What an intriguing read. Have been lacking in interesting fiction lately and this one peaked my interest. Interesting characters and great storyline.

First book I’ve read by this author, and honestly, probably the last. I requested it with such high expectations based on the synopsis. Unfortunately, it was apparent early on it was not going to live up those expectations.

Quick read because it was so simplistic. The characters had no depth. The writing/dialogue was simple. There was no rooting for any of the characters because you only got to know them on the surface. Mystery was solved early on so there was nothing to look forward too.

I really dislike giving poor reviews but this one just didn’t cut it.

Thank you #netgalley and #thomasandmercer for this eARC.

A predictable and quick read, but it still kept me entertained.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I flew through Broken. It’s an easy, predictable mystery that was ok but not great. Lilly is killed and you read how it happens at the beginning of the book. Her twin sister Maggie comes to town to find out what happened and most of the book follows her along the way. No real surprises until the end and the ones we did get weren’t that big.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Broken by John Rector is a straightforward tale complete with mystery and believable dialogue. This is an easy and enjoyable read. I did not feel the narrative structure in the first person sections added to the story and found the jumps between points of view pulling me away from the story. I also found the plot a bit thin. Regardless, Rector kept my attention the entire time and his characters made me want to keep reading to the end.

Enjoyable Easy Read! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
In this thriller we are introduced to Maggie James, a private investigator, who has arrived in the aging seaside town of Beaumont Cove to identify a body. As she tries to find the truth about her twin sisters death, she ignores the signs of danger and finds herself in trouble.
This fast paced well written thriller was an easy read. After reading some intense thrillers, this was a breath of fresh air. A story you don't have to overthink. Well written with insightful characters, it's paints a full picture of what it is like in Beaumont Cove. I would love to read more books about Maggie James, I do hope there is a sequel!

Short book, but i really enjoyed it. i have liked all of Rector's books and he writes a good "bad" guy. not quite enough back story, but just enough to get you through. sometimes i really want a book that is short and to the point and this one done it. maybe this could be the start of a nice series. some of the other characters, Ava and Clay, were very interesting and would enjoy spending more time with them.

A quick read by Rector, which is nice during these times. Maggie and Lily are twins and they had a falling out years ago. Lilly and her husband Mike move to a nice beach town to try and give their marriage another try. They move into an apartment complex where a creepy maintenance man, Thomas lives. Maggie shows up to the town to find out what has happened between her sister and Mike. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Fun read, but felt rushed. I'd like to have had a lot more world building and character development. A little too predictable for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for this ARC. This thriller follows the story of Magnolia who is called to Beaumont Cove after the death of her twin sister. This book is well written and well paced keeping you interested to the end. The characters are dynamic and believable which made it good fun to read. I really enjoyed this book and would like to read more from this Author.

The cover and the description for Broken by John Rector had me pretty excited, but unfortunately this one fell a little flat for me. It was an easy, quick read, but extremely predictable and just not well developed enough for me in the end. I think deeper backstories could have helped flesh out the characters better. Some things didn’t really make sense to me. I feel like there was a lot of things to do with Mike’s character that just didn’t make sense. (Spoiler alert: such as why he was so convinced he didn’t kill her given the shape he left her in and why if he was so certain he didn’t provide more details on what had happened leading up to the fight). Definitely not a bad read overall, just would have liked to see more.

This book covers many aspects of life: Families and domestic violence with an introspective look at where possible choices may lead.

Two sisters fallen out – Maggie and Lilly are twins with totally different personalities. Lilly’s husband, Mike, has always been the reason for their split.

While this is an easy read, it is also an exciting thriller that keeps you engrossed to the end.

Very easy read, I finished it very quickly. With that being said, the plot had some twists which made it wan enjoyable read. I would recommend it to others.

Never judge a book by its cover. Such a simple and novel concept that never fails to hold. From the cover art, you might suspect the book is about some tragic accident at a carnival. From the description, you might suspect the two together means the plot twist proves it to be a carnival worker killed our poor Lilly. Oh, how wrong all of those suspicions will be.

Magnolia arrives in Beaumont Cover to identify the body of her late twin sister, Lily. Not having found Lily's half of a custom key that unlocks their dead mother's antique box among her possessions at that time she begins her investigation into the night of her sisters' murder.

