Review: Dead Gone by Luca Veste

Dead Gone by Luca Veste
Publlisher: Avon
Release Date: 5 December 2013
Rating: *****

Back Cover Blurb: "The young girl you have found isn’t the first experiment I’ve carried out. She won’t be the last". A tense, unpredictable crime debut that will not only have you gripped, but will chill you to the bone. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride and Mark Billingham. A serial killer is stalking the streets of Liverpool, gruesomely murdering victims as part of a series of infamous, unethical and deadly psychological experiments. When it becomes apparent that each victim has ties to the City of Liverpool University, DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi realise they're chasing a killer unlike any they've hunted before – one who doesn’t just want his victims’ bodies, but wants their minds too. With a series of psychological twists Dead Gone will keep you guessing until the very end.

 

"Throughout history, man has attempted to understand the complexities of life. Why are we here? What is our purpose? I am attempting to prove my answer to those questions. We are only here to die".

Dead Gone had me hooked right from the opening quote. A debut crime novel exploring the horrors created by the psychological experiments carried out by a serial killer, it is intense and gripping from the off.

We meet the main protagonist DI David Murphy and his colleague DS Laura Rossi in the first few chapters when the body of a young girl is discovered in mysterious circumstances in a local park. Almost immediately we realise that this is no ordinary murder, for it is accompanied by a letter from the killer explaining that the victim is an 'experiment', a murder of a very different kind from anything the detectives have encountered before.

As they investigate further, another body is discovered, with another note and it soon becomes apparent that there is a serial killer on the loose in Liverpool. The detectives work hard and fast to try and stop the killer before he strikes again, but DI Murphy has his own demons to battle with which threaten to hinder the investigation.

His colleagues are divided, some of them almost waiting for him to have a mental break down or screw the investigation up, whilst others like DS Rossi are consistently supportive. They are an unlikely but likeable pair, and I found myself drawn to them and willing them to succeed. That's not to say it will be easy for them.

Dead Gone had me second guessing right until the very end. Every time I thought I had worked out 'who dunnit' or what might happen next, I was proven wrong. I find that's a rare thing in crime novels these days, and I am glad that I have discovered a writer who can keep me hooked (and guessing) all the way through.

Dark, disturbing and extremely well written, Dead Gone is a debut novel that I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

You can purchase Dead Gone from Amazon and all good book shops.   Thank you to the Publishers who approved my request on Net Galley in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Publisher: Tinder Press
Release Date:7 January 2014
Rating: ***.5

Back Cover Blurb: Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ... A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.

 

 

 

The Invention of Wings is a historical novel, with a little bit of a difference. 

 

I didn't realise until the end when reading the Authors notes that it is based in part on the real lives of the Grimké sisters. American history wasn't something we studied when I was in Secondary School, but part of me wishes that I had, based on the fascination I now have with the subject matter of this novel.

The Invention of Wings is told in alternate chapters by the two main characters, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké (the slave) and Sarah Grimké (the wealthy plantation owners daughter) over a thirty year period. We meet the two when Hetty is being presented to Sarah as a 'gift' for her Eleventh Birthday. Sarah is appalled by the gesture and immediately tries to refuse her 'present'.

 

"I felt my spirit rise up to meet my will. I would not give up. I would err on the side of audacity. That was what I'd always done".

Despite her strong beliefs Sarah quickly learns that she is unable to do exactly as she pleases, and is forced the following day to accept her 'gift'. Having witnessed one of the family slaves being beaten at an early age, Sarah is determined to protect Hetty in any way that she can, even if this involves being getting into trouble herself.

A close friendship is formed between the two young girls, which grows as Sarah teaches Hetty to read. This was illegal in slave owning states, which shows how committed Sarah was to her cause. As we follow the two girls through to adulthood, we see their relationships change as the world around them changes and different characters are weaved in and out of their lives.

