Welcome to my stop on the tour for this creepy gothic thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Harper Collins for the gifted copy of the book.
SYNOPSIS:
Atmospheric, gothic, spine-chilling… The new thriller from C.J Cooke will haunt you long after you turn the last page… It was like something out of a fairytale… The grieving widower. The motherless daughters. A beautiful house in the woods. Deep in a remote Norwegian forest, Lexi has found a new home with architect Tom and his two young daughters. With snow underfoot and the sound of the nearby fjord in her ears, it’s as if Lexi has stepped into a fairy tale
But this family has a history – and this place has a past. Something was destroyed to build their beautiful new house. And those ancient, whispering woods have a long memory.
Lexi begins to hear things, see things that don’t make sense. She used to think this place heavenly, but in the dark, dark woods, a menacing presence lurks.
With darkness creeping in from the outside, Lexi knows she needs to protect the children in her care.
But protect them from what?
MY REVIEW:
All month I’ve been itching to read a creepy, gothic book. The Nesting is both of those things and more.
Returning to Norway after the recent death of his wife Aurelia, Tom hires Lexi to accompany the family as their Nanny. For him, it’s a chance to honour his wife the house she dreamed of while avoiding his grief, and for Lexi it’s a chance to reinvent herself and start again after a recent suicide attempt.
But deep in the remote Norwegian forest, there is a threat lurking. But is it human? Are the things Aurelia and Lexi see really hallucinations or are they a real and sinister supernatural force that is out to harm them?
Atmospheric, eerie and haunting, this is the perfect book for this time of year. I’m a big fan of gothic novels, and Cooke executes this one expertly, with just the right amount of spine-tingling terror to keep you hooked and not wanting to turn out the light.
The writing is simply gorgeous and so vividly descriptive that I felt like I was seeing and feeling everything alongside the characters. I particularly liked how well her description of Lexi’s first month as a Nanny captured the exhaustive nature of children and how she put us inside the mind of a young child so realistically.
The imagery of Norway made me feel like I was standing in that forest myself and I think that her choice of a remote Norwegian forest in winter was perfect for a Gothic thriller. Beautiful, haunting, dark, chilling and hostile, it sets the scene by simply being itself. The author entwines this with eerie Norwegian folklore and unexplained occurrences, creating the perfect recipe for this spooky tale.
Dealing with themes of motherhood, mental health and suicide, this isn’t a light-hearted read, but it examines each one with sensitivity and realism. It is clear that mental health and motherhood are subjects that heavily impact and influence the author, as she has woven them into both Lexi and Aurelia’s stories. I loved this, the way the women mirrored each other in so many ways and felt it gave them a deep connection despite the fact that they’d never met. I could personally relate to them both in their mental health struggles and they were definitely the characters I felt closest too.
All of the characters, even the minor ones, were interesting and well written. I enjoyed the flashbacks as they gave us a chance to get to know Aurelia and gave us possible clues about her death. It also gives the reader the chance to see a clearer picture of Tom, though I found him suspicious and unlikeable all the same. I thought Lexi was a great protagonist who was relatable, flawed and likeable. But the one who really stole my heart was Gaia. How could she not? She broke my heart when she talked about her ‘Mumma’ and definitely creeped me out most of all with all her talk of the Sad Lady.
An immersive, ethereal and chilling read, The Nesting is the perfect gothic tale for reading while cosy under a blanket this autumn. Just don’t turn out the light!
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
MEET THE AUTHOR:
CJ Cooke wrote her first book aged seven. A few decades later, her work is published in 23 languages, has won numerous awards, and has been optioned for film and television.
CJ’s previous works include the novels The Boy Who Could See Demons (2012), which was critically appraised by The New York Times, The Guardian, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and The New York Review of Books, The Guardian Angel’s Journal (2011), which was an international bestseller, and I Know My Name, which was a No. 1 iBooks bestseller and optioned for TV.
Her latest book, a gothic thriller called The Nesting, was awarded funding from the Arts Council of England to carry out research in Norway and is published by Penguin Random House (US) on 29th Sept 2020 and HarperCollins (UK & Commonwealth) on 15 October 2020.
Published: May 2nd, 2017 Publisher: Bloomsbury UK Format: Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Fantasy Fiction
I read this book as part of a readlong with Tandem Collective UK. Thank you to them for the invitation and Bloomsbury UK for the gifted copy of the book.
SYNOPSIS:
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s manoeuvrings and the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit – and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords and hunt for allies in unexpected places. And her heart will face the ultimate test as she and her mate are forced to question whether they can truly trust each other.
Sarah J. Maas is a global #1 bestselling author. Her books have sold more than nine million copies and been translated into 37 languages. Discover the sweeping romantic fantasy for yourself.
Contains mature content. Not suitable for younger readers.
MY REVIEW:
“To the stars who listen—and the dreams that are answered.”
