I’m finally getting around to posting my review for this tense and twisty thriller after my stop on the tour was delayed by Covid. Thank you to Danielle at The Reading Closet Tours for the invitation to take part and Hera Books for the gifted eBook ARC.
Grace is new to the group, seemingly the perfect wife and mum. Yet no one knows the truth of what’s happening behind closed doors.
Loner Natalie hides the pain of her childhood behind a carefully ordered life. But how long can the past stay hidden?
Three unlikely friends, brought together for a weekly class run by beautiful, friendly, instructor, Jade.
But when Jade goes missing in mysterious circumstances, the group starts to unravel. And as their darkest secrets come to light, it seems that no one can be trusted. Even their closest friends…
A heart-in-your-mouth thriller that builds twist after twist, culminating in an unforgettable ending. This shocking, tense and gripping read will delight fans of T.M. Logan, B.A. Paris and Big Little Lies.
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MY REVIEW:
“It was never meant to go this far. All I wanted was for her to be taught a lesson.”
Friendly fitness instructor Jade’s weekly class brings together an unlikely group of friends: wealthy Susan whose picture perfect life is hiding a much darker truth, newcomer Grace whose image of the perfect wife and mum belies what is really happening behind closed doors, and loner Natalie who is trying to control the trauma from her childhood with a carefully structured life. When Jade fails to turn up to class one day the group begins to unravel and their dark secrets begin to surface. Can any of them be trusted? And could one of them really have had a hand in Jade’s disappearance?
Shocking, surprising and suspenseful, The Loyal Friend is another dark and twisty thriller from A. A. Chaudhuri, who has proven herself to be a must-read addition to any thriller lover’s list. It is a dark maze of twists and turns that will make your head spin. Fast-paced, tense and exquisitely written, Chaudhur teases us by slowly revealing fragments of the many secrets being kept, keeping us on the edge of our seat as we desperately wait for the next piece to be revealed.
The varied cast of characters are all compelling and well written. Natalie was a very sympathetic character who was easy to root for, Grace also sparked sympathy, though her character was much more complex and layered. But the one I enjoyed reading most was the villain of the group, Susan. She is so unlikeable from the start and I loved her for it. She is unapologetic about who she is and though she is someone you’d hate to know in real life, she makes a very entertaining fictional character. Each of them is a suspect, filled with fear and acting suspiciously as they try to avoid the glare of the police. What are they hiding? I had my ideas and felt like one of them had to be involved in Jade’s disappearance, but I was never quite sure which of my two suspects it was, which raised the tension and kept me on tenterhooks from start to finish.
Heart-pounding and unpredictable, The Loyal Friend is a high-octane psychological thriller that keeps you guessing. And that ending! I am still thinking about it weeks after finishing the book.
Read it now.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
A.A. Chaudhuri is a former City lawyer, turned thriller writer, who lives in Surrey with her family.
Once a highly ranked British junior tennis player, competing in the national championships and a member of the national squad, she went on to tour the women’s professional satellite circuit as a teenager and achieved a world ranking of 650.
After returning to full-time education, she gained a BA Honours 2:1 in History at University College London, and a commendation in both the Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the London College of Law, before training as a solicitor at City firm Norton Rose and then practising as a commercial litigator at two other City firms, Kendall Freeman and Travers Smith.
She left law in 2008 to pursue her passion for writing and in 2010 passed the NCTJ fast-track newspaper journalism course, in respect of which she was awarded The Oxford University Press Public Affairs Award for the most outstanding public affairs central government paper.
In 2013 and 2014 she self-published two women’s fiction novels under the name Alexandra Sage: Love & Limoncello and the sequel Love & Loss. Love & Limoncello has sold more than ten thousand copies to date, reaching number 53 in the Amazon Kindle Bestsellers List in October 2014.
The Scribe and The Abduction, published by Lume Books in July and December 2019, are her first crime book series, plunging readers into London’s glamorous legal world and featuring series’ heroine, Maddy Kramer, fiction’s first female City lawyer amateur sleuth, who teams up with charismatic DCI Jake Carver to solve a gruesome series of murders and a puzzling abduction.
Both books have hit the bestsellers lists in the UK, Australia and Canada, with bestseller tags in Australia and Canada.
THE SCRIBE and THE ABDUCTION were published as audio books by Isis Audio on 1st January and 1st March 2021, both read by David Thorpe.
She has also contributed an original short story THE ENCOUNTER to crime anthology GIVEN IN EVIDENCE published by LUME BOOKS in May 2020, has written many articles and short stories for The Crime Writers’ Association.
In February 2021, Alex signed a two-book contract for two standalone psychological thrillers with Hera Books, the first entitled She’s Mine was published on 18th August 2021 in eBook and 26th August in paperback. The Loyal Friend will be published 23rd June 2022.
Besides being an avid reader, she enjoys fitness, films, anything Italian and a good margarita!
SYNOPSIS: INTRODUCING DC FFION MORGAN, IN THE UNMISSABLE NEW SERIES FROM #1 BESTSELLER CLARE MACKINTOSH On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests.
His lakeside holiday homes are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. This will be the party to end all parties.
But not everyone is there to celebrate. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.
On New Year’s Day, DC Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects.
The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbours, friends and family – and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.
With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead . . . but who finally killed him.
In a village with this many secrets, a murder is just the beginning.
SYNOPSIS: The truth of what happened that night lies with a secret witness.
Quarter to Midnight is the first thrilling novel in a brand new series by Sunday Times bestselling author Karen Rose, set in New Orleans.
Rocky Hebert walks into his death at quarter to midnight one New Orleans night.
His son Gabe cannot accept the official verdict of suicide and enlists the help of the Burke Broussard Private Investigation Agency to discover the real cause of death.
PI Molly Sutton knows what it’s like to lose a father in tragic circumstances and will go to any lengths to crack the investigation, as she tries to fight off her growing feelings for Gabe.
They soon realise Rocky was working on an investigation of his own; one that threatened to expose the deep corruption going all the way to the top of the police department. And that the key to the puzzle lies with a young witness to a murder that happened years earlier: Xavier Morrow.
Just what did Rocky know? And who might have shut him up?
As they get closer and closer to the truth, they realise that the killer is not going to stop at Rocky. And that Xavier is in very real danger. Someone will go to any lengths to protect what he witnessed that night coming out…
Published: August 4th Publisher: Harper Collins UK Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Coming-of-Age Story, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: COMPETITION. PERFECTION. DESTRUCTION.
A DANGEROUS OBSESSION Martina wants to be the best gymnast in the world. But so does everyone around her.
A TOURNAMENT WITH A DIFFERENCE During one week of intense competition, Martina and her teammates are tested to the limit, and any sign of weakness can quickly spell the end.
A MURDER IN THE NIGHT By the end of the week, one of the gymnasts will be dead. Every girl will do anything to win…but at what cost?
