Author: emmasbibliotreasures

“It stood to reason that both life and death began with a spark of light.”

Jodi Picoult has done it again.  A Spark of Light is a well written, well researched, culturally and socially relevant book.  Although it is a difficult read at times I do believe it’s an important one. Ms Picoult has never shied away from controversial or difficult subjects and with this novel she tackles what can be one of the most dividing and emotive issues there is.

I have never read a book written in a reverse timescale before. I found it strange starting at the end so to speak, and initially found it hard to get to grips with. But after a few chapters I was used to it and began to enjoy the novelty of it and couldn’t wait to see how the author takes us back in time and reveals what brought each person to the Center that day.  Obviously we know some things from the outset: 15-year-old Wren is there with her Auntie Bex, Hugh is the hostage negotiator and Wren’s father, Dr Louie Ward is the doctor who works at the Centre, Izzy is a nurse and assists him with the wounded, Joy is there for an abortion, Janine is a pro-life protester working undercover, and the shooter, George, is there for revenge after his daughter had an abortion. But as always there is more to their stories; layers that when peeled back reveal hidden secrets and false assumptions and how the characters lives are entwined in unexpected ways.

As you can imagine, this book is not an easy read for many reasons.  It can be graphic in it’s medical descriptions and heartbreaking at times.  In particular I found the scene involving a fifteen week abortion hard as I almost lost my son at that stage of pregnancy. However, it was informative and sensitivity written, and I felt for the character who hadn’t wanted to wait until that point for her abortion.  

One of the reasons that Jodi Picoult has been my favourite author ever since I bought and read My Sister’s Keeper when it was first released is how well she researches her subjects. For A Spark of Light she spoke with 151 women who’d had a termination, interviewed pro-life activists, shadowed a doctor who performs terminations and even observed some procedures at various stages of pregnancy. This thorough research is obvious in the depth of factual details in the story.  Another reason I love her work is that she doesn’t tell the reader what to think. In this book she writes without judgement of either side of the debate and leaves you to make up your own mind. I found it easy to relate to each of the characters, even if I didn’t agree with their viewpoints.

I bought this book while on holiday in the States. Despite having a signed copy on order I was gutted to miss meeting her on her book tour.  So on a late night whim while driving from St Louis to Alabama, I bought A Spark of Light in a Walmart in Mississippi, it having been released four weeks earlier in the US than it was due in the UK. At the time I didn’t know it was set in that state so purchasing it there later felt serendipitous.  I do think that being in the US during this time of such huge debate about the abortion issue helped me have a deeper appreciation for the book and just how important and relevant it is. As a UK resident I was unprepared for the multiple pro-life billboards as we drove along the highway in both Northern and Southern States. Although I would have no doubt still enjoyed the novel I feel being here while reading it gave me a connection to it that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

The author has written a spectacular, gripping book that is also informative and unforgettable.  It shows you how nothing is ever black and white, there are many shades of gray and that these things affect our decisions, choices and views in life. It can lead to two people making very different courses of action for exactly the same reasons. I found this quote particularly poignant: “We are all drowning slowly in the tide of our opinions, oblivious that we are taking on water every time we open our mouths.”

Out today.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon books UK, Avon and Helen Fields for the chance to read and review this book.

“Death was a slowly creeping monster, and the terror was almost unbearable.”

The body of a young girl is found dumped on the roadside in the outskirts of Edinburgh.  When pathologists examine the remains, they make a gruesome discovery: the outline of a doll carved into the victim’s skin.

DCI Ava Turner and DC Luc Callanach are struggling to find leads in the case, until a doll made of skin is found nestled beside an abandoned baby.

After another young woman is found butchered, Luc and Ava realise the babydoll like is playing a horrifyingly game.  And it’s only a matter of time before he strikes again. Can they stop another victim from being silenced forever – or is it already too late?

Wow! Helen Fields blew me away with this book. It was her best yet and contained some of the most sickening killings and a serial killer that is among the most sadistic you’ll find. After finishing this book I was sat in shock and awe at just how brilliant it was. This was truly the perfect read to help me out of a reading slump.