Fayre is now back in Spring Court. She has returned under the guise of going back to Tamlin but is in fact still Lady of the Night Court and biding her time before taking revenge for how he and others betrayed Prythian in the war with King Hybern. As war looms once more, her relationship with Rhysand is tested and they must decide who among the High Lords they can trust to be on their side.
I loved how fierce, determined and strong Fayre was in this book. She stands up to Tamlin, refusing to let him twist and rewrite their narrative, even when he shreds her dignity with lewd words and savage lies. Back when I read book one, I could never understand why people loved Rhysand and hated Tamlin; now I’m totally the same. Tamlin is a vile, abusive, controlling snake and I got almost as much pleasure out of Fayre’s revenge as she did.
I enjoyed seeing more of the other courts and how Fayre’s sisters handled their unexpected and unwanted transition to immortality. I found myself worrying about the fate of the characters and wondered if the author would take a leaf out of George R. R. Martin’s book and kill off a much-loved main character. It is quite a dark book in many ways, addressing abuse, coercive control, trauma, PTSD and consent.
This was my favourite yet in the series. Action-packed, emotional and gripping, it kept me on the edge of my seat and broke my heart.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Sarah J. Maas is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, as well as the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.
Sarah lives in Bucks County, PA, and over the years, she has developed an unhealthy appreciation for Disney movies and bad pop music. She adores fairy tales and ballet, drinks too much tea, and watches an ungodly amount of TV. When she’s not busy writing, she can be found exploring the historic and beautiful Pennsylvania countryside with her husband and canine companion.
Published: October 16th, 2020 Publisher: One More Chapter Format: Paperback, Kindle Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Crime Series, Hardboiled, Police Procedural
Thank you to Sarah at BOTBS Publicity for the invitation to take part and One More Chapter for the gifted eBook ARC.
SYNOPSIS:
A murdered woman…
When the body of a young woman is found in a local park, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she’s dealing with no ordinary killer. The murder victim has been disfigured; her outfit changed to resemble someone else. Someone Maggie knows all too well…her close friend Dr Kate Moloney.
A determined detective…
Maggie is determined to keep her friend safe, but with Kate already struggling with a threatening stalker, Maggie now fears Kate’s life is in real danger. Who else would want to harm Kate and why else would the killer be turning his victims into exact replicas – his living dolls?
Can Maggie find the depraved killer? Or will Kate become his next living doll?
MY REVIEW:
“Practice makes perfect.”
Dead Perfect is the third installment in the DC Maggie Jamieson series; and it’s the best one yet.
Maggie and her team face their most challenging case yet when they must track a killer who’s altering the appearance of his victims to resemble someone they know. They have few clues and no obvious suspects. But when a second body is found, it is clear they are in a race against the clock to identify and find their killer before he takes another victim. Can Maggie overcome her personal fears to find him before it’s too late?
“He’d been watching her for a while now. She was perfect. Or she would be.”
Holten has a talent for the sinister and macabre, delivering the kind of tense and twisted thriller that I love. Once again she uses one of my favourite tropes of writing from the killer’s perspective, which heightens all the creep factor. This is one sick guy. But it isn’t just the way he incapacitates and mutilates his victims that makes him so scary, or even his obsessive delusion; it’s how patient, organised and methodical he is. The idea that he could do the preparation he does without being caught is frightening, and feels very real.
I’ve read the previous books in this series so I knew the characters. But if you haven’t you can still read this book as the author quickly catches you up on past events. All the characters are relatable, real and well written, and I like Maggie more with every installment. I liked how vulnerable she was in this book and how we see her battle a new challenge when her friend is at risk. She jumps straight into the action and never slows down for a minute. And while you end the book exhausted after an arduous journey, you are also left desperate for more as it perfectly sets the scene for book four.
Dark, menacing and compelling, any thriller lover should read this book.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at http://www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of risk cases as well as working in a multi agency setting. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, attending as many book festivals as she can afford and sharing the booklove via her blog.
Dead Inside – her debut novel with One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK is an international kindle bestseller and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.
Welcome to my stop on the tour for this sensational thriller. Thank you Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the gifted eBook ARC.
SYNOPSIS:
Everyone is going to the housewarming party.
All the same people who lived on the street the day Abi vanished…
Will her mother finally learn the truth?
Ava only left her daughter in the pushchair for five minutes. The buckle was fastened, and she was sure it was safe. But when she came downstairs, the door was open and Abi was gone – she walked down the road, past the Lovegoods’ house, and was never seen again.
A year later, the Lovegoods are planning their long-anticipated housewarming party. Ava doesn’t want to go. She can’t bear to look down that end of the road, to see the place where Abi vanished, and she doesn’t want to spend time with people who don’t share her grief. Her husband Matt persuades her: he’s worried about her. A night out might do her good.
