident and wakes up with absolutely no memory. Knowing the ambulance is heading her way, she does the only thing that makes sense: run, of course. After that, she just makes every dumb mistake you can imagine. There is Iver, the bar owner who will help her. But naturally, he is also suffering from amnesia and alcoholism. And then there is Kylie, the detective who is supposed to solve the mystery, but she either doesn't check her clues, and if she does she can't interpret them.

The writing style is clean and precise and although it is generally not my preference, I must say that in this context it works perfectly to describe a cold and stormy atmosphere. Mrs. Girard can certainly write well. If anything bothered me was the continuous wrong use of the order of pronouns, something that I see in a lot of books this last decade. To all the writers out there: the correct order is "You and me" not "Me and you". It's a form of courtesy, just like holding a door for someone.

But the reason why this is a 2 star is by far the plot, that had more holes than a chunk of gruyere cheese. There are a lot of characters that have no added value, and they are more of a distraction than anything. The denouement was quickly dealt with, leaving a lot of questions unanswered.

Will I read something else by Mrs. Girard? Maybe I will because I liked the style and if the plot is better, I will sit down with a fresh pack of cookies and a cup of tea and go for it.

My sincere thanks to Netgalley to provide for a free copy.

Wow! I'll say this book had me hooked from the first chapter. It's fast paced and somehow gets faster as the story goes on. This is a twisted thriller with several parallel narratives and each characters story was well developed and kept you engrossed. I thought I had it figured out; what happened to Lily, who was responsible, and how it was going to end. But, of course there is always a twist or a character you never consider as "the bad guy", and this is one of those stories that throws you the curve ball. I wasn't even close!
Danielle Girard did a great job at leaving you wanting more as each chapter ended. Since there were so many character view points each chapter jumped from one person to the next and you had to keep reading to see how it all came together. It's been a while since I've read a fast paced thriller so thank you Danielle for writing such a great story, and thank you NetGalley for letting me read it. I think this is going to be a great series and I can't wait to get my hands on book number 2.

This one wasn’t for me.

I got about a third of the way through it and I had to put it down.

This was only because there was a bit of a religious context to it, and those types of books aren’t for me.

This was an entirely atmospheric read and even though we are in the dog days of summer, I could feel the cold seeping into my bones and the snow flurries smacking me in the face! Even though I’m over the unreliable female narrator trope in thrillers, this one was actually enjoyable. The fact that the lead character couldn’t remember anything added a nice touch to the plot. Overall, a fine mystery and one that kept me turning pages. The end however, left a lot to be desired. It got a little too messy for me at the end. My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

This book kept me interested in how it ended as I read through it, although it wasn't the most compelling. The novel shifts perspectives between a detective, a war vet, and a girl with amnesia who was previously held hostage... yeah the last one was a little hard to sum up. I appreciated the shifting perspectives because it kept the story moving forward and quickly. Essentially the detective tries to solve the murder happening in this small town in North Dakota and the war vet becomes a suspect. The girl murdered happened to have been held hostage with the amnesia girl so that's how she's roped in. I never felt super invested in the ending but was ultimately into what the author chose to do. It felt like it made sense and wasn't a left field ending which tends to happen in a lot of thrillers nowadays. Overall I'd recommend it to other if this was specifically something they were looking for, but on the whole I'd probably say pass.

Many Thanks to Net Galley, Thomas & Mercer and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

White Out, be blinded by the snow

White Out, the blackness of a night lost

White Out, the darkness of temporary amnesia

White Out, the rut of being a victim

White Out has an excellent story line but falls a tad too short to make it brilliant. The pace of the book from start to finish was one roller coaster ride but there were some parts of the story that had me going, how crazy is that and not really in a good way.

Amnesia in a story is always intriguing, there are 100 ways it can be used and the author has used it for two characters in this plot. The story progresses thru Lily, Iver and Kylie and the fact that Lily and Iver both have blackouts for the particular night in question leaves the reader in a muddle. Kylie as the lead detective in a town of only 1500 people was not a sharp and quick character, honestly, I wished she was much more astute and shrewder so that the story felt more gripping.

Iver with his PTSD after his time in Afghanistan felt humane and it was interesting to see the spark of hope developing between him and Lily. The first part of the book with Lily continuously being manhandled, pushed and physically assaulted was painful to read especially as the reader is made aware of her gruesome past.