Perfect Silence is book four in this series and bring back with DI Luc Callanach and DCI Ava Turner in Scotland feels like reconnecting with old friends.  By this point you know the Team but for anyone reading this as their first book in the series enough information is given for it to make sense and work as a stand alone book. Though I can’t imagine you not wanting to read the previous books after such a fantastic story and I would highly recommended the previous novels.

The horror faced by the first victim, Zoey, as her life ebbs away is a riveting and captivating start to the book. We witness her desperate battle to escape and survive the madman who kidnapped and butchered her, get a glimpse into her tragic life as she reflects on what led her to this moment, and feel her finally accept her cruel fate as she embraces the sweet release of death.

As Ava, Luc and their team hunt for the person who is kidnapping young women, killing them and making macabre skin dolls they find they come up with very few clues. How is he choosing his victims? Why is he killing them? Why make the dolls?

It isn’t until victim four is taken that they finally get some answers and as the police are closing in on their suspect the minutes are ticking by, my heart pounds and the switches in narration between the Ava and the woman being held make the wait agonising. Will they get there in time to rescue her or will a final victim be claimed? Will they capture the dollbaby killer or will they elude them? It is almost too much to bear as we race to the finish line with what seems to be the speed of a tortoise.

Right up until the police are about to knock on their door I’d had no idea as to the killer’s true identity other than the snippets the writer had teasingly fed us along the way. This made the big reveal satisfying for both the reader and fictional detectives.

The tension from the opening chapter is maintained throughout this book and I couldn’t put it down. I love how this author writes: her vivid descriptions, the apprehension that grips you from the first page, the horror mixed in with human empathy and kindness, the awfulness of meeting your fate at the hands of a maniac and knowing you are powerless to change it and the hope you can’t quite lose until that final moment death comes. These things blended together and set amongst the mundane details of everyday life create a story that gets it’s hooks into you the minute you start reading and doesn’t let go until the last sentence. Helen Fields has created one of the best Detective/Crime Series available. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Mystery, Thrillrime books.

Out Now

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster UK Children’s and Chelsea Pitcher for the chance to read this book.

One year ago, there was a party.  At the party, someone died. Five teens all played a part and up until now, no one has told the truth.

But tonight, the five survivors arrive at an isolated mansion in the hills, expecting to compete in a contest with a $50,00 prize… Instead, they realise they’ve been lured together by a person bent on revenge who wants to finally unravel the truth about what actually happened that deadly night, one year ago.

I was excited by the synopsis of this book and was sure I’d love it. It started well with an opening chapter that flashed back to the night of the party when a teenage boy was killed and a mysterious girl swears revenge on those who caused his demise. There was a sense of foreboding and eerie atmosphere that made me eager to keep reading.  The following five chapters introduced our five main characters and I loved that each got their own chapter where we learned about them and snippets of how they were implicated in the events of the party.

Unfortunately, as the characters gathered together at the mansion to compete for the scholarship the story began to lose it’s way. While there were some creepy elements at this point, such as the rooms they were all given, I felt these were not explored to their full potential and became secondary to the asinine antics of the characters, who also became overly clichéd and one-dimensional. My initial connection to Ruby faltered and I didn’t feel enough for any of the characters to really hold an interest in what happened to them.

The atmosphere and tension did increase a little as you reached the story’s climax but the fact that the bad guy had been obvious pretty much all along took away that edge-of-your-seat rush to get to the big, exciting reveal.

The author of this book does have a very poetic writing style in places that I loved, but sadly the lack of mystery and suspense took away from my overall enjoyment of the novel.

Out December 27th.

Murders that look like accidents.  An accident that look like murder.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloodhound Books and Joanna Stephen-Ward for the chance to read this book.

Gloria seems like your average boring, frumpy woman next door who is a little too clingy and desperate to have any real friends or kind of relationship.  But underneath all that normalcy lurks a woman who is driven to kill. She doesn’t like killing, or at least that’s what she tells herself and her doll collection, and she doesn’t know why people are cruel to her and make her kill them.  But they do. So each time she kills she adds another doll to her collection and moves on in her quest for love and acceptance.

The book started off well and I enjoyed the opening chapter and it’s chilling final two sentences whispered to her dolls about more joining her collection and was excited to read what Gloria would do next.  I liked the early 90s setting of the story and the small moments of nostalgia it offered. Reading references to things such as doing the pools and using phone boxes took me back to my youth. I think setting the story in this era worked well as a lot of things the various characters did wouldn’t have been possible with a modern timeline.

Unfortunately I felt that overall the synopsis of this book was a case of false advertising: the murders Gloria commits are mostly historic, she shows no sense of buying dolls for ‘satisfaction’ and she kills only because she feels they’ve driven her too it with their mistreatment of her rather than because she craves it. The thrills in this book were lacking and it concentrated more on her “romance” with Maurice and the subplot of the saga of his housing situation than it did on her killings.  Gloria is a very judgmental and bitter character but instead of this making her interesting and someone you love to hate, I found her quite bland and boring and was unable to connect with her or be invested in anything that she did or that happened to her.. Maurice was a better character but I found the story predictable and lacking in any real excitement. I think the book might have been a better read if it had deliberately focused on Maurice and Gloria had been a secondary character.

Out November 24th

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookoture and Rona Halsall for the chance to read this book.

What if trying to protect your child only put them in danger?

Natalie Wilson has just been released on parole after spending 3 years in prison for a crime she says she didn’t commit.  But her husband Tom believed the police and not only didn’t let her see Harry in all that time, he’s taken him somewhere so she can’t see him upon her release either.  Now she’s out Natalie is determined to see Harry again and find out who set her up and destroyed her life. But she doesn’t know who she can trust and is being followed by someone out to harm her and her son.  Can she find out the truth and keep her son safe?

This was a fantastic book.  It is written mostly from the perspective of Natalie and goes back and forth from current to past events as we learn how she ended up in prison, her experiences while in there and what it is she did that lead to the threat on Harry’s life.  She’s jumpy and anxious from the start and you get a sense of her unease and suspicion of everyone she sees around her. She has one focus: Harry. All she cares about is seeing her son and getting them both to safety.

There is a second narrator in this book who’s identity we don’t know.  This person is hunting Natalie and is determined she won’t find her son or enjoy her freedom. No one is supposed to know she’s been released as it was done quickly and secretly due to the death threats but they know and are hot on her trail.  The chapters told by this mysterious stalker were short, full of malice and added a chilling element as we read their pure hatred and plans.

This novel was easy to read as I couldn’t put it down.  I needed to know what had happened to her in prison, if she was right to place her trust in certain characters and if she would finally find her son.  I enjoyed the change in Natalie that took place during her time in prison and found the way she used to deal with her separation from her son very touching.  I Another aspect I liked was that there were multiple candidates as to the identity of second narrator and that it wasn’t revealed until the climax, leaving you unsure about your suspicions and questioning the actions of multiple characters over and again.  

Keep You Safe is a gripping debut novel that thriller fans will love.  I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Out now

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John in a decaying Georgian townhouse on the edge of a northern seaside resort.  A timid spinster in her fifties that still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to shut out the shocking secret that John keeps in the cellar.

Until, suddenly, John has a heart attack and Marion is forced to go down to the cellar herself and face the gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden.

As questions are asked and secrets unravel, maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side.

I’d been drawn towards this book during my Kindle Unlimited subscription earlier in the year but never got around to actually reading it.  As my current subscription draws to a close I thought that October was the perfect time to read this book as just reading the description gave me a sense of unease. The book started out strongly with an instant sense of horror in the engrossing opening pages.  The fear seeps into every facet of the story: in Marion’s terror of their secret being discovered, in the identity of the mysterious visitors, the question of what it is that John doing to “help” them and the question why Marion is so scared of her brother.

The story is narrated by Marion and moves between the past and present, offering us a glimpse into their childhoods and how they came to be where they are today; a dysfunctional brother and sister in their fifties, both childless and unemployed, living together in the family home they grew up in. For most of the book little information is offered about the visitors and they remain a secretive and almost ominous element that, like Marion, we don’t really understand.  The author maintains an element of eeriness and foreboding throughout the book and the more we learn about the characters and events, the more that atmosphere grows and we empathise with Marion’s dilemma at both wanting to have their dark secret discovered and trying to protect it at all costs.

