Tag: suspense

Categories
book reviews

Strangers by C.L. Taylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

a659ccaa

Published: April 2nd, 2020
Publisher: Avon Books
Format: Hardback, Kindle
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Noir Fiction, Urban Fiction

Thank you to Tandem Collective UK for the invitation to take part in the readalong and to Avon Books for the gifted copy.

SYNOPSIS:

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.

MY REVIEW:

I read Strangers as part of a readalong via Tandem Collective UK and was so hooked that I read it in one sitting instead of over six days. This book is the definition of unputdownable.  

The story packs a punch from the first chapter, opening with a dead body and our three narrators – Alice, Ursula and Gareth – all wondering what to do. With a sense of foreboding, we then go back to a week earlier, a time when they had never met and had no idea their lives were about to become entwined in such a dark way. 

Each of the narrators is facing their own challenges: Alice is trying to get back into the dating scene two years after the end of her marriage, Ursula finds herself homeless and then living with a weird man because of the cheap room, and Gareth is trying to keep his mother at home despite her dementia worsening, while also working full-time. All the characters leap from the page, even secondary ones we barely saw. To begin with I wasn’t a fan of Ursula but by the end she was my favourite character; a complex person full of compassion and strength. The secondary characters were sometimes even more interesting than the narrators. Ursula’s landlord, Edward, was an odd duck and had me intrigued from the start. There was something suspicious about him, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I loved the cat and mouse game that developed between them and was full of questions about what it meant and where it would end.

C.L Taylor is one of my auto-buy authors but this is only the second time I’ve actually read one of her books. In Strangers she combines magnificent storytelling, edge-of-your-seat tension, mystery and compelling drama to create the perfect thriller. She expertly weaves the seemingly unconnected threads together using clever twists and turns.

Strangers is a tightly plotted, jaw-dropping and utterly brilliant thriller that should be on everyone’s bookshelf. You need to read it now!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cally Taylor was born in Worcester and spent her early years living in various army camps in the UK and Germany. She studied Psychology at the University of Northumbria and went on forge a career in instructional design and e-Learning before leaving to write full time in 2014.

She started writing short stories in 2005 and was published widely in literary and women’s magazines. She also won several short story competitions. In 2009 and 2011 her romantic comedy novels (as Cally Taylor) were published by Orion and translated into fourteen languages. HEAVEN CAN WAIT was a bestseller in Hungary and China and HOME FOR CHRISTMAS was made into a feature film by JumpStart Productions. Whilst on maternity leave with her son Cally had an idea for a psychological thriller and turned to crime.

C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and young son.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Google Books
Kobo

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Fallout by Rebecca Thornton ⭐⭐⭐.5

2a035e17

Published: April 2nd, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Domestic Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to HarperCollins UK for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

At the school gates, there’s no such thing as yesterday’s news . . .

When Liza’s little boy has an accident at the local health club, it’s all anyone can talk about.

Was nobody watching him?
Where was his mother?
Who’s to blame?

The rumours, the finger-pointing, the whispers – they’re everywhere. And Liza’s best friend, Sarah, desperately needs it to stop.

Because Sarah was there when it happened. It was all her fault. And if she’s caught out on the lie, everything will fall apart.

MY REVIEW:

“Tell the truth, lose a friend. Lie, and keep her close.”

An ordinary day becomes the stuff of parents’ nightmares after five-year-old Jack falls from a post at the local health centre. His mother, Liza had asked her friend, Sarah, to check on him only minutes before and was reassured he was fine. But Sarah wasn’t being completely honest when she told her that and is now racked with guilt and facing a dilemma – should she tell the truth and lose her friend or stick to the lie and be there at the worst time in her life? 

There are secrets, lies and rumours abound in this emotionally charged novel. There’s an air of mystery and tragedy from the start and we learn that Sarah isn’t the only one hiding a shameful secret and Liza has one of her own. But we don’t know what it is, only that it gives her husband a hold over her and she will do anything to stop even her best friend from finding out. These secrets have a ripple effect, influencing everything else in their lives and threatening to tear their worlds apart. 

