Snakes & Ladders by Matty Dalrymple

On Episode 92 of the GSMC Book Review Podcast I had the pleasure of welcoming Matty Dalrymple back to the podcast. Matty was originally on back in November when she came to talk about her Ann Kinnear mystery series. This time we spoke about the new (second) book in her Lizzy Ballard series, Snakes & Ladders, which came out on June 19th. 

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Rock breaks scissors. Scissors cut paper. Paper covers rock. The rules are simple--except when it's people's lives at stake.

By the time Charlotte and Patrick Ballard discover the damage their daughter, Lizzy, can do with her mind, it’s already too late for Charlotte. They hide Lizzy away, trying to save others from the same fate, and trying to save Lizzy from life as a human lab rat. But they can't hide her forever.  Little do they know that respected Philadelphia businessman Gerard Bonnay is responsible for Lizzy's ability. And Bonnay is willing to eliminate anyone who gets in the way of his goal of turning that power to his own ends.

 ​As her protectors are picked off one by one, will Lizzy be able to escape from Gerard Bonnay’s deadly zero-sum game? (Source)

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Lizzy Ballard and her godfather Owen McNally are on the run after their fatal game of rock-paper-scissors with Vivantem’s head of research, Louise Mortensen, and her enforcer George Millard. They find themselves in the Red Rock Country of Arizona, and Lizzy finds a mentor in Philip Castillo, a psychic counselor with his own dark past.

While Lizzy works with Philip to try to control her deadly ability, Millard is hot on her trail, and Lizzy’s power will be no defense against the weapon he has chosen.

When Lizzy makes her way back to Philadelphia, Louise and George strike at Owen, and in a bid to protect her dwindling band of allies, Lizzy takes the fight to Louise’s turf.

​In this deadly game of snakes and ladders, will Lizzy be rewarded for her virtues or punished for her vices? (Source)

Genres:

• Suspense/Thriller
• Crime
• Science Fiction/Paranormal

What I enjoyed:

• I love Lizzy as a character. She is headstrong, smart, and mature, but also naïve and sheltered from her upbringing. It makes for an intriguing combination in a main character, especially one faced with the challenges Lizzy faces.
• The relationship between Lizzy and her godfather, Owen. Neither of them are prepared for the circumstances into which they are thrown, and they both cope the best way they know how. What they always have is each other, and while they don't always agree, they do always have each other's backs.
• That no character is all one thing. Even though I don't always like them, and I rarely like their actions, the bad guys have layers just like the good guys. The good guys make plenty of questionable choices. I like that Matty makes them human.

Quotes:

• "Control - that was why Lizzy was here. Because with control came the possibility of a normal life. A life filled with all the things that any other seventeen-year-old would take for granted, not the isolation and guilt she knew."
• "And as she talked, she felt as if the constriction she had felt for most of her life - like the thorns that had held her down on the Sugarloaf Trail as the angry biker railed at her - were plucked free, one hooked barb at a time."
• "Owen had a sudden, heart-breaking vision of what life might have been like if it hadn't been for Gerard Bonnay and Louise Mortensen: Patrick and Charlotte, flanking their daughter Lizzy and her date for the prom or homecoming or whatever dress-up dances kids went to these days, the proud parents beaming, the teenagers self-conscious and anxious to be on their way, and himself snapping pictures."

Where you can find Matty online:

Website: http://www.mattydalrymple.com/

Blog: http://www.mattydalrymple.com/blog

Facebook: @matty.dalrymple

Twitter: @mattydalrymple

Amazon Author Page: Matty Dalrymple

GoodReads: Matty Dalrymple

BookBub: @MattyDalrymple

Author Bio:

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Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels The Sense of Death and The Sense of Reckoning, the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts, including Close These Eyes and May Violets Spring, and the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers Rock Paper Scissors and Snakes and Ladders. Matty lives with her husband, Wade Walton, their two Labrador Retrievers (Juno and Sophie), and their terrier (Griffin) in Chester County, Pennsylvania, which is the setting for much of the action in The Sense of Death and Rock Paper Scissors. They enjoy vacationing on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, where The Sense of Reckoning takes place, and Sedona, Arizona, the setting for much of Snakes and Ladders​.

 Matty is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Brandywine Valley Writers Group. (Source)

If you love thrillers and suspense, especially with dashes of paranormal and science fiction, then Matty is someone you should definitely check out! Want to read Snakes & Ladders? Matty has been kind enough to provide 3 copies of his novel, and one of them could be yours! All you have to do is go to either our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages and comment on the post with Matty's interview. It's as simple as that: just comment on Episode 92 on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and you'll automatically be entered to win Snakes & Ladders! The last day to enter is July 7th and winners will be announced on July 9th. (Giveaway is for US only)

To hear the interview with Matty, please click here.