Author: emmasbibliotreasures

IN THE MOST EXPLOSIVE AND TWISTED PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER SINCE THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, A PERFECT LOVE STORY LEADS TO THE PERFECT CRIME.

Maddie and Ian’s romance began when he was serving in the British Army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend Jo in Europe. Now sixteen years later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America.

But when an accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD, her concerns for the safety of their young son Charlie, and the couples tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, the years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of The Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.

But what in this beautiful home has gone so terribly bad?

Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books and Annie Ward for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This absorbing psychological thriller begins with Maddie looking for a therapist ‘12 weeks before’ and then a chilling 911 call in which a woman pleads for help to hurry as a child shrieks in the background…

Maddie Wilson and her husband Ian live in Meadowlark, Kansas, with their three-year-old son Charlie. From the start we learn their marriage is strained and both also have their own personal struggles. Maddie is seeking out a therapist to work through the anxiety and panic attacks she’s had since a mysterious accident that left her scarred and settles on writing therapy with the unconventional Dr Camilla Jones. In these sessions she also begins to open up and details her fears due to Ian’s PTSD and her worries for their son’s safety.

As we’re taken between the different timelines we see the couple meet in the Balkans when Ian was a soldier and Maddie was teaching English to poor students. Her best friend Jo lived in Macedonia, where Ian was based, and the two met at a fundraiser there in 2001. At first Jo was the one to get close to Ian but then something changed and she warned Maddie not to trust him but their friendship ended when Maddie followed her heart instead of listening to her friend. The story doesn’t just focus on them as a couple but also talks about the things they went through separately that shaped the people they are today. In the present day both are damaged and pulled apart rather than together. Ian’s PTSD causes him to be volatile and rely on drink as a crutch, and Maddie’s anxiety causes panic attacks about disaster befalling her family constantly. She dreams of escaping with Charlie and feeling safe again.

The story is told from multiple points of view, although Maddie is the narrator we see the most. The Day Of The Killing is the present day but it isn’t until near the end of the book we learn who was killed and what happened that day. Instead we are given occasional glimpses of the gruesome crime scene, which are described in beautiful but macabre detail, as the first attending officer enters the house. I liked that the story was told in this way, it added a greater level of suspense and apprehension as I was always waiting for the next snippet of information about the crime and looking for clues as to who was the victim or perpetrator in the flashback timelines. I love guessing those kinds of things and seeing if I get the twist right or if I’ve been wonderfully mislead.

The characters in this book were strong and relatable, as were a lot of their problems. We haven’t all been in war torn countries but PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks are common, as are struggles in a relationship, the instinct to protect your child, and losing a close friend after falling out. I think anyone can find something to connect to in this book. I found myself relating to Maddie the most when she first realises Ian is struggling with PTSD and wonders how she missed his darkness. When we first fall for someone we all show our best side and it isn’t until later the less pretty things are revealed and by then we can be in so deep that we dismiss our fears and what our gut is telling us, making excuses that allow us to stay because we love them and want this to work. Also, am I the only one who found this book really funny at times? Usually because of something Maddie or Jo said or did.

Beautiful Bad is a phenomenal and enthralling novel that is gripping from the start. I had my suspicions from the start about the big twist but the author still shocked me with elements of the reveal and eerily haunting ending. Fabulously written and unputdownable this is a thriller you don’t want to miss.

Out March 21st

When Jordanian student Siwar Salaiha is murdered on her birthday in College Park, Maryland, her consciousness survives, finding refuge in the body of a Seattle baby boy. Stuck in this speech delayed three-year-old body, Siwar tries but fails to communicate with Wyatt’s parents, instead she focuses on solving the mystery behind her murder. Eventually her consciousness goes into a dormant state after Wyatt undergoes a major medical procedure.

Fast-forward twenty-two years. Wyatt is a well-adjusted young man with an affinity towards the Middle East and a fear heights. While working towards his graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies, Wyatt learns about Siwar’s death, which occurred twenty-five years ago. For reasons he can’t explain, he grows obsessed with Siwar and spends months investigating her death, which police at the time erroneously ruled as suicide. His investigation forces him to open a door he has kept shut all his life, a spiritual connection to an unknown entity that he frequently refused to acknowledge. His leads take him to Amman, Jordan where after talking to her friends and family members and through his special connection with the deceased, he discovers a clue that unravels the mystery of her death. Will Siwar get justice after all?