At the heart of this novel is a story about female friendship. The author has created an authentic portrayal of its dynamics, complexities and competitiveness. The WhatsApp messages are a particularly good example of how women can talk to and about each other and the judgements that can come from other women. I’m sure that the women in this book will feel familiar to us all. I know it made me thankful that the days of playground politics and cliques are behind me. 

“Look at everyone here, playing grown-ups, but knowing what the hell they’re doing most of the time.”

I always find it fascinating when we see two very different perspectives on the same events, and enjoyed the dual narration in this book. Sarah and Liza might be best friends, but they are very different people. They are both flawed, complex women who are doing their best. While I found them, and all the characters, well written, I didn’t particularly like any of them. But they were compelling to read and I had a lot of empathy for the things they went through, particularly Liza as she is vilified in the wake of the accident by people who believe she neglected her duty as a mother. It is all too easy to sit behind a screen and judge but sadly it is something prevalent in today’s society, and it must be heartbreaking to be in the middle of a tragedy and face hate and criticism when you need kindness and support. 

The Fallout is a timely, emotional and suspenseful novel that also serves as a reminder of the damage that secrets, lies, gossip and assumptions can wreak on people’s lives.

RebeccaThornton

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rebecca Thornton is an alumna of the Faber Academy Writing A Novel course, where she was tutored by Esther Freud and Tim Lott. Her writing has been published in The Guardian, You Magazine, Daily Mail, Prospect Magazine and The Sunday People amongst others. She has reported from the Middle East, Kosovo and the UK. She now lives in West London with her husband and two children.

The Fallout is her third novel.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Instagram
Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Google Books
Apple Books
Kobo

1586036420571_The Fallout BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

All In Her Head by Nikki Smith ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

InFrame_1586460790194

Published: April 2nd, 2020
Publisher: Orion
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this debut thriller. Thank you Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Orion and NetGalley for the eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

Her life is a pack of lies. But what if she is the liar?

Alison is more alone than she’s ever been. She is convinced that her ex-husband Jack is following her. She is certain she recognises the strange woman who keeps approaching her at work.

She knows she has a good reason to be afraid. But she can’t remember why.

Then the mention of one name brings a whole lifetime of memories rushing back in.

Alison feels like she’s losing her mind . . . but it could just lead her to the truth.

MY REVIEW:

Nothing is as it seems in this compelling, haunting and emotionally charged debut. I raced through the pages, not wanting to put the book down until all my questions were answered. 

OMG! What a rollercoaster ride! This complex, multi-layered thriller dripped with suspense and had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Told in dual timelines by two narrators, there’s an atmosphere of foreboding from the start. What did Jack do that ended their marriage and fills Alison with fear? What is it that Alison isn’t remembering? Who is Sarah and what does she want? 

The brilliance of this book is in its iceberg quality – so much is hidden beneath its smooth surface. A masterclass in thriller writing., it is spectacularly written, deftly plotted and full of so many twists and turns it made my head spin. My head was full of theories and questions, which shifted as truths were slowly revealed. And while I did guess some of the twists early on, I also fell for many of the red herrings expertly plotted along the way. Alison and Jack are both complex, captivating but flawed characters. I felt for Alison immediately, her fear and anxiety radiating from the pages. It also made her an unreliable narrator, making the story all the more intriguing and unguessable. 

A merging of psychological thriller, suspense and domestic fiction, All In Her Head is a breathtaking debut from an exciting new talent. There are a lot of great thrillers out at the moment, but this is one you shouldn’t miss.

Nikki Smith Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nikki studied English Literature at Birmingham University before pursuing a career in finance, working in a variety of different companies including an investment bank and a trampoline park. She always had a passion for writing and in 2017 she had a ‘now or never’ moment and applied for a Curtis Brown Creative 3 month writing course which she absolutely loved. Later that year she had a short story published in the Writer’s Forum Magazine, and submitted the opening chapters of her novel to a competition where she won the opportunity to be mentored by the author Amanda Reynolds. She lives near Guildford with her husband, two daughters and a very friendly Burmese cat called Saffi.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Kobo
Google Books

All In Her Head BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Secret Admirer by Carol Wyer (Detective Natalie Ward Book 6) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

1184012e

Publisher: Bookouture
Published: April 2nd, 2020
Format: Kindle
Genre: Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Thriller

Thank you to Bookouture for the invitation to take part and the eBook ARC of this novel .

