Category: A.R. Hurne Publishing

Body Count (Paige Hanson: Book 2) by S.M. Thomas

~ Jolie ~ Leave a comment

Publisher: AR Hurne Publishing

Date of publication: April 7th, 2023

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Trigger Warnings: Mental Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Kidnapping, Death, Grief

Series: Paige Hanson

The Diseased—Book 1 (review here)

Body Count—Book 2

Purchase Links: Kindle

Amazon synopsis:

Widowed sounded better than divorced.
Or at least it did the first time.

Despite having survived the trials and tribulations of The Diseased – Paige finds herself in a situation that seems even more impossible.

The President is dying.

Those four words set Paige’s life on a course she could never have predicted.

The President is dying, only Paige can save him.

Those eight words are the only ones keeping her friends Georgia and Violet alive.

The President is dying, only Paige can save him. She won’t.

It is those ten words that keep Paige motivated, that keep her sane.

First Line:

The President is sick. Those four words are the tiny gap between life and death for me.

Body Count by S.M. Thomas

Starting shortly after the events of The Diseased, Body Count follows Paige, Georgia, and Violet as they try to keep one step ahead of Paul, the President’s advisor. The President is dying, and Paige knows how to cure him. But she won’t tell. The lives of her son, Georgia, and Violet depend on her silence. Paige is also starting to remember the night of the car accident that killed her husband and caused her amnesia. What she remembers could be the thing that breaks her. What happened that night? Who can’t she trust? Will she be able to save her son and friends?

I don’t even know where to begin with Body Count. I was super excited when I got the heads-up email from the author and immediately downloaded it. I devoured this book. It took me over 3 hours to read. I read it in the car pick-up line (the best place for uninterrupted reading), at dinner, and in bed.

Body Count is the 2nd book in the Paige Hanson series. This book is not standalone. You need to read book 1 to understand what is happening in book 2. If you do read book two first, you will be confused.

Body Count is a fast-paced book that is set on the planet of Earth 2. Most of the book takes place in apartments where Paige, Georgia, and Violet are held captive or in the lab where Paige has done much of her work. This environment, along with the intense pressure that Paige is under for more than 90% of the book, is perfect for the book.

I liked Paige. There were times when I wanted to take her and hug her. Her mental state was shaky during the first half of the book. Not that I blamed her for feeling the way that she did. She thought she couldn’t trust anyone, including her best friend, Violet. She also was dealing with her memory coming back. It wasn’t like a waterfall, and everything came back at once. Nope, it was disjointed and confusing. There were things she remembered that didn’t make sense. But still, she was one of the strongest people in the book.

The secondary characters of Violet, Georgia, Ryle, and Paul were well-written. I liked that the author made it a point to make me not trust Violet, Georgia, or Ryle. Paul, on the other hand, was despicable. He was a faithful sycophant. Like Paige’s, my trust in Violet, Georgia, and Ryle wasn’t strong. I kept wondering what ulterior motives they had.

The main storyline was fantastic. As I said, Paige’s mental health was shaky for the book’s first half. It was understandable with everything that she had been through. She didn’t trust anyone and told her friends half-truths about things. It was understandable. But the book’s second half is where everything starts to pick up. Paige’s memory started returning, and she planned to get her, her friends, and her son out. There are a few big twists in the storyline that I did not see coming. It was sad when her memory returned, and she understood what her husband was trying to say. The author also didn’t hesitate to kill off the main characters. I was shocked at who was killed off. I didn’t see it coming and felt blindsided.

The end of Body Count annoyed me. Mainly because it ended with a To Be Continued. While I am glad that there will be another book, and I hope that Paige gets her revenge, I also wanted a resolution now (stamping my foot like Veruca Salt). I guess I’ll have to wait….sigh.

I would recommend Body Count to anyone over 21. There is language and violence but no sexual situations. Also, see my list of trigger warnings at the beginning of the post.

Many thanks to S.M. Thomas for allowing me to read and review Body Count. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Other books by S.M. Thomas:

The Diseased (Paige Hanson: Book 1) by S. M. Thomas

~ Jolie ~ 4 Comments

Publisher: A.R. Hurne Publishing

Date of publication: September 2nd, 2022

Genre: Dystopia, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Paige Hanson

The Diseased—Book 1

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | AbeBooks | Alibris | Powells | IndieBound | Indigo

Goodreads Synopsis:

“Where is your husband?“

Since waking up from the accident Dr Paige Hanson has been asked that question over and over. By the hospital staff, by her mother in law and by Government officials.

