I received my copy of this book from NetGalley as an ARC on behalf of Mysterious Press in return for my honest review.

Blood Rubies at its core is a book about a jewel heist gone wrong. But the book struggled to stick to one storyline and diverted quickly to many different loose threads that were never fully tied up. Our main character Rune was underdeveloped and perhaps misassigned in her role as a jewel thief. We never really got a good picture of how or why she got into the heist business, other than a brief nod to the fact that her father seemed to have been a gemologist. She also appeared to struggle with anxiety, which is not a strong characteristic for a criminal, but if done correctly and with more intention might have worked. In this case though it did not, and it left me feeling instead that she was just really bad at her job. The ending was shocking, but not in a good way. Instead, it left me feeling (sing along because you know you know this one!) "All that work and what did it get me!"

While this story ultimately did not work, the author is talented, and I enjoyed their writing style. I just wish they had some more guidance and done some more editing, because I do believe there is a worthy story in here but seems they let all their ideas out of the bag at once and they did not mesh well together.3 s Cindy1,149 9

Happy Publication Day today (May 7, 2024)

Meet Rune, a delightfully quirky young jewel thief. She is self-assured in her safecracking abilities, always hungry, persistent, unafraid. Her father is Thai and her mother is of European descent, so she has felt out of place most of her life. She's a thief, and she stole my heart!

Rounded up for solid writing and excellent narration. This is the story of Rune who is almost caught at her latest job, whose boyfriend's sister is missing, and who must pull off the heist of her life to free her boyfriend, Kit, but stumbles across a dark secret.... In other words, it's quite a bit messy! Some storylines are hinted at but not resolved. Nevertheless, it's full of unrelenting tension and high-stakes action that take us around Bangkok, Singapore, and New York City.

I look forward to reading more of this author's books.

My thanks to the author, Mysterious Press, and #NetGalley for the advance audiobook for review purposes. audiobooks giveaways-and-arcs mysteries-and-crime2 s HeatherREADS140 2

Rune Sarasin has a checkered past. Now she is finding out that life as a jewel there can be hard as well. Her boyfriend, Kit, is being held hostage while his little sister Madee is missing. Oh yeah, and Rune stole and then lost a criminal mastermind’s treasured rubies. Can she possibly get everything straightened out and save Kit, Maddee, and her own life too?

I got this novel as an arc audiobook from NetGalley, and I loved the audiobook format. The narrator, Cindy Kay, was great with a fantastic sense of timing, perfect pace, and of course, unique voices conveying personalities for all of the speaking characters. Not an easy feat! I will definitely be looking for more of her work in the future.

The plot was super engaging. Audiobooks usually take me at least 3 days, sometimes many more depending on the length and amount of time I can devote to listening. I listened to this one in about 24 hours. I could not turn it off! It was just the right amount of danger and violence. The main character had such a backstory that it could support its own book! The pace was quick, the characters drew me in, the story was engaging - what more could I ask for? A sequel? Or could this be the start of a great new series?
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