SYNOPSIS:

‘I tried to talk to you today but you snubbed me and walked away. It wasn’t wise to give me the brush-off, Gemma. I can be a truly good friend but I also make the perfect enemy.’

Sasha’s eighteen-year-old daughter Gemma was all she had in the world. Sasha fell pregnant with Gemma when she was still at school, and the two are as close as sisters. So when Gemma’s burned and broken body is found, Sasha’s world ends. What kind of person would want her beautiful daughter dead?

Leading the case is Detective Natalie Ward, scarred by her own recent tragedy. When she finds a note in Gemma’s diary from ‘a secret admirer’, she moves quickly, determined to un-mask them. But interviews with Gemma’s devastated ex-boyfriend, and her charismatic teacher, who has been seen embracing his student far away from the classroom, don’t give Natalie the answers she’d hoped for…

And then the case takes a devastating, personal twist. CCTV footage reveals Natalie’s estranged husband David followed Gemma home every evening the week before she died.

Natalie is forced to put personal feelings aside and follow procedure, even though she can’t believe David could be guilty. But when Gemma’s housemate is found murdered, Natalie thinks the killer could still be at large. Is she right to trust her instincts about David and can she discover the truth before another precious life is taken?

MY REVIEW:

The Secret Admirer is another fantastic and gripping installment in one of my favourite series. Once again Carol has written a tense, electrifying and emotional read that had me hooked from the first page.

After 19-year-old Gemma Barnes is killed in an acid attack, Detective Natalie Ward and her team are called in to investigate. It is Natalie’s first day back since a personal tragedy and she is still struggling with her guilt and grief. There are few clues and when Gemma’s housemates start to disappear, the race is on to find who is behind the murders.

Natalie and the team are back investigating a complex case filled with a multitude of characters and suspects. I loved that there wasn’t a clear culprit and that you feel like it could be anyone, giving a sense of frustration that matches what is felt by the team. You can feel the pressure mounting as the numerous motives, clues, red herrings and twists keep both the reader and the team on their toes right until the very end.

The letters from the secret admirer were the key to the case, and the mystery of who was behind them was the biggest of all. Including letters or chapters from the mysterious culprit is one of my favourite tropes in this genre and this author always executes it to perfection. I enjoyed the glimpse into the mind, feelings and perspective of such a twisted individual and how you could see them losing control as the letters went on and they began to become threatening.

Each time I read an installment in this series I love the author even more. Her writing is always brilliant and full of the perfect mixture of suspense and sentiment. In this book, there is a lot of focus on Natalie coming to terms with losing someone close and the end of her marriage. Just reading about the aftermath of the events of the last book had me in pieces all over again. As someone currently undergoing trauma therapy, I found Natalie’s trauma to be sensitively and expertly written. It was clear it was well researched and felt very real, my heart breaking for Natalie as she battles to move on with life after such a devastating tragedy. However, I was ready to be mad and bereft all over again when Natalie’s ex-husband David came into the frame as a suspect in this case. How could you do this to us and Natalie after all she’s been through? It had me on the edge of my seat praying that he wasn’t the culprit. You’ll have to read it to find out if Natalie’s world is broken even more by the events of this book.

The Secret Admirer is a riveting, compelling and heart-rending thriller that is perfect for anyone who enjoys this genre. You can read it as a stand-alone but I would highly recommend reading the whole series, not only because it’s fantastic, but because it gives you an insight and connection to the main characters. Now I just have to wait impatiently for book seven!