Published: August 4th Publisher: HQ Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Literary Fiction, Satire, LGBTQ Literature
SYNOPSIS: Bridesmaids meets Black Mirror in the most twisted and entertaining thriller of 2022.
Robin and Ellie have been best friends since childhood. They’ve been through everything together, from Robin coming out to the death of Ellie’s dad. But when Ellie asks Robin to be her maid of honour, Robin is reluctant.
It’s not that Robin isn’t happy for Ellie, she just hates everything about weddings and marriage – plus the guy Ellie’s engaged to. There’s also the matter of the crazy (not to mention dangerous) wedding rituals that couples are resorting to in the hope of securing a lifetime of happiness.
Despite her misgivings, Robin finally says yes. But as the wedding day approaches, she gets the feeling that everyone in the bridal party is out to get her. And it seems Ellie is willing to do anything for the perfect day. After all, marriage is about sacrifice…
SYNOPSIS: An unforgettable story about love in all its chaotic glory from the author of Last One At The Party
A book synopsis is fundamentally ridiculous. How can I possibly convey, in only 100 words, the events of the past year and their impact on my perfectly ordered existence?
It is insufficient space to accurately detail how I was blackmailed into demonstrating my flawless algorithm to find a soulmate, despite having no desire for one.
In my former life I avoided trivial human connections. I was alone, accomplished and brilliant.
Unfortunately, that solitary and driven woman no longer exists.
My name is Indiana Dylan and this is the extraordinary account of how I fell in love.
Published: August 4th Publisher: Harvill Secker Genre: Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Three nuns play the lottery to save their failing convent, resulting in a story of friendship, community, faith and love.
The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind their friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love.
That is, until ninety-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold.
Small Miracles takes the reader on a joyful and uplifting journey as these three unforgettable nuns learn more about life, love and friendship than they could ever have imagined.
This is the perfect feel-good read for fans of AJ Pearce, Rachel Joyce, Katie Fforde and Joanna Cannon, as well as Sister Act, Rev and The Vicar of Dibley. It’s a story about love in its many guises and how it can heal us.
Daughter of Darkness by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr
Published: August 4th Publisher: Hot Key Books Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Horror Fiction, Myths and Legends, Greek Mythology, YA Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Enter the Underworld in an epic new fantasy, where the Gods of ancient Greece rule everything but fate.
Deina is trapped. As one of the Soul Severers serving the god Hades on earth, her future is tied to the task of shepherding the dying on from the mortal world – unless she can earn or steal enough to buy her way out.
Then the tyrant ruler Orpheus offers both fortune and freedom to whoever can retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld. Deina jumps at the chance. But to win, she must enter an uneasy alliance with a group of fellow Severers she neither likes nor trusts.
So begins their perilous journey into the realm of Hades. . . The prize of freedom is before her – but what will it take to reach it?
From the authors of A THRONE OF SWANS and A CROWN OF TALONS comes a stunning new YA duology set in a world inspired by the mythology of ancient Greece.
Perfect for fans of Alexandra Bracken’s LORE and Jessie Burton’s MEDUSA.
Published: August 4th Publisher: Harper Collins UK Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Gothic Fiction
SYNOPSIS:
A remote village.
A deadly secret.
An outsider who knows the truth…
Maggie Mackay has been haunted her entire life. No matter what she does, she can’t shake the sense that something is wrong with her. And maybe something is…
When she was five years old, without proof, Maggie announced that someone in the remote village of Blairmore in the Outer Hebrides had murdered a local man, sparking a media storm.
Now, Maggie is determined to discover what really happened and what the villagers are hiding. But everyone has secrets, and some are deadly. As she gets closer to the horrifying truth, Maggie’s own life is in danger…
From the critically-acclaimed author of Mirrorland comes a darkly disturbing new thriller that will chill you to the bone.
SYNOPSIS: Three women. An isolated town. A decades-old mystery.
They hate me down there, in Boldville. I can read it in their eyes, smell it on their noxious breaths. That dreaded little town hates everything about me: not just my personality and form, the clothes I wear, but the way I think. The things that I know.
1933. Cornelia Stover is headstrong and business-minded – not the kind of woman the men of Boldville, New Mexico, expect her to be. Then she stumbles upon a secret hidden out in the hills . . .
1970. Decades later, Joanna Riley, a former cop, packs up her car in the middle of the night and drives west, fleeing an abusive marriage and a life she can no longer bear. Eventually, she runs out of gas and finds herself in Boldville, a sleepy desert town in the foothills of the Gila Mountains.
Joanna was looking for somewhere to retreat, to hide, but something is off about this place. In a commune on the outskirts a young man has been found dead and Joanna knows a cover up when she sees it. Soon, she and Glitter, a young, disaffected hippie, find themselves caught up in a dark mystery that goes to the very heart of Boldville, where for too long people have kept their eyes shut and turned their heads away. A mystery that leads them all the way back to the unexplained disappearance of Glitter’s grandmother Cornelia forty years before . . .
A captivating, atmospheric new novel from the lauded author of The Long, Long Afternoon, This Wild Wild Country simmers with secrets, lies and terrible betrayal, unravelling the lives of three women at the mercy of their times.
Published: August 4th Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Genre: Suspense, Psychological Thriller,
SYNOPSIS: Everyone wanted her life Someone wanted her dead
It was Hannah who found April’s body ten years ago. It was Hannah who didn’t question what she saw that day. Did her testimony put an innocent man in prison?
She needs to know the truth.
Even if it means questioning her own friends. Even if it means putting her own life at risk.
Because if the killer wasn’t a stranger, it’s someone she knows…
Published: August 4th Publisher: Picador Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A sweeping, breathtakingly ambitious novel about power, wealth and truth, told by four unique, interlocking voices and set against the backdrop of turbulent 1920s New York.
The legendary Wall Street tycoon whose immense wealth gives him the power to do almost anything. The second-generation Italian immigrant tasked with recording his life story. The reclusive, aristocratic wife. And the writer who observes them from afar.
In a city devoted to making money and making stories like no other, where wealth means power, who gets to tell the truth? And to rise to the top of a glittering, destructive world, what – and who – do you have to sacrifice?
Published: August 11th Publisher: Canongate Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: 1628. Embarking on a journey in search of her father, a young girl called Mayken boards the Batavia, the most impressive sea vessel of the age. During the long voyage, this curious and resourceful child must find her place in the ship’s busy world, and she soon uncovers shadowy secrets above and below deck. As tensions spiral, the fate of the ship and all on board becomes increasingly uncertain.
1989. Gil, a boy mourning the death of his mother, is placed in the care of his irritable and reclusive grandfather. Their home is a shack on a tiny fishing island off the Australian coast, notable only for its reefs and wrecked boats. This is no place for a child struggling with a dark past and Gil’s actions soon get him noticed by the wrong people.