But as her friends and neighbours chat, and the drink and gossip flows, Ava learns something new about the day she has re-lived a thousand times. A throwaway comment which could change everything.
Ava thought she knew every last detail of that day.
She’s about to find out she was wrong…
MY REVIEW:
“I am a woman who has a daughter. I am a woman who had a daughter. Both these things are true. I live in the past; I survive in the present.”
Ava only left Abi alone for a few moments. But that was all it took for the two-year-old to wander off and vanish. She didn’t realise she’d left the front door open or that she could unbuckle herself from her pushchair. She didn’t know she would never see her again.
A year later Ava is struggling to accept her daughter’s death and to live with the guilt she carries. When their neighbours invite them to their housewarming party, her husband Matt convinces her to go, saying it is time they start to rebuild their lives. But that night, Ava discovers something that changes everything she thought she knew about the day Abi disappeared, and makes her look at those around her in a new light.
Could the truth about her daughter’s disappearance actually be more sinister than she believed?
“Second by second. Beat by beat. A metronome keeps time for the frantic melody of my life’s unravelling. I watch myself from above. I shout out the things I should have done, places I should have looked, the order in which I should have done it all.”
This was one of those books that I knew I was going to love immediately. The author drew me in from the first pages with her melodic prose that oozes with panic, fear and despair as she recalls the moment she found Abi was missing and frantically searched for her. She looks back scathingly at the decisions she made and the mistakes she sees as costing her daughter’s life.
After that night at the party, the tension rises as Ava notices the inconsistencies and begins to doubt the things she believed about Abi’s disappearance. A cloud of suspicion now hangs over those she never suspected as small details begin to reveal a dark and horrifying picture. As I approached the jaw-dropping finale, my heart was in my throat and I got book whiplash from all the twists and turns.
“It is simply that the party has pulled the plug on the weird, stagnant pond of our lives, has drained the water from details half submerged, which lie now in the shallows, exposed.”
Compelling, heartbreaking and harrowing, this was impossible to put down. Lynes is a master of stories that have you on the edge of your seat but also full of heart.
Don’t miss this sensational thriller.
Rating : ✮✮✮✮. 5
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Former BBC Producer, S.E. Lynes is the Amazon best selling author of ‘intelligent and haunting’, ‘beautifully written’ psychological thrillers, VALENTINA, MOTHER, THE PACT, THE PROPOSAL, THE WOMEN, THE LIES WE HIDE, CAN YOU SEE HER? and her latest novel, THE HOUSEWARMING, available for pre-order NOW.
After completing her MA, Lynes taught creative writing at Richmond Adult Community College for over ten years. She now combines writing, mentoring and lecturing.
She has also published three children’s books in Italy: IL LEOPARDO LAMPO, LA COCCODRILLA INGAMBA, and the bilingual LA SCIMMIA SPIRITOSA/THE FUNNY MONKEY, all available at Amazon.it
It’s time for another month of anticipated books. I can’t believe we’re up to November and I’ve been doing this for almost a year!
November has some of my most anticipated books of the year: The Swallowed Man, The Diabolical Bones and The Betrayals. It is set to be another great month full of exciting releases and increasing my never-ending TBR.
The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk
Published: November 1st, 2020 Publisher: Erwehon Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Romance Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, terrified of the day she will be locked into a marital collar that will cut off her powers to protect her unborn children. She dreams of becoming a full-fledged Magus and pursuing magic as her calling as men do, but her family has staked everything to equip her for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon the city to negotiate the best marriages. The Clayborns are in severe debt, and only she can save them, by securing an advantageous match before their creditors come calling.
In a stroke of luck, Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but before she can purchase it, a rival sorceress swindles the book right out of her hands. Beatrice summons a spirit to help her get it back, but her new ally exacts a price: Beatrice’s first kiss . . . with her adversary’s brother, the handsome, compassionate, and fabulously wealthy Ianthe Lavan.
The more Beatrice is entangled with the Lavan siblings, the harder her decision becomes: If she casts the spell to become a Magus, she will devastate her family and lose the only man to ever see her for who she is; but if she marries–even for love–she will sacrifice her magic, her identity, and her dreams. But how can she choose just one, knowing she will forever regret the path not taken?
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: I’ve become a big fan of fantasy this year and this sounds like the perfect book in that genre to get lost in. Pre-order here.
Shadow Sands by Robert Bryndza
Published: November 3rd, 2020 Publisher: Little Brown Book Group Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: When Kate Marshall finds the bloated body of a young man floating in the Shadow Sands reservoir, the authorities label it a tragic accident.
But the details don’t add up: why was he there, in the middle of the night? If he was such a strong swimmer, how did he drown? As Kate and her assistant Tristan Harper follow the evidence, they make a far darker discovery . . .
This is only the latest victim in a series of bloody murders dating back decades. A mythic serial killer is said to hide in the rolling fog, abducting his victims like a phantom. And when another woman is taken, Kate and Tristan have a matter of days to save her from meeting the same fate.
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: I loved the first book in this new series when I read it earlier this year so I’m excited for the next installment. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: Carrot has moved into the Wonder Museum – an eclectic collection of taxidermy, shrunken heads, and Mystery Junk owned by her Uncle Earl. For Carrot, it’s not creepy at all: she grew up with it. What’s creepy is the corridor behind one of the museum walls. There’s just no space for a corridor there – or the concrete bunker, or the strange islands beyond the bunker’s doors, or the unseen things in the willow trees.
Carrot has stumbled into a horrifying world, and They are watching her. Strewn among the islands are the remains of Their meals – and Their experiments. And even if she manages to make it home, she can’t stop calling Them after her…
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: I love creepy books and this one sounds right up my street. Pre-order here.
The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey
Published: November 5th, 2020 Publisher: Gallic Books Genre: Fairy Tale, Dark Comedy, Fantasy Fiction
SYNOPSIS: I am writing this account, in another man’s book, by candlelight, inside the belly of a fish. I have been eaten. I have been eaten, yet I am living still.
From the acclaimed author of Little comes this beautiful and haunting imagining of the years Geppetto spends within the belly of a sea beast.
Drawing upon the Pinocchio story while creating something entirely his own, Carey tells an unforgettable tale of fatherly love and loss, pride and regret, and of the sustaining power of art and imagination.
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: When I read Little last year I instantly became a fan of this author. This book is written in a similar vein and I can’t wait to read it. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: It’s Christmas 1845 and Haworth is in the grip of a freezing winter.
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are rather losing interest in detecting until they hear of a shocking discovery: the bones of a child have been found interred within the walls of a local house, Top Withens Hall, home to the scandalous and brutish Bradshaw family.
When the sisters set off to find out more, they are confronted with an increasingly complex and sinister case, which leads them into the dark world of orphanages, and onto the trail of other lost, and likely murdered children. After another local boy goes missing, Charlotte, Emily and Anne vow to find him before it’s too late.
But in order to do so, they must face their most despicable and wicked adversary yet – one that would not hesitate to cause them the gravest of harm. . .
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: I’m a huge fan of this author and historical fiction and mysteries are my two favourite genres. So when she released The Vanished Bride last year I was so excited, and thrilled to find it was everything I’d hoped for and more. Ever since, I’ve been impatiently waiting for the next book in the series. I’m taking part in the blog tour for this one and my review will be posted on November 11th. Pre-order here.
Loved and Wanted by Christa Pavarani
Published: November 10th, 2020 Publisher: Manila Press Genre: Biography, Autobiography
SYNOPSIS: A harrowing account of one woman’s reckoning with life, death and choice in Trump’s America. For readers of Educated and Hillbilly Elegy.
In 2017, Christa Parravani had recently moved her family from California to West Virginia. Surviving on a teacher’s salary, she was already raising two young children with her husband, screenwriter Anthony Swofford.
Another pregnancy, a year after giving birth to her second child, came as a shock. Christa had a history of ectopic pregnancies and was worried that she wouldn’t be able to find adequate medical care. She immediately requested a termination – but her doctor refused to help. The only doctor who would perform an abortion made it clear that this would be illicit, not condoned by her colleagues or their community.
In exploring her own choice, or rather in discovering her lack of it, Christa reveals the desperate state of female healthcare in contemporary America.
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: This is a timely book that sounds like it needs to be read. The war against awoman’s right to choose is one we should all be fighting for. Pre-order here.
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins
Published: November 12th, 2020 Publisher: The Borough Press Genre: Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: If everything in your life was based on a lie Would you risk it all to tell the truth?
At Montverre, an exclusive academy tucked away in the mountains, the best and brightest are trained for excellence in the grand jeu: an arcane and mysterious contest. Léo Martin was once a student there, but lost his passion for the grand jeu following a violent tragedy. Now he returns in disgrace, exiled to his old place of learning with his political career in tatters.
Montverre has changed since he studied there, even allowing a woman, Claire Dryden, to serve in the grand jeu’s highest office of Magister Ludi. When Léo first sees Claire he senses an odd connection with her, though he’s sure they have never met before.
Both Léo and Claire have built their lives on lies. And as the legendary Midsummer Game, the climax of the year, draws closer, secrets are whispering in the walls…
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: Why? Just look at the cover! All jokes aside, I loved Bridget Collins’ debut novel and am really excited to read what she’s written next. Pre-order here.
The Thief on the Winged Horse by Kate Mascarenhas
Published: November 12th, 2020 Publisher: Head of Zeus Genre: Fairy Tale, Mystery
SYNOPSIS: A dazzling mixture of crime, romance, magic and myth from the author of the bestselling The Psychology of Time Travel.
