Another great read from Jessica R Patch! This is the third book in the SCU series. It can be read on its own, but you have a better feel for the team and its members if you read this series in order. This book follows Ty (Tiberius) Granger and we finally learn of his mysterious past that has kept him cynical and opposed to all forms of religion. I thoroughly enjoyed this story in its entirety. Between the creep-tacular plot-line and how the villain's narcissism has him targeting women just to get to Ty, and the spectacular character development as Ty is forced to face his past and forge towards a new future, this book has a little bit of everything. I was kept in the dark about who the villain was until the reveal. There were also several segments in a first person perspective and I was completely thrown on whose perspective that was until it was revealed. All that to say, this was suspense done right! The faith thread throughout was subtle, but present. This one definitely had me turning pages and may be the quickest read of the year for me so far. If you enjoy gritty suspense novels with a touch of faith and romance, this is one I will heartily recommend! Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this novel. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

Oh my goodness... talk about a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat! This might be one of the creepier suspense reads I've read in quite some time... allowing us glimpses into the mind of this serial killer who collects women like twisted trophies. As such it's one I had to step away from at times... and certainly one that I found I was unable to read at night... but the story was intriguing and drew me in right away. Tiberius Granger is an FBI agent who grew up in a religious cult, which leads him to investigating crimes that seem to take on a religious nature. This particular killer seems to be related to his own past. His history makes him very critical of religion in general... and while those opinions in the beginning made me stop to check that I hadn't picked up the wrong book, I appreciated the realness to his experience and how that allowed us to see him grow as the story went on. The story also doesn't shy away from other tough topics--- it's gritty and raw with imperfect characters you cannot help but to be drawn to. There were several twists I did not see coming... and while the nature of the story didn't make it the most enjoyable read at times, it was certainly a wonderful written one!

If you enjoy Christian suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, you won't want to miss this one.

**I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This book is full of twists, turns, suspense and hold your breath reading!!!! This writing is outstanding and the characters you will not forget. I highly recommend the author and this book!

From the beginning of page one this book had you hooked! This book is a psychological thriller that will leave you wanting to race through until the end. Everyone should read this or put this on your TBR!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

Tyberius Granger, the affable prankster in the series. He races against the clock of an incoming hurricane in the outer banks of South Carolina to find a sociopathic serial killer. This is a fast-paced page turner that kept me on the edge of my seat. There are lots of twists and turns and some romance too. Not only is the creep factor high, but also hope. I know that may sound strange, but the author shows that even though there is evil in the world, she also shows love and hope. Love and hope win because of Jesus and what He has done for us. And I love that!

The Garden Girls is the first story I’ve read by Jessica Patch. She knows how to string together the perfect setting for a psychological thriller. Then, she delved into the mind of a creepy, yet charming villain. She did a great job incorporating a hurricane into an already suspenseful, fast driven plot. Lastly, the faith element was nice. It didn’t have a simple story arc, which I like. It’s nice to read about Ty’s renewed faith after everything he had gone through in the past.

The Garden Girls is great for fans of beach reads, cult fiction, suspense, serial killers, FBI, second chance romance, single mother romance, secret baby romance, edgy Christian fiction, whodunnits, mysteries, redemption, revenge, and faith.

I received this book through Net Galley and was not required to give a positive review.

“I know the kinds of things that await me. I know what evil men can do.”

This is my first Jessica Patch book and I loved it!

It was suspenseful from start to finish. The opening prologue begins with a woman’s attempted escape from her captor. The action and intensity continues to the very end as a last rescue attempt is made in the middle of a hurricane on the Outer Banks.

Patch writes Christian fiction so one of the best parts of the book is that there is no swearing or graphic sexual content. It’s felt increasingly harder to find mainstream books without all of that so I’m glad to find a Christian author that can still write good (but clean) thrillers.

I would say Patch is in league with Steven James’s books. The Garden Girls felt a lot like James’s Patrick Bowers series about a serial killer. And if you like one of these authors, you’re sure to like the other.

They both get into the nitty gritty and aren’t afraid of portraying evil or killing off characters. Patch’s writing may have slightly more overt Christian undertones. James writes about moral and ethical questions and mentions God, but Patch writes more specifically about a character’s faith journey.

I will say, though, that I thought she did this in an organic and natural way. I have been a bit (probably overly) critical of a lot of Christian fiction for being cheesy or unnatural. But I didn’t feel that while reading this book.


