Review: the Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer

the Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
Release date: 12 March 2015
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Five footprints are the only sign that Daniel Buck was ever here. And now they are all his mother has left. Every day, Anna Buck guards the little prints in the cement. Polishing them to a shine. Keeping them safe. Spiralling towards insanity. When a psychic offers hope, Anna grasps it. Who wouldn't? Maybe he can tell her what happened to her son...But is this man what he claims to be? Is he a visionary? A shut eye? