Everyone is a Critic: “Red Eye”
Posted: August 11, 2025 Filed under: Everyone is a Critic, Movie Review, Movies, Psychological Thriller, Thriller | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, Kaye Lynne Booth, Movie Review, Psychological Thriller, Red Eye, Writing to be Read 4 Comments
I stumbled upon this movie on Pluto TV and thought I’d give it a try. I don’t know what I was expecting when I chose it. At the beginning, I thought I’d picked up a romance, when the protagonist, Lisa (Rachel McAdams), meets a man, Jackson (Cillian Murphy), at the airport and they have a drink together. This impression was reinforced for me when he ends up on the same Red Eye flight and he takes the seat next to hers. My mind was quickly changed when his true intentions are revealed and it becomes obvious that this story is actually a smashing psychological thriller.
It is no coincidence that they met, or that they were on the same flight, for it turns out Jackson has been watching Lisa for quite some time, and his plans involve using her for his own dark purposes after making her his psychological hostage, threatening to do harm to someone she loves. It turns out Jackson is an international terrorist, making Lisa a vital part of his diabolical plan for a political assassination.
Both the main characters play their parts convincingly and I was easily sucked in and swept away in this gripping thriller. Directed by Wes Craven, this movie exceeds the B list in both the writing of the story and in the performance of the actors. I was pleasantly surprised by my discovery of Red Eye and if you enjoy psychological thrillers, you will, too.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This post is sponsored by the Midnight Anthology Series and WordCrafter Press.
Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories: 20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Roost-Kaye-Lynne-Booth-ebook/dp/B0CL6FPLVJ
Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow: 17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare. https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Garden-Where-Tales-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0DJNDQJD3
Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares: Coming in October, 2025!
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Everyone is a Critic: “The Last Stop in Yuma County”
Posted: May 12, 2025 Filed under: Crime, Everyone is a Critic, Movies, Psychological Thriller, Review | Tags: Everyone is a Critic, Psychological Thriller, The LAst Stop in Yuma County, Writing to be Read Leave a comment
When I noticed The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023), my first thought was that it sounds like a western, but the image on the cover indicated something else. Set in a 1970s Arizona diner, this fast paced crime drama that ratchets up the tension with every passing moment, keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout. Filled with a plethora of twists and turns, and plenty of surprises.
When a traveling knife salesman, (Jim Cummings), pulls in to the last stop in Yuma County, he is stranded at the diner waiting for a fuel tanker that will never come. The waitress, (Jocelin Donahue), serves up coffee and he bids his time, anxious to get going to spend his daughter’s birthday with her. Things heat up when they are joined by two bank robbers, (Richard Brakes and Nicholas Logan), with an empty tank and hair triggers, and each new patron who comes in adds a new complication. It seems everyone has a gun, and it is anybody’s guess what will happen next.
Although psychological thriller takes place mostly in the diner, the tension is more than enough to make you keep watching. Thoroughly enjoyable. This is one that you’ll never guess the ending.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Chatting with New Blood” is sponsored by the Time Travel Adventure Series and WordCrafter Press.
When a Girl with a Guitar Meets a Man with a Gun, It’s Time to Travel
The Rock Star & The Outlaw: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Star-Outlaw-Time-Travel-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0CJBRRCN1/
The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Seeing Doubles: Coming in 2026
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Book Review: The Theory of Anything
Posted: October 25, 2024 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Crime, Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Review, Writing | Tags: Book Reveiw, Greg Hickey, psychologicl thrillers, The Theory of Anything, Writing to be Read 4 Comments
About The Theory of Anything
A brilliant professor. A shocking murder.
When Dr. David Solon walked out of the coffee shop on the afternoon of May 3, 2011, he didn’t expect to foil an attempted robbery in a nearby alley. He didn’t expect to recognize the would-be perpetrator of the crime. And he didn’t expect to shoot that man to death.
An hour earlier, he was sharing a breakthrough mathematical discovery with a colleague. A day earlier, he was unraveling a puzzle with implications for the events that shape our lives. And a week earlier, he was falling asleep beside his beloved wife of twenty-two years.
After a year of frustrated effort, a horrific tragedy sparks David’s incredible discovery about mathematical randomness. Still reeling from this crime, he latches onto a theory that will reshape his field and change the way everyone thinks about mathematics, physics, history and basic laws of cause-and-effect.
Told in reverse, The Theory of Anything is an intellectual crime novel that takes readers back through the previous seven days to uncover the crime and subsequent events—random or predetermined—that will define David’s mathematical career and ruin his life.
A unique short crime novel that explores the mysteries of love, loss and mathematics, in addition to a senseless murder, The Theory of Anything follows one man’s harrowing journey through grief and discovery. It’s the perfect book for fans of Memento and A Beautiful Mind.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Anything-Greg-Hickey-ebook/dp/B087F5R75G/
My Review
I received a free copy of The Theory of Everything through a newsletter offering. All opinions stated here are my own.
