Tag: Audiobook review

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Audio Books book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2024

BOOK REVIEW: The Bad Seeds (Sweetpea, 5) by C. J. Skuse

Published October 24th, 2024 by HQ
Thriller, Mystery, Dark Comedy, Humorous Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Crime Series

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

‘This isn’t a book for the squeamish or the faint-hearted … think Bridget Jones meets American Psycho’ Red

🪓

Sweetpea is coming home at last…

Newly married, with a loving family surrounding her, everything’s coming up roses for ex-serial killer Rhiannon Lewis, right?

Wrong.

Her husband has just been shot, and the daughter she left behind in the UK is desperately ill. She’s got no choice but to flee the States and return home, back to her roots, where she’s in danger of being recognised and arrested at any moment.

Only nothing is quite as it seems…

With a series of bad choices in front of her, and the authorities right behind, Rhiannon’s in a hell of a hole and she needs to dig herself out of it pronto. But help can come from the most unlikely places. And even more unlikely people…

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MY REVIEW:

“Even though I’m a bad seed, I’m trying to grow.”

Rhiannon is back. And it is her final adventure, making this book bittersweet for me as I am not at all ready to say goodbye to my favourite anti-hero. And would I like the ending? I was apprehensive. But I also knew I could rely on the Queen of Sassy Noir to send our girl out the right way. And that’s exactly what she does, knocking it out of the park once again with a magnificent finale to the Sweetpea series. 

When the book opens Rhiannon is newly married but instead of enjoying her honeymoon she’s by her husband’s side in the hospital as she waits to see if he’ll recover from a gunshot wound. But she can’t stay there for long as her daughter is seriously ill and she has to fly back to the UK to see her. But can she make it back without being recognised and arrested? 

What a book! Darkly funny, tense and twisty, I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish, devouring this one whole as I waited to learn how things end for Rhiannon. As an official bad seed, I am team #KeepHerBuried but there are many who want to unmask Rhiannon and see her jailed for her crimes and they are hot on her heels in this instalment, raising the tension as she tries to get back to her daughter. I was surprised how emotional this book was at times and it wasn’t only laughter that had tears in my eyes this time around. But something I love about this series is how you can rely on some things to never change. Every book is filled with inappropriate, ink-black humour, pop culture references, and bloody murder. And while we have seen a softer, more emotional side to Rhiannon as the series went on, she is still that wonderful psycho serial killer who won’t let anyone stand in her way. She has just learned some life lessons and now has more to lose. 

Deliciously dark, scathing, hilarious and completely outrageous, I can’t recommend this book and the whole series highly enough. And that final line! Sheer perfection. Take a bow, Ms. Skuse. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Click here to get 60 days of listening for free with my affiliate link*

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

C.J. SKUSE is the author of the Young Adult novels PRETTY BAD THINGS, ROCKOHOLIC, DEAD ROMANTIC, MONSTER and THE DEVIANTS and the adult crime thrillers THE ALIBI GIRL and the SWEETPEA series of books. C.J. was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England and has First Class degrees in Creative Studies in English and Writing for Children and, aside from writing novels, works as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Bookshop.org* | Waterstones* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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Audio Books book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2024

BOOK REVIEW: The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

Published June 6th, 2024 by Picador
Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Historical Romance

Welcome to my review of this outstanding gothic thriller. Thanks to Picador for sending me a proof copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The Burial Plot is a spellbinding historical Gothic thriller about murder and manipulation, set in Victorian London. From Elizabeth Macneal, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory.

London, 1839. With the cemeteries full and money to be made in death, tricksters Crawford and Bonnie survive on wicked schemes and ill-gotten coin. But one blistering evening, their fortunes flip. A man lies in a pool of blood at Bonnie’s feet and now she needs to disappear.

Crawford secures her a position as lady’s maid in a grand house on the Thames. As Bonnie comes to understand the family – the eccentric Mr Moncrieff, obsessively drawing mausoleums for his dead wife, and their peculiar daughter Cissie, scribbling imaginary love letters to herself – she begins to question what secrets are lying behind the house’s paper-thin walls and whether her own presence here was planned from the beginning.

Because Crawford is watching, and perhaps he is plotting his greatest trick yet . . .

