🫶Thank you so much to @otpr for the gifted ARC and finished copy!

📖Title: A Very Bad Thing
✍️Author: J T Ellison
📆Pub Date: November 1, 2024

📖This book was a total blast! It kept me on my toes the whole time and had SO many unexpected twists and turns along the way. The twists just kept coming right up until the very last page! You definitely want to put this one on your November TBR or enter below to read it early!

📖I've read a few books by her now and they've all been so fun! This was my bookclub pick last month with @thrillersbythebookclub.mke and discussing it with everyone was a hoot! It got rowdy in there!

I can't wait to read what she writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded interesting to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

I couldn’t put this one down. It’s a thriller about an author with past secrets who dies suspiciously on the last stop of her book tour in Denver.

It’s told in multiple points of view and also includes a draft written by the author many years ago.

The twists, the tie ins, and the action doesn’t stop in this book!

LOVED LOVED LOVED!!!
Great characters with intriguing backstories, unique storyline and amazing writing! All the things that make a compelling read. Not to mention plenty of suspense and twists and now you've got a story that is hard to put down! Definitely one of my favorites this year.

Thank you to my fantastical friends @otrpr for including me in this amazing tour!

There is just something about books within a book that I love! I always enjoy the mysterious setting they are written in and this one was no different. Who doesn’t want to read about a famous author, Columbia at the top of her career who ends up in a pool of her own blood while she’s on tour! 😱 Columbia really seems to have it all until this seemingly surprising event! Her daughter and publicist, Darian, is devastated by this news. After the police dig into the details they soon find Columbia’s past is definitely checkered and the list is suspects continues to grow. It turns out Columbia has lots to hide!

This is my second book by J. T. Ellison and I have devoured them both! This one was quite the wild ride and definitely action packed once the author sets the stage for the mystery. This book is thicker but I felt like it went by quickly as I was completely immersed into wanting to know the motives behind each character. The tension built up towards the end and WHAM…mind blown at the end! The epilogue definitely will make you smile!

Thank you so much to JT Ellison and Over the River PR for my copy of this book! It had such a great plot and centered around a writer who is murdered. Columbia Jones has a successful writing career as well as Hollywood’s attention, but the last night of her book tour she is shockingly murdered. The night before she meets select fans, gets in a fight with her daughter, and faints from the sight of a man in the crowd, but do these have anything to do with her death? Her daughter Darian thinks so. There are so many odd things that have been going on lately, and as people from her past start to come out, so do the author’s secrets.

Thoughts: I loved the premise of this book! It was firmly ensconced in the book world of authors, book tours, and literary publicity. There were so many twists and turns in this book that I had no idea where it was going. The characters were all unique and dynamic, and I specifically liked Riley and Detective Sutcliffe.

Even though this was a long and intimidating book, the story flew by. I got sucked into Columbia’s past and couldn’t wait to see how the whole book came together. The book could have been shorter, but I really did enjoy the journey. 4-stars!

It's true that I've had mixed reactions to her books in the past, but there was just something about the premise of A Very Bad Thing that made it irresistible. I love a story with a bookish angle, so of course the murder of a very popular author who seems to be hiding a lot of secrets sounded very much enticing. I'm so glad I gave this author another chance now, because I ended up having SO much fun during this rollercoaster ride!

A Very Bad Thing is one of those books where it's best to go in blind, because there are some big twists that won't strike home in the same way otherwise. The story definitely hits differently once you know certain things! A Very Bad Thing uses a multiple POV structure, switching between a variety of characters along the way as well as offering flashbacks to the past to help explain what happened to Columbia. Since all the characters play an important role in the plot, it was no struggle at all to place them and I liked how the different POVs added more dept and variety to the plot.

If you enjoy stories with a bookish angle, you will be in for a treat with this book. The main focus of the plot is on a very successful author being murdered during a book tour; exciting enough on its own, but you will also find other writing elements with for example Riley being a reporter invited to write about Columbia and even excerpts of unpublished drafts incorporated into the plot. I could particularly appreciated how the content of the excerpts actually played an important role in the plot instead of just adding it for the mixed media vibe... Although it did make it easier to guess some of the secrets/twists right early.

What I do have to say that I found A Very Bad Thing to be a bit overlong, and it could have benefitted from a tighter plot and less pages. This would have made the story even more engaging and suspenseful... Although I can't deny that it was still a very addictive read, and I simply HAD to know how it would all end. This story isn't just about Columbia's past and secrets, as there is plenty happening in the present... Especially in the second half once the danger intensifies and bodies start piling up.

