Member Reviews

I enjoyed Lights Out, Kate Green #1, that I grabbed from Amazon Prime First reads, so I immediately requested Dangerous Play, Kate Green #2, when I saw it on NetGalley.

Best way to describe it is “fine”. It has a murder, some twists (some predictable, others surprising), and dual timelines.

I did take issues with some of the plot, like sports reporter Kate Green acting like a police officer and putting herself in dangerous situations… once again (did not learn her lesson the first time). I also found it hard to believe it took Kate so long to read a teenagers journal…

This one ended on a cliffhanger, so we know Kate Green #3 is inevitable. I don’t think I’ll pick it up but I would give Elise Hart Kipness another shot.

Was this review helpful?

I’m not usually into crime thrillers but this was fast paced and short! I was able to binge read it and didn’t find myself bored at any point. The character development was stunning

Was this review helpful?

Kate Green is becoming one of my favorite characters and I enjoyed this book as much as the first. The dual timelines work great in this story with the "then" contributing additional background knowledge that may be pertinent to the case. Kate's ties to the victim bring her past into play and also her estranged father. The character development and growth is fantastic and I'm already looking forward to the next Kate Green mystery.

Was this review helpful?

Everyone’s favorite sports reporter is back and covering women’s soccer at the Olympics. I really liked Lights Out and was excited to learn it’s a series. Amateur sleuths are usually in cozy mysteries, but this series has a little more suspense and thrill than your normal cozy.

It’s hard not to like Kate as she stumbles onto these murders then works to clear her name and save her job. I liked the dual timeline linking Kate to both the murder and the suspects.

Those twists got me. The intertwined story with Kate as a teenager worked seamlessly with the current story and kept me wanting more. I usually like one storyline over another, but I liked both equally and wasn’t disappointed when the story flipped back and forth.

This could easily be read as a stand alone, but you’ll understand Kate more if read together with Lights Out. Amazon lists a third book in the series and I cannot wait to read it.

Chanté McCormick is the narrator and did a great job. She kept the pace up and brought Kate and her story to life. Both young and present Kate.

Was this review helpful?

Former Olympic soccer player, Kate Green, is now a reporter on assignment covering the US Olympic soccer games. She had previous experience playing with the coach, Savannah Baker, so she hopes this will be a career changing story. However, the story takes a different turn when Alexa Kane, a famous jewelry designer who also played with Kate and Savannah, is found dead and Kate’s past and present suddenly collide, making this a page turning whodunnit murder mystery!

This book is the second one in the series but can totally be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the dual timeline. It really showed just how much the girls went through to make it as Olympic players and it gives a glimpse into the past relationship dynamics between Kate, Savannah and Alexa. I loved Kate’s character and her determination to get justice for Alexa and make up for past mistakes. As she works with her estranged father who is a police detective, she tries to uncover the truth, and in doing so, realizes more than one person has been keeping secrets. Why was Alexa even there in the first place and who would want her dead? This is a page-turner with short chapters which make it so easy to read! If you love a good murder mystery, give this one a try and find out just what happened to Alexa!

Was this review helpful?

What a rollercoaster ride! This book was quite the addictive one. Give me sports, crime fiction, police procedural, whodunnit & I’m in!

From the start, this story had me wanting to pick the book up again and again. I loved the dual timelines because it answers all the questions you might have had from the beginning. I really enjoy the FMC, Kate, and some of the supporting characters as well. Some of those characters you will love to hate. Also, my love for short chapters will never go away.

This is a series, but you can definitely read this as a standalone. I seriously can’t wait for the next book. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this eArc of Dangerous Play.

Was this review helpful?

Second book in the series was good but a bit predictable in some ways and yet still had some unexpected twists. I did prefer the first book slightly more but still enjoyed this one and looking forward to reading the next book in the series

Was this review helpful?

Loved it! An exciting whodunit thriller that had me turning pages till the twist at the end. It’s book #2 in the Kate Green series. Kate Green is a former Gold Medal winner turned sports reporter and super sleuth. When a former teammate is murdered, Kate sets about solving the case!

Was this review helpful?

This book was such a great follow up to lights out. Where as I think you can read them stand alone there's some mentions to what happened in the second that would make more sense if you read lights out. I really like how she tells and story and I didn't see what was coming at the end.
Thanks to net galley for my copy for my honest opinion

Was this review helpful?

📚 PUBLICATION MONTH BOOK REVIEW 📚

Dangerous Play By Elise Hart Kipness
Publication Date: September 17, 2024
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

Elise Hart Kipness is back with more crime-thrilling mystery and one of my absolute favorite female protagonists...Kate Green! After devouring book one in this series, Lights Out, I was so excited to dig into Kate's next big adventure. Everybody over at Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse has been raving about this series since book one came out last year, and now I count myself among those who can't stop raving about it too!

