Winds of Fear: A gripping psychological thriller (Fearless Series)

A super annoying couple imposes on the family of Ty and Abbie Rambally as a woman who calls herself Jenna asks upon first meeting "Who is the father of Lucas?", their oldest son. Abbie did what any parent would, and said "None of your business, now get out!" and spends her time obsessing over why her neighbors were acting so strangely. The truth of the matter is, they do not have good intentions and plan to do everything to ruin her family. The babysitter picks up on this and is quickly eliminated and conveniently replaced by someone these new neighbors recommend. The reader waits for something to happen to Lucas, and when it does, it's when they decide to send the kids on a summer vacation with their grandparents. How convenient? The show more morning they wake up to send the kids on a plane, Lucas is not in his room, nowhere to be found, so it's a race against time as they try to figure out who the Payne's really are and what happened to their son.

This book is packed with plenty of heart pounding scenarios as this family goes through a parent's worst nightmare. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although it wasn't hard to figure out who Jenna really was. Her initial reactions to first seeing Lucas and her cringing at Abbie's reply to "Who is Lucas' real father"? I did not figure out the mastermind on my own though, and loved the element of surprise. What happened in the very ending I only considered okay. Overall, it was a good, fast paced read. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book. show less

I have a thing about thrillers involving neighbors and false identities, so when I got the opportunity to read Winds of Fear by Glede Browne Kabongo, I jumped at the chance!

When Jenna and Charlie Payne move into the house next door, things start going bad for Abbie Rambally, especially after Jenna takes a special interest in Abbie's 10 year old son Lucas. Before long, Abbie starts suspecting that her neighbors aren't who they say they are and that their intentions could put her family in mortal danger.

The synopsis really sucked me in. I had to know what was up with Abbie's neighbors, so I dove into Winds of Fear right away. The pacing is fairly slow for the first half of the book as Kabongo sets up the backstory for each character. show more However, once I got to the second half of the novel, the pacing sped up, and I was hooked! I could not stop reading even though it was way past time for me to go to sleep. I felt like this was where the most action really happened and where the actually plot and the meat of the story was. Kabongo is heavily into describing each and every thing which was a bit tedious, but in the second half of the story, I was hooked on every word, so I didn't really mind. There were quite a few plot twists in Winds of Fear. In fact, every time I thought I had something figured out and felt smug about it, a plot twist would smack me right in the face! Though this book the third in the Fearless Series, I felt like it stands alone quite well without reading the first two books. Kabongo does a fantastic job of explaining what happened to Abbie (and her family) previously quite well. There is a fourth book that will be released in the series, but I found that all my questions were answered in Winds of Fear. However, I will be reading the next installment in the series because I want to know more about Abbie's life!

The characters in Winds of Fear were very fleshed out and well written thanks to all of Kabongo's backstory she added throughout the book. I enjoyed the character of Abbie although sometimes I felt like she was being a little too suspicious too early on after just meeting the Paynes...her paranoia just felt too rushed. However, Abbie was a very well written character besides that. I could feel how much she loved her kids, her husband, and her life. My heart went out to her when she was torn between her duties as a mother and advancing her career. I was beside myself when everything went down involving Lucas. Her pain and worry felt very realistic. I would have liked to see more of Ty, Abbie's husband. Ty came across as such a fantastic man. I couldn't help but love him myself after reading about him. His love for wife and children were obvious from the get-go. The Rambally children (Alexis, Blake, and Lucas) were all so smart and adorable. I just wanted to hug them all! I loved their close relationship and how they all wanted to help each other out. Blake and Lucas were fantastic with how inquisitive they were. I also loved Olivia (Liv). She seemed like such a sweet girl. I won't go into much more detail about her, but I was saddened that I didn't get to read more about her. Jenna and Charlie were also fantastic characters. I kept trying to figure out what they brought to the table and why they were so wrapped up with the Ramballys. Also, with the Iceman, I felt he really did live up to his nickname!

Trigger warnings for Winds of Fear include mentions of sexual assault (not graphic), drinking alcohol (although not to excess), violence, murder (not very graphic), kidnapping, and blackmail.

All in all, Winds of Fear is quite the psychological thriller. It's got relatable characters, an interesting plot, and it makes you try to guess just to be wrong. I would recommend Winds of Fear by Glede Browne Kabongo to those ages 18+ to those who love to be sucked into a good book!
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(A special thank you to Xpresso Tours for providing me with an eBook of Winds of Fear by Glede Browne Kabongo in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.) show less

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Winds of Fear, the third book in the Fearless series, continues the story of Abbie Cooper. This installment takes place ten years after the events of book two.

In this installment Abbie is a happily married and a mother of three beautiful children. She is preparing for her PhD, while her husband is a successful cardiothoracic surgeon, a job which kept him form home for long periods of time. However, thanks to their Nanny, Olivia, things were not as stressful. All appeared to be going well, until the Paynes moved in next door. Abbie’s instincts went on alert on meeting them. She sensed they couldn’t show more be trusted, especially with their unhealthy show on interest in her first-born son, Lucas. Then Olivia quits without notice, which sends up an immediate red flag. Will Abbie be able to find out what the Paynes are up to before it’s too late? Abbie can never seem to get a break. Someone was always trying to hurt her, and this time around her family was the target.

Winds of Fear took me on thrilling and emotional ride. The author weaved a suspenseful tale which kept me up reading into the wee hours. Knowing who wanted to hurt Abbie was easy to figure out, but what kept me flipping the pages was my need to learn of the perpetrators’ nefarious plans and the steps Abbie would take to save her family.

The story was well-paced with several twists. The most shocking of which took place near to the end. It is for this reason it’s best to read the previous book prior to reading Winds of Fear, that way one will appreciate the jaw dropping twist.

The secondary characters added depth and excitement to the story. Once again Abbie had the unwavering support of her friends and relatives. I loved Abbie’s children. I found them to be smart and resilient, just like their mom.

Although I enjoyed the story, I had an issue which concerned Olivia’s sudden departure. I can’t go into much details without giving away the story. What I will say though, based on what the author revealed near the end, the events leading up to her sudden departure appeared implausible given her actions earlier in the story.

It amazed me to discover that Abbie’s troubles were not over and that book 4 will release soon. I can’t wait to see what next is in store for her.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Winds of Fear is a great addition to the series. I recommend it to fans of suspense and thrillers.

This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading show less