The Night Ship is an enthralling tale of human brutality, providence and friendship, and of two children, hundreds of years apart, whose fates are inextricably bound together.
SYNOPSIS: Behind closed doors is a secret someone is willing to kill for.
I walk into the bright, open living room of my new apartment, and I know this is the fresh start I’ve been dreaming about. As I double lock my pretty red door each night, I feel like I can finally be happy. I can finally be safe.
But when I’m woken one night by the sound of my neighbours arguing through the wall. I swear I hear one of them saying my name. Why would they be talking about me?
Michaela and Kirsty seem so nice, always stopping to chat when we pass in the hallway, and inviting me round for a glass of wine after work.
I know I’m being paranoid, but then my favourite hair clip goes missing and I start to feel like someone’s watching me.
Nobody was meant to know where I am. And I was careful. I did everything right. But I can’t help but fear my past has caught up with me and this time, I might not escape…
If you love gripping psychological thrillers like Gone Girl and Mark Edwards’s Here to Stay, you’ll be blown away by The Houseshare. Addictive, tense and with an ending you won’t see coming, you’ll be up all night turning pages.
Published: August 18th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Gothic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Daisy Darker is an all-consuming tale of psychological suspense with a spectacular twist from the internationally bestselling author Alice Feeney
Daisy Darker’s family were as dark as dark can be, when one of them died all of them lied and pretended not to see . . .
Daisy Darker is arriving at her grandmother’s house for her eightieth birthday. It is Halloween, and Seaglass – the crumbling Cornish house perched upon its own tiny private island – is at one with the granite rocks it sits on. The Darker family haven’t all been in the same place for over a decade, and when the tide comes in they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. When the tide goes back out, nothing will ever be the same again, because one of them is a killer . . .
SYNOPSIS: Someone’s trying to frame me for murder. But I can’t prove my innocence. Because then I’d have to confess about… my other husband.
*Pre-order the brand new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Dorothy Koomson.
Cleo Forsum is a bestselling novelist turned scriptwriter whose TV series, ‘The Baking Detective’ is a huge success. Writing is all she’s ever wanted to do, and baking and murder stories have proved a winning combination.
But now she has decided to walk away from it all – including divorcing her husband, Wallace – before her past secrets catch up with her.
As Cleo drafts the final ever episodes of the series, people she knows start getting hurt. And it’s soon clear that someone is trying to frame her for murder.
She thinks she knows why, but Cleo can’t tell the police or prove her innocence. Because then she’d have to confess about her other husband . . .
A series of terrifying murders. A set of complex lies. And a woman with no way to clear her name.
My Other Husband is the latest gripping thriller from the Queen of The Big Reveal.
Published: August 18th Publisher: HQ Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Dark Comedy, Magical Realism, Supernatural Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The change is coming…
Nessa: The Seeker Jo: The Protector Harriett: The Punisher
With newfound powers the time has come to take matters into their own hands…
After Nessa is widowed and her daughters leave for college, she’s left alone in her house near the ocean. In the quiet hours, she hears voices belonging to the dead – who will only speak to her.
On the cusp of fifty Harriett’s marriage and career imploded, and she hasn’t left her house in months. But her life is far from over – in fact, she’s undergone a stunning metamorphosis.
Jo spent thirty years at war with her body. The rage that arrived with menopause felt like the last straw – until she discovers she’s able to channel it.
Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio discover the abandoned body of a teenage girl. The police have written off the victim. But the women have not. Their own investigations lead them to more bodies and a world of wealth where the rules don’t apply – and the realisation that laws are designed to protect villains, not the vulnerable.
So it’s up to these three women to avenge the innocent, and punish the guilty…
Published: August 18th Publisher: Pan Macmillan Genre: Magical Realism, Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Literature, Dystopian Fiction, Medical Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Deborah Harkness, and Octavia E. Butler, The Women Could Fly is a feminist speculative novel that speaks to our times. A piercing dystopian tale about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her absent mother, set in a world in which magic is real and single women are closely monitored in case they are shown to be witches . . .
Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother’s disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge, because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behaviour raises suspicions and a woman – especially a Black woman – can find herself on trial for witchcraft.
But fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of thirty – or enrol in a registry that allows them to be monitored, effectively forfeiting their autonomy. At twenty-eight, Jo is ambivalent about marriage. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has her never understood her mother more. When she’s offered the opportunity to honour one last request from her mother’s will, Jo leaves her regular life to feel connected to her one last time.
In this powerful and timely novel, Megan Giddings explores the limits women face – and the powers they have to transgress and transcend them.
SYNOPSIS: A young man walks into the woods on the worst morning of his life and finds something there that will change everything.
It’s a tale that might seem familiar. But how it speaks to you will depend on how you’ve lived until now.
Sometimes, to get out of the woods, you have to go into them. Isaac and the Egg is one of the most hopeful, honest and wildly imaginative novels you will ever read.
Published: August 18th Publisher: Picador Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure Fiction
SYNOPSIS: The hugely anticipated novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Pull of the Stars and Room
Three men vow to leave the world behind them and start anew . . .
In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks – young Trian and old Cormac – he travels down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. Their extraordinary landing spot is now known as Skellig Michael. But in such a place, far from all other humanity, what will survival mean?
Haunting, moving and vividly told, Haven displays Emma Donoghue’s trademark world-building and psychological intensity – but this tale is like nothing she has ever written before . . .
Published: August 18th Publisher: Harper Voyager: Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Horror Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A gorgeous new fantasy horror – a book about stories and fairytales with family and love at its dark heart…
Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman (Stardust, Coraline), Susanna Clarke (Piranesi) and Let the Right One In.
Hidden across England and Scotland live six old Book Eater families.
The last of their lines, they exist on the fringes of society and subsist on a diet of stories and legends.
Children are rare and their numbers have dwindled, so when Devon Fairweather’s second child is born a dreaded Mind Eater – a perversion of her own kind, who consumes not stories but the minds and souls of humans – she flees before he can be turned into a weapon for the family… or worse.
Living among humans and finding prey for her son, Devon seeks a cure for his hunger. But time is running out – for her family want her back, and with every soul her son consumes he loses a little more of himself…
This is a story of escape, a savage mother’s devotion and a queer love that will electrify readers looking for something beguiling, thrilling, strange and new.
Published: August 18th Publisher: Michael Joseph Genre: Fairy Tale, Mythology, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: When Scottie Bains realises that she may never become a mother, she makes the heart-breaking decision to flee to the remote North Atlantic archipelago of St Hia.
Lashed by storms and far from the mainland, the islands are dangerous. Many have been lost to the ferocious tides known as the Hollow Sea – and local folklore warns that St Hia was once the home of a witch. Her name was Thordis, and when she was unable to provide her husband with a child, she was driven to a terrible act…
The islanders warn newcomers against examining the past, but Scottie can’t look away from the mystery of what happened to Thordis.