Dangerous Play is a fantastic continuation of Lights Out , and while there are a handful of references to book one, I think you could easily read this as a standalone [although I'm not sure why you would want to miss out on a single minute of badass Kate's adventures!] Dangerous Play finds Kate entangled in another death investigation, though this time it is the death of a former soccer teammate and teenage friend. Kate works closely for a time with her estranged father, who is the NYPD detective assigned to the case.

This book felt a little more mystery and a little less thriller than book one, with the biggest distinction being that I wasn't quite as suspensefully on the edge-of-my-seat as I was in the first one. However, that's not to say I didn't really enjoy this book, because I did! There were some unexpected and interesting twists that I didn't see coming... And I genuinely like Kate as a female MC. Her perspective as a female sports reporter is such a unique twist in crime thrillers and the subplots always seem to keep her stories fresh and relevant.

I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that there's still more to come with Kate! If you're a fan of thrilling whodunnit mysteries and crime fiction, be sure you add the Kate Green series to your TBR! Thanks to Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse, NetGalley, and Thomas & Mercer for the advanced copy of this one in exchange for my honest review.

#LightsOut #EliseHartKipness #Thomas&Mercer #thrillerbookloversthepulse #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #crimefiction #whodunnit #booklover #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #bookrecs

Was this review helpful?

I've officially added another series to my favorites list.  This is the 2nd book in the author's Kate Green series.  I read Lights Out last year and absolutely loved it, but I loved this one even more! 

Sports reporter Kate Green is back, and her new assignment is covering women's Olympic soccer.  She's definitely familiar with the sport since she used to be a professional player before an injury ended her career.  She also used to play with the USA's head coach, Savannah Baker.  This should be an easy story to reestablish her career.  But when famous jewelry designer Alexa Kane is found dead in the locker room, things get very complicated.  Kate, Savannah, and Alexa have a history.  They played on the US youth national team together, but Alexa quit soccer a long time ago, and they haven't spoken in years.  What was she doing in the stadium?  Kate starts to investigate with the help of her estranged father, an NYPD detective who has secrets of his own.  Will Kate be able to find out what happened without putting her own life in jeopardy?

This book was SO freaking good!  I seriously couldn't put it down!  I was so invested in the story I read it in one sitting!  It's totally bingeable, filled with mystery, suspense, and lots of drama!  Told in dual timelines, there's never a dull moment and the twists!🤯  Kate Green is such a great character! She's definitely become one of my favorites.  I seriously can not wait for book 3!  If you're looking for a highly addictive crime thriller, this is it!  I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Was this review helpful?

Second in a new series about sports reporter Kate Green , Dangerous Play scores big as a character driven whodunnit mystery with many twists and turns. Kate is chosen to cover Women’s Soccer at the Olympics. The field at Yankee Stadium is being converted to a soccer pitch for the occasion. In Kate’s teen age years she was a promising soccer player who was selected for the US Youth National Team. The present Olympic coach , Savannah Baker, was a teammate of Kate’s. Hard feelings and long kept secrets have caused a rift between the two. And then…..a third former teammate, and Kate’s roommate at the time, Jewelry designer Alexa Kane is discovered murdered in the locker room ice bath. What on earth was she doing at the stadium? Who would want her dead?

Fast paced and totally engaging, this book is hard to put down as Kate finds herself once again trying to unravel a complicated situation. Her estranged father ( Liam) is a NYC police detective assigned to this case, so the two work together as in Kipness’s first book. While father and daughter unofficially team up to solve the murder, background is revealed in a second timeline during Kate ‘s own soccer playing days. So many memories. And a very big secret Kate has held in for way too long.

Smart, savvy, self driven Kate is able to juggle her job, family, recent boyfriend David, and amateur sleuthing, epitomizing how a strong woman can indeed have it all. It’s impossible not to love Kate. Elise Hart Kipness shows her strength as a writer as she weaves a tale that is more than just a murder mystery. Important societal issues such as family estrangement, bullying, lying, child abuse, rape and the personal toll of keeping deep dark secrets are all addressed with insight and compassion. While this book is the second of a series and is definitely a stand alone why not treat yourself to the debut, Light’s Out? I know I am hooked on this series. Four twinkling stars for a book that’s an engaging read. It was published on September 17, 2024 so you can read it NOW. My thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Mercer Publishers for and advance copy in exchange for my review.

Was this review helpful?

