Reviewed by Tanja Jurkovic for Readers' Favorite

Anna Lavrynenko's adult crime thriller, Newbourne: A Cold Case, follows Detective Frank Harris whose life gets turned upside down with the arrival of his only daughter back home from university, following the mysterious disappearance, and possibly death, of one of his colleagues. With the help of his fellow officers and friends, Frank tries to make sense of a chain of strange events and deaths that have struck the community and the police force of Newbourne. This high-tech futuristic city hides many secrets in its underbelly, Alter-city underground, a dangerous place where all the criminals do their shady business, futuristic scientific experiments, and creating things that shouldn't be possible by any account. Frank Harris is forced to go to the Alter-city underground and investigate these strange occurrences further, risking his life and the lives of his loved ones in the process.

Newbourne: A Cold Case by Anna Lavrynenko is a well-crafted novel that flows well. The atmosphere is slowly built up to the climax and the characters, which gives the impression of something sinister rising with each action the characters choose to take at a given moment. It is a real page-turner, perfect for a getaway into a completely different world from our own. I was impressed with the detailed descriptions of Newbourne and its surroundings, and it made me want to know more about the lives of the main characters and the reasons behind their actions. It is a well-written read that keeps on surprising until the very end.