The Kendrick family have been making world-famous dolls for over 200 years. But their dolls aren’t coveted for the craftsmanship alone. Each one has a specific emotion laid on it by its creator. A magic that can make you feel bucolic bliss or consuming paranoia at a single touch. Though founded by sisters, now only men may know the secrets of the workshop.
Persephone Kendrick longs to break tradition and learn her ancestors’ craft, and when a handsome stranger arrives claiming doll-making talent and blood ties to the family, she sees a chance to grasp all she desires.
But then, one night, the firm’s most valuable doll is stolen. Only someone with knowledge of magic could have taken her. Only a Kendrick could have committed this crime…
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: Not only does the synopsis sound like this is a perfect book for me, but I loved this author’s last book and am interested to read more of her work. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: Snow is falling in the exclusive alpine ski resort of Saint Antoine, as the shareholders and directors of Snoop, the hottest new music app, gather for a make or break corporate retreat to decide the future of the company. At stake is a billion-dollar dot com buyout that could make them all millionaires, or leave some of them out in the cold.
The clock is ticking on the offer, and with the group irrevocably split, tensions are running high. When an avalanche cuts the chalet off from help, and one board member goes missing in the snow, the group is forced to ask – would someone resort to murder, to get what they want?
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: Ruth Ware is an author that has been on my tbr for a long time and her latest release sounds like an ideal winter thriller. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: In the summer of 1993, twin sisters Kennedy and Carter Wynn are embracing the grunge era and testing every limit in their privileged Richmond suburb. But Kennedy’s teenage rebellion goes too far when, after a night of partying in the woods, her best friend, Haley, is murdered, and suspicion quickly falls upon Kennedy. She can’t remember anything about the night in question, and this, along with the damning testimony from a college boy who both Kennedy and Haley loved, is enough to force Kennedy to enter a guilty plea.
In 2008, Kennedy is released into a world that has moved on without her. Carter has grown distant as she questions Kennedy’s innocence, and begins a relationship with someone who could drive the sisters apart forever. The twins’ father, Gerry, is eager to protect the family’s secrets and fragile bonds. But Kennedy’s return brings the tragedy back to the surface, along with a whole new wave of media. When a crime show host comes to town asking questions, believing the murder wasn’t as simple as it seemed, murky memories of Haley’s death come to light. As new suspects emerge and the suburban woods finally give up their secrets, two families may be destroyed again.
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: As soon as I read the description I added this to my most anticipated list. This sounds like exactly the kind of twisted thriller I love. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: The first in the brilliant new Pentecost and Parker series, FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD is a hugely entertaining murder mystery set in 1940s New York City.
New York, 1946. Lillian Pentecost is the most successful private detective in the city, but her health is failing. She hires an assistant to help with the investigative legwork. Willowjean Parker is a circus runaway. Quick-witted and street-smart, she’s a jack-of-all-trades with a unique skill-set. She can pick locks blindfolded, wrestle men twice her size, and throw knives with deadly precision – all of which come in handy working for Ms P.
When wealthy young widow Abigail Collins is murdered and the police are making no progress, Pentecost and Parker are hired by the family to track down the culprit. On Halloween night, there was a costume party at the Collins’ mansion, where a fortune teller performed a séance which greatly disturbed Abigail. Several hours later her body was discovered bludgeoned to death in her late husband’s office. Problem is, the door to the office was locked from the inside. There was no-one else in the room, and the murder weapon was beside the victim; the fortune teller’s crystal ball.
It looks like an impossible crime, but Pentecost and Parker know there is no such thing…
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: Not only does the cover draw me in, but a book with a mix of history and mystery is guaranteed to get my attention. Pre-order here.
The Package by Sebastian Fitzek
Published: November 12th, 2020 Publisher: Head of Zeus Genre: Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: All you’ve done is taken in a parcel for a neighbour. You have no idea what you’ve let into your home.
Emma’s the one that got away.
The only survivor of a killer known in the tabloids as ‘the barber’ – because of the trophies he takes from his victims.
Or she thinks she was.
The police aren’t convinced. Nor is her husband. She never even saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognises him in every man.
Questioning her sanity, she gives up her job as a doctor in the local hospital and retreats from the world. It is better to stay at home. Quiet. Anonymous. Safe. He won’t find her here.
And all she did was take a parcel for a neighbour.
She has no idea what she’s let into her home.
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: Any thriller endorsed by Harlan Coben is one I want to read. I’m on the blog tour for this book and my review will be posted on November 15th. Pre-order here.
SYNOPSIS: The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang-a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love . . . and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns-and grudges-aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: The gorgeous cover. The setting. A retelling of Romeo and Juliet. This one sounds like a winner to me. Pre-order here.
The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside by Jessica Ryn
SYNOPSIS: Dawn Elisabeth Brightside has been running from her past for twenty-two years and two months, precisely.
