My Thrill Club is a monthly subscription box that sends you two books and movie. You get to pick the category from Crime & Mystery, Thriller & Espionage, Horror or a Surprise Me option.
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
This is a review of the Thriller & Espionage genre, $14.99 a month, box.
The Subscription Box: My Thrill Club
The Cost: $14.99 a month
The Products: Each month, you’ll receive 2 books and a movie based on the genre of your choice
Ships to: Free to U.S, $10 to Canada
Check out all of our My Thrill Club reviews and the Book Subscription Box Direcotry for more options, too!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
The Accident by Chris Pavone - Value $18.53 on Amazon (retail price $26)
Summary from Amazon:
As dawn approaches in New York, literary agent Isabel Reed is turning the final pages of a mysterious, anonymous manuscript, racing through the explosive revelations about powerful people, as well as long-hidden secrets about her own past. In Copenhagen, veteran CIA operative Hayden Gray, determined that this sweeping story be buried, is suddenly staring down the barrel of an unexpected gun. And in Zurich, the author himself is hiding in a shadowy expat life, trying to atone for a lifetime’s worth of lies and betrayals with publication of The Accident, while always looking over his shoulder.
Over the course of one long, desperate, increasingly perilous day, these lives collide as the book begins its dangerous march toward publication, toward saving or ruining careers and companies, placing everything at risk—and everyone in mortal peril. The rich cast of characters—in publishing and film, politics and espionage—are all forced to confront the consequences of their ambitions, the schisms between their ideal selves and the people they actually became.
The action rockets around Europe and across America, with an intricate web of duplicities stretching back a quarter-century to a dark winding road in upstate New York, where the shocking truth about the accident itself is buried.
Gripping, sophisticated, layered, and impossible to put down, The Accident proves once again that Chris Pavone is a true master of suspense.
At first, I thought a book about a manuscript so compelling it led people to murder would be a little ridiculous. I'm only a few chapters in so far but I'm being proven wrong! The chapters are very short and jump between a few different characters which contribute to the fast pace of the novel. The introductions to the characters are interesting and immediately made me want to know how they all play a part. I appreciate this setting for a thriller novel and it's cool to see the world of publishing from a few different perspectives.
The only thing that kind of turned me off when I received this was the Walgreens sticker that was attached to the front. On one hand, this is a really affordable subscription for what you're receiving but it's still a little odd to see the bargain sticker on your item. One of my first impressions of this subscription was how it would be a great gift for someone who loves mystery novels but I wouldn't really want to give someone a gift with a discount sticker still attached.
The American Mission by Matthew Palmer - Value $2.49 on Amazon (retail price $26.95)
Summary from Amazon:
Global headlines come to life as intrigue and international politics collide in the Congo in this electrifying debut thriller from Matthew Palmer.
After a devastating experience in Darfur strips Alex Baines, former rising star of the State Department, of his security clearances, he is faced with two choices: spend the rest of his career in visa-stamping limbo or move to the private sector. On the verge of resigning, he receives a call from his old mentor with an incredible opportunity to start over, restoring both his security clearances and his reputation.
The job isn’t quite what Alex imagined it to be when he finds a shady U.S.-based mining company everywhere he turns.
As violence in the political climate escalates, Alex struggles to balance the best interests of the United States with the fate of the Congo and its people. His loyalties are put to the test as he races to determine the right course of action.
The author of The American Mission is a diplomat who has served in the U.S. Foreign Service. His experience as part of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff serves as a base for this novel. I always enjoy someone with experience in a field turning that into a fictional work. If that person happens to be a good writer you get to enjoy a fun novel with the added bonus of legitimacy. It makes you wonder how much of this is based on Palmer's personal experience. I'm really enjoying the political aspect of this novel and it's giving me an interesting insight into life in an overseas embassy.
Righteous Kill on Blu-ray - Value $2.95 on Amazon (retail price $14.99)
Summary:
Detectives Thomas Cowan (Robert De Niro) and David Fisk (Al Pacino), 30-year veterans of the NYPD, investigate the murder of a pimp. The crime resembles a case they solved many years earlier. As the body count rises, they realize they're dealing with a vigilante taking over when the police fail. The similarities between past and present crimes leads the detectives to wonder if they put the wrong man behind bars.
Honestly, this movie was not a hit for me. When I looked into this movie a bit more, it seems like it wasn't a hit with a lot of people. Pacino and De Niro are always fun to watch to a certain extent but the plot of this movie felt a little stale. This felt like a movie I would watch if it happened to be on tv on a lazy afternoon but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. There are just way better Pacino or De Niro dramas to enjoy.
Verdict: This box has some hits and some misses for me. I’m happy that both books interested me this month and I’ll definitely enjoy finishing those. The misses for me were the movie and the fact that The Accident has a bargain sticker on it. That’s not the end of the world but, as I mentioned earlier, I wouldn’t want to give someone a book with a discount sticker on it so I don’t really want to receive that either. As far as the value of the box goes, $14.99 for two hardcover books and a film will always feel like a deal to me. The hard thing about book subscription boxes is that you can always find a cheap deal online. If I were to purchase the contents of this months box from Amazon, the total would be about $24. Obviously, you can get each product for a wide range depending on if you buy new or used from various vendors so that price can really fluctuate. The value for me comes from the curation. These were two novels I hadn’t heard of before but they fit the theme of the box and I’m enjoying them. I actually prefer thriller novels over thriller films so the movies have a higher chance of being a miss for me. I’m pretty curious about their horror option because that seems like it might have a bit more flexibility in their options.
What do you think of My Thrill Club?
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