The story definitely goes out with a bang as well, although I confess that I wasn't completely happy with the ending itself. This alone would be easy to overlook, but the epilogue kind of ruined the journey for me a bit... It just didn't seem plausible at all after everything that happened, and I don't like a surprise ending when it seems to be just about the shock-factor. Anyhow, minor niggles aside I can't deny that I ended up having an excellent time reading this story, and A Very Bad Thing will take you on a wild ride indeed. It's a great mix of different thriller subgenres that combines drama with a LOT of secrets and twists.

I was so excited when I saw J.T. Ellison had a new book coming out. The awesome people over at @otrpr were kind enough to send me a physical copy and seriously this book is as beautiful as it is amazing.

My thoughts:

Okay wow…. This was so different than what I expected in the best way possible. If you know me you know I’m very intimidated by books that are on the longer side, but this book was so worth it! Sometimes when you have books that are longer, you’ll see people saying that they didn’t need to be so long or that the length was a negative and I have to say this is one case where the length of this book was perfect. The book did not drag on, and it used every single page to tell an amazing story.

At first when I started it I wasn’t sure what to make of what was going on. I wondered if Columbia was crazy and then I wondered if her daughter was crazy then I wondered if Riley was crazy. I mean there were a lot of crazy people possibilities in this book! When I hit around 30%, my jaw dropped a little because things took a serious shift and it was the aha moment where I knew J.T. was up to something with this book that was going to deliver!

There were a lot of moving parts, a lot of different players, and more than one body. This book completely delivered a juicy twisty riveting thriller with an amazing plot that did not shortchange at all!

This book needs to be on the radar of all thriller lovers!

I absolutely loved this story! Any time there is a twisted family secret, surprise family members, along with great story telling I am in! Columbia Jones would have been so easy to hate as a character but the more you learned about her past and why she made the choices she did it all makes sense. The mother-daughter and sibling relationships are the heart of the story with enough twists along the way to keep you guessing. I am hoping for a follow up as the ending leaves it open for more intrigue.

The prologue of A VERY BAD THING consists of an intriguing letter written by Mother, now dead. She asks the reader of the letter, her child, not to hate her forever for the very bad thing she did many years ago. What has she done? Who is the author of the letter? Who is the recipient? Riley Carrington is a female reporter who goes on tour with Columbia Jones, a famous author promoting her new book, IVORY LADY. Colombia faints and is taken to the hospital ER. What causes Columbia to faint? Is it because she sees a man she knows who comes to her lecture? I have lots of questions and read on.

From the very first page of the prologue, I am absorbed into this thriller. I thought I might buzz through this book, but no way. The author, J. T. Ellison, writes a well-crafted tale with characters that seem alive to me—quite an accomplishment. I do, however, long for more dialogue tags. Thank you, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of A VERY BAD THING.

I’m a big fan of J.T. Ellison, I love her Taylor Jackson and Dr. Samantha Owen series. I’ve only read a few of her standalone novels but jumped at the chance to read an arc of ‘A Very Bad Thing’.
The plot revolves around a famous crime writer who dies suddenly on her latest book tour. Who would want to kill Columbia Jones? Turns out quite a few people actually want her dead. Especially with all the secrets she knew.
I really enjoyed ‘A Very Bad Thing’. It had a well constructed plot and was full of interesting (and irritating) characters. This was a good murder mystery that captured my attention and made me want to keep reading into the wee hours. I ended up finishing this book in a couple of days. 4 stars from me.

It took me a week after finishing this book to write a review. I really had to ponder this book for some time, it was that good! And it turns out, I don’t know what to write to do this book justice. This is a great psychological thriller and it is a definite page turner! Highly recommend this one!


Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Decent mystery/thriller with some good twists throughout. I really wanted to like this book more than I did, for me the main problem was honestly how long it was. At almost 500 pages it felt like there could've been some more stuff edited out and for me took a while to get into. Would recommend and will continue to read more from J.T. Ellison this one just wasn't my favorite. I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

A Very Bad Thing
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pub date: November 1, 2024

Famous author Columbia Jones is murdered in her hotel after her book signing. This book was so gripping! There were many characters but I loved how they all came together. Many had motive to kill Columbia, but who really did it??? I really loved the book in a book! I thought this was very clever and loved reading how Columbia’s past unravels in this twisty book. This book was really long!! I think it definitely could’ve been shorter. I would’ve given this 5 stars, however really did not like the ending. I did suspect the murderer early on, which did not take away from the book. I just felt it did not tie in quite right. This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it! I am definitely excited to read more by this author!!

Thank you so much @otrpr and @netgalley for the ARC for this book!!! We had so much fun @thrillersbythebookclub.mke discussing this one!!!

Thank you to the publisher for inviting me to be a part of the book tour for this date. My tour date isn't until October 12, but I thought I would go ahead and write my review, as I finished the book yesterday and have had a little bit of time to ponder my thoughts on it. This was actually the first book by J.T. Ellison that I have read, although I do own a few of her previous titles. I can see why she is popular amongst thriller lovers, she definitely has the ability to weave together a unique and fun story that is entertaining from the get go. It is hard to imagine if you woke up one morning and found out that your favorite thriller writer was murdered, especially if you were at the same hotel/event that she was at. What would be even more crazy if you found out that the writer was your mother and you were given up for adoption at birth. That is pretty much what happens here- Columbia Jones is a super famous and popular author, and one morning, she is found dead/murdered in her hotel room. No one knows what happened and of course, there are lots of potential suspects. There is Riley, the journalist that Columbia had hired to go on tour with her, her daughter Darian who (thinks) she is the sole beneficiary of her mother's estate, people from her past who have a score to settle. She leaves a handful of people envelopes that hold clues to her past, and all of these "strangers" are seemingly more connected that any one of them thought. I was genuinely stumped as to who killed her, and I was leery of a few characters. Overall, the story kept me invested from start to finish, and I am planning on going back to some of J.T. Ellison's previous titles and checking them out. The only complaint that I have about this story is that there are a lot of characters/names in play here, and it was a little hard at times to keep everyone straight.. Columbia, Riley, Darian, Detective Sutcliffe, Skye, Nate, Liam, Mason, Kira, Luke, Devon, Knox, Oliver, Patrick... to name a few.

A Very Bad Thing by JT Ellison
Columbia Jones, a famous author with a secret past and now she’s dead. Her daughter, Darian has questions especially when she finds out her mom drew up another will that she knew nothing about. And who are these other beneficiaries now? A ex con, a journalist and a bakery owner. How does her mom even know these people, Darian always thought it was just her and her mom. This book had me guessing how everything tied together though I figured out a small part the ending still blew me away.

JT Ellison has done it again, my weekend was consumed by A Very Bad Thing and it was fabulous. A story about a writer being murdered on a book tour, how can you pass that up. Full of book references and a nod to a previous series of her own, JT had me turning those pages to see what would happen next.

A very famous author, her new book just out and is about to become a movie too, is on the final night of her book tour. She has her daughter and publicist, Darian with her, as well as a journalist who is writing a feature article about her everywhere she goes. The story is about to become even bigger, when the next morning, Columbia Jones is found in a pool of her own blood, dead in her hotel room.

But everyone loved Columbia, who would want her dead? It turns out, Columbia was keeping some very dark, dark secrets from everyone, and those left behind struggle to put the pieces together l

This is a long book but boy did it fly by. Not only is there a murder to solve, but we have a book inside a book - how much do we readers love that!! This is a fun and mysterious read, with plenty of ways this could have gone. Be prepared to lose your day or night lost in the story. Full of characters that are so realistic and easy to get attached to quickly. I just adore this author so much and will pick up anything she writes.

Thanks so much to Thomas and Mercer on NetGalley for the advanced copy. Get this one November 1st.

I loved this book. J.T. Ellison has been hit or miss for me, but this book hooked me from the beginning and never let go. I read it in 24 hours and still I couldn't get to the answers fast enough. I loved all the twists and how open she left things all the way to the end. You never knew who you could trust and what was really going on.

An author is found dead in a hotel room, The people who are suspected to be involved are slowly revealed . I really enjoyed the twists in this one, however believe it could have had a similar effect in a much shorter format.

I loved this book! A fresh new take about an author murdered and the web that was woven prior-to and in solving the mystery. I was provide this novel as a member of Thriller By The Bookclub - the Milwaukee (WI) Chapter. Thank you to the publisher for allowing us to hype the book prior to publication!!! We discuss this one this week and I cannot wait!

I enjoyed the ride, start to finish. I appreciated the diverse characters (all of them from such different walks of life). I also enjoyed the varied settings of this book. And my fave of all, it was a book within a book! How fun!

I wouldn't call this a triller, though -- but a modern whodunnit in the realm of Instagram/Facebook/IT - so mystery for sure.