The Invention of Wings is a thought provoking novel which doesn't shy away from the horrors of pre-abolition in the deep south of America. It does make for uncomfortable reading at times, but that is purely down to how well written the novel is. 

 

I found it a little long personally (hence the 3.5 rather than 4 stars) but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. It's a great historical novel that's very informative as well as enjoyable. But don't take my word for it, go and check it out for yourself!

You can purchase The Invention of Wings from Amazon online and all good book shops.       Thank you to the Publishers who approved my request on Net Galley in exchange for an honest review

Review: The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman

The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman

Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: 13 February 2014

Rating: *****

Back Cover Blurb: 'Today is my death anniversary. A year ago today I was still alive.' Rachel, Max and their daughter Ellie had the perfect life - until the night Rachel's heart stopped beating. Now Max and Ellie are doing their best to adapt to life without Rachel, and just as her family can't forget her, Rachel can't quite let go of them either. Caught in a place between worlds, Rachel watches helplessly as she begins to fade from their lives. And when Max is persuaded by family and friends to start dating again, Rachel starts to understand that dying was just the beginning of her problems. As Rachel grieves for the life she's lost and the life she'll never lead, she learns that sometimes the thing that breaks your heart might be the very thing you hope for.

  

  

"It's the dissolution of memory. For the dead, to be forgotten as if never lived at all. But maybe it's the fate we all face in the end. Not if we'll be forgotten but simply, when".

Rachel is desperately hoping that she is never going to be forgotten, but caught as she is in a place between worlds where her family can't hear the pleas she is sending out to them, she feels it is only a matter of time.

The Dead Wife's handbook is quite different to any book I've read before. We know instantly that the protagonist Rachel has died, young and tragically from a heart condition that no one knew she had. She leaves behind her Husband, Max and her young Daughter Ellie. They are completely lost in their new world without her, but for reasons unknown, she is still able to see them. Not constantly every day as she would in the 'real' world, but occasionally through glimpses that can be minutes or hours at a time.

Rachel resides in an unhappy place,where she suffers loneliness, guilt and anger frequently. She is grateful that she can still see her loved ones. but often feels like she has let them down by dying so young. 

Both Max and Ellie are floored by grief in the initial stages of the novel, the one year anniversary of Rachel's death. As friends and family gather around Max and force him to pull himself together for the sake of his daughter, they spark a chain of events that will change Max and Ellie's lives forever.

Rachel watches helplessly as she sees her family beginning to move on without her. She accepts that this must happen, she wants them to be happy, but she is desperately worried that they are going to forget her...

The Dead Wife's handbook is an emotional book that deals with the subject of grief beautifully, both from the deceased's point of view, and the family members left behind. 

Despite it's subject, it is not in any way morbid, nor does it read like a 'ghost' story. It is a wonderful thought provoking novel and I look forward to reading more from Hannah.

The Dead Wife's Handbook is available from 13 February 2014

You can pre-order The Dead Wife's Handbook from Amazon.

   

Thank you to the Publishers who approved my request on Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull

The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 2 January 2014
Rating: ****

Back Cover Blurb: Imagine if you couldn't see. Couldn't hear. Couldn't speak... Then one day somebody took your hand and opened up the world to you. Adeliza Golding is a deafblind girl, born in late Victorian England on her father's hop farm. Unable to interact with her loving family, she exists in a world of darkness and confusion; her only communication is with the ghosts she speaks to in her head, who she has christened the Visitors. One day she runs out into the fields and a young hop-picker, Lottie, grabs her hand and starts drawing shapes in it. Finally Liza can communicate. Her friendship with her teacher and with Lottie's beloved brother Caleb leads her from the hop gardens and oyster beds of Kent to the dusty veldt of South Africa and the Boer War, and ultimately to the truth about the Visitors.

The Visitors is the second historical fiction novel I've picked up in less than a week. It was kindly sent to me by Wish List books, and by the time I'd read the first few lines I was hooked.

The Visitors is a beautiful tale of friendship, romance and learning how to overcome disability. It follows the protagonist, Adeliza (Liza) from birth, right through to adulthood.

