Abby Mullen Thrillers: Uncover a Deadly Influence

Lexee Toste: This was a great read. It pulled me in from beginning to end and Abby was a great character. She is a negotiator with the police and she ends up getting pulled into a case she wouldn’t normally be assigned to when someone from her past calls and asks for help, her son has been kidnapped and they want a high ransom amount. The story was interesting and had plenty of twists and turns as they tried to put the pieces together of who had taken Nathan and why. Being around Eden also brought up childhood memories for Abby from when they were in the cult and causing some questions to start rising. The story was well done and I can’t wait for the next one and to see how things move forward with the twist at the end regarding the past.

United States on Nov 09, 2023

Diane: I found Abby a wonderful character and especially liked it when she used her skills in talking with her daughter. Every parent need negotiators skills! It was an exciting story with plenty of twists. I am looking forward to the next book!

United States on Nov 09, 2023

gfierro: I was definitely hooked from the start! There was constantly twist and turns throughout the story. I think that it was a great balance and speed. One thing i really enjoyed was the facts shared regarding cults and police procedures, like being a negotiator. I bought the sequel before i even finished this one because i was honestly entertained with this one! Abby's personality is relatable while also showing so many heroic strengths. I really think that this book could be entertaining for people interested in exploring the genre of police procedural.

United States on Nov 07, 2023

Soma Bhattacharya: A huge disappointment. It seems the author had predecided to make this a 400 plus pages book. The plot could have been wrapped effectively within 200 pages. Reading this was an ordeal.

India on Nov 04, 2023

M. Bennett: When Abby Mullen, hostage negotiation instructor, gets a phone call from a mom about a missing child, she feels compelled to help. Once she gets to the mom’s house, she finds that she knows her. They share a past made up of tragic events from a cult that they were both members of when they were children. After delving into the mysteries around the child’s disappearance, Abby finds that she might be dealing with another cult. Finding herself reliving the past, she uses what she knows to help navigate her way through the dealings with this new cult.

The book flows between the past and the present effortlessly. We see the struggles that the children went through in the past and how it actually helps Abby with the case in the present. The story also brings social media into the picture and shows how it can be entertaining but also dangerous.

It was a good story that had some endearing characters. While the book tied up this story, it did leave a tiny cliffhanger at the end. I feel the need to go to the next book just to see what is going on.

United States on Aug 20, 2023

JohntheGees: Another "damaged" detective, with flashbacks to her childhood in a cult and dealing with her divorced husband and childen.
Still manages to carry on with this police procedural thriller, twist at the end means you to buy book 2 !!!

United Kingdom on Jan 18, 2023

Lance Mitchell: In the main, this is a gripping, fast-paced chiller thriller. The characters, especially the main protagonist, Abby Mullen, are authentic. Abby is a negotiator and the opening scene shows us a very good view of her regular work: talking down a potential suicide.

Her past soon catches up with her when somebody from her childhood calls her with news that her child has been abducted. Abby pledges her help. Her past catches up with her.

There is a lot of intimate and well-researched information in this book regarding the way that cults work and it is scary. There are lots of tangled relationships and there are many doubts about who can and cannot be trusted.

This is a genuine page-turner and I found myself reading well into the small hours of the morning.

Although, for the most part, the pace left me breathless, I thought that it dropped off a bit in the middle.

I should not have been surprised that the first book in a series ended with a cliff-hanger, but the mysterious revelation was a bit annoying. It was also slightly predictable. I can’t reveal any more without exposing a major spoiler.

Overall, I thought that this was a fantastic read...

United Kingdom on Jul 24, 2021

Brittany Shields: Which is more dangerous— the influence of a cult or being a social media influencer?

A Deadly Influence weaves these two powers together in a chilling thriller about a kidnapping and what it takes to get him back.

This was a well-written and suspenseful story. I thought I had the abductor figured out, but I was wrong. BUT based on the last few sentences of the book, I was actually right just in a different way. It ends on a cliffhanger setting up book two. So I’ll have to read that one now.

It includes quite a bit of negotiating strategy. You will probably finish the book feeling like you could most certainly negotiate yourself out of a hostage situation! (But let’s not do anything stupid.)

I also want to commend the author for good, creative, realistic, and at times (properly) funny writing and dialogue.

“He was actually a softhearted kitten trapped in a the body of a nineties-movie action hero.”

“They should insist all prospective negotiators have kids. Nothing prepared you better for crisis management.”

Very relatable, Mike Omer. Well. Mostly relatable. The characters eat Chick-Fil-A and one eats her sandwich with...

United States on Jun 30, 2021

Dom: 'The way you wanted?” she repeated his words. It was the number one tool in any negotiator’s arsenal—mirroring. Repeat the subject’s words, demonstrate that you were listening, and make them elaborate more.'

Abby Mullen is a hostage negotiator and she's one of the best. She had a dark past from when she was 7 involving a cult. Which plays a huge part in who she is.
I found her to be a brilliant character, her past and present neatly tie up together to form a character that you love and want to know more about.

When an 8 year old boy is kidnapped, she is called by a woman called Eden. This Eden was also at the same cult when she was younger, the only person she wants to help was Abby.

'Of course, her fans didn’t know she wasn’t posting for them at all. Sure, they put bread on her table. But for more than a year, all her posts had been aimed only at him.'

Abby along with Carver investigate deep into yet another cult suspected of taking Nathan. All the while Eden's daughter seems to have a stalker.

Mike Omer has a way of creating characters that are intricately thought out and have huge amounts of depth.

This book was a fair...

United Kingdom on Apr 11, 2021

Linda: This is an absolutely brilliant new series from Mike Omer. I have read all his Zoe Bentley thrillers and his Glenmore Park series and love them all, so I was delighted to discover that he had created a new character and couldn’t wait to get stuck in. Mr Omer has a way of injecting humour into the most serious of scenes, to lighten the darkness, and yet still manage to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, gripping the book tightly in all the tense moments. This book really takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the cult lifestyle, how it takes control of its recruits, and the horrendous effect it can have on the life of an innocent member. However, the main focus of the story is actually about the kidnapping of a young boy and the terror and fear it inserts into his family. Abby Mullen is a highly experienced negotiator who works hard for the release of the victim, meeting plenty of surprises and unexpected discoveries along the way. The book is very well written, carefully researched and held my attention throughout. It was hard to put down and very exciting to read. Eventually, and sadly, reaching the end, I was delighted to see that the next in this excellent series is...

United Kingdom on Mar 12, 2021