A Knock on the Door

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope she writes more! I am totally hooked!

I love it when a books grabs you within the first few pages - and this one did just that. Fast paced plot with a great story of the ordinary civilian up against high-powered people; very David and Goliath. Who can you trust and how can you stay alive to uncover and expose the truth? And what IS the truth - keeps us guessing a while on what exactly the secret is and then used it in the plot - which I particularly enjoyed. Was also excellent to have two strong female protagonists. Loved the book and look forward to reading her next one.

A thrilling story that begins with Lori’s life being upended by a car accident that takes the life of her husband. Lori starts to come out of the fog of her grief and her life again is turned upside down. Her husband’s former assistant shows Lori evidence that Jack was murdered. The two women start on a quest to discover the truth. Obstacles are thrown at them by some powerful men and they want to stop the two women from finding out the truth. A suspenseful story about the searching for the truth. A fast paced story with great characters.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Amplify Publishing for this ARC, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am so sorry, I could not this to work on my kindle fire. I really wanted to read the book. The Cover is beautiful !! I will have to review it as it becomes available. This indicates it is in PDF format. Thank you for the chance to read this, If I can.

Holy relatable characters!!!!!! This book was an addictive read, I finished it one sitting. I just couldn't put it down once I started it. The plot was amazing, the characters were perfection. Cannot wait to read more from the author.

When Lori's husband is killed in a car accident, she must reimagine her future without him. As she finally feels that she can face each day again, she learns that her husband's accident was not an accident. Her efforts to learn what happened to him and why will lead her into a battle against those who she thought would protect her.

The story line develops quickly into a search for the truth and a battle against the people who would rather she just accept her husband's death and move on. But Lori wants justice. A very good story that quickly held my attention, even when I should have been doing chores. The ending was a surprise. Read at your own risk......

I need to catch my breath after finishing this one. It was non-stop action and quite an engaging storyline. Our main characters are two rather ordinary women, caught up in a situation none of them could predict coming. But they were sharp and tenacious and brave, if not a little reckless in their belief that they could take on the big players in this game that they knew very little about. We have Lori, whose husband is killed in a car accident, and Rita, her husband's former assistant, who learns that the "accident" was so much more than just a tire blowing out. Together, they uncover the underlying truth and all the nefarious players, and it's a race against time and the powerful people behind it all. Soon bodies start piling up and they realize the deadly power games they are playing.

Really enjoyed this book. This is my first by the author and I really liked it looking forward to more by this author. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

Lori Crawford will have a difficult time this holiday season after her husband's death in a car accident. They had been married for 25 years so she thought that she knew all there was to know about him.

Life goes on though until Jack's assistant Rita Johnson who works at SpringWare. Rita comes to her and tells her that her husband's death was suspicious and she thinks that he was murdered. SpringWare is a company that creates video games so what secrets could there be.

Somehow the company is involved with the National Security Agency but why? Rita is sure that there is something nefarious going on. So Rita and Lori embark on a search to see what they can find out. They are determined to bring the person they suspect to justice. But there are more deaths that are somehow made to look like suicides. But why? Did these people get too close to the truth? The ending will definitely surprise you!

This book had a lot of scary situations, but a book that is very readable. I enjoyed the story a lot and would highly recommend it. A great mystery!

It is difficult enough for Lori Crawford to think of the coming holiday season without her dearly loved husband, Jack. They had 25 years of wedded bliss before a car accident stole their future together. Then Rita Johnson, Jack's former assistant at SpringWare, shared information with Lori that Jack's death was murder. Together they are determined to get justice. How does a company that creates video games become involved with the National Security Agency? What will be stronger? Truth and justice or power and money?

I answered the knock on the door and was riveted from start to finish by the author's novel. What a captivating debut! The questions mounted more than the answers, and evidence was scant. As the suspense mounted, I couldn't predict whether truth would prevail over greed, which made it all the more compelling.

Book clubs will appreciate the questions available at the novel's end. Don't miss the special surprise message for book clubs at the end of the questions.

I highly recommend adding this book to your tbr list. I'm excited that the author's website indicates a sequel is in progress. I'll answer the next knock too!

My sincere thanks to Roberta K. Fernandez and Subplot Publishing for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

#AKnockontheDoor #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley for the arc. This review is wholly my own.

The story begins with Lori losing her husband to a car accident only to be later be shown evidence that it may not have been an accident, but murder instead by a former assistant of her husband.