So when she is offered a bed in St Jude’s Hostel for the Homeless, it means so much more than just a roof over her head.
But with St Jude’s threatened with closure, Dawn worries that everything is about to crumble around her all over again.
Perhaps, with a little help from her new friends, she can find a way to save this light in the darkness?
And maybe, just maybe, Dawn will finally have a place to call home….
WHY I’M ANTICIPATING THIS BOOK: This sounds like a fun, immersive and uplifting read. I’m taking part in the blog tour and will post my review on November 27th. Pre-order here.
My novel Once Again is out this year, and you can find out about it and about me on my website, catherinewallacehope.com — and here are ten other things to know about me.
• If I could host fantasy dinner parties with literary guests, living or dead, I would start with: Leonardo da Vinci, Nora Ephron, William Shakespeare, Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood, David Foster Wallace, Dorothy Parker, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, David Sedaris, Sappho, Horace, and Agatha Christie. I would set the feast in a grand ballroom and serve ten courses and create a unique artisan alcoholic beverage for each one. Imagine the conversation! • Autumn is my favorite season. • I would love to start an artists’ retreat on an huge, rambling estate near the Côte d’Azur where we could spend the day by the shore and then have long, lovely dinners on a candle-lit terrace, followed by poetry and book readings, music and dance performances, and unveilings of new pieces of art. • My favorite style of art is Art Nouveau, with special fondness for Clara Driscoll, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Maxfield Parrish. • My greatest concern is that we might make an unlivable hell of this beautiful paradise we’ve been given. • I don’t know how to knit, but I can crochet, and I have a collection of carved wooden hooks. Once, I was traveling across the country on a train, and the elderly woman in the seat next to me saw the yarnwork I had with me and taught me how to create stitches that look like waves. Years later, I crocheted baby blankets in that style for each of my three sons during my pregnancies. We still have those blankets, somewhere. • When I was a kid, I used to run away from home quite often. I created adventures for myself as a forest princess, a midnight thief, a refugee from a royal murder plot. Though I never got into any serious trouble, I scared the living daylights out of my mother. By comparison, when she was four, she tried to run away from home too. She packed her little suitcase with her favorite doll and took off. However, she didn’t get far because she wasn’t allowed to cross the street, so all she could do was go to the end of the block. • I used to spend summers in Beach Haven, a little seaside town on the East Coast, with my father and stepmother, and I loved nothing more than walking to the beach, diving into the clear water, swimming out to the sandbar, and then body surfing for the rest of the day. One morning, I arrived at the beach earlier than usual. There had been a storm the night before, and the shoreline was sparkling with thousands of tiny silver fish that had been stranded at the edge of the surf — alive, flipping and flopping in the sunlight. The other swimmers and I spent the morning tossing the fish back into the sea where they belonged — with our felicitations to the sea gods. • I love hiking and photography. • My favorite soup is tortilla soup, my favorite sandwich is grilled cheese on sourdough, my favorite salad is Waldorf, and my favorite dessert is chocolate ice cream — or German chocolate cake, or chocolate chip cookies, or chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream, or chocolate pudding with cream — okay, anything chocolate really.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
What if you had the chance to save someone you lost? Isolated in the aftermath of tragedy, Erin Fullarton has felt barely alive since the loss of her young daughter, Korrie. She tries to mark the milestones her therapist suggests – like this day: the five hundredth – but moving through grief is like swimming against a dark current. Her estranged husband, Zac, a brilliant astrophysicist, seems to be coping better. Lost in his work, he’s perfecting his model of a stunning cosmological phenomenon, one he predicts will occur on this same day – an event so rare, it keeps him from being able to acknowledge this milestone alongside Erin. But when Erin receives a phone call from her daughter’s school, the same call she received five hundred days earlier when Korrie was still alive, Erin realises something is happening. Or happening again. Struggling to understand the sudden shifts in time, she pieces together that the phenomenon Zac is tracking may have presented her with the gift of a lifetime: the chance to save her daughter. As Erin is swept through time, she’s unable to reach Zac or convince the authorities of what is happening. Forced to find the answer on her own, Erin must battle to keep the past from repeating – or risk losing her daughter for good.
Welcome to First Line Friday. This is a tag that was started by mrscookesbooks on Instagram and I’ve been doing on there for a while. I decided to start posting here too, offering more than just one line and hoping to entice you into reading the books I share.
So, here is this week’s first line:
“In glittering Shanghai, a monster awakens.
It’s eyes snap open in the belly of the Huangpu River, jaws unhinging at once to taste the foul blood seeping into the waters. Lines of red slither through this ancient city’s modern streets: lines that draw webs in the cobblestones like a network of veins, and drip by drip these veins surge into the waters, pouring the city’s life essence into the mouth of another.”
This amazing first line is from These Violent Delights, one of my most anticipated books released in November.
