Endings, was both a great character study and thriller. A middle aged wife and mother loses her family in a horrific fire. Unbelievably, she becomes a killer for hire for a shady dark web company. Some how, this once ordinary wife and mother teaches herself to be an effective gun for hire. She discovers that a twisted psychopathic kidnapper and pedophile has killed thirteen young children and makes it her mission to use her special skills to track him down and kill him. Although much of her success in capturing the killer seemed improbable, the story held my attention and kept me swiping to the last page.

I tried to read this, but gave up about 1/4 of the way through. It was definitely a DNF for me. I would still read more by the author. However, I just didn't connect with this story.

2/5 Stars

Endings is a book about a woman whose life was upended due to the death of her child and eventually her husband . An accidentally overheard conversation in the hospital leads our protagonist down the road of becoming a hitwoman (farfetched, I know). But willing to go along with the idea of how this starts, the reader has expectations of where it will go. And unfortunately, it went no where. The writing is so sparse with character development being almost nonexistent which I suppose as a hitwoman you'd want to live on the edge of existence. But it doesn't work for this reader. I can't empathize with her loss due to her life choices. She eventually hears about a serial killer that sounds worse than she is and determines to bring him to justice. Like all good thrillers the bad guy never just dies the first time around. Which was a shame as it just prolonged the book. Eventually, the hunt for the serial killer that was of lesser value than our hitwoman, leads her to self-discovery of forgiveness.
Thank you to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for offering an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book is about love , loss and murder.
The story is about a women who loses her son and husband . She has to work out what she going to next which leads to her being a hit lady and than she stumble across a serial killer who kills children. Who she goes to try hunt down. You may find it upsetting in places. The story was easy to reading and it was good read.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for the eARC.
I enjoyed this read, I finished it in one day and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I wasn't too keen on the middle part when she's hunting the serial killer. I'm tired of the serial killer angle. That said, the protagonist is a hit woman...I guess she's a serial killer too. But I liked her, I even empathized with her. After her young son was killed in a fire and her husband eventually died of his injuries, she's dead inside with grief and broke. She stumbles into a deal with a couple where for $10,000 she has to kill a man who owes the couple a lot of money. She ends up being a paid assassin for a shadowy group who pays her in Bitcoin. This took a lot of research on her part; she has never used a gun, doesn't know how to get one, let alone shoot one and it takes a long time for her to learn everything involved in her new career, among others - how to open a Bitcoin account.
We never know her name or how she looks, but that doesn't matter, because we live in her head and get to know her very well...and I really liked and admired her. After taking the puppy after another hit I decided I wanted this to be a series - her going after cruel and nasty characters to make the world a safer place appeals to me: an female avenging angel and her trusty dog what's not to like!?
Well written and a good plot; a book I definitely recommend

Not so long ago a discovered Oceanview Publishers on NetGalley and this is the third book from them that I have read. Well, all I can say is that Oceanview Publishing appears to be my ideal. All three books I have read have simply been fantastic! Endings is no exception.
At the beginning of the book, there is a letter to the reader from Oceanview Publishers CEO – Bob Gussin - in his letter he says that he would love to meet the protagonist in this book – I am right there with you! This leading lady is a woman I would love to share some time with.
What would drive you to kill someone for money? Endings explores that question. But more than that, the book looks at the various endings we face during life. The author digs deep into the emotions caused by the loss of family and brings us a character that reflects a little piece of all of us.
The author created a protagonist who is never named, a woman who we never really see while at the same time managing to share her feelings and emotions so clearly that you find yourself deeply invested in this character. Endings is a creative, realistic work of fiction that will leave you looking inside yourself.
She had a perfect life, a husband, a son she adored, a job and a lovely home – when all that is suddenly taken away life seems to lose all meaning. She accidentally overhears a conversation and soon she finds herself drawn into a world where she is a professional hitman. Her life becomes a series of missions, with few questions asked. Until a news story touches her heart and she decides to take on a serial killer….. can she find this monster and if she does can she kill him. Can she kill someone of her choosing? Can she be judge and executioner?
This book simply wowed me. While to story is harsh, dealing with murder for hire, the author added a deeply emotional side to the tale. Humanising a killer and showing you the inside of her mind. The protagonist is a normal, middle-aged woman – someone very much like myself. While reading this book I constantly wondered what I would do if I found myself in her situation. Scary!
The is no doubt I simply fell in love with this protagonist despite never really seeing her. All the author gives you about her leading lady is that she is a middle-aged woman. She doesn’t have a name and you are never given any kind of a description of what she looks like. At the same time, you are inside her head and left experiencing her emotions and feelings. The author did an absolutely marvellous job with the character.
I did not expect to end up loving a murderer for hire, however, this woman turned out to be someone I could relate to. I simply loved this book and think the author did a truly fantastic job creating a “bad guy” who was actually a “good guy”.
Endings is not your typical thriller story, it looks at murder very differently. This book will have thriller fans raving!
If you enjoy a thriller – please get your hands on a copy of this book. It is a fantastic read that will leave your head spinning! I guarantee this book will have you missing out on some sleep.