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MY REVIEW:

As the nights darken I find myself drawn to darker books, particularly those with a gothic or supernatural element, so it felt like the perfect time to start this book. And it was. Darkly atmospheric, hypnotic and alluring, The Burial Plot is a gorgeous gothic thriller perfect for this time of year. It consumed me and I devoured it whole, enrapt by the story of murder, manipulation, secrets and betrayal. This is Elizabeth Macneal’s best book yet; a haunting tour-de-force that you won’t be able to put down.

It transports us to London, 1839, where we meet Bonnie, a young woman surviving on schemes and tricks she carries out under the guidance of her boyfriend, Crawford. But one night their tricks go too far and a man lies dead in a pool of blood. Bonnie needs to disappear. And, luckily, Crawford knows the perfect place. So, Bonnie travels to Endellion, a grand house on the Thames, to begin working as a Lady’s Maid. Endellion is inhabited by Aubrey Moncrieff, a strange man who spends his days obsessively drawing mausoleums for his dead wife, and his daughter, Cissie, who lives in a daydream scribbling imaginary love notes to herself. The late Mrs. Moncrieff died in mysterious circumstances, and it is soon clear that there are secrets hidden at Endellion. Secrets that some will kill to protect.…

It’s no secret that I’ve been a huge fan of Elizabeth Macneal ever since her debut and will buy anything she writes. Masterfully written, cleverly choreographed and intricately woven, I was bewitched from the start. Macneal’s meticulous research about the fascinating historical period and subject is expertly woven into the mystery, allowing her reader to lose themselves completely in the story. Dark, ominous, oppressive and foreboding vibes radiate from the pages and there’s a twisted game of cat and mouse being played between Bonnie and Crawford. Then there’s the overwhelming sense of claustrophobia that we feel as Bonnie wrestles with her conscience. She’s trapped. Imprisoned by not only her crime but by Crawford and the lies she’s already told. 

The book is filled with very real, vivid characters. The protagonist, Bonnie, is a complicated and flawed heroine, an anti-hero who wades in murky moral territory with all of her lies, schemes and plots. But despite this she’s very compelling, likeable and easy to root for. You want her to win despite all she does wrong and you get the sense that many of her erroneous deeds stem from her toxic and controlling relationship with Crawford. I really hated Crawford. He’s a mass of red flags from the beginning but has a charm to him that allows you to understand Bonnie’s attraction to him. And as we hear about Bonnie’s past, we understand she thinks he saved her when she needed it, never realising he was trapping her in a cycle of abuse from the start. The background characters are equally as richly drawn and compelling, with young Cissie stealing my heart. My heart broke for this young girl and all she’d gone through and I loved the bond that grew between her and Bonnie. 

Taut, twisty, unnerving and utterly breathtaking, The Burial Plot is a gothic masterpiece that demands to be read. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. You can get 60 days listening free with this link*

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Macneal was born in Scotland and now lives in East London. She is a writer and potter and works from a small studio at the bottom of her garden. The Doll Factory, Elizabeth’s debut novel, was a Sunday Times bestseller, has been translated into twenty-nine languages and has been optioned for a major television series. It won the Caledonia Novel Award in 2018, and was a No. 2 Sunday Times bestseller. In 2019, Elizabeth was chosen as one of The Observers ‘hottest-tipped debut novelists’. Her second novel, Circus of Wonders, was an immediate Sunday Times bestseller, hitting No. 4 after only a partial week of sales.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Bookshop.org* | Waterstones* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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Audio Books book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

BOOK REVIEW: The Book of Witching by C. J. Cooke

Published October 10th, 2024 by Harper Collins UK
Thriller, Historical Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Horror Fiction, Suspense, Supernatural Fiction, Contemporary Horror

Welcome to my bookish thoughts on this eerie, haunting and addictive gothic mystery. Thank you to Harper Fiction for sending me a proof copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

‘Chilling and beautifully written … C.J. Cooke’s finest novel yet’ Emilia Hart

‘A spellbinding thriller’ Scots Magazine

Four hundred years separate them.

One book binds them.

Glasgow 2024: Clem waits by her daughter’s hospital bed. Erin was found on an idyllic beach in Fynhallow Bay, Orkney with catastrophic burns and only one memory: her name is Nyx.

But how did she get these burns? And how did her boyfriend end up burned alive?

Orkney 1594: accused of witchcraft, Alison Balfour awaits trial. The punishment? To be burned alive.

Separated by four hundred years but bound by the Book of Witching, two women stand imperilled. Can they unlock a centuries-old mystery? And will Fynhallow Bay give up its secrets before someone else dies?