The Plot and Characters

The Garden Girls is an intense thriller about a serial killer who abducts women with flower names and tattoos them with flowers from neck to thigh: blooms when they obey, buds when they don’t.

He has a secret garden in his house with human-sized bird cages where he puts them on display to dance for him.

So yeah. Pretty disturbing. I hadn’t thought about the concept of an abductor tattooing his victims which is such a permanent and flamboyant way to traumatize someone.

“You’re part of my private garden now. I’m going to teach you how to bloom.”


It’s got NCIS/Criminal Minds vibes with their SCU team (Strange Crimes Unit) which specializes in hunting down “sickos who kill people based on their religious beliefs.”

Here’s the team:

Ty (our main character) is the impulsive, smart aleck of the group and their resident religious behavioral analyst. He had left a cult as a teenager and had coped with his abusive childhood by studying religions and the psychology behind them.

They’ve got Selah, their computer hacker/analyst.

“Violet [the psychologist] had a superpower. She could slide into the brain of a serial killer and was rarely wrong.”

“Owen was a great geopattern theorist, and his work helped them triangulate where killers might live or work and where they hunted based on geographical patterns.” (just like Patrick Bowers…)

Asa is the father-figure, Special Agent in Charge.

Fiona is the profiler.

[It may be best to read the other books first or you might read a few little spoilers: Violet’s story is in Patch’s book A Cry in the Dark. Asa and Fiona’s story is in her book Her Darkest Secret. Both, I believe, also have serial killers]

Ty’s team takes on this case in the Outer Banks because the killer has a beef with Ty and is acting out his revenge.

“Tiberius would pay for his sins— pride at the top of the list. When he finally fell to his face, he would be humbled, humiliated and held accountable.”

The case gets even more personal when he finds out that a girl from his cult that he had fallen in love with as a teen—Bexley— and had planned to marry and escape the cult with all those years ago is still alive. And her younger sister, who he had also cared for, is now one of the missing girls.

To add to the turmoil he’s already feeling, he discovers Bexley had a son who is now 15. And Ty is the father.

Ty’s world is crashing down, the killer always five steps ahead, and just as they are getting answers to their questions, a cat 5 hurricane is bearing down on the East coast, threatening not only the missing women’s lives but their ability to finish the investigation and catch the killer.

“Ty wasn’t sure which scared him more— the unstoppable hurricane or the possibility that someone might be killing people as part of a revenge scheme against him.”

There is action and surprises up to the very end.



The Faith Part

I appreciate the way she showed the main character (Ty) with his transparent feelings toward religion and Christianity which were influenced by his cult upbringing, but how his relationship with his friends (who had their own faith journeys in other books) did life with him and their words and experiences helped penetrate the walls Ty had built up against God.

I thought it made a lot of sense to show how he came to the end of himself.

“He’d believed in no one but himself, and he was spent, stretched as far as one man could be stretched, feeling it in every beat of his heart and in every breath.”

That’s how it is for all of us. We think we can be in charge of our lives and that we have everything under control. If we just work hard enough and try long enough we can do anything, we can make it through anything.

But faith requires dependency on something (some One) outside of yourself. It doesn’t take too long to realize that we don’t have it in us. We are not enough on our own. There is not some magic in the fibers of our bodies that allow us to handle hard things.

There is grace. And mercy. And peace. And they come from a sovereign and powerful God who loves us.

That story was evident in The Garden Girls in a real life kind of way. There was real life suffering and grief. Real darkness. And then real light and hope even in the midst of loss.

I think that was an honest way to portray it because the Christian life is not a promise of an easy, care-free life of luxury. We are not called to endure nothing. But we persevere the hardship with the strength of the One who sustains the world and sustains our every breath and we know we can trust him.



Randos

I wanted to commend Jessica Patch on this well-placed cultural reference to a wonderful show:

“I’ll put this slow cooker on Warm unless you’re still freaked out about it since watching This Is Us.”



The book is mostly told in third-person, but the writing voice does change styles depending what character is the focus. This got to be a little confusing at times to know what perception we were getting.

Ty’s is the main voice and we probably should have had more of that. But there were times we were in the killer’s mind or in Bexley’s mind.

There was one first person POV from one of the women who was abducted.

Ty’s writing voice sections had more humor and sarcasm, Bexley’s had more anxiety and the others were meant to be more mysterious.

I thought Patch did a good job of creating unique characters with their own personalities and quirks. At times I wondered if the slang used for the son was too over-the-top, but it probably is how teenagers talk. I’m not around enough of them to know. But I do know ‘bussin’ is a thing so there’s that.

For the most part, I liked the way she wrote. She seems to have a good handle on humor and sarcasm and not all writers can do that realistically.



When they were going to get a sketch of the tattoo artist but the guy wasn’t going to get to it until Saturday I knew what was going to happen. In real life, if you’re about to get a sketch of a potential killer and you’re short on time you tell the guy to sketch that thing at home and text a picture of it! You don’t say- well, I guess we have to wait several days, he’s not scheduled to work. Hope he doesn’t call in sick!

I get that the sketch needed to come into play later for the suspense unfolding as Patch intended but I wish there was at least a better reason for the delay in getting that sketch so it made more sense than just waiting til the guy’s next shift of work.


Spoilers

These are MAJOR spoilers so scroll right past to the next dots to skip over them and read my recommendation. Or if you want my thoughts on some of the reveals, continue forth.

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I’m mostly satisfied with how everything ended up/was revealed, but one thing that I’m still trying to figure out is the tattooing.

Did Garrick do all the tattooing then? He was around that much to get that much tattooing done? And would Garrick listen to Lysander on what he wanted tattooed? How involved was Garrick?

It doesn’t really fit that Lysander was the tattooer, but the parts told from the killer’s POV call him The Artist. Without re-reading the whole book, my remembrance says it doesn’t really make sense that those parts were Garrick.

I guess I need more information about that tattoo aspects in relation to Garrick and Lysander.


I’m also not sure how much Ahnah was involved in. It seems like she was aware of what Lysander was doing with the girls. Knowing her background, it seems weird that she would have been okay with that kind of torture being done to women, especially the deaths.

I know those who are abused often end up abusing others. I also know Lysander had groomed Ahnah and she had loved him at one point, so it’s not like he was a stranger she was working with.

But it still feels hard to believe she was part of all that.


I really liked Owen’s character and was sad with how his story ended. But I also think it was a really neat and momentous aspect of Ty’s faith journey. Dang, though, that was an emotional scene!

“Live in the light.”

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SPOILERS OVER!





Recommendation

Even though this is classified as a Christian fiction book, I would recommend this one to all readers. Especially if you enjoy intense thrillers, or serial killer thrillers.

The ‘Christian stuff’ doesn’t take you out of the story, but rather enhances the character development and it’s not preachy or cheesy. (Well, I’m sure there’s someone out there who will disagree with me, but out of all the Christian fiction books out there, this is on the very ‘less preachy’ side of the spectrum).

If you don’t do well with serial killer books, you won’t want to read this one. The killer is a formidable opponent with a lot of evil.

I’m excited to have found Jessica Patch and look forward to reading some of her other books.



Disclaimer: I will say that she writes books like these and she also writes for ‘Love Inspired Suspense’ and the book covers for books with that organization are less than appealing to me. If any of you have read her books in those series, let me know how or if they’re a different kind of book than this. The covers make the books seem more like a Nancy Drew type of book. But if the writing is the same, I can look past the cover for the story. I may have to try one and see for myself.


[Content Advisory: no swear words- it’s written that a character curses but doesn’t say the word; no graphic sexual content but the abducted women are naked and there is some sexual perversion with a few of the characters]

Someone is targeting Agent Tiberius Granger, and it’s gotten very personal. When a killer starts leaving tattooed female bodies at lighthouses with notes nailed to the victims’ hands, Ty knows time is running out. Will he be able to put the puzzle pieces together before the killer snatches those he loves most? This edge-of-the-seat, gripping work that had me guessing until the thrilling conclusion.

The Garden Girls by Jessica R. Patch is not for the faint of heart. The story is intense and gritty, sometimes terrifying, yet filled with hope and redemption. The Garden Girls follows Tiberius Granger, agent with the FBI Strange Crimes Unit, as he faces the demons of his past. A serial killer is kidnapping and tattooing his victims, and has ties to Ty’s past life in a cult. He reunites with his past love, that he thought had died, and discovers quite a few secrets as he tries to stop a killer from striking again.

I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of stories involving cults, but these characters and the storyline sucked me in. Ty’s heart is decimated over and over again, and he picks himself up and fights to save the ones he loves. I’ve loved Ty from some of the other books (Her Darkest Secret and A Cry in the Dark), and his humor and sarcasm bring some light to the dark storyline. Despite the evil and darkness, Jessica Patch paints a portrait of love, redemption, and sacrifice. I’m still thinking about the ending long after putting the book down. I was practically in tears, and I don’t cry easily. But that’s how emotionally invested I was in the story and characters.

