Don't Even Breathe

Maggie Novak Thriller, Book 1

By: Keith Houghton

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

From the bestselling author of Crash comes a riveting thriller rife with murder, misdirection, and ghosts from the past.

Florida homicide detective Maggie Novak has seen hundreds of brutal murder cases, but when she is called out to investigate the charred remains of a young woman, in what appears to be a Halloween prank gone wrong, she is confronted with a twenty-year-old secret. The body is formally identified as that of school counselor Dana Cullen, but a distinguishing mark makes Maggie look again. She believes it is the body of her school friend Rita, who perished in a fire twenty years ago.

Maggie’s hunt for the truth behind the murder takes her back to a cruel high school trick she’s desperate to forget. And when another body turns up, Maggie realizes she too may be the target of a sinister plot creeping toward its final act.

Maggie needs emotional distance to do her job, but she’s so close to this case that she can’t even breathe. Will Maggie be able to uncover the truth of who wanted Rita dead? Or will her past mistakes catch up with her first?

©2019 by Keith William Houghton. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Loved

I have read this book a few times. It is intriguing. Each time I read it, it pulled me in.

Another great book

I look foward to reading more from this series amazing author a definate must read.

Great thriller!

Not just another whodunnit, but twists that were unexpected. Will read the next in the series for sure.

Entertainung Read

This is the first book I've read vy Keith Houghton. The story caught my attention very quickly in the beginning and held my it throughout the story. I wrongly guessed who the killer was and was pleasantly surprised when the author revealed the full story.

I recommend this book.

No. Just no.

Disappointing. Judging from the author’s other work I was expecting much more. The story dragged from bump to a great big hole where it lost me forever.

There was far too much telling and not near enough showing. Plus Maggie was too dim witted to be a homicide detective. It took her far too long to get to the witness protection answer. All her internal thoughts and theories were scooby dooish.

Another thing that irritated was her instantly knowing whose body that was burned by looking at The ID when it had been 20 years since she’d see this person.

At first it was all love and warm fussy feelings when Maggie thought of her friend. Tinged by grief of course. Then out of blue, matter of factly, there’s another friend who was rather awkwardly brought into the story by her father (who hadn’t been in the story prior) and that Maggie has bullied Rita.

My mind wandered at that point. Suddenly the teenaged boy was back in focus, there was an altercation, dad kidnapping, homophobia and oh yeah her friend still may or may not be dead.

I had to keep rewinding til I finally gave up.

suspenseful

very good. keeps you in suspense the whole time, it's the best novel to date

Really enjoyed this book!

This was my first book by this author and I really loved it. Great characters and great story. Also a big fan of the narrator too. I've listened to a lot of books she narrated. Can't wait to start the next one!

FANTASTIC LISTEN! Unexpected twists.

A+ Narrator. Hard to turn off. Great characters! Loved every minute. Give it a shot, you won't regret it.

Welcome to Florida....and gruesome murders

Detective Maggie Novak is called to the scene of a gruesome murder and is shocked when the victim is the childhood friend, whom she thought had died in a house fire over 10 yrs ago. The further that Maggie and her partner dig into the victim’s past, the more she questions what she thought she knew about her friend. The plot line is good and the narration pulls you into the story...you won’t see the end coming.
Good start to the series.

Quite Intriguing

Quite intriguing! I thought, along with Detective Maggie, I knew who the killer was but with all the twists and unseen turns I was shocked when the villain was finally unmasked. Great story line and narrating. Highly recommend!