Thank you to Natasha Tynes for my copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Siwar Salaiha is a Jordanian creative writing student studying in Maryland. On the night of her 25th birthday she is out celebrating with friends when she is murdered by an unknown person. Her consciousness somehow survives and wakes in the body of three-year-old Wyatt, an speech delayed American boy. Her failed attempts to communicate with his parents leave her frustrated and angry so she tries to solve her murder instead. But before she can her consciousness becomes dormant once again after Wyatt undergoes major surgery.

We next see Wyatt as it turns midnight on his 25th birthday. He is now studying for his graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies and has had an affinity with the area his whole life. That night he learns the story of Siwar’s death, which was ruled a suicide,and after instantly feeling a bizarre sense of recognition, he becomes increasingly obsessed with her. Convinced there is more to her death he starts an investigation where he talks to Siwar’s friends and family and takes him to her hometown. He eventually uncovers a clue that the police never found. Will the mystery of her death be solved and justice finally served?

“Dying was not the worst part. It was what came after dying.”

The two main characters are at the heart of this unique story. I enjoyed reading Siwar’s character and found I connected to her love of books and writing. The parts of the story that concentrated on her life growing up in Jordan was eye opening. I can’t imagine living with bars on your bedroom window for security or being considered a slut for a peck on the lips with a boy you like. I could understand why Siwar dreamed of a different life where she was free to be who she was, to pursue her dream career and fall in love like the people she read about in her books. I think her battle to be herself was described perfectly with the line “I rebelled in a country where rebels don’t dwell.”  The thing I loved most about Siwar was her straightforward, no nonsense character that we saw mostly through her inner monologue rather than her actions and she seemed like a girl I would get along with.

“The first time I went to Jordan…I got this sense of deja vu.”*

Initially we only meet Wyatt through Siwar’s “eyes” as her conscious awakens and she’s exasperated at inhabiting the body of a young boy. The author vividly conveyed the difficulties she faced being in Wyatt’s three-year old body: the frustration of being unable to communicate properly and the irritation of being limited by the body you’re in. It was a great reminder of how hard it can be for a child to do things we take for granted. After the story jumps forward twenty two years we get to meet Wyatt as more than just vessel for Siwar’s consciousness. He has been plagued by anxiety, a fear of heights and nightmares of falling into an abyss all his life and each year his birthday brings with it a sense of unease and foreshadowing of disaster. He seems a serious and melancholy individual which can be explained by Siwar’s consciousness fading in and out,, something she’s aware tortures him. I felts very sorry for Wyatt as he struggled with Siwar’s increasing presence , his confusion at what was happening to him, and how his obsession with her case threatened to destroy both him and his relationship. I wanted a solution to her murder more for him that for her at this point.

“..an alien in the country of our childhood dreams.”

One of the interesting parts of this story for me were reading about western culture from the perspective of someone raised in a different culture. When she finally arrived in the US to study writing it surprised Siwar that she missed her homeland and that she felt so out of place in the place she always believed she’d finally belong. The US lifestyle is both similar yet very different to the one here in the UK but being western myself I was less surprised by things that seemed so strange to Siwar. The obsession with race is definitely a US thing and is something I will never understand, especially with the divisions it causes.

“I want justice. I want revenge. I want my life back.”

This enjoyable novel had a fascinating concept that made me excited to start reading. It started out strong and contained so many great lines I could quote. I liked both characters, especially sassy Siwar and her journey after she awoke inside Wyatt after her death. It would have been so easy to feel confused with the constant switching between Siwar and Wyatt in part two but for me the author managed to avoid it successfully by writing Siwar first person and Wyatt in third person. When the big reveal happened it was a surprise for me as I had thought the ending was going to be predictable. There were a number of viable suspects for Siwar’s murder and for almost all the book I was certain I knew who killed her.

“I’m Siwar, the bracelet around your wrist.”