Liza is born partially sighted (from what I can gather), but after contracting a fever at the age of Two, she is left both deaf and blind, plunged into darkness and silence. Unable to communicate with her beloved family, Liza becomes increasingly frustrated and angry. Her only communication is with the Visitors, the ghosts that she speaks to in her head.

One day Liza escapes from her monotonous routine with her Nanny and runs out into her Father's hop fields where her hand is taken and drawn on to by a complete stranger, who we learn to be Charlotte (Lottie), a young hop picker whose family help Liza's father out every summer.

Lottie has had tragedy in her own life, her sister died at a young age and was blind, which is how Lottie learned to 'finger speak'. Lottie is taken on to help Liza, and we never hear of 'Nanny' again, as Lottie teaches Liza more and more, their friendship blossoms into something beautiful and she is introduced to the rest of Lottie's family. She is particularly taken with Lottie's beloved brother Caleb. I could almost sense that this would have a major impact later on in the book, but I wasn't entirely sure how. I don't want to give anything away, but Caleb is pivotal to how the story ends and I guess in some way also, to the woman that Liza becomes.

The Visitors themselves are also crucial to how certain events play out, but again I don't want to give anything away. I'm not usually a fan of 'ghost' stories, but this novel was so much more...

I still can't quite believe that this is a debut novel as it is so well written. I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

You can purchase the Visitors from Amazon online and all good book shops.  

Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew QuickPublisher: Headline
Release Date: 16 January 2014 (paperback)
Rating: ***and a half

Back Cover Blurb:

'The key is doing something that sets you apart forever in the minds of regular people. 
Something that matters'.

I've been wanting to read this book for what feels like an absolute age. I've seen so many people mentioning it on Twitter, Amazon etc. So I was thrilled to receive it as my first Net Galley approved request.

It's a highly originally and very honest novel, told from the viewpoint of Leonard Peacock on the day of his 18th Birthday. It is unlike anything I have read before. 

 

Disturbing in places and very gritty, it lets us in to the mind of a teenage boy who is in deep deep despair, on the verge of suicide. His relationship with his mother is practically non existent, he adores his elderly next door neighbour (one of the only real friends he has, aside from his German teacher Herr Silverman) and he no longer speaks to his former best friend Asher and hates him to the point where he wants to kill him - literally.

 

The novel is told entirely in the first person from Leonard's point of view and has foot notes and 'Letters from the future'. It's almost as if he is keeping a diary, or writing his memoirs. I found it a little confusing and distracting at first, but soon got used to it, and quite enjoyed the wit in some of the foot notes.

At first glance it would be easy to dismiss Leonard as a typical teenage boy, but delve a little deeper and you will learn that he is very intelligent, not only academically, but also in the way he views those around him. He has been badly neglected by both of his parents and this goes a little way to explain Leonard's depression, but it is not the only side to the story. Asher plays a huge part.

I don't want to give too much away, but I found it impossible to feel anything but sympathy for Leonard and the way that he's been treated in the past. My only gripe with the novel was the ending, I found it a little abrupt and couldn't help but wonder what exactly does happen next.... I'd like to see personally if any of the 'Letters from the future' become reality. 

Although uncomfortable reading at times (purely down to the subject matter) Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is one book that I won't forget in a hurry!

You can purchase Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock from Amazon online and all good bookshops.

Review: Spare Brides by Adele Parks

Spare Brides by Adele Parks
Publisher: Headline Review  

Release Date: 13 Feb 2014
Rating: *****

Back Cover: (TBC I was sent a proof copy): New Year's Eve, 1920. The Great War is over and it's a new decade of glamour and promise. But a generation of men and women who survived the extreme trauma and tragedy will never be the same. With countless men lost, it seems that only wealth and beauty will secure a husband from the few who returned, but lonely Beatrice has neither attribute. Ava has both, although she sees marriage as a restrictive cage after the freedom war allowed. Sarah paid war's ultimate price: her husband's life. Lydia should be grateful that her own husband's desk job kept him safe, but she only sees his cowardice. A chance encounter for one of these women with a striking yet haunted officer changes everything. In a world altered beyond recognition, where not all scars are visible, this damaged and beautiful group must grasp any happiness they can find-whatever the cost.