The characters in this book were well written and very relatable.  Marion is a cowed, anxious, repressed woman who is stuck in her childhood.  She grew up starved of the physical or emotional affection she craved and was convinced by her mother that she is too stupid to do anything and better behind the closed doors of the family home as the world and everyone in it are perilous. You feel sad for Marion as she grapples with wishing for more in life; for love, children, friends and the courage to live the way she’s too scared to.  She’s the victim in this story and powerless to help either herself or the visitors, who seem to terrify her as much as her overbearing brother. John’s character is your typical bully with a penchant for violence and perversion.  He frightened not only Marion but even their parents from being a teenager and no one has ever been able to control him. He therefore has always been able to do whatever he wants with little in the way of consequences, making him even more terrifying as he knows he’s untouchable and that he can make Marion bend to his will through intimidation.

After John suffers a heart attack Marion is finally forced to face the truth that not only does he keep the visitors in the cellar, but also the sickening reality of their conditions and plight. The final chapters are the most disturbing part of the novel but also the most gripping.  I’d found this was a book I didn’t want to stop reading from the start but the final chapters made it impossible to put it down as I had to know how things would end.

The Visitors is a riveting and scary debut novel. It is the first horror book I’ve read and I think I’ve been converted to a new genre in reading it.  I’ll end this review with a quote from the book that I found haunting:

“Sometimes when you hurt a living thing it could drain away some of the hurt that was inside you…“

Out Now.

An epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream.

Jaya, a New York journalist, is unprepared for the heartbreak of three miscarriages and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage.  Feeling like she’s lost everything, she doesn’t know what to do or where to turn.  When her Mother receives a letter from her brother informing her that their estranged Father in India is dying and wants to see her before his death, Jaya is shocked that she refuses to both discuss the letter or go to see her Father.  Feeling in need of answers about her Mother’s past and her own heritage Jaya decides to travel India herself and see her Grandfather.

When she arrives in India Jaya is enraptured by the sights, smells and sounds.  She feels like she’s in a strange land but knows she is deeply rooted in this place too.  Upon arriving at the house she meets Ravi, her Grandmother’s former servant and loyal friend.  Though she was too late to meet her Grandfather before his death her quest for answers isn’t lost as Ravi agrees to tell her the story of  why her Mother left India upon her marriage and never returned.

The story begins in the 1930s when her late Grandmother, Amisha, was a newly wedded 15-year-old girl during the British Occupation.  Amisha was a pioneer who fought against things she felt were unjust in any way possible, often to her own detriment. This starts when she hires Ravi, an untouchable, as her servant.  She knows this is against custom and it will incur the wrath of her overbearing mother in law, but she accepts the consequences and hires him anyway.

Amisha was a storyteller. She had always written stories and poems that she hid away, sure that no one would want to read them. She had always been desperate to learn and would steal her brothers textbooks and school herself by candlelight. Always wanting tolearn more, when an English school opened she hoped to become a student and learn English.  This takes her on a path she never imagined and leads to choices she never envisioned having to make. It is the best time of her life and yet also the worst.

Hearing the story of her Grandmother has a huge impact on Jaya. Amisha was a woman who grappled to find herself while also staying true to what others expected of her, this makes Jaya question if she ever actually made any real decision in life. She’s had all this freedom, the kind of freedom her Grandmother could only dream of, yet she has pursued the established path before her with no real thought as to if that is what she truly wants.  Hearing how her Grandmother was uncommonly brave in the decisions she made helps Jaya feel able to become braver herself and start dealing with the heartache of her losses and talking about what happened instead of keeping it all locked inside. Instead of escaping from her life and heartache, she finds she is now able to face things in a healthy way.  She is also now able to understand why her Mother always seemed cold and distant and refused to talk about her past. She is also able to give her the story of the mother she lost and the love she never knew growing up.

This was a beautiful and profoundly touching story that was wonderfully written.  I thought the choice to write in the first person during the story, as well as the present day, was a skillful one. It immersed you in Amisha’s mind and world, helping you understood the decisions she made and reasons for her actions, even when they might otherwise have seemed wrong.  A magnificent, heartwarming book that I would highly recommend.

Out Now.

“Two sisters, carved in two by the justice system.”

If the police say your sister killed your daughter but she says she’s innocent who would you believe? Who would the rest of your family believe? And how do you recover from such a betrayal and double loss? These are the questions facing Martha in this fantastic book.