White Out is an absorbing and intense read but for the few things that felt jarring, I am going with 3.5 stars and since this is book 1 in the series, I would love to continue it for the intricate and compelling story-telling.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/; Amazon India, Goodreads and Twitter.

This book was pretty good, a mystery both from the past and current time. told in the perspective of three people, a cop, a victim and a suspect both of whom have memory issues. A few twists and while a bit too long was interesting read

Thank You NetGalley, Publisher & Author for this gifted e-book

Summary
After surviving a car accident on an icy road in Hagen, North Dakota, Lily Baker regains consciousness with no idea where or who she is. Scattered Bible verses and the image of a man lying in a pool of blood haunt her memory.

The same night of the accident, a young woman is murdered and tossed in a dumpster. Kylie Milliard, Hagen’s only detective, doesn’t immediately recognize the victim, but Kylie soon discovers that Lily and the dead woman share a dark past…if only Lily could remember what it was.

Review
Book #1.from the Badlands Series This book is told in different POVs. like a lot of them. Which I did not care too much for. I enjoyed the story this book told, it just a bit confusing at times. I liked the characters, the story, the plot. I just didn't care for all the different POVs.

Rating 3/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book White Out kept me riveted till the end. I flew turn the last 20% of the book. The whole time I was reading it, I kept wanting to jump ahead to see how it was all going to fit. It's a fast paced crime/thriller book that will literally have you on the edge of your seat trying to hurry to the next chapter to find out what's going on.


Lily wakes up in a car that's hanging off the side of the road with no recollection of what happened. Iver wakes up with the same issue but with a dead woman outside in his work dumpster. As bits and pieces come back to Lily, she finds herself at Iver's house, an old friend, and gets attacked by an unknown assailant. She slowly begins to remember more about her life and what transpired the last 24 hrs. Someone is after her, but why is the question and how is Iver connected to all this? Something sinister is going on and detective Kylie Milliard is frantically trying to make sense of it all before it's too late.

If you need a book that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you wanting to know more, this is the book for you! Told from three perspectives, I was constantly trying to figure out how all the stories and pieces fit together. Kylie is the small town detective trying to solve a murder and go to the big city. Iver seems to have all signs pointing toward him and he has a past. Lily has no memories and is trying to piece together her story as the book progresses. The ending was shocking! Definitely not what I expected, but super satisfying. I also loved that there was an epilogue to see “life as normal” after a thrilling story.

A good thriller with the two main characters having amnesia and how they start piecing together. The plot kept me turning the pages. But halfway through the twists became too many and forced leading to loose ends in the end. The characters are not well developed and the conclusion rushed and confusing. It felt like the author wanted to put too many suspense and got lost in untangling them. 3.5 stars

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Danielle Girard for providing me with an ARC of White Out!

Girard is one of my favorites, so when I saw her name on this cover I jumped on the chance to read it. This was an amazing psychological thriller told from multiple viewpoints, which is one of my favorite things. These characters were phenomenal and really helped to float the story line along. The action starts right at the get go, and it's really hard to put this one down once you pick it up. Another great title from an amazing author!

Thank you again for the chance to read and review this ARC!

This was a good psychological thriller told from various points of view. I love books where a setting is really important and this small-town setting, cold and barren added to the suspense I felt reading this book. This is the first in a series of books and I am interested to know where this is will go.
I felt it was written at a good pace and for me, this was a page-turner. I felt for Lily who wakes up after a car accident and cannot remember who she is. I did like the ending and I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the book...
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC in response for an honest review.

A good thriller told from multiple points of view that kept you guessing throughout the whole book; Who did it? Why? How are all the characters of the small town of Hagen, North Dakota connected to the mystery at hand?

This book was so full of twists it almost tripped over itself. I couldn’t decide if this constant complexity was challenging (in a good way) or just trying too hard. The fact that I couldn’t put it down answers that question! The characters are engaging and I’m really glad we will be seeing more of them, as this is the first in a series. Yes, this book made me pay attention instead of letting me race through to get to the answers, but I really liked it.

Amnesia + murder is a pretty standard theme in crime fiction, and this is a really twisted example of such a story. However, it did have a few issues.