97a93210

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carol Wyer garnered a loyal following as an author of romantic comedies, and won The People’s Book Prize Award for non-fiction (2015). In 2017 she stepped from comedy to the “dark side” and embarked on a series of thrillers, featuring the popular DI Robyn Carter, which earned her recognition as a crime writer.

The Staffordshire-based writer now has more crime novels in the pipeline, although she can still sometimes be found performing her stand-up comedy routine Laugh While You Still Have Teeth.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon

The Sexret Admirer - Blog Tour Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Dark Corners by Darren O’Sullivan ⭐⭐⭐.5

83113ae1

Published: April 2nd, 2020
Pubisher: HQ
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Welcome to my spot on the blog tour for this absorbing thriller. Thank you to HQ for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

You thought you’d escaped your past

It’s been twenty years since Neve’s best friend Chloe went missing. Neve has never recovered and promised herself she’d never go back to that place.

But secrets can come back to haunt you

When Neve receives news that her first boyfriend Jamie has gone missing, she’s forced to return. Jamie has vanished without a trace in a disappearance that echoes the events of all those years ago. Somebody is watching and will stop at nothing until the truth about what took place that night is revealed …

MY REVIEW:

“One way or another, secrets were debts that had to be paid.”

Dark Corners is an eerie, mysterious and gripping thriller that had me hooked from the first page. It is a story about friendships, secrets, lies and revenge. How we can run from the past but it will always catch up with you.

Neve Chambers left the small mining village where she was born and raised after the disappearance of her best friend, Chloe, and has tried not to look back. But when an old friend gets in touch to tell her that Jamie, her first love, is now missing, she feels she has no choice but to go back. Returning to the claustrophobic village, she immediately feels everyone’s eyes on her and the whispered rumours resume. As she reconnects with the friends she left behind and searches for Jamie the evidence seems to suggest that his disappearance is connected to Chloe’s, forcing Neve to confront the part she played in events twenty-one years ago.

The story is told in dual timelines. In flashbacks we go back to the summer of 1998, when Neve and her six friends are hanging out and celebrating the end of their exams, unaware that before the summer ends one of them will vanish and the rest of them will see their lives changed forever. The flashbacks made the book feel part coming-of-age story, which I enjoyed, and felt authentic, bringing back memories of my own teenage years with friends in the late nineties, when we would hang out with just a curfew and there were no mobile phones and social media. I loved that these flashbacks gave  the reader a sense of why Neve was so anxious about returning to the village while also providing a dual sense of mystery alongside what had happened to Jamie.

In the present day we follow Neve as she returns to the village and searches for Jamie, finding herself embroiled deeper in mystery and danger than she’d anticipated as it seems The Drifter, a mysterious man the friends saw near the mine when Chloe vanished, is back and taking his revenge on those who saw him all those years ago. The author did a great job of keeping the reader guessing and I was totally at a loss as to who The Drifter might be or what had happened to Chloe and Jamie. 

The atmospheric, chilling, ghostly and claustrophobic small mining village was the perfect setting for the story, adding extra layers to the mystery and foreboding and casting its shadow over all who live there. The dual disappearances and timelines were easy to follow and as the tension was raised in the flashbacks, you could feel it increasing in the present day too as like Neve you became suspicious of everyone and didn’t know who to trust. 

Dark Corners is a twisty, intriguing and cryptic thriller that I devoured in just a few hours. Cleverly written, it is filled with twists and turns that keep you guessing right up until the jaw-dropping finale. A great read for anyone who enjoys this genre. 

Darren+O'Sullivan+(1)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Darren O’Sullivan is the author of #1 bestsellers, Our Little Secrets, Close Your Eyes and Closer Than You Think. His latest, Dark Corners is coming April 2020.

When Darren isn’t writing, he is usually rolling around on the floor, pretending to be a pirate with his 4 year old.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Google Books
Apple Books
Kobo

IMG_20200401_142122

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Little Friends by Jane Shemilt ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

bc9f8da8

Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Penguin UK
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Domestic Fiction, Suspense, Crime Fiction

Thank you to Penguin UK for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the novel.

SYNOPSIS:

Their children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering.