SYNOPSIS:
Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang-a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love . . . and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns-and grudges-aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
Published by Hodder and Stoughton on November 17th, 2020. You can pre-order the book here.
Published: October 22nd, 2020 Publisher: Allison & Busby Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: General Fiction, Historical Fiction
Happy Publication Day to this outstanding novel. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Allison & Busby for the eBook ARC.
SYNOPSIS:
London, 1840. Evangeline, pregnant and falsely accused of stealing, has languished in Newgate prison for months. Ahead now lies the journey to Australia on a prison ship. On board, Evangeline befriends Hazel, sentenced to seven years’ transport for theft. Soon Hazel’s path will cross with an orphaned indigenous girl. Mathinna is ‘adopted’ by the new governor of Tasmania where the family treat her more like a curiosity than a child. Amid hardships and cruelties, new life will take root in stolen soil, friendships will define lives, and some will find their place in a new society in the land beyond the seas.
MY REVIEW:
“Maybe she would always be alone and apart. Always in transition, on her way to someplace else, never quite belonging. She knew both too much and too little of the world. But what she knew, she carried in her bones.”
The Exiles is a beautifully written, layered and nuanced piece of historical fiction. Set in London and Australia in the 1840s, it is a story about women, survival and redemption. It is a story about our need to belong, about love, loss and how we carry those we love inside us wherever we go.
The voices of three very different female characters tell their stories, which entwine as the novel progresses. Mathinna is an orphaned eight-year-old Aboriginal girl who is taken from her home by Lady Jane Franklin, an explorer who likes to collect anything to do with native people and wants to see if the child can be educated and ‘tamed’. Evangeline is a naïve young woman from a small village working as a governess who finds herself pregnant and alone on a transport ship to Australia after allowing her rage to get the better of her when she is falsely accused of theft. And, finally, there is Hazel, a seventeen-year-old girl who is on the transport ship with Evangeline after being forced to steal by her mother.
“Here she was, torn from her family and everyone she knew at the whim of a lady in satin slippers who boiled the skulls of her relatives and displayed them as curiosities.”
Each woman has a character that is rich and compelling, a spark that draws you to them and makes you root for her and care about her story. And while their lives and stories may be different, they also have similarities. Each of them have been exiled from their home and those they love and all face the harsh reality of being female in a time and place where that is hostile and unforgiving towards women. They all navigate these obstacles with strength, resilience and determination.
This is the first time I’ve read anything by this author, and I was struck by her exquisite storytelling and how she seamlessly wove fact and fiction together to create this lush and atmospheric tale. Her imagery makes you feel like you’re there and I could see so clearly the bleak, grim and squalid conditions of the prisons, slave ship and orphanage and could almost feel the heat of the sun bearing down on me in the Australian bush. She writes every character, however big or small, with authenticity, and the research that has gone into the novel leaps from its pages. I will definitely be buying her back catalogue and devouring it as soon as possible.
“She’d learnt that she could withstand contempt and humiliation — and that she could find moments of grace in the midst of bedlam. She’d learnt she was strong.”
A powerful, heartbreaking and thought-provoking book, I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Christina Baker Kline is the author of seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train. Her other novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines, and Sweet Water, as well as Orphan Train Girl, a middle-grade adaptation of Orphan Train. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Money, More, and Psychology Today, among other publications. She lives in New York City and on the coast of Maine.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for A More Perfect Union. I’m delighted to be sharing a Q&A with the book’s author, Tammye Huf.
Q- Where did your inspiration for the book come from? It came from the story of my great great grandparents. He was from Ireland and she was a slave. When they met and fell in love, he bought her freedom to marry her.
Q- What research did you do? So, so much! A lot of reading. I especially invested time in reading first-hand accounts. Famine reports. Slave narratives. Political arguments. Laws. The laws a society passes say so much about that society and who and what they value.
Q-What is your creative process? First comes the idea of the story, and then I like to flesh it out before I jump in and really get writing. I’ve done it the other way around before where you get a story idea or find a character and just start writing, seeing where the story leads you, but I’ve found that my story thread gets a bit tangled that way. I like to know where I’m going and then have creative freedom in how to get there.
Q- What were your biggest challenges when writing the book? Knowing where to start, where to finish, and the events that should happen in between. I realise that sounds like everything but it’s not. For instance, knowing how characters would respond to a given challenge wasn’t nearly as hard for me as deciding on the challenge.
Q- Which character did you enjoy writing most? All of them. Definitely all of them.
Q – Is there anything that didn’t make the final edit of the book that you wish you could have included? There is so much more research that went into the book than you see on the page. It would have been nice to be able to include more of it, but it wouldn’t have been right for the story.