Could it be that St Hia’s troubled history holds the key to Scottie’s future?
Published: August 18th Publisher: Harper Collins UK Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: MEET MAMA. A GOOD MOTHER? OR A GOOD LIAR . . .
__________
17-year-old Lily is mama’s girl, mama’s doll.
Every evening she pours Mama a glass of perfectly spoilt orange juice. She arranges her teddy bears on the bed, just so. She puts on the matching pink clothes that Mama likes her to wear.
But Mama’s love flies so close to hate. And as her behaviour escalates, as she starts to unravel, so do the memories that Lily has kept locked away for so long.
She only wanted to be good, to piece Mama back together. But what if instead . . . Lily tears her apart?
Gripping and devastating, from a new voice that cuts as sharp as a knife, this is an unforgettable debut about a family gone bad.
Published: August 18th Publisher: Harper Collins UK Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Hardboiled
SYNOPSIS: If you liked I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK and SHARP OBJECTS, you will love this!
What really happened to January Jacobs?
A MYSTERIOUS COLD CASE… Twenty-five years ago, January Jacob’s parents awoke to find their daughter’s bed empty, a horrifying message spray-painted onto their wall. Hours later, January’s body was found discarded in a ditch. Her murder was never solved. But the town remembers.
A DANGEROUS OBSESSION… Journalist Margot Davies is tired of reporting meaningless stories. One night, she stumbles upon a clue in the most infamous crime in her hometown’s history: the unsolved murder of six-year-old January.
A TOWN FULL OF SECRETS… As Margot digs deeper, she begins to suspect that there is something truly sinister lurking in the small community: a secret that endangers the lives of everyone involved…including Margot.
A gripping, twisty thriller for fans of cold crime cases – from the #1 CRIME JUNKIE podcast host Ashley Flowers.
SYNOPSIS: PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analyzing the genre in her dissertation – if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years. It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he’s clearly up to something). But it’s not long before Phoebe realises that Sam might be something much scarier – a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.
Published: August 23rd Publisher: Sphere Genre: Romance Novel, Contemporary Romanc
SYNOPSIS: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis – with explosive results.
Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee K̦nigswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project Рa literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia РMarie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.
Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school – archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it’s her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas … devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?
Published: August 25th Publisher: Hogarth Genre: Mystery
SYNOPSIS: I don’t want to tell you what happened. I want to tell you how it felt.
Cassandra Williams is twelve; her little brother Wayne is seven. One day, when they’re alone together, there’s an accident, and Wayne is lost forever. Though his body is never recovered, their mother can’t stop searching. The missing boy cleaves the family with doubt: How do you grieve an absence? And how does it feel?
As C grows older, she relives and retells her story, and she sees her brother everywhere: in cafes, airplane aisles, subway cars. Here is her brother’s older face, the light in his eyes, his lanky limbs, the way he seems to recognise her, too. But it can’t be, of course. Or can it? And then one day, there’s another accident, and C meets a man both mysterious and familiar, a man who’s also searching for someone, as well as his own place in the world. His name is Wayne.
Namwali Serpell’s piercing new novel captures the ongoing and uncanny experience of grief, as the past breaks over the present, like waves in the sea. The Furrows is a bold exploration of memory and mourning that twists unexpectedly into a masterful story of mistaken identity, slippery reality, black experience, and the wishful and sometimes willful longing for reunion with those we’ve lost.
SYNOPSIS: ‘Someone swore that, as a little girl, he once saw you touch a tiger. And that the tiger didn’t harm you, it let you stroke it. It was always said that you had charmed the beast.’
The breathtaking new novel from the author of Hamnet, the Sunday Times No.1 bestseller (2021) and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020, The Marriage Portrait is a dazzling evocation of the Italian Renaissance in all its beauty and brutality.
Winter, 1561. Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband, Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here. He intends to kill her.
Lucrezia is sixteen years old, and has led a sheltered life locked away inside Florence’s grandest palazzo. Here, in this remote villa, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband.
What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival.
The Marriage Portrait is an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.
The Dragon’s Promise (Six Crimson Cranes Book 2) by Elizabeth Lim
Published: August 30th Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy Series
SYNOPSIS: A dragon’s kingdom. A star-crossed love. And a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world, or break it . . .
Shiori’s quest continues in the soaring sequel to the New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy Six Crimson Cranes.
Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all the while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood.
The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next – threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win.
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Published: August 30th Publisher: Kensington Books Genre: Historical Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: In this powerful novel of survival and resilience, New York Times bestselling author Ellen Marie Wiseman takes readers on a gripping, emotional journey as one brave young woman’s search for the truth about her sister leads her to an infamous institution called Willowbrook . . .
Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world.
Six years after Rosemary’s death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing.
Sage knows little about Willowbrook. It’s always been a place shrouded by rumor and mystery. A place local parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could imagined . . .
Published: July 21st, 2022 Publisher: HQ Genre: Mystery, Dark Comedy, Coming-of-Age Story, Urban Fiction Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this poignant, funny and affecting debut. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
Wendy is lonely but coping. All nineteen-year-old Wendy wants is to drive the 255 bus around Uddingston with her regulars on board, remember to buy milk when it runs out and just to be okay. After her mum died, there’s nobody to remind her to eat and what to do each day.
And Wendy is ready to step out of her comfort zone. Each week she shows her social worker the progress she’s made, like the coasters she bought to spruce up the place, even if she forgets to make tea. And she even joins a writers’ group to share the stories she writes, like the one about a bullied boy who goes to Mars.
But everything changes when Wendy meets Ginger. A teenager with flaming orange hair, Ginger’s so brave she’s wearing a coat that isn’t even waterproof. For the first time, Wendy has a real best friend. But as they begin the summer of their lives, Wendy wonders if things were simpler before. And that’s before she realizes just how much trouble Ginger is about to get them in…
An unforgettable debut novel from the winner of the Primadonna Prize 2019 which will stay with you long after the last page.
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MY REVIEW:
“Ginger and me were best friends that summer, she was the first best friend I’d ever had. I wish we could have stayed that way forever.”
Ginger and Me opens in Polmont Prison with narrator Wendy sure that she will be set free as soon as the mysterious reason she is there is cleared up. When she’s sent back to prison to await her trial after the initial hearing she is shocked and confused. We then jump back to a year earlier. Wendy is living a solitary life following the death of her mother. She drives her bus and goes home, her only visitor is her support worker, Saanvi, who comes by weekly and encourages Wendy to step out of her comfort zone. Following her advice, Wendy befriends Ginger, a teenager she meets on her bus, and joins a local writing group. It’s the happiest she’s ever been and it is all about to spiral into tragedy…
“Things hadn’t gone exactly as planned but still, the bond between us was getting stronger with every meeting. It had taken me a long time to find my soulmate but now that I had, there was no way I was going to mess it up.”