There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece. An affair begins, resentments flare, and despite it all the three women become closer.

Unnoticed, their children run wild. The couples are so busy watching each other that they forget to watch their children.

Until tragedy strikes.

Because while they have been looking the other way, evil has crept into their safe little world and every parent’s biggest nightmare is about to come true…

MY REVIEW:

“I used to think truth was a simple thing. That there could only be one truth, single and essential – like light, say, or water. Now I know it comes in layers, some more transparent than others. If you look carefully – and we didn’t – you can see through the top layer to the darkness beneath…”

The lives of three families entwine with devastating consequences in this readable novel.

When Eve begins private tuition for children with dyslexia, Melissa and Grace sign their children up. Over the course of the summer, the families become friends: having barbecues and even going on holiday together. But the smiles and laughter are hiding three marriages in trouble and the adults are so busy with their own problems that they fail to notice the fear in their children and the evil lurking in their midst. Secrets are slowly revealed amid tragedy and heartbreak, leaving the three families shattered and their lives irrevocably changed.

Jane Shemilt is an author who’s been on my radar for a while but I’ve never got around to reading so I jumped at the chance to take part in this blog tour. The writing is subdued, affecting and compelling, starting slow before reaching a steady pace and then ramping up the tension as we approach the finale. The characters are deftly drawn and distinct, so that the reader never gets lost despite the multiple points of view. Eve, Melissa and Grace are each hiding marital problems and insecurities, putting on a mask in front of the others. There husbands feature prominently but it is only the women who narrate the story. We are only given small glimpses of the children’s perspectives, but they have a big impact. I did predict most of the twists but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book or the tension as I anticipated them being discovered. 

The two characters that I was drawn to most of all were mother and daughter Melissa and Izzy. It was obvious to me immediately that Melissa was in an abusive marriage, with red flags flashing loudly about her husband Paul and their relationship. Maybe it is my own history of such a relationship that made me feel so drawn to her, but I spent the book hoping she’d find the strength to finally leave and find safety away from the private hell of her marriage. Izzy is the rebel; the one who leads the other children and embroils them in games they don’t want to play. She also notices everything and seems keen to stir up trouble. I didn’t like Izzy but I felt sorry for her as I believed some of her issues could be down to living in a house with an abusive father. The dynamic between her and Melissa was sad and it seemed she needed some tough love rather than being indulged like she was by both parents. 

Little Friends is an intricate, raw and tragic story about families and dark secrets. It is a reminder of how evil can lurk in the most unexpected places and wearing surprising disguises, just waiting to tear lives apart. 

JS-AUTHOR-PHOTO-CREDIT-JESSICA-GEDGE-500x500

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

While working as a GP, Jane Shemilt completed a postgraduate diploma in Creative Writing at Bristol University and went on to study for the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, gaining both with distinction. Her first novel, Daughter, was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, shortlisted for the Edgar Award and the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, and went on to become the bestselling debut novel of 2014. She and her husband, a professor of neurosurgery, have five children and live in Bristol.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Instagram
Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Google Books
Apple Books

Little Friends Blog Tour

Categories
book reviews

The Furies by Katie Lowe ⭐⭐⭐

9754dd18

Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre:  Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Gothic Fiction, Paramanoranol Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction

Thank you to Tandem Collective UK for the invitation to take part in this readalong and to HarperCollinsUK for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

IT’S 1997. VIOLET IS A NEW STUDENT AT ELM HOLLOW ACADEMY AND DESPERATE TO FIT IN.

Quiet, artistic, unremarkable. When invited to an advanced study group by her alluring art teacher, Annabel, she is at once terrified and delighted.

There she meets Robin, Grace, and Alex: charismatic outsiders who invite her into their clique.

But once the study sessions on the school’s history of seventeenth-century witchcraft and magic become more than just theory, Violet must decide what she’s prepared to do in order to stay popular.

And maybe she’ll solve the mystery of what happened to a former member of their group. The one who went missing.

MY REVIEW:

“Some things simply cannot be believed. Even when you know they’re true.”