The story itself was interesting, but I had a hard time focusing while reading it because it was much more sports-oriented than what I was expecting. I wish I had known this was the second book in the series, because there was definitely some context that was missing that I feel would’ve been helpful.
I was also pretty disappointed by the twist, it was predictable and didn’t really shock me.

Overall it was a quick read, but I probably wasn’t the target audience for this.

Was this review helpful?

The book is unputdownable, suspenseful and gripping. Before a former teammate was found dead. Now, a famous jewelry designer Alexa Kane. The mystery is deep and the two case seem to be connected. Kate is a sports reporter and she is covering women’s Olympic soccer. Kate’s attempt to investigate and solve the mystery not only brings her life at stake but dark secrets, past, and buried truth comes on surface too. Twists were unpredictable . I liked reading about Olympics. The characters were interesting. I didn’t see some of the twists coming. The book takes us a really dark and suspenseful turn and the ending was scary and clever.

Thanks to the Author and Publisher

Was this review helpful?

Kate is a sports reporter covering women's soccer when one of her former teammates is found dead in the locker room. Kate starts investigating what happened to her former teammate to try and find the killer.

While I enjoyed this book, I don't think I was the right audience. I thought the characters were well developed and I felt the plot moved at a decent pace, yet it was hard for me to connect with the characters or the story.

Thank you NetGalley andThomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Former Olympic soccer player, Kate Green, is now a reporter on assignment covering the US Olympic soccer games. She had previous experience playing with the coach, Savannah Baker, so she hopes this will be a career changing story. However, the story takes a different turn when Alexa Kane, a famous jewelry designer who also played with Kate and Savannah, is found dead and Kate’s past and present suddenly collide, making this a page turning whodunnit murder mystery!

This book is the second one in the series but can totally be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the dual timeline. It really showed just how much the girls went through to make it as Olympic players and it gives a glimpse into the past relationship dynamics between Kate, Savannah and Alexa. I loved Kate’s character and her determination to get justice for Alexa and make up for past mistakes. As she works with her estranged father who is a police detective, she tries to uncover the truth, and in doing so, realizes more than one person has been keeping secrets. Why was Alexa even there in the first place and who would want her dead? This is a page-turner with short chapters which make it so easy to read! If you love a good murder mystery, give this one a try and find out just what happened to Alexa!

Was this review helpful?

Elise Hart Kipness proves she is no one hit wonder. Dangerous Play, her sophomore book will be another fabulous success. I absolutely loved her debut Lights Out but dare I say this one might be even better?

Elise has created an amazing character, Kate Green, a sports reporter who does am amazing job as an informal detective, solving crimes and getting herself in sticky situations along the way.

Was this review helpful?

I love the premise of this series in that its sports themed mysteries. This is Book 2 in the Kate Green series and I really wish I had read Book 1 first. But I was still able to get a good picture of what happened in the prior book which I will go back and read now. I was pleasantly surprised by the Jewish rep in this book as well. As for the actual murder mystery, I thought it was well written. The way it played out was something I guessed at earlier in the book but not the actual culprit. The murder solved around the 90% mark which is interesting. There was a secondary mystery as a subplot and that goes on a bit longer than the main mystery.

I like the character of Kate Green and also love that she's an older protagonist than a lot of these types of books focus on. I hope future books explore more of her love life as well. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

Was this review helpful?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5/5)

I recently finished book #1 and I really enjoyed it. The 2nd book in the series is 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬 and I just finished that one too! I think I liked the 2nd book better because in the 1st you’re getting to know the characters more but in the 2nd you get more into the crime at hand and also get a bit more knowledge about the characters and people aren’t always who they seem.

The way they find the body in this one actually shocked me and the timing couldn’t have been worse for these characters.

I think another reason I might gravitate more to the 2nd book is because I love soccer and am not really into basketball but honestly it doesn’t matter because Kate Green is where it’s at. She’s a great protagonist. I liked hearing about her time with friends at the soccer camp.

The audiobook on this one is excellent. Very well done. I also love authors who aren’t wasteful with words, Elise gets right into it and her books don’t have fluff or filler to hit a page or word count and I cannot tell you how much I as a reader appreciate that. She gives you enough for the story and character development and keeps it flowing.

This is a cool series and I’m pretty excited that I got to have a sneak peek and hype it for Elise! This is absolutely a series I’ll continue (and I don’t typically do series’ lol).

Was this review helpful?

Dangerous Play by Elise Hart Kipness was a great thriller!
This book definitely held my attention the whole time. I would put it down at night and couldn’t wait to pick it back up.

Was this review helpful?