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MY REVIEW:

Two women, four hundred years apart, are bound by a dark and mysterious book: the book of witching in this unnerving gothic thriller. 

The story is told in dual timelines, moving between Glasgow in the present day and Orkney in 1594. In the present, Clem’s daughter, Erin, is hospitalised with catastrophic burns after being found on a beach in Fynhallow Bay. At first she’s unconscious, but when Erin comes around, she doesn’t remember her parents or who she is and insists that her name is Nyx. 1594, Alison is accused of witchcraft and awaiting trial. If convicted, she will be burnt alive. Can she prove her innocence to people who only want to hear she’s guilty? 

In the last few years C. J. Cooke has solidified herself as one of the Queens of the Gothic Thriller, even counting Stephen King among her fans. Her books have become a Halloween staple for me so I was determined to squeeze in her latest offering, The Book of Witching, before October was over. Eerily atmospheric, witchy, malevolent and haunting, I inhaled this in a day, completely transfixed by this spellbinding tale. Spectacularly written, perfectly plotted, intricately interwoven and with vivid imagery, she held me in her thrall, my heart in my throat the entire time I was reading. And that ending! Omg. I still have chills. 

Cooke’s meticulous research is evident throughout and she doesn’t shy away from the grisly torture that those accused of witchcraft was subjected to. The lengths these powerful men went to as they tried to force Alison to confess were horrific and even included the torture and murder of people they knew were innocent to try and reach their goal. I could understand why women falsely confessed during the witch trials when they were subjected to such awful torture and it made me angry to think of everything they went through.

Dark, mystical, sinister and addictive, I highly recommend this magnificent bewitching tale. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Click here to get 60 days listening free with my affiliate link*

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

C J Cooke (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. C J Cooke’s works have been published in 23 languages and have won many awards. She holds a PhD in Literature from the Queen’s University of Belfast and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. Two of her books are currently optioned for film

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BUY THE BOOK:

Bookshop.org* | Waterstones* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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Audio Books Beat the Backlist book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

BOOK REVIEW: The Whistling by Rebecca Netley

Published October 14th, 2021 by Michael Joseph
Ghost Story, Horror Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Suspense, Supernatural Fiction

Welcome to my review for this unsettling gothic thriller. Thank you to Michael Joseph Books for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

FEEL SHIVERS DOWN YOUR SPINE WITH THIS CHILLING AND GRIPPING GHOST STORY SET ON A FAR-FLUNG SCOTTISH ISLAND . . .

‘Wonderfully atmospheric, genuinely eerie’ GUARDIAN
‘Gripping, chilling and very, very satisfying’ DAILY MAIL
‘A ghost story that kept me guessing’ SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN
‘Perfect for a cold winter’s night’ DAILY MIRROR
‘It will chill you to the bone’ ANITA FRANK
‘If you’re looking for a chilling tale as we head towards Halloween, you’ve found it’ HEAT
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When Elspeth arrives on a remote Scottish island to become nanny to a young child, she hopes to bond with her. Until she learns that, for reasons no one will explain, Mary has not spoken for months.

And the girl’s silence is not the only mystery.

Hypnotic lullabies drift down empty corridors.
Strange dolls appear in abandoned rooms.
And as the nights draw in, darker questions arise . . .

What happened to Mary’s late twin, William? Why did their previous nanny disappear so suddenly?

And is the whistling Elspeth hears at night just the storm outside?

Or is somebody coming for her . . . ?

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MY REVIEW:

As it’s spooky season I decided to finally read The Whistling. It follows Elspeth who has taken up the position of nanny on the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea. Her new charge, Mary, is a troubled child who hasn’t spoken a word since the sudden death of her twin brother, William, and the disappearance of their former nanny. No one will speak of what happened, and in a desperate attempt to help her charge, Elspeth searches for answers. But the islanders remain defiantly silent. And then there’s the strange whistling that Elspeth hears at night. Is the house haunted? Or is there a more human explanation for what’s happening at Iskar House.

Chilling, eerie and unsettling, this gothic tale was definitely a book you need to read in the daytime. I decided to listen to it on audiobook and from the opening pages I was hooked. Skillfully written and expertly choreographed, Rebecca Netley has created a sensational debut. Also woven into the narrative is a heart-rending exploration of loss and grief that adds depth, while the remote setting merges with the atmosphere of unease to create a gloriously ghostly tale.

Elspeth is a fascinating protagonist who was easy to like, while young Mary is a heartbreaking and unsettling youngster that I couldn’t make my mind up about. The background characters are equally compelling and there’s a real sense of this small island closing ranks to protect their own. 