The Furies is a story about power and vengeance. It follows four teenage girls full of insecurities and desperate to fit in who, like the mythological Furies, use their powers to punish evil deeds. It shows the force peer pressure can wield and the damage that can be done by choosing the wrong friends.

Violet is the new girl at Elm Hollow College, a prestigious school with a past steeped in rumours of witchcraft. She is soon befriended by Robin, who is the yin to Violet’s yang. The pair soon become inseparable and Violet becomes friends with Robin’s other friends Alex and Grace. After being invited to be part of a secret group by one of the teachers, Violet learns more about the school’s inauspicious history and the four girls begin to study witchcraft, using it to wield power and seek vengeance on those they deem deserving.

Violet and Robin are drawn to each other for very different reasons – one wants a follower, the other to be accepted. Violet is a quiet, intelligent girl who overthinks everything. She is still coming to terms with the death of her father and sister and is just trying to get through each day, preferring to blend into the shadows. Robin is gregarious, spontaneous and loves any kind of attention. She has a reputation as a bad girl that she thrives on. Violet is beguiled by her and blindly follows wherever she goes, finding herself drawn down a dark path of debauchery, obsession and death. I liked their differences and felt like deep down they both had a vulnerability that’s rooted in a need to belong and feel seen. At times it seemed a stretch how Violet would do whatever Robin wanted without thinking, but peer pressure is a strong thing and many teenagers find themselves in situations they’d never have even considered because a friend dared or encouraged them to do it.

The Furies opens with a stunning prologue full of beautiful prose that is at odds with the dark, macabre things being described. There is a promise of something sinister and foreboding. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is a slow-burn and feels a bit lacklustre after such a compelling start.

But while I didn’t love the book, I did like it. The atmospheric, lyrical prose draws you in and brings the world to life around you. I enjoyed the school lore and the interesting perspective on vengeance that is offered through the study of myth and witchcraft – something that was clearly well researched. I did find some things about this book a little disappointing, such as the story was told like a stroll down memory lane rather than the eerie, murder mystery that the prologue and synopsis teased. Also, I found the characters in the book unlikeable and was unable to bring myself to really care who lived or died or what had happened to the missing girl.

Overall, this was a well-written book that was just a little too slow and not witchy enough for me. It may be more suited to a younger reader and I would recommend this if you’re looking for a coming-of-age story rather than a mystery.

CopyrightDearestLove-147

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Katie is a writer living in Worcester, UK, whose debut novel The Furies is published by Harperfiction (UK), St Martin’s Press (US) and eight other territories worldwide.

A graduate of the University of Birmingham, Katie has a BA(Hons) in English and an MPhil in Literature & Modernity. She returned to Birmingham in 2019 to complete a PhD in English Literature, with her thesis on female rage in literary modernism and the #MeToo era.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Instagram
Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Apple Books
Google Books
Kobo

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

b5b2823d

Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Bantam Press
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Thriller, Suspense

Today is my spot on the blog tour for this sensational debut. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Bantam Press for the gifted copy of this book.

SYNOPSIS:

Elijah has lived in the Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. It’s the only home he’s ever known.

Elissa has only just arrived. And she’ll do everything she can to escape.

When Elijah stumbles across thirteen-year-old Elissa, in the woods where her abductor is hiding her, he refuses to alert the police. Because in his twelve years, Elijah has never had a proper friend. And he doesn’t want Elissa to leave.

Not only that, Elijah knows how this can end. After all, Elissa isn’t the first girl he’s found inside the Memory Wood.

As her abductor’s behaviour grows more erratic, Elissa realises that outwitting strange, lonely Elijah is her only hope of survival. Their cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal will determine both their fates, and whether either of them will ever leave the Memory Wood . . .

MY REVIEW:

This exciting, compelling, daring and clever debut is without a doubt my book of the month. Atmospheric and creepy, it reads like a modern-day Grimm’s fairytale; full of jaw-dropping twists and keeping you on tenterhooks from start to finish.