Her child died in the fire that destroyed their home. Her husband finally succumbed to his injuries and now she was alone. She overhears a couple who are in need of a contract killer and decides to help them. She’s never killed anyone, but takes the steps to purchase a weapon and learn how to kill. She becomes quite good at it until she meets her next target. He is a charming man and she can’t understand who would want to kill him. They become lovers and I was hoping for a different outcome at this point, but… When she learns about a man who has been abducting and killing young children, he is now her unpaid target. Will she find him before he can kill again? The summary sounded interesting, but I found it sad and rather depressing and was glad to make it to the end. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

It doesn't matter what her name is or what her dog's name is. What matters is that her losses are so great that she turns to killing people to earn enough money to sustain herself. It turns out that she's good at it and she earns more than enough,, in bitcoins, to afford the simple and rather isolated existence she's built. After a particularly intimate killing she is drawn to tracking a man who is wanted for the kidnapping and suspected deaths of many young children. Endings is a story of great loss and some redemption. Richards applies a deft hand to what could have been a trite story, creating a suspenseful novel that makes the reader get to know and care about a killer. Well done!

Did you ever think you would root for a Hit Woman? I never did either, but that’s exactly what happened in this explosive, psychological thriller that I just couldn’t stop reading to the very last page.

The Narrator starts her story having everything. She has a young child, a husband, good job, nice house, a life in place that is meaningful. Then tragedy strikes with a fire that kills her son and husband. This shatters her world and everything that seemed important has lost all meaning. Her life feels completely gone, she is just a shell of a woman walking around.

Then she hears of a Serial Killer that has killed so many young children. This man is someone a trained killer might be able to track and find. Here begins the cat and mouse game that is psychological thriller at it’s best. The Narrator is skilled at killing, yes, but this stirs something she has lost, the ability to feel again. She can not just let little children die, she does know that feeling. Will she be able to find redemption and free herself again or forever be trapped in this man’s sick, tormented mind? So, the twisted tale begins.

Heart pounding, can’t put down read that keep me up late and wanting all the doors locked. Evil can not usually be seen, it creeps in and takes over. Yes, I think you will enjoy this book.

Thank You NetGalley, Linda L Richards, and Oceanview Publishing for an ARC of this book.

After her son dies in a house fire and her husband also dies from his injuries after being in a coma for ages - our protagonist, who is never named, is at a big fat loose end. While sitting by her husband’s bedside she can’t help overhearing the man in the next bed and his wife desperately talking, trying to find some extra money to pay for the husband’s treatment which their health insurer has knocked back. She hears them saying “if only we could find someone to kill him for $10,000 we could get the insurance money”. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yep, she does. She says “I’ll do it”. And so begins her second career as a hit woman.

After a less than auspicious start she gets really good at killing people for money. But she doesn’t seem real happy. There is one really poignant moment in the story which I can’t tell you about because it is pivotal to the plot and seems to shift her thinking somewhat. She no longer seems happy just killing people! Then she hears a story about a man, William Atwater, who is thought to have killed at least 16 young children and the police are nowhere near catching him. Our protagonist thinks she will be the one to find him and kill him. But things don’t quite work out that simply.

There really not that much more to this story. Oh it was about love and loss and redemption and what makes us human but I thought it was all a bit... thin. This book evoked no feelings from me. It was all kind of flat and undramatic. I can’t actually recommend this one. I am aware that other reviewers rated it more highly so I urge you to make up your own mind. Thanks to Netgalley, Oceanview Publishing and the author for providing a copy to review. My opinions are my own.

I have read "Endings" by Lisa L. Richards. Thanks to Lisa at Goodreads Netgalley Support Group for recommending it to me. I have come to read a lot of books about assassins and this is another one, but it is not like most. What will you do if your life collapses and you have no means of support? Well you could always become an assassin... I was at first sceptical about this book but I became hooked just a couple of sentences in and then it was really hard to put down. The storyline is not something I ever before came across and I would like a second book about this hitwoman. It is a strong story and it's well written, I will most certainly see what more this author has written. Highly recommended. Thanks to @netgalley @oceanviewpub and @lindalrichards for this advance copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Oceanview Publishing, and Ms. Richards for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

This was an interesting ride of a book. A relatively quick read, as well, if you're looking for something that won't make you struggle to get through.

I don't know why the concept of a hitperson (he/she/them) is fascinating to me. Not so much in the execution of the jobs (no pun intended) but in the how and why that a person would enter into such an occupation. I'm not sure how much of the description provided by the author is accurate - nor will I ever find out, I'm sure - but it certainly seemed plausible. The unnamed protagonist's account of the loss of her son was devastating. As a mother of a similarly-aged son I completely empathized with her. It is easy enough to imagine what a person might do when they feel they have literally nothing to lose.