This books has all the "woman power" as they both try to figure out exactly what happened to Jack.

This book captivates you in the first few pages and keeps a fast pace.

I love that the ordinary women are taking on the big guns and not afraid to do it.

Very suspenseful and action-packed. I absolutely loved it and honestly didn't think I would, for some odd reason.

Releases on 10/4/2022 so RUN out and get it!

Suspense, intrigue, action, and a great cast of characters. The storyline was interesting and flowed nicely. A bit slow at first, it got progressively faster and more exciting after the first third. It was refreshing to find a novel that relied on good storytelling rather than foul language and sex to keep things interesting. I wouldn’t lump it into the cosy mystery genre as it’s more intense than that. The characters being middle aged and older added extra layers of depth and interest to the storyline. A great start for a new author, I’m interested to see how she and the characters develop in the next book. Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy in exchange for my honest review. Definitely recommend.

4

Did I stay up all night trying to finish this book.... maybe.....

This book sent me for a loop a few times, just when you think you might know what is going on, you are sent on a scavenger hunt in the other direction to only be brought back to the other side!

This book reminded me a lot of the show how to get away with murder.

I would highly recommend that anyone who is interested in thriller-mystery books to read this one! The suspense and build is absolutely out of this world!

Thank you NetGalley as well as the author for allowing me to read this gem!

I really enjoyed diving into this novel by Roberta K. Fernandez and had a hard time putting it down. The novel focuses on Lori Crawford, a widow who realizes that her late husband's death might not have been an accident. The plot was fast-paced and kept me engaged. I look forward to reading more works by Fernandez in the future.

A Knock on the Door by Roberta K. Fernandez, touches deftly on themes surrounding technology, power, and greed and the dangers they present when no limits are imposed.

A Knock on the Door opens with a brief prologue where Roberta K. Fernandez gives us the final thoughts of a man named Jack Crawford in the last moments of his life. While driving on a freeway, after he hears what he believes is a gunshot, Crawford loses control of his car. It spins out of control across three lanes of traffic before crashing through a guardrail and plunging into a river below. That makes us eager to know more about Jack and about what led to his death.

Fernandez then opens the first chapter, introducing us to Jack’s former assistant Rita Johnson, one of the lead protagonists. She had worked with Jack for eighteen years before moving to her present position in the same software company, SpringWare, working for Mark Mason, the vice president. Mason has tasked Rita with going through Jack’s computer to retrieve what they needed to finish an important project Jack had been working on before his death. Jack Crawford had been almost like a son to Rita, who is a woman in her sixties now, and she still hasn’t come to grips with his sudden death. She anguishes over not trying harder to stay connected with him and his wife, Lori. As she reviews the folders on Jack’s computer, she discovers something odd, an encrypted folder he had named using a code word the two of them had once used for highly sensitive projects. Curious, Rita copies the files to a CD. Later, once she investigates further, Rita discovers something horrific. She feels certain Jack’s car crash was no accident. Someone murdered him and Rita comes to believe they did it because of the project Jack had worked on. Then we’re off and running into the action.

Rita keeps digging into the files she copied from Jack’s computer and learns more of the shocking truth. While SpringWare is a gaming company, she discovers that her current boss, Mason, has agreed with the NSA (the National Security Agency) to deliver a surveillance program that could collect private data on everyone using the Internet. Mason had only allowed those who worked on the software limited access to the whole to keep the purpose of the program secret. But what she found convinced Rita Jack Crawford somehow figured out the intended purpose of the software and who the client was. Growing more certain that led to his death, after some soul searching, she contacts Crawford’s widow, Lori, and tells her Jack’s death was no accident. Someone killed him to prevent him from exposing the secretive piece of software destined for the NSA.

The deeper we get into the story, the more A Knock on the Door reminds us thematically of the 1998 American political action thriller film, Enemy of the State, starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Like the movie, which also attacked “the surveillance society,” the plot explores what happens when powerful bureaucrats and demagogues use the power of the government to gain their own ends and cover their own tracks. And after Rita convinces Lori that someone murdered her husband over a secret surveillance program, together they continue probing, hoping to bring those responsible for Jack’s murder to justice. When two other SpringWare employees connected to the program’s development die suddenly and under suspicious circumstances, Rita and Lori realize just what they are facing and that they may very well become the next victims. They take Jacob Browning, a programmer at SpringWare, into their confidences when they feel certain his life is at risk. Jacob is the “last man standing” among those who worked on parts of the program, unaware of the software’s intended use. And Jacob’s computer skills come in handy as the trio continues uncovering evidence that not only implicates their very demanding, and not particularly pleasant boss Mark Mason in the murders, but also Carl Baxter, the ruthless head of the NSA.