Heartfelt, moving and achingly real, Ginger and Me is an accomplished debut that explores loneliness, grief, friendship, obsession and self-discovery. It claimed my attention quickly, the author holding me in the palm of her hands as she wove her lingering tale. Steadily paced with a suspenseful atmosphere that looms over every page, it is a cornucopia of heartbreak, tragedy and trauma with heart and humour woven in to help bring light to the darkness. And while we know from how it begins that Wendy will end up in prison, we don’t know what led her there, keeping me guessing and adding to the tension which builds to a shocking climax. And that ending! I still have chills.
“She was charismatic and fun, that’s what people forget when they focus on what happened later. I mean, if you read a book and your favourite character did something terrible on the first page, they’d never get the chance to become your favourite character, would they? No, you have to get to know them a bit first, learn what they are and what it is you like about them. Later when they do things you can’t deal with, well, it’s too late because you’re committed to liking them regardless.”
The story is narrated by Wendy, who talks directly to the reader, creating an intimate connection. She is a likeable, quirky and interesting character who is very literal, doesn’t see the world the way others do, and often misses what people mean or is really happening. It gives her an innocence and vulnerability that made me feel protective of her and there were times her lack of self-awareness broke my heart or made me cringe. I wished I could jump into the book and gently explain what was going on to help her avoid embarrassment and heartache. Ginger and Diane are also compelling characters. We only ever see them through Wendy’s eyes yet the author manages to create unique connections between them and the reader too. I felt a particular affection and maternal instinct towards Ginger, who is a troubled and often melancholy teenager who has a terrible home life and much darker problems that Wendy doesn’t quite grasp. I could see how she was desperate to be rescued but there was no one to save her. Elissa Soave took me on an emotional journey alongside these characters that lingers long after turning that final page. Â
“I think if you read books, it calms you down. And it makes you realise there’s a place for everybody, no matter how weird. It’s like, there’s a whole world out there and no one can stop you from entering, it’s open to anyone who wants to be part of it, even me. “
As a bibliophile, I love a book about books or characters who love books, so the fact that this book had both of those things made me so happy. felt a deeper connection to Wendy because of her love of books and could understand some of her feelings towards Diane as I know that feeling when an author seems to be writing what you’re thinking. All of the references to literature made this an even greater joy to read and made my bookish heart sing.
Funny, dark and poignant, Ginger and Me is a memorable debut you need on your TBR.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
TW: Sexual abuse, death of a parent
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Elissa Soave is a Scottish writer. She won the Primadonna Prize 2019 and her debut novel, Ginger and Me, will be published by HQ Stories (HarperCollins) on 21 July 2022.
Elissa’s fiction is set in the domestic but often dangerous world of ordinary people. Her characters tend to be alienated, damaged, and often angry, but their perspective on the world and the way in which they deal with their problems will reassure readers of the resilience of the human spirit.
Published: July 21st, 2022 Publisher: Orenda Books Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Crime Fiction, Urban Fiction, Political Fiction, Religious Fiction Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this atmospheric and compelling novel. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Karen at Orenda for the eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
The lives of five strangers collide on a London train carriage, as they become involved in an incident that will change them all forever. A shocking, intensely emotive and wildly original new thriller from Will Carver…
A disillusioned nurse suddenly learns how to care.
An injured young sportsman wakes up find that he can see only in black and white.
A desperate old widower takes too many pills and believes that two angels have arrived to usher him through purgatory.
Two agoraphobic men called Dave share the symptoms of a brain tumour, and frequently waken their neighbour with their ongoing rows.
Separate lives, running in parallel, destined to collide and then explode.
Like the suicide bomber, riding the Circle Line, day after day, waiting for the right time to detonate, waiting for answers to his questions: Am I God? Am I dead? Will I blow up this train?
Shocking, intensely emotive and wildly original, Will Carver’s The Daves Next Door is an explosive existential thriller and a piercing examination of what it means to be human … or not.
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MY REVIEW:
“Separate lives, running in parallel, destined to collide and then explode.”
Five strangers’ lives collide on a carriage on the London Underground during a shocking event. But was it fate? Did they have the power to change what would happen to them?
Told from multiple points of view over three parts, The Daves Next Door is a sinister, scathing and stylish social commentary that explores the question of fate versus choice and asks if there are such things as good and evil. It makes you question the way you think, examining our prejudices and apathy, potentially changing the way you see the world around you.
“Is there such a thing as destiny? Is the path laid out? The story already written?”
The characters are familiar, flawed and fascinating. They could be our neighbour or the person next to us on the bus. Each of them are richly drawn and complex, allowing us to find compassion for the villain and dislike for the hero in places. The many threads of the story appear unconnected at first but are slowly woven together, keeping the reader guessing at every step. It takes a lot of talent to make a story that opens with references to how it all ends still feel unpredictable, but Carver pulls it off expertly.
Will Carver is a tour-de-force in fiction. His singular style is instantly recognisable, the quirky, intelligent, playful and affecting prose pulling you into the world he created and holding you captive from beginning to end. His original and visionary style make his books absolute must reads.
Fierce, intelligent, atmospheric and unapologetic, The Daves Next Door is a must-read. Add it to your TBR now!
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series and the critically acclaimed, mind-blowingly original Detective Pace series that includes Good Samaritans (2018), Nothing Important Happened Today (2019) and Hinton Hollow Death Trip (2020), all of which were ebook bestsellers and selected as books of the year in the mainstream international press. Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for both the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 2020 and the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for Guardian‘s Not the Booker Prize. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his children.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the latest in the Rizzoli and Isles series. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Bantam Press for the eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
Rizzoli & Isles return, in the nail-biting new thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen.
The murder of Sofia Suarez is both gruesome and seemingly senseless. Why would anyone target a respected nurse who was well-liked by her friends and her neighbours? As Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles investigate the baffling case, they discover that Sofia was guarding a dangerous secret — a secret that may have led the killer straight to her door.
Meanwhile, Jane’s watchful mother Angela Rizzoli is conducting an investigation of her own. She may be a grandmother, not a police detective, but she’s savvy enough to know there’s something very strange, perhaps even dangerous, about the new neighbours across the street. The problem is, no one believes her, not even her own daughter.
Immersed in the hunt for Sofia’s killer, Jane and Maura are too busy to pay attention to Angela’s fears. With no one listening to her, and danger mounting in her neighbourhood, Angela just may be forced to take action on her own…
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MY REVIEW:
“Maura could dissect a body, examine its tissues all the way down to the cellular level, but what the dead knew and saw and felt as the lights blinked out would remain a mystery.”