While I liked reading about Siwar’s life I thought her life story took up too much of the book and I never felt like we really got the chance to see Wyatt’s life enough, especially the time he was growing up and struggling with things that were in his life because of Siwar’s consciousness.  The amount of information in part two was overwhelming at times but I did enjoy reading Wyatt’s investigation. There is another connection Wyatt has to Siwar that I won’t mention because it’s a spoiler and I did find this a bit far fetched even though it was explained she led him in that regard and it helped the plot along. Overall, They Called Me Wyatt is a great debut novel and I’m excited to see what this new author writes next.

Out June 27th.

She heard their screams. She felt their fear.

Now she’s their only hope….

Adam Brandt is a forensic psychologist, well used to dealing with the most deranged members of society.

But he’s never met anyone like Kassie.

The teenager claims to have a terrible gift – with one look in your eyes, she can see how and when you will die.

Obviously, Adam knows Kassie must be insane. But then a serial killer hits the city. And only Kassie seems to know where he’ll strike next.

Against all his intuition, Adam starts to believe her.

He just doesn’t realise how deadly his faith might prove..

Thank you to Penguin UK, Michael Joseph, NetGalley and M. J. Arlidge for the chance to read and review this book.

The Helen Grace series by this author is one of my all-time-favourite crime series so I was looking forward to reading this stand-alone novel. The synopsis sounded fascinating and the opening chapter had me absorbed as I read what Kassie saw in the face of the stranger she bumped into on the street. The vivid detail was haunting and you felt her terror at staring death in the face. I was now even more excited to read the rest of this novel.

Kassie hasn’t had an easy life. She lives with her mother in one of the less welcoming parts of Chicago, and it has been just the two of them ever since her father t when she was a young child. They don’t have an easy relationship, Kassie’s mother is cold, hard and unforgiving of her daughter’s transgressions and has no tolerance for her so-called gift. She sees it as an excuse by Kassie to be deceptive and get attention. With no friends the only person Kassie can turn to is her Grandmother. But she is in a nursing home diagnosed with dementia and unable to communicate. All Kassie wants is someone who believes and understands her. To not be alone.

After her collision with the man on the street Kassie chased after him to try and warn him about what she saw. But all that anyone else sees is a crazy girl screaming and grabbing at the man and she is arrested on suspicion of trying to mug him. Adam Brandt is called down to the Juvenile Detention Centre to administer the psychological evaluation that protocol dictates she is given. At first he thinks she is in the middle of a psychological breakdown but is intrigued when she claims to have been trying to warn the man about something.

When the stranger, Jacob Jones, turns up brutally butchered the next day Kassie is again brought in by Police for questioning. Adam interviews her and she confides her secret: she saw the man’s death. She goes on to explain how by looking in someone’s eyes she can foresee the day and manner they will die. Though he doesn’t believe it Adam also doesn’t believe Kassie is crazy. He takes her on as a patient, determined to understand this unusual teenager and her peculiar conviction that she can predict someone’s demise. But things are about to get even more bizarre when another person Kassie claims to have foreseen the imminent death of is found in the same manner as Jacob Jones. Is Kassie somehow involved in these murders? Or is her gift real and she truly is just trying to save them? And if Kassie isn’t involved then who is The Chicago Butcher?

Kassie is a complex character and was an interesting protagonist. She isn’t always likeable. She’s impulsive, headstrong and temperamental but also vulnerable and someone who tries to do the right thing. Unfortunately her lack of maturity and guidance mean she often ends up making things worse, usually for herself. For the majority of the book we are left to decide for ourselves if her gift is real or a charade and I went back and forth with my thoughts on this many times.

A Gift For Dying was a mysterious, intriguing, and thought-provoking book. Other than guessing who the next victim would be, I never really knew where the book was going and was taken by surprise with most of the twists and turns. There were times I gasped in horror at the gruesome and grisly murder descriptions, times my heart raced as the tension mounted, and times my heart broke. I did find that the pace was too slow at times and in the middle of the book I very nearly gave up on it as it wasn’t holding my interest and had lost momentum. Thankfully I persevered and it picked up again as the last part of the book was gripping with a shocking conclusion that I didn’t expect.

Out today.