Q- Is there anything in particular you hope readers will take away from the book? We are living at a time when racial tensions are at the highest they have been in decades. It can make us start to think that human beings are just this way. I hope that a story like A More Perfect Union could help to remind us that this isn’t true, and that individuals have always found a way to see past the things that divide us and come together, even during far greater periods of strife than what we’re dealing with now. Even though there are some hard realities in the book, I hope that on balance it is seen as hopeful.
Q- Have you always wanted to be a writer? Yes. The practicality of earning a living or raising a family means, for most of us, that writing is something you have to scratch out time to do. I’m fortunate that lately I’ve been at a place in my life where I can devote more time and energy to it, but it took quite a while to get here.
Q- What books you’ve read have had the most impact on you? This is impossible to answer. Different books have impacted me at different stages of my life and in different ways. For me, the questions isn’t so much what book is most impactful, but what is the cumulative effect of the many impactful books and authors I’ve been exposed to.
Q- What have you been reading in quarantine? My current reads are The Book of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka and Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossen.
Q- What are your go-to book recommendations? The book I’ve probably recommended the most is The God of Small Things by Arundhathi Roy. The books I’ve recommended most recently include Days Without End by Sebastian Barry, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, The Long Song by Andrea Levy, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Some questions for fun –
Q- If you could have a magic typewriter or coffee cup that’s never empty, which would you choose? A typewriter that magically transcribes my thoughts. That would be something.
Q- If you could go anywhere when you blink your eyes, where would you go? Where wouldn’t I go? Could I also time travel with my magic teleporting blink? I’m afraid I’d spend my life blinking!
Q- What 5 celebrities – alive or dead – would make up your ideal dinner party and why? I couldn’t possibly resist a chance to invite past authors who blazed a trail. The list is long but if it has to be five, then perhaps Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Octavia Butler.
Q- Lastly, what’s next? I’m plotting out a new book, but at this stage of the process, I’m not yet ready to talk about it.
Thank you Tammye for answering my question and Emma at Myriad Editions for arranging the interview.
Tammye Huf is a former teacher, and now works as a translator and copywriter. Her short stories have been published in various magazines, including Diverse Voices Quarterly and The Penmen Review. She was runner-up in the 2018 London Magazine Short Story Prize.
Originally from the USA, she moved first to Germany and then to the UK with her husband and three children.
Published: October 15th, 2020 Publisher: Penguin UK Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audio Genre: Dark Comedy, Satire, Suspense, Psychological Fiction Noir Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Romance, Contemporary Romance
Welcome to my stop on the tour for this darky humorous and addictive thriller. Thank you to Sryia at Penguin UK for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC.
SYNOPSIS:
The sharp, smart and outrageously funny finale in the Alvie Knightly trilogy
MY REVIEW:
“I’m flawed. Aren’t we all? What’s your fatal flaw? Mine? I love too much. I do crazy shit for love, mad and bad and dangerous…”
Alvie Knightly is a serial killer. After a killing spree in Italy last year she’s been laying low and evading arrest. But vengeance in the name of her now deceased lover Nino is calling, so she sets about changing her identity and luring her next victim…
What. A. Book. Darkly humorous, thrilling and addictive, Dangerous To Know is an uproarious and strangely uplifting read that I absolutely loved.
Alvie is quite the character. Hilarious, memorable and compelling, I couldn’t help but love her. Yes, she’s a killer, but she’s not a sociopath like Ted Bundy. She knows because she feels bad for some of her murders; like her hot boyfriend Nino. The author writes her with a killer combination – see what I did there? – of twisted evil, humour and emotion, and her magnetism is impossible to resist.
“I think killing her will cheer me up. I’ve been stuck in a rut this past year. I miss murder.”
Alvie takes quite the emotional journey in this book and begins to question some of her choices. Through her narrative and in flashbacks we learn more about her childhood and discover what shaped her into the person she is today. It was a deeper aspect to the story that I wasn’t anticipating, but I liked how it showed her in a more sympathetic light and gave us a more complete picture that was the opposite of her murderous deeds.
When I took on the blog tour I didn’t realise it is the final installment in a trilogy, and unfortunately I didn’t have time to read the first two books. But despite this I never felt confused as the author succinctly catches you up on past events, making it easy to read this as a standalone. That said, I will be buying and reading the other books in the series as I enjoyed this one so much.
I also liked that the author utilises one of my favourite writing techniques in this book by having Alvie addressing the reader. This technique makes it feel like you’re listening to a friend, though none of my friends are killers. That I’m aware of anyway.
Fast-paced, salacious and wickedly funny, this is an utterly brilliant book. If you enjoyed Sweetpea, then you’ll enjoy this.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮. 5
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Chloé Esposito is from Cheltenham and now lives in London. She has a BA and MA in English from Oxford University, where her dissertation focused on 19th-century feminist writers. She has been a senior management consultant, an English teacher at two of the UK’s top private schools and a fashion stylist at Condé Nast. She is a graduate of the Faber Academy and is now writing full-time.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 