Dark, spine-tingling and addictive, The Whistling is the perfect read for spooky season.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rebecca Netley grew up as part of an eccentric family in a house full of books and music, and these things have fed her passions.

Family and writing remain at the heart of Rebecca’s life. She lives in Reading with her family and an over-enthusiastic dog, who gives her writing tips.

Rebecca is a writer of long and prize-winning short fiction. The Whistling, Rebecca Netley’s debut novel won the Exeter Novel Prize and was longlisted for the Michael Ondaatje Prize. The Whistling has been adapted for stage.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Bookshop.org* | Waterstones* | Amazon*
*these are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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Beat the Backlist book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

SKELF SUMMER: A Dark Matter (The Skelfs, 1) by Doug Johnstone

Published January 23rd, 2020 by Orenda Books
Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Suspense, Urban Ficiton, Lesbian Literature, Crime Series

Today I’m sharing my first review for Skelf Summer. Thank you to Danielle at Orenda for the invitation to take part.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Three generations of women from the Skelfs family take over the family funeral home and PI businesses in the first book of a taut, gripping page-turning and darkly funny new series.

***Shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year*** 
***Shortlisted for the Amazon Publishing Capital Crime Awards***

‘An engrossing and beautifully written tale that bears all the Doug Johnstone hallmarks in its warmth and darkly comic undertones’ Herald Scotland

‘Gripping and blackly humorous’ Observer

‘I was addicted from the first page; gripping, gritty and darkly funny as hell’ Erin Kelly

‘A Dark Matter showcases a writer at the peak of his powers, except that with every book, Doug Johnstone just gets better’ Val McDermid

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Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators…

When patriarch Jim dies, it’s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events.

Dorothy discovers mysterious payments to another woman, suggesting that Jim wasn’t the husband she thought he was. Hannah’s best friend Mel has vanished from university, and the simple adultery case that Jenny takes on leads to something stranger and far darker than any of them could have imagined.

As the women struggle to come to terms with their grief, and the demands of the business threaten to overwhelm them, secrets from the past emerge, which change everything…

A compelling, tense and shocking thriller and a darkly funny and warm portrait of a family in turmoil, A Dark Matter introduces a cast of unforgettable characters, marking the start of an addictive new series.

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MY REVIEW:

“If they didn’t solve these mysteries, who would?”

I’m a big fan of Doug Johnstone’s Skelfs Series but I started it by reading the second instalment, and then somehow skipped a couple of others. So when I received an email from Orenda Books asking if I would like to take part in Skelf Summer – six weeks of reading the series in order leading up to the publication of book six in September – I jumped at the chance. 

First up is A Dark Matter, in which we are introduced to Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah Skelf, three generations of a well-known Edinburgh family that own a long-established funeral home and private investigation business. At the start of the book, they are mourning the death of patriarch Jim while also trying to get on with the day-to-day task of running their businesses. When Dorothy discovers mysterious payments being made to another woman each month going back years, she realises that Jim had been keeping secrets. Meanwhile, Hannah’s best friend Mel has disappeared and the police aren’t interested in investigating, leaving her to take on that challenge herself, and a simple adultery investigation leads Jenny onto an unexpected path. But they are unprepared for the dark and shocking revelations they are about to unveil…

Suspenseful, twisting, darkly funny and addictive, this is a fantastic start to Doug Johnstone’s original series. I have no idea how he came up with the idea of three generations of women running a funeral home and private investigators, but it is a brilliant concept that I can’t get enough of.  The three women at its heart are intelligent, fierce, warm, wickedly funny, likeable but flawed, and easy to root for. Matirach Dorothy may be in her seventies, but has lost none of her zeal and is determined to get to the bottom of the secret payments Jim had been making. Her daughter and granddaughter are equally tenacious and they all have a quiet fortitude that they must draw on as their investigations intersect in unexpected ways, leading to shocking revelations that will change their lives forever.

Doug Johnstone never misses. His writing is atmospheric, tense, propulsive, witty and full of complex emotions that keep the reader hooked. He explores difficult subjects such as predatory men, the danger they pose and how blase so many have become about the issue. Another big topic in this book is grief and how differently we are all affected, portraying it in ways that are relatable, touching and full of black humour. But it is how intricately he intertwined  the storylines in unexpected ways, throwing in red herrings and unforeseen twists, that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. 