13-year-old chess prodigy Elissa is abducted from a tournament in Bournemouth, waking to find herself imprisoned in a cellar in the “Memory Wood.”  She is soon visited by Elijah, a strange 12-year-old boy who claims to want to help but won’t go to the police or help her escape. He just wants a friend, and though he unnerves her, Elissa recognises that he could be her only means of escape. Will she be able to convince Elijah to help her return to her family? Or will she suffer the fate of his other friends that once lived below the Memory Wood?

Utterly mind-blowing and brilliant, it seems impossible that this is the author’s first novel. The exquisite, immersive prose and tangled web of intricate twists and turns had me transfixed. Not a single word was wasted and I devoured this book, desperate for answers and to learn the fate of our young narrators. 

Elissa and Elijah couldn’t be more different: Elissa is a warrior; the young prodigy uses her high intelligence, knowledge of the game, love of puzzles and trivia and tremendous courage to try and escape her captors. Though he says he is on her side, she realises she must tread carefully with Elijah and use his innocence and isolated upbringing against him, while also appearing to trust him as her friend. Elijah is a tragic but menacing soul. There’s something off about him from the start, and it’s not just that he doesn’t want to help an abducted girl escape. It’s the little clues he gives to his past, how he hides in the shadows, and how he can change from one moment to the next. I had my suspicions about him that were ultimately proven right, but with an almighty twist that shook me to the core. Running throughout the book is a captivating power struggle between the pair, where each is playing their own game in a bid to win and survive. 

The Memory Wood is an astonishing debut that crackles with tension from start to finish. Addictive, eerie and jaw-dropping, you won’t be able to put this book down. If you pick up just one book I’ve read this month then make sure it’s this one. 

Sam Lloyd Author Pic 2

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sam Lloyd grew up in Hampshire, making up stories and building secret hideaways in his local woods.
These days he lives in Surrey with his wife, three young sons and a dog that likes to howl. He enjoys craft
beer, strong coffee and (rarely) a little silence. The Memory Wood is his debut thriller.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Kobo
Apple Books
Google Books

FINAL Memory Wood BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Snakes by Sadie Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐

be435e7f

Published: February 20th, 2020
Publisher: Vintage
Format: Paperback
Genre: Thrillers, Suspense, Literary Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Snakes. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Vintage for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Family secrets can be deadly…

Newly-weds Dan and Bea decide to escape London. Driving through France in their beaten-up car they anticipate a long lazy summer, worlds away from their ordinary lives.

But their idyll cannot last. Stopping off to see Bea’s brother at his crumbling hotel, the trio are joined unexpectedly by Bea’s ultra-wealthy parents. Dan has never understood Bea’s deep discomfort around them but living together in such close proximity he begins to sense something is very wrong.

Just as tensions reach breaking point, brutal tragedy strikes, exposing decades of secrets and silence that threaten to destroy them all.

‘A twisty delight of a novel, a cracking page-turner that has much to say about modern life and our attempts to find a way to navigate it, no matter where we come from’ Cathy Rentzenbrink

MY REVIEW:

“You’d swear you could see it, in the cracks in the pavements and the bricks in the walls; violence and grief.”

Bea and her husband Dan have decided to take a three month break from their lives in London to go travelling. Beginning in France, they stop at the hotel owned by Bea’s older brother, Alex. When they arrive they find the hotel is rundown and unfit for business, but Bea insists they stay. When Bea’s parents join them unexpectedly a few days later, the visit isn’t welcome. Bea has an animosity towards them that Dan doesn’t understand, insisting she doesn’t want them in their lives, but saying she can’t leave Alex alone to deal with them. Over the coming days, the couple’s dream of an idyllic break away from everything crumbles as old secrets and resentments resurface and tragedy strikes.

Narrated by newlyweds Bea and Dan, she has never told him the full story about her parents. He doesn’t know why she wants nothing  to do with them or that they aren’t just well off and are part of the elite 1%. Bea is a paragon of morality and virtue – she works with vulnerable people, volunteers with charities, wants to save the planet and is a big believer in justice. She sees things in black or white and refuses to compromise on her morals – something Dan admires but her father mocks her for. Being around her family again means Bea must face that she harbours a deep rage and wrath towards them for their transgressions, things she can’t forgive but also refuses to share with Dan, leaving him confused and driving a wedge between them as he sees two very different people to those his wife sees, not understanding her deep resentments and inability to forgive.  