Since Fernandez reveals whodunit early on, the book is far more a thriller than a mystery tale. But by throwing in several surprises along the way, she deftly raises the stakes and ratchets up the tension and heart-pounding suspense all the way through to the splendid climax.

It’s no secret I’m a stickler for authenticity with crime fiction, and must say the premise here is more than a little far-fetched in spots. As an example, in the scenario of two ordinary women trying to bring down the head of one of the nation’s most powerful and clandestine intelligence agencies, it requires little imagination to predict who would be the bug and who the windshield. Also, the story lacks a character like Brill (Gene Hackman’s character) in Enemy of the State, a former spy who understands the inner workings of the intelligence community, to help Rita and Lori. So, we can’t escape the feeling our ruthless, powerful antagonist, Carl Baxter, should easily prevail against the cast of unremarkable civilian good guys in over their heads. But by and large, the story works. In this post-Edward Snowden era, the plot feels perilously close to plausible. When many of us have watched the heads of American intelligence agencies boldly lying before Congress on television, and read about the recent politically motivated FISA court abuses by the FBI, you needn’t be paranoid to feel distrustful of many of our most powerful federal agencies. It’s not the government that is the enemy, but the unelected bureaucrats and demagogues who use the power of the government to pursue their own agendas with no conscience and seemingly no real oversight from our elected officials. This makes A Knock on the Door feel uncomfortably real.

With only a little suspension of belief required, the most demanding fast-paced thriller fans will find this a very gripping and entertaining book. Roberta K. Fernandez displays excellent story-telling ability and offers us a cast of likeable and relatable lead characters blindsided by the misused power of the state, along with a believable antagonist convinced that his job somehow places him above the law that we love to hate. From the perspective of pure escapism, I found it both an entertaining and riveting read with much to like. I could imagine easily a filmmaker adapting it for film.

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
A well written quality debut, absorbing believable and entertaining from first to last page. Believable characters throughout and a clever descriptive intelligent story with plenty of surprises along the way. Modern themes but with old fashioned feel that I really enjoyed. In her notes the Author states some of these characters will ride again, and I look forward to that prospect, however sadly my particular favourite will not, as a victim of a hit and run which came as a complete shock, and left me blankly staring at the page open mouthed.
Completely recommended.

Wow! This was one of the most intense thrillers I've read for a while. It's so cleverly layered and written and there is just a non stop cat and mouse type chain of events that just sweep everyone in its path, away! It's not a quick read or a book you can read whilst you're multitasking or also talking to the hubby. You need focus and to really shut the world away whilst you get completely lost in this book. Definitely recommended!

I loved this story. I have never read a book by this author before but it will not be my last. I love the suspense and action in this story. I was biting my nails through most of the last half of the book. I loved Lori, Jack, Rita and Jacob. I loved the fast pace of the story. I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

Wow. The entire time i was reading it (i WHIPPED through it in roughly 4 hours) my heart was pounding and i had so many theories and questions. if you love insanely well written and fast paced books with crazy plot twists and well developed, shady, and secretive characters - PLEASE READ THIS !!!!!

Once I had started on this ambitious thriller, I could not turn the pages fast enough. The trope of the bereaved and deceived wife is masterfully executed by Fernandez whose literary protagonist is called Lori. Lori has been married to Jack for more than a quarter of a century when she is told he has died as a result of a car accident. Lori is in shock but soon Jack’s former assistant Rita appears with evidence that the purported accident was in fact hit-and-run. With the main suspect a powerful, ruthless individual, can the two women succeed against all the odds and obstacles in proving that Jack was murdered?

Beautifully written, this novel had me rooting for Lori and Rita from the start and I could not wait to see how the thriller finished. Definitely a five-star work! Now I cannot wait to see what Fernandez will write next. Meanwhile, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for the digital ARC I received in exchange for producing this honest and unbiased review.

This is a fast paced book full of suspense and intrigue. It is well written with a great cast of characters. It is so engaging. The setting was described so vividly. I loved all the twists and turns

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

A great thriller - I would recommend it!