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book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2026

BOOK REVIEW: Deception by Jack Jordan

Published June 4th, 2026 by Simon & Schuster UK
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

A deadly game. The ultimate price. The Chain meets Squid Game meets Emily the Criminal in this pulse-pounding new thriller from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan. 

SOON TO BE ADAPTED FOR TV!

‘The most tense book I’ve ever read. Instantly gripping, utterly addictive’ ANDREA MARA
‘A blistering, nerve shredding thriller … Electrifying’ JOHN MARRS
‘A top-tier thriller. High-concept and brilliantly written … I could not stop turning the pages!’ C. M. EWAN
‘A thriller that reads like the plot of an action movie but with a thumping emotional heart’ NIKKI SMITH

Emma and Miles are out of options. Their son needs life-saving transplant surgery, but in a world of privatised healthcare and impossible costs, they can’t afford it.

Then comes the offer: a shadowy syndicate known only as The Levels promises them the exact amount of money they need. All they must do is complete a series of tasks.

The catch? Each task is a crime. With every level the stakes rise, the payout grows and the line between right and wrong blurs.

But Emma and Miles aren’t the only ones playing this deadly game. As the competition intensifies and they struggle under the weight of their choices, they’re faced with the ultimate question:

How far would you go to save the one you love?

BUY HERE

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MY REVIEW:

The king of the moral-dilemma thriller is back with another hit to keep you on the edge of your seat. 

Emma and Miles’ nine-year-old son, Ryan, needs a heart and lung transplant to save his life. But they live in the USA, where the cost of his healthcare is financially crippling. They are out of options and have no way to pay for the surgery he needs. But hope then comes in the form of an offer from a shadowy syndicate known as The Levels. They say they will give them the exact amount of money they need in return for them completing a series of tasks. The catch? The tasks are all crimes. With no other option, Emma and Miles decide they have no choice but to play. As they move up the levels the stakes increase, as does the payout. and they quickly find that the line between what’s right and wrong blurs. Then they find themselves faced with the ultimate question: how far will they go to save their son’s life?

Jack Jordan has done it again! This man seriously never misses and I feel like his books just get better and better. Jaw-dropping, propulsive and unbelievably tense, Deception is an action-packed thriller with an emotional heartbeat. It’s an impossible dilemma. And that’s what makes it so addictive. It will shatter your nerves, have your jaw on the floor and break your heart all at the same time. And I loved every minute, binging it in just two sittings.

Exquisitely written, expertly choreographed and perfectly paced, Jack had me in his thrall from start to finish. Emma and Miles are great protagonists. They are the everyman and woman, people we can see ourselves in and relate to.  My heart shattered as Emma sat by Ryan’s bedside trying to find ways to save his life and for Miles as he worked to breaking point to try and pay for it all. Jack asks the questions I was thinking about private healthcare, exploring how a civilised country can treat their most vulnerable that way and prioritise profit over human life. By the time the offer from The Levels comes, you’re as beaten down and desperate as Emma and Miles and totally understand why they are considering it. After all, what parent wouldn’t do whatever it took to save their child? These are good people in a dire situation and it is easy to understand how they end up doing bad things. It is a reminder that things aren’t always black and white and that so much of life lives in the grey.

An astonishing masterpiece that will leave you breathless, this is a must-read for all thriller lovers.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Thank you to The Likely Suspects for sending me a proof copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), Before Her Eyes (2018), Night by Night (2019), Do No Harm (2022), Conviction (2023), and Redemption (2024).

His thriller, Do No Harm, was an instant Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Most Recommended Book in the DeadGood Reader Awards, coined the thriller of the summer for 2022.  The idea for Do No Harm came to Jack after undergoing a minor medical procedure where he had to be sedated and trust strangers with his welfare. After the anaesthesia wore off, Jack began scribbling his notes, wondering to himself just how iron-clad a surgeon’s oath is, and what it would take to break it…

Jack’s book Redemption, was longlisted for Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year in 2024 and 2025, and shortlisted for the 2025 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, both Thriller of the Year and Crime Audiobook of the Year at London’s Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards, and the Most Recommended Book in the De.ad Good Reader Awards.

Jack’s upcoming thriller Deception is publishing with Simon & Schuster in June 2026

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxxx

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book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures Most Anticipated 2026

BOOK REVIEW: Land by Maggie O’Farrell

Published June 2nd, 2026 by Tinder Press
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

‘You will never understand how the land remembers, how deep the roots grow’

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.

The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping, and get them both home?

Land is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away.

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MY REVIEW:

“You will never understand how the land remembers, how deep the roots grow.”

There is nothing better than a book that hits all the right notes, and Land does just that. Haunting, heartrending, visceral, mesmerising and deeply human, this breathtaking mult-generational saga is an epic tale of separation, longing, resilience, hope and love.

Ireland, 1865. On a windswept peninsula 10-year-old Liam and his father, Tomas, are mapping the land as part of the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. Tomas takes pride in his work, determined that his maps will not only map the land, but also the effects of the Great Hunger which not long since ravaged his country. But everything changes when Tomas comes across a copse where he has an unusual and unsettling encounter. It changes him completely, terrifying young Liam, who must now finish the maps so they can be paid and go home. But the father he is returning home with isn’t the same one who left, Tomas’ encounter setting his whole life off course and having ripple effects for his entire family.

