Another great book from this excellent police crime thriller series 
A great main character and a plot that twists and turns will keep you quickly page turning all the way to the final chapter 
I highly recommend this author for all the books he has written

A great, fast paced mystery. Back with Maggie Novak for her second mystery, this one starts on New Year's eve when Maggie receives a phone call asking if she's seen Clay. She hasn't, but she's been drinking and at a party and took the time off, so although she is a little curious, she isn't worried. Besides, she has some exciting things happening at the party too.

But the mystery starts from there. First you are looking for Clay, then searching to understand why. After murders, car bombs, secret club owners and marriages, you learn so much more about the officers in Maggie's co-workers. It's fast story, one that's hard to put down.

I enjoyed it, although I did hate that the crux of the story hinging on hiding the one thing that everyone was just so scandalized by. It made me sad but I liked Steve's take on it. I wish others felt the same.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

I read the first book in the series which I really enjoyed and this one was just as good  this book packs a punch from early on and keeps you enthralled all the way through. . I love the way the story line flows and the description ,makes s it seem so real that you can visualise it .  It is a fast paced gripping story .Maggie Novack is one of my favourite characters and can't wait to read the next book

i liked maggie as a character and really enjoyed the detective work in the book. I'd be interested in reading more from the author and more from Maggie.

Great choice in a cover.  Really makes people want to choose this book.  However with that being said, the book was really a good read.  It kept my attention at all turns and the story with Maggie and her detective work was really very well written.  Houghton did a great job of telling a story as if you were a part of it and made you want to continue to another 2nd book.  Hope there is one around the corner and Maggie can have another opportunity to keep me guessing.

Well written thriller.
A good read, interesting storyline with many twists that keep you turning the pages.  
My first time reading that author and certainly not the last.  

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.  This is my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

This was a good storyline, it held my interest to get to the end. It was a little slow in parts but it was a fairly enjoyable read.

The beginning of this book was extremely gripping and riveting. I really enjoyed the relationship between Novak and her partner Loomis. It was enjoyable and funny at times to read their interactions. Some things were off about this novel though. Such as the ending. The motive was too far-fetched for my liking. It was completely unexpected, and I understand the author was most likely trying for huge shocker, but it was too much of a stretch. Overall though this was a fast-paced and exciting read and I'm looking forward to the next one.

This is the second instalment of  the Maggie Novak detective series. It was a very enjoyable read. On an evening run to the nearest shop her colleague disappears. She sets off on the trail to uncover what happened and discovers that he was killed and she fears that she may be next. The path to his killer uncovers many surprising facts, but the truth is difficult to find and they find that many people are barring their way to getting justice for their colleague. This was a really engaging read and kept me guessing right up until the end. I'm looking forward to the next instalment already.

This book had a lot of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages. I really liked this book and will be looking for this author in the future.

The second Maggie Novak thriller and I fully enjoyed the ride. Heaps of twist and turns to keep you hooked. A great read. Thanks tot he publisher and netgalley for the arc.

I truly don't recall too much from the first Maggie Novak book, but I absolutely LOVED this book!  Once I started listening to it, I didn't want to stop!  I just HAD to find out what happened!

Maggie Novak is a lone wolf homicide detective.  But when she receives a phone call telling her that her teammate, Detective Clayton Young is missing, Novak doesn't stop until she gets the answers they all deserve, even when it means looking in to uncomfortable matters, and pointing the finger at ones that shouldn't be pointed at!  

There was a few very good last-minute twists and turns that really made this story awesome!  I enjoyed every moment, from begging to end.  

The narrator was an excellent choice for this book!  

Now I can't wait until Book #3!

#NetGalley #A Place Called Fear #Amazon Publishing UK

A Place Called Fear by Keith Houghton is the second book in the Maggie Novak series. Maggie is a homicide detective in Florida. A fellow detective goes missing after a late night run to the store for milk and is later found dead in his car. The initial thought is that this was a suicide or was it? Maggie and her partner Loomis are running the investigation and soon find that they really don't know their coworkers and can not trust them. I love a story that keeps me guessing and this one definitely did that. I have already downloaded the first book in the series to go back and read the beginning of this series and I look forward to reading future books.

Elevator pitch: 

An explosive locked-room/car mystery for a tenacious female detective
Read/Skip: 

Read!

A Place called Fear is the second Maggie Novak I read in two months, and it may be even better than Don't Even Breathe. Both books get off to a great start, with a killer premise. An unsolvable riddle that keeps you turning the page. In A Place called Fear, it is almost a Sherlock Holmes-like; a cop dies in a confined space, his car, and manages to kill and wound other people in the process. The explanation seems cut and dry; still, there has to be a story, even if you can look to figure it out, till the impossible start making sense. Like the previous Maggie Novak thriller, A Place called Fear ends with a terrific highstakes action sequence. The rest of the story is almost Connelly-like in a good way. Keith Houghton describes the investigation in the same fluid, relentless, and convincing style.
 Florida homicide detective Maggie Novak doesn't sleep much. Her personal life is reduced to snippets at the beginning and end of the book, so not many interruptions in the flow of the story—Maggie is just a hell of an investigating machine. That always hooks me. There are a few chapters from the POV of the one responsible for the explosive consequence of the cop's suicide; (I'm trying not to give away too much.) Fortunately, even if these are superfluous and I hope thriller writers would stop interspersing already great stories with them, luckily in this case, these are few and brief. All the attention is on Maggie chasing the case just like I like my procedural— and she is dogged and smart as they come. The kind of detective that has a long life ahead of her in fiction, if she manages to survive all the genuinely dreadful people she encounters. One side note, once, the conclusion has a 'gay character is screwed up' theme. What is going on with all these books referring to this antiquated notion? Back in Patricia Highsmith's times, it was understandable, but in 2020? But that is the only nitpick I have.

The gist: 

When het colleague Detective Clayton Young goes missing on New Year's Eve, homicide detective Maggie Novak tracks him down to the nearby Wallmart, where he was last seen. After checking the monitors inside, she finds his car in the parkinglot and watches a muzzle flash go off on screen. Disturbed, she runs to the car, and when she arrives there, mayhem ensues. Together with her partner Loomis, Maggie tries to piece together her colleague's last days, trying to understand what could drive Clayton to this senseless act a few moments before the clock turned twelve.

a Place Called Fear is a excellent mystery with a entertaining storyline. It is well written and has great characters. Great twists.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

What a gripping read this is!
A new cop thriller series that is fast paced and full of twists and turns and with a killer I never guessed at until they were revealed. 
I love the main character Maggie's character in this series and cant wait to read more about her and more in this gripping, upcoming series.

Maggie Novak Is enjoying New Years' Eve when she receives a phone call from a co-workers wife asking about her husband.  Where has he  disappeared to?  A murder happens and Maggie has to solve it.  It is unlike other murders because this involves a co-worker.  This makes her questioning her colleagues and what their role in the murder.
I really enjoy this series.  Descriptions make me feel like I am there at the locations.

I received this book from NetGalley - it is the second in the Maggie Novak series. Maggie is a homicide detective and at the beginning of the story she is enjoying NYE when a call about a colleague turns everything she thinks she knows about her team mates on its head.
I did not feel at a disadvantage having not read the first novel in the series. and I would say I would like to read more. 
if you like detective novels with a fast pace and likeable characters then this is one for you. I also loved it is set in one of my favourite places to visit

I'm glad that i came across 'A Place Called Fear' as it was such an enjoyable book, full of twists.  It didn't matter that this was the second book in the Maggie Novak thrillers, but i do hope to read the first book at some stage.  I rarely write what a story is about as i prefer one to read the book for themselves, but i do recommend.  

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy.  This is my honest review, which i have voluntarily given.

(Waiting for Amazon to publish my review).