Wow. What a novel.

I love historical fiction, and I love Adele Parks, so I was very excited to receive the proof copy of Spare Brides that was very kindly sent to me by Georgina at Headline. I've been eagerly awaiting this novel for a while and I was not disappointed.

I distinctly remember saying after reading 'The State We're In' that it was Parks' best yet. I was wrong. Spare Brides is definitely Adele Parks' best novel to date.

The novel is set in the early 1920's and tells the stories of Lydia (our main protagonist), Ava, Beatrice and Sarah who are all struggling in different ways to cope with the new world that they find themselves in after the war.

Lydia is struggling with with fertility issues, and a husband that she is not even sure that she loves. Ava is adored by literally everyone, but seems to have no sense or purpose. Sarah is happy enough, widowed, lonely and concerned about her friends' well-being, and Beatrice Sarah's sister is desperately lonely. Never the most attractive girl, she is finding it impossible with the shortage of men after the war to find anyone to marry, and fears she will end up an old maid.

The period is something that the author seems to adapt to writing effortlessly, as if she has always written so. In fact, this, is her first foray into historical fiction, but she writes about the period beautifully, describing the stunning gowns, accessories, fine dining and stately homes of the time, without shying away from the devastation that has been caused by the great war and the effect that it will have on the novels characters and their future.

Lydia we meet as she is getting ready to attend a New Year's Eve soiree, her biggest dilemma at the time is what on earth she is going to wear, as the frock that she had ordered from her favourite fashion house has not arrived. In the opening chapters, we see Lydia as wealthy, popular and perhaps a little selfish, certainly not living in the 'real' world. But this changes as the novel progresses, and she meets someone that will turn her life upside down, quite literally.

Her friends are less than encouraging, trying to persuade Lydia away from the temptation that is calling her. But she is not listening. She cannot and will not listen. So they take matters in to their own hands, with shocking and upsetting consequences. They believe they are doing what is right for her. Lydia knows they are wrong, but how can she prove them otherwise?

Well... I'm afraid you'll have to read it for yourselves to find out. I can guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Spare Brides is available from 13th February 2014.  You can pre-order it now from Amazon and Headline.  

My 2014 Recommendations/Wish List

Dear Santa,

I would like all of the below .... Wait? What do you mean I'm too late?!

Ah well... I guess I'll just have to keep wishing!!!!

David Gilbert '& Sons' / Helen Dunmore 'The Lie' / Christoper Golden 'Snow Blind' / Luca Vesta 'Dead Gone'

Sue Monk Kidd 'The Invention of Wings' / JoJo Moyes 'The One Plus One' / Natalie Young 'Season to taste or how to eat your husband / Adele Parks 'Spare Brides'
 

Helen Walsh 'The Lemon Grove' / Rebecca Mascull 'The Visitors' / Emma Donoghue 'Frog Music' / Matthew Quick 'Forgive me Leonard Peacock'

Jonathan Lethem 'Dissident Gardens' / Nelson DeMille 'The Quest' / Andrew Pyper 'The Demonologist' / Hannah Beckerman 'The Dead Wife's Handbook'

Luke Delaney 'The Toy Taker' / Ben Watt 'Patient' / Harlan Coben 'Missing You' / Kimberley McCreight 'Reconstructing Amelia'

And last, but by no means least, a book by a local author...

 

Costa Book Awards 'First Novel' winner 2013 Nathan Filer 'The Shock of the Fall'

I'm going to try my best to get through as many of these as I can this year, and I really can't wait to get stuck in! I'm also eagerly awaiting publishing dates for authors who I think may be releasing novels later in the year... but I guess I'll update this when I know more!