She meets an eccentric psychic named Ava while cruising the boardwalk one afternoon that knew her sister Lily. Ava gives cryptic hints about Lily's life and urges Maggie to seek the help of the towns' local private investigator with locating her mother's heirlooms. This investigator happens to be the town's ex-sheriff.

As Maggie grows closer to understanding her sisters' life in Beaumont Cover and uncovering the truth behind her murder, she unwittingly becomes the object of his obsession. Thomas is a mentally unstable man with a very broken perception of reality. His obsession with Lily quickly becomes one with her twin sister Maggie.

I thoroughly enjoyed the buildup of the story plot. While the author made it known from the beginning of the story who killed Lily he manages to make Maggie's journey of discovery captivating. The tales of Mike's abuse might pose overwhelming for any survivors of abuse. He details a very vivid picture of the depths in which Lily suffered at Mike's fists. Overall it was a great read.

Broken is a fairly typical, woman is killed/husband is arrested/his twin sister sets out to confront him/stuff happens after that, kind of book. A simple read with a little bit of a twist that keeps it from being completely run-of-the-mill.

Lilly is married to Mike, who has a bad habit of beating his wife on a fairly regular basis. Lilly has a bad habit of continuing to stick by him and make excuses for his behavior. Magnolia, Lilly's twin, has seen enough of this over the years and washes her hands of the two of them. When Lilly and Mike move to the secluded town of Beaumont Cove, things are actually starting to look up for them - for a while. Then their landlord, an odd man with a dark past, takes an interest in Lilly and things spiral downward from there. Lilly is killed, and Mike, whose brutality toward his wife is well-known in town, is arrested for her murder. Magnolia arrives in town to confront Mike and to reclaim some heirlooms from their mother that Lilly has been keeping. The landlord, seeing Magnolia, begins to fall for her as he did for Lilly, and...well, yes. The plot thickens.

This was an entertaining story, and the author didn't keep us guessing as to the murderer. I finished it quickly and I will probably forget it quickly, as well. However, I did enjoy the time I spent reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well developed. It had an interesting plot. I would be interested in reading more

Lilly is dead, and Maggie her estranged twin has arrived to identify her body.

Lilly’s husband, Mike, is in custody for her murder. With his long history of abuse, no one in town is surprised at the inevitable end to their stormy marriage, least of all Maggie. All she wants is to clean up her sister’s affairs, see Mike punished, and get out of Beaumont Cove.

With the help of the local sheriff, a retired private investigator, and a strange but friendly carnival psychic, Maggie begins to uncover the truth about what really happened to her sister. But the truth comes at a price, and soon Maggie finds herself walking a dark path toward the same deadly trap that killed Lilly.

The more Maggie discovers about her sister’s final days, the more she realizes that nothing is as it appears in this strange boardwalk town.

Compelling characters and an intriguing story, this is a novel you don’t want to miss.

Lily and Maggie are twins who have been close all their lives have a falling out over Lily’s abusive husband..
Lily moves to Beaumont Cove, a boardwalk town. Lily loves the town but suffers because of her abusive husband. When she is brutally murdered Maggie comes to town to identify her body and to try to learn more about her sister’s life.
The narration moves from Maggie to Tom who is a caretaker of the apartments where Lily lives. He hardly knows her but begins to fantasize about her. The ending twist is not really surprising but I don’t think that was an objective. This is a fast-paced, suspenseful story. Kept me reading. Very satisfying.

I have read all John Rector's books and they are well written page turners in I guess the urban noir genre. this new one reads like it would be a great film noir from the 40's. I really enjoyed this one and the pages flew by. my only wish is that there was a little more mystery as it doesn't take too long to see how everything will play out. good characters and good writing tho make up for the lack of suspense and it is interesting to see exactly how everything is dealt with. I will round this up to 4 stars, if you are a Rector fan, you will enjoy.

This was a quick read, but almost too quick. As it's easy to guess right away what happened to Lilly, the book feels slight with a lack of suspense. The cover is fantastic, with a creepy carnival vibe, and I wish the book had matched it.