If you love dark, gritty, and emotional stories, put this on your must read list. I’m a huge Jessica Patch fan, and you won’t want to miss The Garden Girls.

I received an ebook review copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own

This novel had me in its grips from page one! It was creepy, chilling, and weird. The backstory for Ty & Bexley became clearer as the novel progressed. The villain was absolutely evil and twisted. Some parts were difficult to read, and this novel is definitely not for the faint of heart. Amid all the bad stuff happening, the author instills hope into the narrative. The finale is incredibly moving. Couldn’t put it down.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

What a suspenseful ride! I had a hard time putting this book down, once I started it, since I just had to figure out what was going on with the serial killer targeting women with flower names. The author does an excellent job of writing a suspenseful, twisted tale that is hard to figure out. If you like Blacklist, then pick up this series!

Riveting, unpredictable, and heart pounding intensity that sucked me in from the get go. First time reader for Jessica Patch and you better believe I’m now hooked. I’m not normally a fan of dark, gritty stories like this, but I was drawn by the idea that the Light shines brightest in the darkness. Yes, the depravity of a narcissistic serial killer is boldly explored, but so is the beauty of the One who inspires others to hunt him down. The backstory of Ty and Bexley creates automatic depth and layers of possibilities. The tension was the perfect balance of driving me to read on and hoping for peaceful resolution. I thought I figured it out a couple of times, falling for various plot twists. I was NOT prepared for the final reveal. Just wow. I was worried this story might be too dark and haunt me or cause me to look over my shoulder in the days to come. Truly, the Light overcomes the darkness and I finished in perfect peace. A thriller for sure!!
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

“The Garden Girls,” by Jessica R. Patch

Tiberius, an FBI agent, is on the hunt for a religious killer murder girls on a remote Outer Banks Island. It’s there where he is reunited with his long-lost love, Bexley. Bexley and Tiberius (Ty) grew up in a cult and risked everything to get out and now reunited Ty finds out he has a teenage son that he didn’t know existed.

This book is a good psychological thriller of a killer on the loose and the detective whose hunting him. I liked seeing the POV from the hunt for a killer side and then seeing the killer and his “girls” from the inside. It was interesting. The only part I didn’t like was the whole Ty finding out he’s a dad to a teenager and wanting to raise him “right” like his moms not doing a good enough job, it felt kind of ignorant because he has no idea how hard she has it in raising him alone, but it’s not the end of the world to the story when I was reading it. 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

From the opening page, you might feel a shiver of fear delving into the mind of The Artist. The one who collects beautiful flowers for his oh-so-special garden. But I assure you, despite the fact that your eyes will widen more than once, you won't be able to stop turning page after page, devouring The Garden Girls.
We are back with the FBI's Strange Crimes Unit (you met the team in Her Darkest Secret and A Cry in the Dark) as they head to the Outer Banks after the second body of a young woman, tattooed with her namesake flower, is left at the base of a lighthouse. Tiberius Granger, the wisecracking religious expert of the team, has a personal stake in this investigation when a young woman names Ahnah is reported missing...a girl from his past. Now he must meet with her older sister, Bexley Cunningham, the woman he loved two decades earlier. The woman he had thought was dead.
The Artist is set on taunting Tiberius, but why? What connection does he have? How does Ty's past as the son of a cult leader fit into it?
There are more secrets, twists, turns, and creepy intersections in this book than I've read in a long time, and author Jessica R. Patch deftly weaves them together as intricately as a spider weaves a web. She manages to chill your bones right to the core, while at the same time highlighting the light and hope that is the Lord. You will want to dive into The Garden Girls...just be ready to settle in. You won't want to stop until you are done!
I received a complimentary copy of this book, but my opinion is entirely my own.

In his youth, Tiberius Granger escaped a cult. The girl he loved wasn’t so fortunate. Now an FBI agent, he hunts monsters, unravels the macabre, and seeks justice for the victims. His latest case has him on the trail of The Artist, a deranged serial killer who kidnaps women, tattooing them with flowers that match their names and posing them in front of lighthouses. A shocking connection to his past brings him face to face with Bexley Hemmingway, the woman he had loved and believed dead, and a teenaged son he never knew existed. But to find Bex’s missing sister, Ty must push beyond the hurt, anger, and betrayal, and return to a place he’d hoped never to revisit.