In a small North Dakota town, our heroine Lily wakes up stuck in a wrecked car in a snow-covered ditch. Another woman is dead in a dumpster behind the nearby bar. Unfortunately, Lily has no idea who she is and how she got there... and the bar owner is suffering from exactly the same condition. I thought that this was definitely going to be a case of an evil medical procedure or something like that, but the coincidence wasn't premeditated in this way - you do have to suspend your disbelief to keep reading. There are a few other examples of such inconsistencies, which is not a good thing, especially in a psychological thriller.

In addition, I have ambiguous feelings about the detective on this case, Kylie Milliard. The thing about her is that she's just really bad at doing her job, and her skills as a detective made me doubt that she could've gotten hired in the first place. On the other hand, she is the only detective in the godforsaken little North Dakotan town called Hagen, so maybe no one would bother to replace her.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy this novel - it's full of suspense and unexpected turns of events - although it's not one of my favorites,

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I probably should give this two stars but I will go with three. White Out was certainly not boring; it starts out suspenseful and unique when we meet Lily, who has just been involved in a car accident, and has only fuzzy memories. The first third of White Out was 5 stars, it slowly went downhill from there.

Have you ever read something that tries so hard to be suspenseful that it is not? White out is that book. Around half way I felt burnt out of every situation having a twist. Every moment does not need to have suspense. There were so many plot twists here that a lot of loose ends were made along the way - most were not wound back into the story.

The characters at the end felt different to who they were just a few days before at the beginning of the story. Lots missing from the character development, they basically acted however was needed in the moment.

The police work was very flawed. We won't even talk about that.

Three stars you ask? Yes, because this was still an exciting thriller to read. I had fun and also became invested in the plot. Most of my frustration is because this had the bones necessary to have been even better.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for my copy to read and review.

The story is narrated in different point of views. Each chapter shifts between them. The first half of the book was brilliant. It was fast paced and intriguing. I kept thinking who is the murderer. It was refreshing and it was written very well.

The book revolves around a young woman, Lily Baker. She was abducted and tortured for 16 years before she escaped, shootings her captor, Derek Hudson. She leaves the cabin with Abby and another woman. She and Abby were quite close.

As the years go by, Lily seems to be living an unhealthy life in the small town of Hagen. One night she wakes up in a car accident and she has no memories of her past. All she remembers is to get away and not to trust the police.

Meanwhile, the police discover a body, Abby's body in a dumpster next to the bar called Skaal.

Kylie is the detective on the case, on paper she seems very intelligent. But she is always undermined by her sexist superiors. She gets entangled in this entire mess.

Iver is the owner of the bar, he is a veteran and alcoholic. His life is a mess and he is depressed. He wakes up in his house with no memory of the previous night.

The ending was very confusing. There are multiple red herrings. The narration wasn't fluid. There were too many unanswered questions and it was all too clumsy. I'm giving this book 3 stars for the first half of the book. But this book is defenitely worth a read and a legit page turner.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Read it / Skip it- My verdict- Worth a read📖

Rating- ⭐⭐⭐

I started this one yesterday and finished it in a day. It takes off right from the beginning and honestly really never lets up, and is told from multiple POVs. We start with a crazy car crash that Lily Baker wakes up in the middle of and has no idea who she is or who the strange man is that is driving the car and now appears dead, but she knows she has to get out and quick.

Meanwhile, in the same small town of Hagen, North Dakota, another woman is found dead in a dumpster. While Lily is trying to find out her identity, and a detective is trying to solve the murder, their two paths quickly cross, but is something even more evil going on? You betcha and man, it was suspenseful all the way through the end.

I have not read this author before, and as this is the first in a series, I will definitely be looking forward to the next book! Pub date for this one was yesterday 8/1, and FYI it is included with a Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one. I added the audio for only $1.99 more and alternated between that and the book and it worked really well.

Thank you to the author for a free ecopy to review.

The car goes over the cliff, the woman manages to escape, but the man does not. She’s not sure who she is or where she is, but learns that her name is Lily Baker. Lily was kidnapped years ago with other young girls, tortured and finally escaped. Now she needs to remember who she is and what happened to her this time. Who can she trust? Detective Kylie Millard is investigating the murder of a young woman found in a dumpster. When she learns the woman’s identity, it leads her to Lily Baker. Hoping to find out what happened has Kylie trying to get answers from people who don’t want to talk. At times a slightly confusing story as Lily continues to figure out who she can trust and how to get her life back. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)