Review: The Unquiet Grave by Steven Dunne

The Unquiet Grave by Steven Dunne
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Release Date: 24 October 2013
Rating: ****

Back Cover Blurb:  The past can't stay hidden for ever ... 

The Cold Case Unit of Derby Constabulary feels like a morgue to DI Damen Brook. However, in disgrace and recently back from suspension, his boss thinks it's the safest place for him.

But soon Brook uncovers a pattern in a series of murders that date back to 1963. Baffled that a killer could stay undected for so long, Brook delves deep into the past of both suspects and colleagues unsure where the hunt will lead him. What he does know for sure is that a significant date is approaching fast and  the killer may be about to strike again ...


Steven Dunne is a new discovery for me in the world of Crime fiction. I was lucky to be sent a signed copy of 'The Unquiet Grave' from Headline Publishing via their Crime Files Twitter page. I have since learnt that DI Damen Brook, the main character in this novel, is also in Dunne's previous works. This is a stand alone story, and it works, but personally, I liked Brook's character so much, that I would liked to have read the others first to get a bit more of an in-depth look at him.

The Unquiet Grave sees Brook back at the station and straight on to the 'Cold Cases' after a recent suspension. Whilst he is not thrilled at the prospect, in my opinion Brook seems like a decent man and is determined to do a good job. He finds himself drawn into several old murder enquiries which all seem to be inexplicably linked with each other. He has a hunch that they may also be related to a recent missing person's investigation which he has not been allowed to work on.

I was convinced from the start, but Brook's colleagues take a little more persuasion. As well they might, as many of the facts seem implausible but Brook seems to have a brilliant mind one colleague in particular, Noble, sticks by him, although I'm not sure he always believes Brook 100%!

I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but Dunne is a brilliant writer, keeping you engaged throughout with little twists and turns in the plot. I thought I had guessed who 'dunnit' part way through, but I was very pleasantly surprised (and kept on my toes) throughout the last few chapters.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this crime novel, and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan on the genre. In fact I'd recommend it even if you're not...

You can buy The Unquiet Grave from Amazon online and all good book stores.  

Review: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Publisher: Phoenix
Release Date: 17 September 2007

Rating: ***

Back Cover Blurb:

When Two little girls are abducted and killed in Missouri, reporter Camille Preaker is sent to her home town to investigate. Camille has been estranged from her neurotic mother for years. Now she finds herself installed in the family home, re-acquainting herself with her half-sister a precocious thirteen-year-old who holds a disquieting grip on the town. Working alongside the police, Camille tries to untangle the mystery of who killed these little girls and why. But there are deeper pyschological puzzles: why does Camille identify so stronger with the dead girls? And how is this connected to the death of her sister years earlier?

So I finally got around to reading Flynn's debut, four months after I read 'Gone Girl'. I almost wish I hadn't bothered. In my opinion it's not worth the hype. In fact the only reason it earned a three star review is because I really rate the ending and I didn't see it coming, it's the only thing that saved the novel for me.

Camille Preaker is the main character in the book, and I found her quite likeable and felt a little sorry for her. It's clear that she has had a messed up childhood with the death of her sister only making things worse. When she returns to her home town to report on the recent murders she is forced to move back in to her family home. The closer she becomes to her mother the more her suspicions are aroused about her family and the place that she was bought up.

I found Sharp Objects quite a slow book. It wasn't the type of crime novel that kept me gripped, although I expected it to be after reading Flynn's other two. Sadly I found it lacking something. I'm still not exactly sure what. The characters were well written enough, I just feel that the novel wasn't paced fast enough for the type of story it was trying to tell.

I found it a little predictable in places, and it really wasn't the page turner I hoped it would be. In fact the only reason I read to the end is because I wanted to know if my hunch about the culprit was right, and it very nearly was. Almost.

You can buy 'Sharp Objects' from Amazon online and all good book shops.