The first portion of the book, and its accompanying ruminations over life and death and purpose, were absolutely fascinating. The second half, i.e. the unnamed protagonist's hunt for the serial killer of so many young children, was also quite good but felt like (almost) a separate book? The two narrative halves seemed a little too separate. Nonetheless I enjoyed both. Curtis Diamond and Lisa Jane Samaritano were both enjoyable side characters that I would not mind seeing more of. In fact, the way the story ended, I'm half convinced that the author might be able to make a solid series out of this book. An anonymous hit woman-slash-vigilante and her puppy solve crimes with the help of a fairly vague but definitely correct psychic and an intrepid reporter? Sure! I'd be totally up for that!

The one real quibble I had with the protagonist's character was the relative ease with which she took to her new profession: not ethically, but technically. She was able to figure out and master lots of very new and unique skills quickly and completely (not just firing a gun, but becoming a great shot/navigating the dark web/bitcoin accounts/finding mercenary companies to hire her/discovering ways to kill people without getting caught/hijacking cars/etc). Don't tell me you can just google and youtube your way into absolute proficiency. Sure: you can definitely find all these answers but that doesn't mean you'll be an expert at all this stuff. And it strikes me that if you weren't an expert you'd probably.... get caught fairly quickly?
But of course, that's the magic of good fiction stories: you get swept away in the story and don't really stop to think about the minutiae. At least not until afterwards.

I would definitely recommend this to readers who are able to handle a fairly dark suspense novel with a solid antiheroine. People triggered by relatively casual discussion of murder, especially those triggered by violent murder of children, should probably avoid it.

Endings by Linda L. Richards is a superb and engrossing read which will keep you reading until the end. Well worth the read!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing.

I love a good killer woman book and this, my friends? Is a doozy!

So not to get too spoiler but we have an unnamed protagonist which I will admit weirded me out at first but now I think was a really cool and inspired choice.

This woman's choices could be made by anybody given the circumstances! And I really liked the idea of a killer going after a killer.

This book was wonderful!

I love stories about hired killers who are women. It’s hard to explain but I feel like it turns the stereotype that women are empathetic and couldn’t be cold blooded killers on its head. This book helped me feed my interest in these types of stories. It was really well written and well plotted. It was an interesting choice by the author to not name the main protagonist but I felt like it made her experience more compelling. She could be the soccer mom down the street that’s a killer for hire! This was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a fast paced entertaining story. This could be an episode of Killing Eve!!. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

I'm not going to reveal details, but this book starts out as interesting, but the second half is just boring nonsense. Add to this a language that's not very smooth, and we end up with a book that could have been good, but isn't.

Like another reviewer, I don't have much to say about this other than I enjoyed it and stayed mostly engaged with it, and I found the characters and plot interesting.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!

I really love a lady assassin book and I really loved this one. I don't know; I'm trying to think of something wise to say, but it just really satisfied my brain.

The protagonist, a woman, whose name is never revealed, offers to assist a couple. After this event, she becomes a professional contract killer and perfectly executes her assignments. On completion of a mission, she becomes aware of a serial killer. She is shocked and saddened by what has occurred and decides to pursue the killer who is beyond redemption. She is able to track him down; she later begins to believe that she is the same as him and continuously questions her actions. She loses herself and finds it difficult to go on, but she persists and makes an ultimate decision in the end.

Endings by Linda L Richards is an exciting and addictive story. The plot is engaging and the events that lead to the finale are realistic and heart-breaking. The supporting characters played a role in the main character’s development and storyline. It is quite interesting how the main character never reveals her identity, and to maintain this anonymity is intriguing.

I admire Linda L Richards storytelling and her writing skills; It is perfect and inspiring. It is a refreshing story and a marvellous plot. I love reading novels about women and the events that lead them to choose the path they take, and this novel has become one of my favourites since she executed it perfectly, moreover, the protagonist’s character is strong and fearless which adds to my enjoyment of the book.

I liked one of the quotes the author uses, ‘We like the cut of your jib.’ It is an ancient sailor’s term; I can see why the author chose to use these words to describe the protagonist; it is very accurate because the protagonist herself possesses intangible qualities. There was nothing I have not enjoyed while reading the book. I was completely indulged in the story and was emotionally impacted by some of the events that occurred.

I am rating this novel a 5 out of 5 stars because it is captivating and addictive. The situations the protagonist involves herself in is dangerous and dramatic. The protagonist's character was well developed and the circumstances that impacted her development was tear-jerking. Her journey was not something she would have considered if she did not experience dramatic events earlier on in her life. I was speechless, the moment she decided to head in the direction she took.

This novel is a wonderful mystery and thriller story, I have read numerous crime fiction and mystery, and this is by far one of the best I have read. I would recommend it to persons who love a good mystery and plot. A story with a good plot keeps the reader interested and keen on finishing the book; Endings is one of those.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy of Endings by Linda L Richards!!!!

In this book is about an unnamed serial killer and her ultimate redemption arc. She notices a serial killer one day while watching the news and decides to capture him. She begins to question her life and the decisions she has made.

I really liked the writing style. The narrator spends a lot of her time alone and inside her own head, but at no time does the story get boring. I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading for from this Linda L Richards!!