The Theory of Everything is a short psychological crime novel about a man out for vigilante justice after his wife was murdered. In the description, the author notes the unusual style of story telling, beginning at the end and going backwards to the event that sent him on his quest for vengence, but I found it to be rather off putting and confusing. Also, I did not feel as if anything was resolved at the end, probably because this brief tale is a part of a larger picture and he wants readers to seek out the next book, but it left me very unsatisfied.
The story begins with the main character, a brilliant scientist who loves mathematical theory, stalking a man and moves backwards through the previous days to explain why he is stalking the man who murdered his wife and show how his loss has affected him. At the end of the book we know the why of things, but we don’t know if he is successful in his quest. Does he kill the perpetrator? Does he get away with it? Or perhaps the police are secretly watching and take him down before he reaches his goal? The author leaves us wondering.
This tale was okay, but felt incomplete to me. I give The Theory of Anything three quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.
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Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter.
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Book Review: Truth
Posted: December 23, 2023 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Erotica, Fiction, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Review, Thriller | Tags: BDSM Erotica, Book Review, Erotic Thriller, James Crow, Thriller, Truth, Writing to be Read Leave a comment
About the Book
TRUTH … nothing but the truth
Locked away in the dirty bin – that’s what they called it – a big metal box for the criminally insane. The no-hopers, left to fight for scraps. And fight for their lives.
I thought I would die in that place. Until the priest arrived.
Father John said he believed in me. And that he believed he could save me.
All I had to do was be truthful – the whole truth and nothing but.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/TRUTH-James-Crow-ebook/dp/B086764D1K/
My Review
I reviewed this book’s counterpart, Dare, back in 2018. (You can read my review of Dare here.) I only gave it four stars, because I quite frankly, wasn’t sure what to think of it. At the end of book 1, our heroine, Danielle, is headed off to prison for at least three murders. I picked up a copy of the sequel, Truth, by the same author, James Crow, because I couldn’t imagine where this tale could possibly go from where we left off. Crow had my curioustity raised just by the fact that the sequel exists. Both books venture past erotica into bizarre, and they are definitely not for the faint of heart, with sex, violence and really kinky BDSM stuff floating over the pages like a tantalizing main course, followed by a scrumptious dessert, with more than a few bites in there that are really tough to chew.
There are no lengths Danielle won’t go to in order to gain her freedom, and enemies may become allies faster than you can blink. A prison break that exchanges one kind of cage for another, dragging Danielle into a bizarre world where nothing is sacred, murder seems to be an everyday occurance, and everything revolves around sex. Trapped, it seems there’s no where to escape to, except to the deepest chasms of her mind, and that, my friends, can be a very scary place. Once again, as readers, we’re faced with decifering the unimaginable truths, from horrifying fantasies to determine what’s real and what isn’t.
The lesson in Truth is that it’s okay to sin as long as you do pennance, and Danielle quickly finds the truth in that. Although I found the events in this story extremely shocking, (and I don’t shock easily), for some reason I couldn’t seem to put it down. I give it four quills.
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.
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“Jaguar”: A thought provoking psychological thriller
Posted: July 19, 2021 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Psychological Thriller | Tags: Bill Ransom, Book Review, Dreams, Jaguar, Psycological Thriller, Writing to be Read 2 Comments
Dreams: A journey into the unconscious mind.
For Eddie Reyes and his friend Maryellen, dreams are much more than that. Dreams are an avenue for learning. Dreams are a means of breaking through to parallel worlds and making connections with their friends, Africa Lee and Rafferty. Dreams are a way to control people and a weapon which causes madness. To those who don’t know, it sounds like a cool superpower, but it’s one that carries a heavy price.
For Eddie, it’s the only way to hunt down the Jaguar to save their friends and the rest of the Roam from the persecution of the jaguar priests. But the Jaguar has reached Maryellen’s father through his dreams in this world and he’s intent on keeping she and Eddie apart at all costs.
Can Maryellen and Eddie escape her father and the other traps set on this side by the Jaguar long enough to hunt the him down in his own dreams before he destroys the Roam, and both worlds in the bargain?
My Review
Although Bill Ransom’s Jaguar unfolds the story slowly and it takes a little while to put the puzzle pieces together to form an idea of how the characters are connected and how they fit within the full picture of the story, it is just odd enough to keep your curiosity raised and keep you reading long enough to see it all come together. And by then, you’re hooked. You have to keep reading to find out how it all turns out. You can’t put it down. And it’s a good thing, because if you don’t read through to the end, you will miss the big reveal that changes the game and raises the stake even higher for Eddie.
A well-crafted psychological thriller that will keep you riveted to your seat. I give Jaguar four quills.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Bill-Ransom-ebook/dp/B0054SLB88
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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
