| Title | : | Lying in Wait |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 324 |
| Publication | : | First published May 1, 2022 |
Grieving widow Andy Vaughn has struggled to get back to the real world after her husband's sudden death. But her son needs her, and when a terrifying encounter with a snake reveals unknown skills, the American expat feels alive for the first time in years. She's going to leave behind her career as a science teacher and instead start training as a national park ranger with a specialty in snake handling. There have been a high number of brown snake incidents in their small community over the last few months, and Port Matthews desperately needs an experienced snake handler on the Parks and Wildlife team.
But with two deaths and several close calls in only a matter of weeks, is the increased snake activity just an unusual spike? Or is something more sinister going on? New cop in town Dev certainly thinks something isn't quite right, but nobody is going to believe the city cop with a checkered past. With growing suspicions that a serial killer might be out there using snakes as a weapon, Dev is going to need to find proof-and fast. Because the serial killer has a new victim in his sights, and she might just be the beautiful snake handler Dev is fast falling in love with.
Lying in Wait Reviews
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Andy Vaughn and her ten-year-old son Jeremy had been without husband and father, Greg, for the past three years and Andy still felt his loss keenly. She knew she hadn’t been there for Jeremy and was worried about how to get close to him again. The day they were with their friends at the park, and little Megan screamed as she was bailed up by a snake in the toilet block, was the day Andy’s life and career took a new turn. After successfully saving Megan from the deadly brown snake, Andy decided Port Matthews in South Australia might benefit from a snake handler within the Parks and Wildlife department. Her training over, she was called on fairly often to remove snakes from the vicinity of people’s homes.
Constable Devlin Jenkins was a new arrival to Port Matthews police department and with his partner Ian, was called out to a couple of snake bite victims. Dev’s suspicions weren’t believed by the other members of the force apart from Ian, so he investigated on his own. What he discovered was chilling. A third death had Dev’s antennae vibrating. What was going on? Who was doing the unthinkable – and who would be the next victim?
Filled with tension as well as venomous snakes, Lying in Wait by Aussie author Diane Hester would have to be her best yet! Unbelievable tension – my heart is still pounding – I can’t think of any book I’ve ever read like this one! I’d advise anyone with an aversion to snakes not to read this one at night – you’ll have nightmares! An incredible thriller, Lying in Wait is one I recommend highly.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. -
This one had me turning the pages, widower Andy Vaughan has been through a lot since she lost her husband three years ago and now it is time to get back on track and hopefully patch things up with her ten year old son Jeremy, a new job and things should improve.
When Andy was growing up in America she had pet snakes and has always liked them when her friends daughter gets caught in a toilet block with a deadly brown snake Andy steps in and removes the snake and this encourages her to want to work as a ranger with Parks and Wildlife but when the offer comes to be the local snake handler she jumps at the chance.
Dev Jenkins has moved from Sydney to take a job as constable with the Port Matthews police department there were reasons for this move and it is taking some time to settle in being the new cop in town and a checkered past, he meets Andy after the rescue in the park and asks lots of questions snakes are not his favourite.
When there are a couple of deaths caused by snake bite Dev is suspicious this is not a normal happening although he seems to be the only one to think it is out of the ordinary and when there is another death his suspicions that there may be a serial killer on the loose grows, he questions Andy and soon she is thinking the same as Dev.
Andy and Dev are getting closer everyday but things are also getting tenser with more snakes and danger is chasing Dev and Andy, can Dev save the woman he loves will they finally uncover the truth about the deaths and be able to move onto the future?
This really is a page turner MS Hester knows how to pull her readers in with tension and a fast paced story it has wonderful characters, there are quite a few edge of your seat moments in this one and lots of snakes. I do highly recommend this one, it is a fabulous story.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy to read and review. -
Lying In Wait has been another great read from Diane Hester. While I guessed the killer’s identity fairly early on, I was stumped as to how they’d be caught. While the main story thread involves the apparently unconnected deaths of several people in the South Australian seaside town of Port Matthews, there’s also a lovely romantic thread involving widow Andy, who is fascinated with snakes, and police constable Dev. I liked them both and enjoyed watching their relationship develop from initial antipathy on Andy’s part to something meaningful by the end of the book. As they grow closer to each other, the deaths continue, with one problem after another stopping Dev from finding his killer. The plot twists and ramped sense of urgency kept me hooked and left me both relieved and satisfied by the last page.
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I tried to give this book a chance, but I only got about 1/5 of the way through. The formatting of the book was hard to follow and contributed to confusion of the story line. I really liked the summary and was excited to read the novel, but unfortunately, it was just very hard to follow.
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This one had me hooked. Using snakes to kill people was clever and the plot was interesting. Although I figured out who the killer was, getting a resolution was going to be hard. I enjoyed the back story of Andy's relationship with her son, and the developing relationship with Dev.