Rizzoli and Isles has been one of my favourite crime series’, and Tess Gerritsen one of my favourite authors, since I borrowed The Surgeon from the library almost twenty years ago. So when I heard that Rizzoli and Isles were back after a five year break I was thrilled. I couldn’t wait to not only be back with the familiar characters, but also immerse myself in Gerritsen’s darkly atmospheric words. It did not disappoint, reminding me of why she is known as the Queen of Crime.
In the thirteenth instalment in the series Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles are investigating the gruesome murder of Sofia Suarez. There are no immediate motives for the crime, but when Rizzoli discovers that Suarez was guarding a dangerous secret, everything changes.
Meanwhile Rizzoli’s mother Angela is busy keeping a watchful eye on her neighbours when she notices something strange about the new couple across the street. Her daughter and the police department dismiss her as a busybody, but Angela is sure there is something sinister going on and begins her own ameteur investigation, little realising the danger she is walking into…
“That was the burden of working in homicide; you are always too late to change the victim’s fate.”
Gerritsen has knocked it out of the park yet again. Sharply written, cleverly crafted and perfectly paced, this is suspense at its best. You can feel yourself in the hands of a masterful storyteller as Gerritsen expertly takes the everyday and merges it with the macabre. I was on tenterhooks as she intricately wove the threads together until the full, shocking picture emerged.
Despite an absence of a number of years I found it easy to step back into Rizzoli and Isles’ world, the characters feeling like old friends. I’ve always loved how she fills this series with such strong, nuanced and familiar female characters that are richly drawn and easy to like. I particularly enjoyed Angela Rizzoli’s character in this story and liked how Gerritsen used her to highlight how older women are often invisible and easily dismissed. I felt for Angela as her concerns were pushed aside yet she felt so sure there was something wrong. It was great to see her shine after spending so long as more of a background character.
If you’re a fan of dark, tense, twisty and gripping thrillers then this should be on your TBR. While having read the other books in the series is recommended because they are so good, it isn’t necessary and you could also enjoy it as a standalone.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.
While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction. In 1987, her first novel was published. Call After Midnight, a romantic thriller, was followed by eight more romantic suspense novels. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift”, which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.
Tess’s first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her suspense novels since then have been: Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), Gravity (1999), The Surgeon (2001), The Apprentice (2002), The Sinner (2003), Body Double (2004), Vanish (2005), The Mephisto Club (2006), The Bone Garden (2007), The Keepsake (2008; UK title: Keeping the Dead), Ice Cold (2010; UK title: The Killing Place), The Silent Girl (2011), Last To Die (2012), Die Again (2014), Playing With Fire (2015), and I Know A Secret (2017). Her books have been published in forty countries, and more than 30 million copies have been sold around the world.
Her books have been top-3 bestsellers in the United States and number one bestsellers abroad. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon). Critics around the world have praised her novels as “Pulse-pounding fun” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “Scary and brilliant” (Toronto Globe and Mail), and “Polished, riveting prose” (Chicago Tribune). Publisher Weekly has dubbed her the “medical suspense queen”.
Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.
Now retired from medicine, she writes full time. She lives in Maine.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this unexpected, darkly atmospheric thriller. Thank you to Ollie at Hodder & Stoughton for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
The master of genre-bending suspense is back with a brand new edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Recently widowed actress Casey Fletcher has escaped to her family’s lake house for peace and quiet. She’s been happily losing herself in her thoughts and several bottles of bourbon, until the glamorous couple across the lake catch her attention. They look so perfect – just like Casey and her husband used to be. But is anyone what they seem?
Casey has a detective sat at her kitchen table.
She has a man bound and gagged upstairs.
Casey will uncover dark truths so life-changing that nothing will ever be the same again.
International bestselling sensation Riley Sager is back with his most ambitious thriller yet. With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense and gasp-worthy twists, The House Across the Lake will shock readers from the first page to the last.
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MY REVIEW:
“The last thought I have before spiralling into unconsciousness is a memory of the sound that woke me up. With it comes recognition. I now know what I heard. It was a scream.”
Wow. What on earth did I just read? Riveting, unexpected and surprising, this was a wild and crazy ride that I couldn’t put down. Punchy, sharp and oozing with foreboding, the writing is compelling. Moving between dual timelines, I loved how we would get a short, sharp and ominous ‘Now’ section that ended on a cliffhanger before jumping to a longer ‘Before’ section, notching up the tension and leaving us on the edge of our seats.
This was my second time reading a Riley Sager book but I was an instant fan and couldn’t wait to read more. This book had a different feel to his last book, more of a traditional thriller. While I was enjoying it, it seemed predictable and I thought I had it all figured out. Then, bam! With one twist he takes the story from zero to sixty, turning everything on its head and changing everything you thought you knew. It instantly became all the more tantalising and I couldn’t read fast enough. One of my favourite things about thrillers is when an author shocks you with something completely unexpected and seemingly out of left field but when you look back you can see the clues carefully hidden on the pages, which in this case are small hints of the paranormal. In the hands of another author it could have been a ridiculous turn, and I think it will be a bit of a marmite book because of this, but I thought Sager pulled it off expertly and made the unbelievable feel possible.
“The lake is darker than a coffin with the lid shut.
That’s what Marnie used to say, back when we were children and she was constantly trying to scare me. It’s an exaggeration, to be sure. But not by much. Lake Greene’s water is dark, even with the light trickling through it. A coffin with the lid cracked. “
I love an unreliable narrator and Casey certainly fits that bill Flawed and tortured, she’s drinking herself into oblivion each day to numb the pain of her husband’s death and being back at the place that haunts her, where his death happened, is far from helping. She craves an escape, and alcohol offers that. I liked her and enjoyed her drunken and paranoid musings, even though she obviously needed to get sober and stop watching and obsessing over the Royces. The other characters are equally as compelling and unreliable, leaving the reader constantly second guessing themselves and adding to the suspense.
Atmospheric, unnerving, twisty and completely over the top, this is perfect for anyone who enjoys a thriller that is a little bit different.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Riley Sager is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, most recently Home Before Dark and Survive the Night. His first novel, Final Girls, has been published in 30 countries and won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel. His latest book, The House Across the Lake, will be published in 2022 by Dutton Books.
A native of Pennsylvania, he now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
Published: July 7th, 2022 Publisher: HQ Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this powerful and striking debut. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
A breathtaking debut novel from an exciting new voice in fiction – coming July 2022!
Nasrin and Sabrina are two sisters, who on the face of things live successful and enviable lives in London and New York. When their father, Shamsur suddenly dies, they rush to be with their mother at the family home and restaurant in Wales, and reluctantly step back into the stifling world of their childhood.
When Shamsur’s will is read, a devastating secret is revealed that challenges all that people thought and loved about him. It also profoundly changes the lives and identities of the sisters, and creates an irreparable family rift…
Moving between London, Wales, New York and Bangladesh, this is an epic family drama that spans over four decades. A story of mothers and daughters, of fathers and daughters, of sisterhood, it is a tale that explores belonging, family and what makes forgiveness and redemption possible.
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MY REVIEW:
When their father, Shamsur dies suddenly, sisters Nassrin and Sabrina return home to Wales to be with their mother and reluctantly step back into the stifling traditional ways, creating a clash of culture as old meets new. The tension rises when Shamsur’s will is read and the revelation of a long-held secret sends shockwaves through the family, tearing them apart and creating a rift that seems beyond repair…
An absorbing debut that is as beautiful on the inside as its striking cover, The Halfways is a kaleidoscopic family saga. Melodic, lyrical, vibrant and evocative, it is a glorious tapestry of a novel. Nilopar Uddin is a gifted storyteller who has crafted an atmospheric, layered, enthralling story filled with humanity. As she explores the many facets of family, culture, identity, belonging and forgiveness, Uddin leads you through the story gently, like a tranquil stroll on a summer’s day. It feels light, yet bursting with imagery and emotion, dreamlike, with a stylish and cinematic edge that feels like you’re seeing the story vivid technicolour. This isn’t a book you simply read, but one that you step into.
The story is told by multiple narrators over four decades, taking us between London, New York, Wales and Bangladesh. Moving fluidly between narrators, places and timelines, the vignettes from the past offer us a glimpse into the history of this complex family, slowly revealing who they are and what secrets they have been keeping. The chorus of richly drawn, flawed, yet very different, characters draw you into their lives, allowing us to step into their shoes and feel everything that they do: their heartache, grief, struggles, inner turmoil and betrayal.
Tender, moving and heartfelt, The Halfways is a captivating and lingering debut from exciting new talent.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Nilopar Uddin was born in Shropshire to Sylheti parents who, like the fictional family in The Halfways, owned and ran an Indian restaurant in Wales. Every summer her family would travel for their holidays to Bangladesh to visit extended family, and this affection for the country has continued into adulthood.
Nilopar has had a successful career as a financial services lawyer practising in both London and New York, a city that she fell in love with. She now lives in London with her husband and two daughters. She has an MA in Creative Writing from City University where she first started working on The Halfways.
Published: July 7th, 2022 Publisher: Quercus Genre: Gothic Fiction, Suspense, Coming-of-Age Story Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Happy Publication Day to this atmospheric and compelling novel. Thank you to Quercus for the invitation to take part in this social media blast and the gifted copy of the book.
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SYNOPSIS:
Amidst the glamour of the French Riviera lies the crumbling façade of Chateau de Sètes, a small slice of France still held by the British aristocracy. But this long since abandoned chateau is now up for sale, and two people are desperate to get their hands on it despite its terrible history.
Summer, 1985: Ruby has stayed at the chateau with her family every summer of her twelve years. It was her favourite place to be, away from the strictures of her formal childhood, but this year uninvited guests have descended, and everything is about to change…
As the intense August heat cloaks the chateau, the adults within start to lose sight of themselves. Old disputes are thrown back and forth, tempers rise, morals loosen, and darkness begins to creep around them all. Ruby and her two young friends soon discover it is best not to be seen or heard as the summer spirals down to one fateful night and an incident that can never be undone…
Summer, 2010: One of the three young girls, now grown and newly widowed, returns to the chateau, and in her fight to free herself from its grip, she uncovers what truly happened that long, dark summer.
With riveting psychological complexity, The Ruins captures the glittering allure of the Mediterranean, and the dark shadows that wait beneath the surface.
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MY REVIEW:
“She pictured three girls bound tightly together in the back seat of the car, holding each other. Their hot breath, clammy palms, and her overshadowing fear of the man at the front, the man driving. “
The Ruins is a story about family, secrets, legacy and trauma that explores the events of a long, dark summer that can’t be forgotten. Behind the idyll of a beautiful chateau in the French Riviera and the scorching heat of the summer sun are dark shadows, cracks in the bright façade, and things hurtle towards that fateful night that can never be undone…
The book opens with a note from the author warning the reader of what we are about to read and offering those who would rather stay away from the dark but timely subject matter on these pages. I think this was a good move as it serves as both a content warning and sets the tone for what’s to come. Then comes the prologue with all of its ominous intrigue and the scene is set for this hauntingly atmospheric novel that I couldn’t put down.
“When was it, she asked herself, that her youthful joy turned sour, when this strange exterior rose up and crystallised around her? She knew exactly. It was that summer.”
Though I have her debut on my shelves, this was my first time reading one of Phoebe Wynne’s books. Her writing is alluring, immersive and almost dreamlike, making me feel like there was a haze that lingered over every word as I read. The subject she examines in this story is a timely but difficult one that feels all too human and familiar. Wynne writes with understanding, sensitivity and honesty, making it hard to read in places but never gratuitous. I also liked how she wove Greek Mythology into the story. Wynne cleverly uses them as an analogy of what is happening that summer and as someone who loves the myths it made the story all the more enjoyable to read.
“All the stories from that summer had haunted her – all those women, tossed about for the desire and ambition of their male counterparts. Those had seemed to repeat themselves through her life, like some infectious, cruel joke.”
This layered and nuanced story is composed of dual timelines that are expertly plotted and paced to keep you guessing. As the events of the summer of 1985 slowly unfold we move between timelines, jumping forward to 2010 when one of the young girls has returned to France to confront the trauma that has haunted her all these years. There is an air of foreboding and mystery in this timeline that adds a sinister tension to the past narrative as we try to guess what happened all those years ago. The author seamlessly weaves the narratives together, making them collide in unexpected ways. And that ending! A punch-to-the-gut finale that made me gasp out loud in shock and horror.
“Mrs Cosgrove woke up agitated; she had dreamed about the château again. That grand house perched by the water, tinged with sunlight and heat. The memory of it was permanently lodged in her mind, like an azure blue aneurysm, sharp and painful with every blink.”
There is a cast of vividly drawn and recognisable characters, of which the adults are hideous, possessing few redeeming qualities and displaying monstrous behaviour that is a stark contrast to the innocence of the young girls. Our young protagonist, Ruby, lives in a time when children are expected to blindly obey their elders and be seen and not heard and the adults’ abhorrent behaviour is protected by this, as well as a culture of secrets, shame, propriety and obedience. The fear, isolation and claustrophobia that the girls feel is palpable and it is impossible not to feel horrified at the lack of parental care given to these children and how terribly each of them was failed by the adults they trusted. I wanted to leap into the book and rescue each of them from their nightmare.
Unnerving, tense and compelling, The Ruins is an important and thought-provoking novel that I highly recommend. I now intend to prioritise Ms. Wynne’s debut which is screaming at me from my shelves even louder after reading this.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
TW: Sexual abuse
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Phoebe Wynne studied Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London and Education at King’s College, London. She worked in education for eight years, teaching Classics in the south of England as well as English Language and Literature in Paris, France. Phoebe left the classroom to focus on her writing; she went on to hone her craft in writing classes in Los Angeles and in London. Phoebe has dual British and French nationality and spends her time between England and France. ‘MADAM’ is her debut novel.
Published: July 7th, 2022 Publisher: Harper Collins UK Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Police Procedural Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audiobook
Today is my stop on the blog tour for the compelling thriller Dark Objects. Thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and Harper Collins UK for the gifted eBook ARC.
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SYNOPSIS:
‘Count to three,’ her mother told her, the last words she would ever speak.
An Impossible Crime Scene A wealthy woman is found brutally murdered in the locked fortress of her London mansion. Surrounding her are four mysterious objects, including a book on forensics by Dr Laughton Rees.
An Inescapable Past As a teenager, Laughton’s life was destroyed after witnessing her mother’s brutal murder. Now a mother herself and forensic analyst, she is an expert on how to read crime scenes – but never works live cases.
An Uncatchable Killer Pressured by the lead detective to help with the investigation, Laughton begins to realise that the objects left by the body are not just about the victim, they’re also about her. Her childhood was destroyed by one killer. Now she must catch another before her daughter’s is destroyed too.
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MY REVIEW:
“A murder is like a slow explosion. It starts off small, a single act of violence. But very soon the consequences of this singular act start to spread, like ripples on a pond, ever widening until they can stretch as far as the horizon all around.”
When cleaner Celia Barnes arrives at the Miller’s London Mansion it seems like any other work day. Then she sees the blood on the walls and finds the body of Kate Miller, splayed out like a crucifixion with four strange objects positioned around her. DCI Tannerhill Khan is called in to investigate and links are soon made to forensic analyst Laughton Rees. Laughton never works live cases but Tannerhill tries to convince her to help with the investigation. When further links to her traumatic past are discovered and it seems that she and her daughter are in danger, Laughton must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect them from a killer.
I love a dark, sinister, twist-filled thriller, so as soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it. It was my first time reading any of Simon Toyne’s books and it did not disappoint. Cunningly crafted, fast-paced and brimming with tension, this well-written thriller had my heart racing from the first chapter and I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Tonye kept me guessing as he intricately wove things together, ensuring all of the twisty threads collide in surprising ways.
“She feels sick, like the darkest chapter of her life is re-emerging from the place she buried it, that death and danger are being brought to her door and, yet again, her father is the cause of it.”
The story is told from multiple points of view using mixed media. Not only do we get characters narrating the story but also included are extracts from news articles, snippets of WhatsApp conversations and extracts from Laughton Rees book, How To Process a Murder, which was left at the feet of Kate Miller’s body. The author has filled the story with a mix of flawed, shady and very real characters who are fascinating to read. Some are easy to like while others I couldn’t stand but with each one Tonye makes you feel all of their emotions and confront the shades of grey that motivate their actions. The parts narrated by the killer are also some of the most chilling and nerve-shredding pages I’ve ever read and I liked that he crafted a complex killer, someone who is violent, rage-filled, frenzied and chaotic yet calm and ordered enough to create something so elaborately staged. It not only made the story more interesting but is a masterclass in thriller writing.
A suspenseful, intelligent and compelling thriller that packs a punch, I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a darker thriller.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Simon Toyne is the international bestselling author of Dark Objects, the Sanctus trilogy and the Solomon Creed series. He wrote Sanctus after quitting his job as a TV executive and it became the biggest selling debut thriller of 2011 in the UK. His books have been translated into 29 languages and published in over 50 countries.
Published: June 21st, 2022 Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction Format: Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook
Thank you to Mark Edwards and Netgalley for the eBook ARC of this book.
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SYNOPSIS:
In this exhilarating thriller from four million copy bestselling author Mark Edwards, Aidan’s spent years looking for his sister. Will he ever find her?
Two years ago, on a trip to Seattle to visit her brother Aidan, fifteen-year-old Scarlett vanished into thin air. After years of false leads and dead ends, Aidan has almost given up hope. But then a woman sees a girl running for her life across a forest clearing in Northern California. She is convinced the girl is the missing Scarlett. But could it really be her?
Heading south, Aidan finds a fire-ravaged town covered in missing-teenager posters. The locals seem afraid, the police won’t answer any questions and it looks like another dead end―until a chance meeting with returned local Lana gives Aidan his first clue. But as they piece together what happened, Lana and Aidan make deadly enemies. Enemies willing to do anything to silence them.
Only one thing matters now: finding Scarlett―even if it kills him.
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MY REVIEW:
Scarlett Faith disappeared two years ago while visiting her older brother Aiden in Seattle. He has been searching for her ever since, plagued by guilt that she vanished on his watch. There has been nothing but false leads and dead ends, until a woman says she is sure she saw Scarlett fleeing a pursuer in a forest clearing in Northern California. It seems fantastical, but could it be the lead Aiden has been waiting for?
Deciding to follow the lead, Aiden heads to California and finds himself in a town ravaged by fire, covered in missing posters and filled with secrets they will do anything to keep.
A new book by Mark Edwards is always an event for me and he can be relied upon to deliver an intriguing, suspenseful and twist-filled thriller where ordinary people find themselves in terrifying situations. And he’s done it again, this time taking a very timely topic and merging it with something much more sinister that makes you think twice about who you trust and what you get involved in. There is a lot of action but I will admit that it wasn’t my favourite of his books as I prefer his darker stories.
The book is filled with a cast of fascinating and well developed characters. There are siblings desperate for answers, naive young women, a mysterious woman with a mission, brutal security men and corrupt officials. Aiden is at the centre of it all. He is likeable and easy to root for; an innocent bystander who just wants to find his sister, he gets caught up in a web of dangerous secrets that makes him enemies who will do anything to silence him. There are also some great villains who have that sadistic streak you commonly see in Edwards’ books. Told from multiple points of view with flashbacks to the time leading up to Scarlett’s disappearance, it isn’t immediately clear how all of the different characters and threads are connected. But Edwards slowly weaves them together until the full, surprising picture emerges.
Menacing, tense and twisty, No Place To Run is an entertaining thriller that I’d recommend to those who like their thrillers on the quirky side.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people. He has sold more than three million copies of his books and topped the bestseller lists numerous times since his first solo novel was published in 2013.
His novels include What You Wish For, Because She Loves Me, Follow You Home, The Devil’s Work, The Lucky Ones, The Retreat, In Her Shadow, Here To Stay and The House Guest. He has also published two short sequels to The Magpies, A Murder of Magpies and Last of The Magpies, and six books co-authored with Louise Voss.
Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Estonian, Thai, Lithuanian, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish and Russian. In 2019 Mark won The Cat and Mouse Award for Most Elusive Villain at the Dead Good Reader Awards for Last of the Magpies.
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