As she struggles to grasp the wisps of memory returning to her Paige learns that there’s more at stake than Leo’s whereabouts.

Turning towards the teachings of the one person she swore never to become she begins to realise that some questions are best left unanswered.

First Line:

“We were drowning. That’s the last thing I remember.”

The Diseased by S.M. Thomas

I like books that keep me guessing what will happen as I read. I also like books that do not fit into what you think a specific genre would be like (if that makes sense). But, most of all, I like books that suck me in, don’t let me go, and make me want more after the ending. Those reasons are precisely what The Diseased did to me as I read it.

The Diseased is the first book in the Paige Hanson series. And what a first book it was!! Seeing that it is the first book, I won’t tell you if you need to read the series first or if it is a standalone.

The Diseased is the story of Dr. Paige Hanson and the mystery of what happened to her husband the night their car drove into a lake. Paige has very fuzzy recollections of what happened and almost none of what led to the accident. Paige, a brilliant scientist, is released from the hospital only to be kept under surveillance at all times. What happened that night? What are Paige’s secrets? Paige realizes she isn’t the only one keeping secrets, but her secrets could kill her.

Paige was a highly complex character which, in my eyes, meant she was complicated to get to know and like. There were several different sides of Paige that were gradually introduced. They were: Paige the scientist; Paige the mother; Paige the wife; Paige the daughter-in-law; Paige the friend; and Paige the daughter/child. The author did a fantastic job of building up each side of Paige and then merging them towards the end of the book. At first, I wasn’t her biggest fan, but the author was able to change my mind about her during the book.

What surprised me the most about this book is that it doesn’t take place on Earth. Nope, the entire story takes place on a planet called Earth 2. There was a disaster on Earth 1, and a lottery was set up to select people to travel to Earth 2. Paige’s mother was one of those who had won the lottery. Nothing else was mentioned about the original Earth, except that it was burning. I figured everyone else died. The new planet was very similar to Earth 1, except there were already intelligent, human-like creatures who occupied it. Those creatures kindly allowed the settlers to build settlements. But, humans doing what they do best and started abusing the original lifeforms, which struck back. When the book begins (about 50 or so years after touching down), there is an uneasy peace. This information was told by Paige, remembering what her mother-in-law and mother had told her about her journey from Earth 1.

I wasn’t surprised by how the ruling government was. The original leaders of Earth 2 decided they didn’t want what happened on Earth 1 to happen again. They decided to remove the settlers’ customs and fundamental rights to make a more cohesive and obedient population. I was terrified and fascinated as I read this book.

I wish the author had gone more into Earth 2’s original occupants. All I knew was that they were human-like, could procreate with humans, and were pissed about what the settlers were doing. There was mention of an influential family with which Paige’s mother was involved, but that was it. Hopefully, in the next book, the author will explain more.

The mystery angle of The Diseased was well written. The author had a stranglehold on where Leo was and why they ended up in the lake. Her remembering those events was terrific and shed so much light on everything!!

The suspense and thriller angles of the book were just as well written. The author kept me in suspense about various plotlines (main and sub) that were going on throughout the book.

The storyline with Regina, Paige, and Franklin was very intense. As a mother, I could see both sides of the coin. I could see why Regina was pushing Paige to remember, and I could also see why Paige was protective of Franklin. Of course, a massive twist in that storyline took me by surprise. It made me rethink Regina (I was not too fond of her actions over most of the book).

The storyline with Paige, Leo, and the mystery of what happened that night was one of the most amazing ones I have read. The author kept me guessing about what happened to Leo and why Paige was driving. She let little details trickle down, gave slight hints, and got everything under wraps. So, when the author revealed everything, I was surprised.

The storyline with the pandemic and Paige hit a little too close to home for me. I did like seeing Paige’s process to develop a vaccine, but at the same time, I kept flashing back to quarantine.

The storyline with Paige and her mother was raw and difficult to read. It was tough to read because of Paige’s emotions. I could see how torn she was between wanting to have a relationship with her mother and, at the same time, she wanted to denounce her. I liked seeing her eventual realization that maybe her mother was on to something and waiting for her mother to do something at the trial.

The end of The Diseased was interesting. I was a little miffed that it ended on a cliffhanger, but it did its job!! I say that because of where Paige ended up and what she did after talking to her friends. I need to read book two and see where Paige goes next.

I would recommend The Diseased to anyone over 21. There are no overtly sexual scenes. But there is violence and language. There are scenes where a baby drowns, a man gets hanged, and another man is forced to denounce his sexuality.