The Snakes is a story about temptation, power, morality and forgiveness. It is a story about a toxic family and dark secrets that explores moral dilemmas and the consequences of the characters’ actions on those around them. It was dark, intriguing and unexpected, keeping me guessing right until the final page. While it didn’t have the heart-pounding tension you find in some thrillers, it was full of a subdued suspicion that was compulsive. The tragedy that strikes the family and search for truth and justice that unfolds is secondary to the story about the family itself. 

I hadn’t seen a lot of reviews for this book before reading but I had heard that it was a marmite book, with some people not taking to the format and others loving it. Well, I’m one of the strange ones who has mixed feelings about marmite, and that’s kind of how I felt about this book, which was a very different novel from the one I was expecting. The Snakes is a compelling, well-written and readable novel with a shocking and abrupt conclusion that lingers.

Sadie Jones Author Pic

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sadie Jones is a screenwriter and a #1 Sunday Times bestselling author. Her first novel, The Outcast won the Costa First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It was also a Richard and Judy Summer Reads number one bestseller and adapted for BBC Television. Sadie also wrote: Small Wars (2009), The Uninvited Guests (2012) and Fallout (2014). Her fifth novel, The Snakes, was listed as ‘March book of the month’ in The Bookseller.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Twitter
Instagram

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository

The Snakes BT Poster

Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

the

Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Published: February 20th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this magnificent thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to HarperCollins UK for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

A gripping, twisty murder mystery thriller from the No. 1 bestselling author of The Hunting Party.

On an island off the windswept Irish coast, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater.

Old friends.
Past grudges.

Happy families.
Past jealousies.

Thirteen guests.
One body.

The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of  the guests is found dead. As a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped.

All have a secret. All have a motive.
One guest won’t leave the wedding alive…

MY REVIEW:

“It feels personal this storm. It feels as though it has saved all its fury for them.”

The scene is set for the perfect wedding for the perfect couple. It is the first wedding to be hosted on the remote island and the wedding planner hopes it will help silence the whispers about ghosts and launch it instead as sought-after wedding venue. But things don’t go to plan. As a storm rages on the evening of the wedding, a waitress runs into the marquee screaming that there’s a body outside. The story then gradually unfolds in dual timelines over the course of two days, as secrets are revealed, relationships unravel and someone takes their revenge…

This book was SPECTACULAR. I was transfixed from start to finish, and by the end I was completely shook. I am in awe of the author’s talent and her ability to weave such a tangled web of inextricably linked characters and plot lines in this enthralling mystery. You are left wondering which of the rich and distinct characters could be victim or killer and why it has happened. I had so many questions and theories swimming in my head that shifted as things slowly coalesced. 

The setting of the book is vital to its whole tone. The remote island, the whispered tales of ghosts and the bleak weather all come together to create a sense of isolation and hopelessness. The guests are unable to escape each other or the island, and find themselves at the mercy of the increasingly toxic atmosphere and the storm brewing both inside and outside the folly. 

The Guest List is a sinister, suspicious, captivating and unexpected page-turner. A wonderfully twisty whodunit that reels you in and spits you out when it’s finished with you, this is the perfect read for anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers. 

26539c449c41ac8df43068eab0c983c9

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry, before leaving to write full-time. The Hunting Party, an instant Sunday Times and Irish Times no. 1 bestseller, was Lucy’s debut crime novel, inspired by a particular remote spot in Scotland that fired her imagination. Lucy is also the author of three historical novels which have been translated into sixteen languages. Her journalism has appeared in ES Magazine, Sunday Times Style, Grazia and more.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon
Waterstones
Book Depository
Kobo
Apple Books
Google Books

FINAL Guest List Blog Tour Poster (1)