Wow, wow, WOW! A psychological thriller through and through, reading The Garden Girls feels likes stepping into an episode of Criminal Minds. This adrenaline-pumping tale snatches the reader’s breath from the first page as a twisted villain, broken protagonists, and mind-bending plot comes to life, all filtered through a lens of hope.

A gifted wordsmith, Jessica R. Patch painted the setting with such vibrant strokes, it became its own entity. The images rose around me as vividly as any of the characters. And no, the lighthouse didn’t bias this beacon-loving reader, though I reveled in that addition. Patch penned the Outer Banks, the storm, everything so expertly that I was transported into their midst. Even now, long after finishing the book, I still feel the rain drenching my clothes and the wind whipping my face.

The ending wrecked me as it depicted a beautiful reflection of God’s love. Have a box of tissues and your heart ready to go through the wringer.

I only discovered Patch a year ago, but she immediately skyrocketed to one of my favorite psychological thriller authors. While this story could potentially stand alone, I recommend starting with Her Darkest Secret and A Cry in the Dark, not only to fully understand the characters but because this series is too good to miss any part of it.

Thank you to Harlequin Love Inspired and NetGalley for an early chance to read and review this book.

The FBI SCU has been called to the Outerbanks because of a serial killer with religious ties. Ty Granger realizes very quickly that his past has somehow come back to haunt him. Can he protect the woman he loved and son he didn’t know he had?

This was a very compelling story. The mystery kept me guessing until the end. I definitely made some wrong guesses about many of the players. That is a sign of a great suspense story. However, I found this book was hard to get into at first. The writing was very choppy. Once it got off the ground a bit, I really enjoyed it. This book had great faith content without it beating you over the head. The redemption story was strong.

I would recommend this book to people who love a great suspense book that is full of faith. I would not recommend this book to people who are easily distressed by nightmare inducing mental issues- this story is very disturbing.

Edge-of-your-seat suspense, great character development, and a story that kept me reading, and wondering, from beginning to end.

I saw other saw if you like Criminal Minds, you will LOVE this book. They were not wrong. This book is twisted and everything time I thought that I had it figured out I did not. This is outside my normal type of book I was surprised and how much I liked it. It if you struggle with the dark side of humanity I am not sure this book is for you.

🌸🌷𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨🌷🌸

Wow! This book is phenomenal and blew me away! I didn't think @jessicarpatch could top "A Cry in the Dark", but each book gets better and better. This story held my attention throughout, and I couldn't put it down. Clear your schedule because you'll want to finish this in one sitting. If you love edge of your seat, page turning, suspense with unpredictable twists that will forever live rent-free in your head, this book is for you.

TY and the crew at the special crimes unit must go on the hunt for a sadistic serial killer on the lose. Ty's former years were spent in a cult, and now he's both the hunter and the target of a creepy killer. This book is for fans of crime dramas and books about serial killers, cults, creepy vibes, secret pasts, lies, and twisted characters.
It's the perfect blend of suspense, grit, humor, faith, and even a little romance thrown in. This story is emotionally charged and might even elicit a few tears as you connect and invest in the characters' story throughout.

Note that this is the third book in a series focusing on FBI Special Agent Tiberius Granger. Reading the previous books would provide more context and depth to the storyline, but this one could be read as a stand-alone. Add this 5 star book to your must-read list.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you are looking for an intense, creepy read, look no further as The Garden Girls fits this description.
The SCU's latest case to find a serial killer in North Carolina draws FBI agent Tiberius Granger deeper and closer to into the case as it's connected to his past and is personal. From an evil serial killer and mastermind to twists and turns, to sinister, brutal crimes to a jaw-dropping ending, The Garden Girls is a mind-blowing, suspenseful, and creepy read with some touching, emotional parts and an awesome faith message.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Woah this was so good! Just when I thought everything had been solved and it was about to get all wrapped up with a nice bow, I was hit with another shocker!

FBI agent Tiberius (Ty) Granger is working a case that hits a little too close to home. Years after escaping his family’s religious cult, he’s now thrust back into that world while trying to rescue a girl from his past. A sadistic killer is taking girls with flower names, tattooing them with those specific flowers, and killing them. He then leaves their bodies propped up at different lighthouses around the Outer Banks.

I didn’t realize this is a series, so I’m definitely going to go back and read the others. I didn’t have the back stories on some of the characters due to that but it was still an awesome thriller full of twists! If you like the show Criminal Minds you’ll enjoy this.

One thing I didn’t like was the author killed off someone I didn’t want to die!! But that’s just personal preference, and ultimately the reasoning made for a great and emotional ending.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for my copy.