Jersey Girl Book Reviews

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Book Spotlight: When The Night Comes Knocking by Katherine Daniel

When The Night Comes Knocking by Katherine Daniel

Publisher: Berkley Publishing / Penguin Random House

Publication Date: October 20, 2026

Format: Hardcover - 304 pages

Audiobook - 9 Hours 14 Minutes

Kindle - 302 pages

Nook - 304 pages

ISBN (Hardcover): 979-8217191338

ASIN (Audiobook): B0GM4TDYVJ

ASIN (Kindle): B0GHVB81HL

BNID (Nook): 979-8217191352

Genre: Horror

Buy The Book:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Book Description:

In this Appalachian horror novel, two estranged siblings become trapped in a convenience store under attack by a monster from the mountains who feasts on guilty hearts.

Rattle, rattle in the dark…

The mountain’s bones seek out a heart.

Jane has not spoken to her brother Thomas since the accident that nearly killed them both. Their drive from college through the North Georgia mountains is uncomfortably silent, until they stop at a roadside convenience store, where a man stumbles in with a mutilated body, claiming to have been attacked by a monster.

At first, no one believes the man’s ravings, but when the next person to leave the store is brutally killed, they fear that local legend might be

There’s a beast in these mountains who feasts on guilty hearts… and someone among them has lured it out of hiding.

Jane and Thomas each harbor secrets, but so do the other patrons, and as the monster claims more hearts, the survivors turn on each other, desperate to save themselves by uncovering the guiltiest among them.

If the siblings can’t overcome the rift between them, they’ll surely become the monster’s next victims…or worse, become monsters themselves.

About The Author

Katherine Daniel is a fiction writer based in Atlanta, Georgia, where she loves to explore the dark and twisty parts of what it means to be human through storytelling. She received a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from Georgia State University and is represented by Cheyenne Faircloth of Handspun Literary Agency. Her debut horror novel When the Night Comes Knocking is being published by Penguin Random House on October 20th, 2026.

Author Website

Amazon Author Page

BookBub

Goodreads

Friday, October 16, 2026

Surf Waves of Betrayal by Mark Oliver (Book Review)

Surf Waves of Betrayal by Mark Oliver

Publisher: Independent Self Publisher

Publication Date: June 27, 2024

Format: Paperback - 119 pages

Kindle - 118 pages

ISBN (Paperback): 979-8329683196

ASIN (Kindle): B0D8BYGF8K

Genre: Espionage Thriller

Buy The Book:

Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited)

BookBub

Goodreads

Disclaimer: I read a copy of the book from my Kindle Unlimited Program.

Book Description:

Every wave carries a secret. Every betrayal has a price. Covert operatives Jack Lawson, Emily Parker, Turner and the enigmatic Sarah are thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse when coordinated attacks threaten to bring a city to its knees. The trail leads to a conspiracy involving some of the most powerful people in the country, and to betrayal inside their own ranks.

My Book Review:

In Surf Waves of Betrayal, author Mark Oliver weaves an intriguing espionage thriller about a team of covert operatives who embark on a dangerous mission to uncover a sinister corruption conspiracy that threatens to put the nation in chaos and allow far-reaching corrupt conspirators of politicians, business leaders and law enforcement officials to seize control and implement their own agenda. Can the team of covert operatives successfully complete their mission and get justice for the people?

What started out as an intriguing storyline that pulled me into the covert operatives' mission led by Jack Lawson, strategist Emily Parker, former CIA operative Turner, and tech genius Sarah Williams, quickly turned into a disappointing storyline of repeating scenarios from the middle to the conclusion. I was like what is this, I already read this part of the story, and as I continued to read it was like reading a story that kept looping the scenarios with slight changes to characters and locations but the same missions. I am not a reader that DNFs books, I always hope that somewhere along the way the storyline would turn into something worthwhile, and this novella had that potential to do that, but something was definitely wrong. I contacted the author and explained that there is a formatting issue with the Kindle edition, and he looked into it and agreed that he had made a book cover change, and it must have affected the formatting of the manuscript. Therefore, while I read the book and can only issue three stars at this time, it does have a potential to be a very intriguing espionage thriller, I will at some point reread the book to see if the corrections were made and revisit this book review for any revisions that I may make.

I will not publish this book review on the usual sites: Amazon, BookBub, Goodreads, and LibraryThing until the author corrects the Kindle Unlimited e-book edition.

Rating: 3 STARS

About The Author

Mark Oliver writes fast, clean suspense with heart, including the Suspense Fun Thriller with Faith series set in San Diego and the standalone espionage thriller Surf Waves of Betrayal.

Friday Finale: 10/16/2026

Welcome to Friday Finales!

Every Friday I will be sharing my weekly book wrap up. The wrap up will consist of my week in reading. I will share, current book reading, books finished, TBR list, book reviews, book spotlights, and any book mail received during the week.