This is a must read for any thriller fan.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Click here to get 90 days free with my affiliate link*

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Doug Johnstone is the author of Fourteen novels, includingThe Great Silence, the third in the Skelfs series, which has been optioned for  In 2021, The Big Chill, the second in the series, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2020, A Dark Matter, the first in the series, was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the Capital Crime Amazon Publishing Independent Voice Book of the Year award. Black Hearts (Book four), was published in 2022, with The Opposite of Lonely (book five) out in 2023. Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his first science fiction novel, The Space Between Us, was a BBC2 Between the Covers pick. He’s taught creative writing, been writer in residence at various institutions, and has been an arts journalist for twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers. He lives in Edinburgh.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Orenda Books | Bookshop.org* | Waterstones* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxx

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Audio Books Beat the Backlist book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

REVIEW: The Serial Killer’s Wife by Alice Hunter

Published May 27th, 2021 by Avon Books
Psychological Thriller, Noir Fiction, Serial Killer Books

Welcome to my review for this chilling debut. Thank you to Avon Books for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. I read this as part of my Beat the Backlist 24 Challenge.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

*Read it before you watch it – now a major TV series for Paramount+*

‘The final double twist is well worth waiting for’My Weekly

‘Hooks you in to the drama straight away’ The Sun

Every marriage has its secrets…

Beth and Tom Hardcastle are the envy of their neighbourhood – they have the perfect marriage, the perfect house, the perfect family.

When the police knock on their door one evening, Beth panics. Tom should be back from work by now – what if he’s crashed his car? She fears the worst.

But the worst is beyond imagining.

As the interrogation begins, Beth will find herself questioning everything she believed about her husband.

They’re saying he’s a monster. And they’re saying she knew.

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MY REVIEW:

Tom and Beth have the picture-perfect house, the perfect child, perfect marriage. Or that’s what everyone thinks. Every marriage has its secrets, and theirs are about to be revealed…

One of the things I can’t help but think about whenever a killer is reported upon is what about their family. Do they have a partner? Children? Did those close to them notice anything untoward? Were they scared of them? Or were they blissfully unaware that anything was amiss and left with their whole world turned upside down when they were arrested? Those are the kinds of questions that Alice Hunter explores in her sensational debut, The Serial Killer’s Wife. This book had been on my shelf since before publication so I decided to listen to the audiobook as part of my attempt to beat my backlist this year. And I am so glad I did. What. A. Book! Nail-bitingly tense, unsettling and twisty, I was not prepared for what was on these pages and could only hold on tight as Alice Hunter took me on an insane ride. 

The story opens when the police arrive at Beth and Tom’s house to question him about a murder. It then moves between narrators and timelines, following the couple as it moves between the aftermath of his shocking arrest and events leading up to that day. Tom is protesting his innocence while Beth is in total disbelief that the man she shared her life with could have killed someone. Tom gave me bad vibes in many ways but I couldn’t decide if he was innocent or guilty. Meanwhile, my heart went out to Beth as she tried to make sense of it all. I was on the edge of my seat as Hunter deftly unpicked the intricate tangled web of secrets and lies, taking my breath away with each new revelation. This book is a masterclass in misdirection and my notes were full of annotations such as  ‘OMG’, ‘WTF is happening’, and ‘I can’t believe the twists that keep coming’. This has now been adapted for TV and I’m excited to watch soon as it is perfect for adaptation. 

Atmospheric, chilling, twist and surprising, this one is a must for all thriller fans. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Click here to get 2 months of listening free with my affiliate link*

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

After completing a psychology degree, Alice Hunter became an interventions facilitator in a prison. There, she was part of a team offering rehabilitation programmes to men serving sentences for a wide range of offences, often working with prisoners who’d committed serious violent crimes. Previously, Alice had been a nurse, working in the NHS. She now puts her experiences to good use in fiction. THE SERIAL KILLER’S WIFE draws heavily on her knowledge of psychology and the criminal mind.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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Beat the Backlist book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

Audiobook Review: How To Kill Men and Get Away with It by Katy Brent

Published February 16th 2023 by HQ
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Dark Comedy, Contemporary Romance

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

Meet Kitty Collins.

FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER.

He was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone.

I hadn’t intended to kill him of course. But I wasn’t displeased when I did and, despite the mess I made, I appeared to get away with it.

That’s where my addiction started…

I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted story about friendship, love, and murder. Fans of My Sister the Serial Killer, How to Kill Your Family and Killing Eve will love this wickedly clever novel!

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MY REVIEW:

“The men I kill deserve it. Every single last little bit of it…”

Influencer Kitty Collins is followed home from a night out by the man who wouldn’t leave her alone in the night club. When he attacks her she accidentally kills him and, to her surprise, seems to get away with it. That night is the start of Kitty’s addiction. She has a taste for revenge. And she knows how to get away with murder…

A deliciously dark, twisted, witty and addictive story of friendship, love, life and murder, How To Kill Men and Get Away With It is an intoxicating mix of Dexter, Sweetpea and How To Kill Your Family. I devoured this in just a few hours, hooked from the first page and unable to stop once I’d started listening. The ink-black humour had me laughing out loud and there is an added layer of mystery to the story thanks to Kitty’s stalker and I enjoyed trying to guess who they might be, going through a number of suspects before ultimately deciding on my prediction.

I loved Kitty’s snarky, warped and fiery character. She’s someone I think all women will relate to on some level with her frustration of how some men treat women without any comeback. And while I’d obviously never kill anyone, I did enjoy living vicariously through Kitty as she took revenge on men for their predatory behaviour. Kitty’s relationship with her friends are a big part of the story and I enjoyed seeing this side to her, as well as the dilemmas it raised as she tries to keep her murderous activities secret. I also really enjoyed seeing her vulnerable and kind of insecure side to her when she met and fell for Charlie. Despite it all, I was rooting for her to find a happy ending rather than living her life alone wreaking revenge. 

Darkly funny, compelling and unflinching, this fast-paced thriller is one not to be missed.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Click here to get 2 months listening for free*

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Katy is an author and award-winning journalist from the UK. She has worked on newspapers, magazines and websites since 2005, writing about popular culture. How To Kill Men and Get Away With It is her first novel.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxx

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Audio Books Beat the Backlist book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

BOOK REVIEW: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Published September 28th, 2023 by Pan Macmillan
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller, Murder Biography, Serial Killers

Welcome to my review for this dark, brutal and intoxicating thriller. Thank you to BookBreak and Pan Macmillan for sending me this proof copy in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

A Richard & Judy Book Club pick
New York Times Bestseller
A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist


Bright Young Women is an unflinching thriller based on Ted Bundy’s heinous crimes, as two women search for justice in the wake of his brutal murders. From Jessica Knoll, author of the New York Times bestseller and #1 Netflix movie Luckiest Girl Alive.

‘A compelling, almost hypnotic read’ – Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of None of This is True

‘Knoll deconstructs the myth of a criminal mastermind, revealing the women he seeks to destroy as the truly brilliant ones’ – Flynn Berry, author of Northern Spy

Tallahassee, 1978. Sorority president Pamela Schumacher wakes to a shocking scene of implausible violence and death, and is drawn into a mystifying crime that grips the nation for decades . . .

In Seattle, Tina Cannon connects her best friend’s disappearance to the Tallahassee tragedy, and is convinced that a single man is responsible.

Determined to find justice, the two join forces as their search for answers leads to a final, shocking confrontation . . .

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MY REVIEW:

“No one tells you how painful it is to be afraid. Like a bee sting to the entirety of your central nervous system.” 

Brutal, dark, fearless and intoxicating, Bright Young Women is based on the heinous crimes of Ted Bundy. As a true crime enthusiast (someone really needs to come up with a better way to say that) this book was on my radar as soon as I heard about it, but it was a glowing review from a fellow blogger recently that made me bump it up my list. And I am so glad that I did as I devoured this in under a day, unable to tear myself away from the heart-stopping story. 

“Right here, right now, I want you to forget two things: he was nothing special, and what happened was not random.”

Tallahassee, Florida. January, 1978. Sorority president Pamela Schumacher is on her way to bed when she hears a thud, followed by footsteps running on the floor above her. She follows them and sees a man fleeing the house holding a weapon in his hand.She goes to check on her sisters and finds a terrifying scene of carnage. Four of her sisters have just been attacked by ‘The All-American Sex Killer’, drawing Pamela into the hunt for a killer that grips the entire nation.

“They will call you hysterical no matter how much dignity you have. So you might as well do whatever the hell you want.”

My nervous system is still on boil after bingeing this harrowing thriller. This book is a master-class in how to write a thriller that drips with malevolence. But it is also so much more. Jessica Knoll barely talks about the killer, focusing instead on the victims and those who loved them. It is boldly but sensitively written, running a rainbow of emotions through the story as she gives a beating heart and a voice to those who are so often forgotten in true crime. She gives these girls real identities and reminds us that they are so much more than a mere footnote in a sadistic killer’s story and that it is in fact he who is the footnote in theirs. She also discusses female rage and how although it is often righteous, it is often dismissed as hysteria, particularly by men. We see this in how Pamela and her sisters repeatedly restrain their emotions instead of allowing themselves to feel and show what’s really inside them.

“Women got that feeling about him, that funny one we all get when we know something isn’t right, but we don’t know how to politely extricate ourselves from the situation without escalating the threat of violence or harassment. That is not a skill women are taught, the same way men are not taught that it is okay to leave a woman alone if what she wants is to be left alone.”

As someone who regularly watches, listens to and reads about true crime I enjoyed the victim-centric aspect of this book and Knoll’s timely exploration of our obsession with true crime and serial killers. But what I particularly loved was how she dismantled the many myths about Bundy in one fell swoop. I simmered with rage as I remembered how he was praised for his good looks, charm and intelligence, but was left with a smile of satisfaction as she busted those myths simply by focusing on who he really was, rather than the caricature he’d become.  And that ending. Wow! It was so powerful and moving that I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces as I listened. 

“Things grow differently when they’re damaged, showing us how to occupy strange new ground to bloom red instead of green. We can be found, brighter than before.”

Knoll seamlessly moves between the multiple timelines and perspectives to tell the story. I particularly liked how she makes the attack on the sorority the focal point of Pamela’s perspectives, telling us how many days, hours or minutes it is before or after the crime. I found this helped me understand Pamela even more. How her life would forever be split into ‘before’ and ‘after’ and how this tragic event had shaped every facet of her existence. Two of the threads are narrated by Pamela while another is narrated by Ruth, another suspected victim of the killer. While each of them are compelling, it is the raw, heartbreaking emotion in Pamela’s narration that will stay with me most of all. I felt what she did in my soul. My heart raced as I listened to her hear the attack and discover her sisters bludgeoned, I shook with fear and anger when she did, I fought back tears as she talked about carrying her lost best friend with her through her life ever since, and I felt her determination to turn this tragedy into something greater than herself.  She is a truly remarkable and compelling character that I won’t forget.

“Time does not heal all wounds. Grief is just like a sink full of dirty dishes or a pile of soiled laundry. Grief is a chore you have to do and it’s a messy one at that.”

Intense, chilling, heart-wrenching and evocative, Bright Young Women is an unflinching novel that will stay with me long after reading and will undoubtedly be in my list of top reads this year. Highly recommended.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

* I listened to this book on Bookbeat.
You can get 90 Days listening free with my affiliate link here*

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Jessica Knoll is the New York Times Bestselling author of THE FAVORITE SISTER and LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE—now a major motion picture on Netflix starring Mila Kunis. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan, and the articles editor at SELF. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and bulldog, Franklin. BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN is her third novel.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These links are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxx

Categories
Audio Books Beat the Backlist book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2023

BOOK REVIEW: The Marriage Act by John Marrs

Published January 19th, 2023 by Pan Macmillan
Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Bookbreak for sending me a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

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BOOK DESCRIPTION:

‘Clever, compelling and terrifyingly plausible’ – C. J. Tudor, author of A Sliver of Darkness

What if marriage was the law? Dare you disobey? Set in the same world as The One, now a Netflix Original Series, The Marriage Act is a dark, high-concept thriller from bestselling author John Marrs.

‘A page-turning and thought-provoking read’ – Daily Mirror

Britain. The near future. A right-wing government believes it has the answer to society’s ills – the Sanctity of Marriage Act, which actively encourages marriage as the norm, punishing those who choose to remain single.

But four couples are about to discover just how impossible relationships can be when the government is supervising every aspect of our personal lives, monitoring every word, every minor disagreement – and will use every tool in its arsenal to ensure everyone will love, honour and obey . . .

Shortlisted for the Goodreads Awards 2023.

Black Mirror meets thriller with a dash of Naomi Alderman’s The Power.