This book had me hooked from the first page. It was hard to tear myself away as all I wanted to do was read and find out what would happen to Becky. Did she kill Layla? And if not her then who did? The story is told mostly from the perspectives of both Martha and Becky and takes place during Becky’s trial for murder. Becky maintains her innocence from the start and although Martha is desperate to believe her sister couldn’t have done such a thing, the prosecution are telling her that she did. How do you not trust what the police and lawyers, the very people that are there to see justice is done, are telling you? The heartbreak Martha faces at this dilemma, at having not only lost her precious child but also facing the possibility that it was at the hands of her sister and best friend, is something you can’t fail to be moved by.

As the conclusion approached, I was racing to read as fast as possible to find out what had happened. I found myself scared at the thought that we might never having a real answer to the question. No conclusion after all. As I was reading I could feel the tension and that a big reveal and/or twist was coming but when it came it took my breath away and tore at my heart. The fact that I’d guessed correctly didn’t dull the sense of tragedy in the truth of what had happened.

This was my first read by Gillian McAllister but it certainly won’t be my last. No Further Question explores the complexities of family, love and parenthood, of a sister torn in two and a family torn apart. It is an emotional, heartbreaking, edge-of-your seat book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys well written crime fiction, thrillers and mystery.

Paperback released today.

cof

I recently read ‘In Her Shadow’ by Mark Edwards which is finally released today. In celebration of Publication Day I decided to share my review on here

Review

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing UK and Mark Edwards for the chance to read an ARC of this novel.

“Isabel’s life seemed perfect. Successful business, beautiful house, adoring husband. And then she was dead”.

When the story starts it’s been four years since her sister Isabel’s death and Jessica has never once doubted that it was anything other than a tragic accident. But when her daughter Olivia, who never met her Aunt, suddenly knows long forgotten details of Isabel’s life and talking about “a bad man” and secrets she mustn’t share, Jessica starts to wonder if maybe Izzy didn’t fall from the balcony after all. So, she starts to investigate; trying to garner information from her reluctant and frightened daughter and family members who mostly believe she should let it lie. All the while going between belief and denial that Olivia is telling the truth, fearful of what it means if Olivia really is communicating with her dead Aunt and if Isabel was murdered.

Mark Edwards is the King of the psychological thriller with a eerie twist. When I read ‘The Retreat’ a few months ago I instantly became a fan and this is the 5th of his books that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. When you open a Mark Edwards book you expect a rollercoaster ride of heart pounding anticipation, gut-wrenching turmoil and shocking plot twists; which he has delivered yet again in this unputdownable book that sizzles with suspense and had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next.

In Her Shadow is a story about family, loss, a thriller, a who dunnit, and a culturally relevant novel all rolled into one.

Available October 4th.

Can you believe ‘Matilda’ is 30?!  It seems not that long ago I was a young girl myself reading this classic story when it was released (yes, that makes me feel old).   When I saw that a 30th anniversary edition of this book was being released, along with 3 different collectible covers imagining what Matilda would be doing at now drawn by Quentin Blake, I was first of all shocked it was so long since the book’s release and then excited at the idea of what Matilda might be up to as an adult.  I’d like to think if the author was still alive he might have written an updated story telling us what she’s doing with her life.  But as he sadly can’t do that I was thrilled to get the chance to read this book once more and reminisce with this timeless tale.

Review –

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK Children’s and Puffin for the chance to read this novel.

Matilda has been one of my favourite books since childhood.  I read it multiple times when I was younger, watched the movie multiple times when it was released and it is always the joint favourite with The BFG when I’m asked my favourite childhood story.

It was great to be reading this deliciously funny book again with an adult perspective.  As soon as I began reading the memories came rushing back, from the wonderful illustrations to sitting laughing at Matilda’s acts of revenge against the adults who have wronged her.  There was also some great moments of nostalgia in rereading this book. Who would have thought back then that the line “We’ve got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen” would become so funny and dated?  My kids wouldn’t be happy with a television that size in their bedrooms now, let alone in the front room.

The unique prose of Roald Dahl is as brilliantly funny now as it was 30 years ago.  I enjoyed the chance to reread this classic story and although it may have been written for children, it is a great read for all ages.

Out October 4th