A treasure trove of a story written by an exceptional storyteller, Land showcases why Maggie O’Farrell is one of my favourite authors and a force to be reckoned with. An ancient story with a hint of the supernatural, reading this book felt like stepping inside a dark, forgotten fairytale. Maggie’s exquisite storytelling is lyrical and evocative, bringing the past to live in vivid detail and transporting us into their world. It deals with some heavy topics but manages to avoid feeling mired in misery and feels powerful but delicate, whispering its truths in our ear instead of shouting them at us. My only complaint is that there are no chapters, which does make it a little hard to follow at times or know when to pause reading.

One of the reasons I love reading historical fiction so much is the chance to experience and discover people, times and places that I would otherwise never experience. And this book offers that window into something I never even considered before: the mapping of Ireland for the Ordnance Survey. Spanning decades and told from multiple perspectives, Maggie has drawn from real people and events to create this story. It is filled with strong, fascinating, flawed and memorable characters and I loved how it never took the moral high ground, instead allowing the characters to live in the grey area where humanity naturally resides most of the time. I loved these characters and was completely invested in their lives.

An extraordinary and moving portrait of a family and its trials and tribulations, this is a must-read.

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Thank you Tinder Press and Emma Knight for sending me a proof copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Maggie O’Farrell is the author of HAMNET, Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020, and the memoir I AM, I AM, I AM, both Sunday Times no. 1 bestsellers. Her novels include AFTER YOU’D GONE, MY LOVER’S LOVER, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, which won the 2010 Costa Novel Award, INSTRUCTIONS FOR A HEATWAVE, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE and THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. She is also the author of three books for children, WHERE SNOW ANGELS GO, THE BOY WHO LOST HIS SPARK and WHEN THE STAMMER CAME TO STAY. She lives in Edinburgh.

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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book reviews Emma's Anticipated Treasures

BOOK REVIEW: Wonderful by Louise Beech

Published June 1st, 2026 by Pick Lock Publishing
Contemporary Fiction

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ABOUT THE BOOK:

A Hollywood idol. The Virgin Mary. An everyday girl from Hull.

Three women, three eras, surprising things in common…

On 4th August 1962, the night she should have died, Marilyn Monroe – the biggest star in the world – receives a visitor who changes the course of her destiny. The Virgin Mary appears in her kitchen with a curious message. Inspired, Marilyn abandons her home, her life, her fame, and disappears into the night…

Fifty-four years later, in a Hull kitchen, Flora Baker finds Mary, bathed in light. She has a similar message for the working class woman who is on the poverty line and dreaming of a better life. Flora begins to make changes that impact not only her life but the lives of those around her…

Do Marilyn and Flora have more in common than just Mary’s visit? Are they somehow linked across time? And is Mary’s message for all the women of the world?

Wonderful is about the way women are portrayed in both history and the world of celebrity, about women not being quiet, and about women united by the shared stories that shape them.

pre-order

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MY REVIEW:

“Wonderful means full of wonder. It does not mean astonishing but to be full of astonishment.”

We all know the name Marilyn Monroe. The tragic blonde bombshell who died on August 4th 1962. But what if she didn’t die that night? What if instead she receives a  visit from The Virgin Mary and her message inspires her to disappear into the night and abandon her entire life. That is how Louise Beech’s new book begins. We then jump forward fifty four years, to a kitchen in Hull, where Flora Baker also receives a visit from The Virgin Mary and receives a similar message, causing her to make big changes in her life. The story then moves between Marilyn and Flora, following as they try to find new meaning in their lives and carry out the actions inspired by their visits from The Virgin Mary. But could there be another connection between the two women?

Wonderful. Simply, wonderful. 

I know when I read a book by Louise Beech it’s going to be great. But other than her amazing writing, I didn’t know what else to expect from this book. From the moment I first read the synopsis I was intrigued, and I know how much Louise adores Ms. Monroe, so I knew the story would honour her memory, but  I wasn’t prepared to also fall in love with this icon. The Marilyn on these pages isn’t the ditzy blonde bombshell persona we’re familiar with. She’s humble, kind, flawed, raw and real. The sort of person you can imagine becoming friends with. And I loved her. 

“Why was facing the world with feminine grace revered? Wouldn’t it be better if they screamed, broke down, swore?”

The story is exquisitely written, perfectly paced and meticulously researched, Louise’s love and knowledge about Marilyn  evident on every page. It is also intricately interwoven, the two storylines cleverly and skillfully woven together in unexpected ways. And then there’s the characters. Richly drawn, likeable and real, I cared about these women and desperately wished that this could have been Marilyn’s real fate. 

A powerful and moving story full of heart and hope, I highly recommend pre-ordering this book, which is out June 1st, on what would have been Marilyn’s 100th birthday. 

Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰

Thank you to Louise Beech for sending me a proof copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Louise Beech is the author of nine novels and a memoir, Eighteen Seconds (2023). Her debut, How to be Brave, was a Guardian Readers’ Pick; The Lion Tamer Who Lost shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Awards 2019 and longlisted for the Polari Prize that same year; Call Me Star Girl was Best magazine’s Book of the Year; This Is How We Are Human was a Clare Mackintosh Book Club pick; and audiobook Daffodils shortlisted for the Audies23. Her dystopian thriller, End of Story, is written as Louise Swanson. Swanson’s next was released in spring 2024. The novel she’s always wanted to write, Wonderful, is released June 1st 2026/

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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

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