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MY REVIEW:

The Marriage Act is a pacy speculative thriller set in Britain in the near future. A right-wing government has brought into law the Sanctity of Marriage Act, actively encouraging marriage by offering benefits for those opting for a Smart Marriage and punishing those who remain single. They believe it is the answer to society’s problems. After all, what could go wrong with a system where the government monitors and controls every aspect of your relationship? Four couples are about to find out…

John Marrs is at the top of his game and can do no wrong in my eyes. Everything he writes is golden; cleverly crafted with a merciless finesse that keeps his reader on tenterhooks from start to finish. A perfect marriage of complex moral and social issues, red herrings, shocks and suspense, this is a masterclass in speculative fiction. It grabs your attention from the dark opening pages that contain a promise of secrets just waiting to be revealed.  Much of this story seems far-fetched at first. But, as you read, you begin to realise that none of this is beyond the realms of possibility. Suddenly everything feels frighteningly real and the fact that I could imagine all of this happening chilled me to my core.

This is the fourth book set in The One Universe, the dystopian world that Marrs created which connects a number of his books, coming after The One, The Passengers, and The Minders. While it isn’t necessary to read these in order to follow what’s happening in this book, I highly recommend reading ALL of Marrs’ books. Now, back to The Marriage Act. Those who sign up to a Smart Marriage are monitored 24/7 by a device called an Audite. The Audite listens and records the couples conversations throughout the day, not only picking up on every word, but also their tone and the volume of their voices. This constant monitoring leads to a claustrophobic atmosphere, feelings of distrust, and people manipulating or avoiding conversations. If the Audite decides your marriage is in trouble they will send a Relationship Responder who then lives with you and helps you work on your marriage issues. In this complex and nuanced story there are many different clauses that also come along with a Smart Marriage, and as the story goes on we see the many flaws in the system. 

The story is told in mixed media from multiple points of view. I listened to it on audiobook and while the narration is fantastic, it did feel very confusing at first and I struggled to keep up with the many characters and threads of the story. But that didn’t last long, and I soon lost myself in the story, devouring the book in under a day. Marrs has created a large cast of interesting characters that come from different walks of life. Some were easier to root for than others, and there were some I couldn’t stand, but all of them were compelling, flawed, relatable and real. They are people you could imagine as your friends, family or neighbours, heightening the feeling that this could all actually happen. 

Ominous, tense, twisty and thought-provoking, The Marriage Act is a compulsive thriller charged with adrenaline charged with adrenaline that you won’t want to put down. Highly recommended.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

*I listened to this book on Bookbeat. You can listen for two months free by clicking this link*

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These links are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxx

Categories
Audio Books Beat the Backlist book reviews

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Published October 28th, 2021 by Tor
Fantasy Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Fantasy Comedy, Romance Novel, Gay Fiction, Ghost Story, Horror Fantasy

Thank you Tor and BookBreak for the sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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SYNOPSIS:

Witty, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is a gift for troubled times. TJ Klune brings us a warm hug of a story about a man who spent his life at the office – and his afterlife building a home.

From the author of joyous New York Times bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Welcome to Charon’s Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she’s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth.

Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life – even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He’d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something.

The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.

Fans of A Man Called Ove and The Good Place will fall for this queer love story by TJ Klune.

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MY REVIEW:

“It’s never enough is it? Time. We always think we have so much of it, but when it really counts we don’t have enough at all.”

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his sparsely-attended funeral he is outraged and refuses to accept that he’s dead. But, he begins to believe her when she takes him to Charon’s Crossing, a quirky tea shop run by Hugo, a man who promises to help him cross over. Despite his life being one of all work and  no play, Wallace is reluctant to leave his life behind and sets out to try and live a lifetime in the week he’s been given to pass through the door to the other side.

Witty, moving, cosy and unique, Under the Whispering Door is a book that warms you from the inside like a warm drink on a cold day. This was my tenth backlist book of the year and my introduction to T. J. Klune, an author I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. I now completely get the hype surrounding him and his books and will be prioritising reading his other books on my TBR. An exploration of life, love, death, grief and redemption, this broke my heart into a million pieces and then glued them back together. I appreciated how Klune examined the many stages of grief; how the pain of losing those we love never leaves us but leaves a permanent mark on our heart and soul. Beautifully written, richly imagined and evocative, the storytelling merged with the spectacular narration to make the story come to life around me so vividly that I felt like I’d flown through a hurricane and landed in Oz like Dorothy, opening the door to a magical and colourful new world I never imagined. 

Whimsical, escapist, colourful and deeply poignant, this gorgeous fantasy is one that will stay with me long after reading. Highly recommended.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5

*I listened to this on Bookbeat. Follow this link to get your first 60 days of listening for free.*

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it’s important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

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BUY THE BOOK:

Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
*These are affiliate links

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxx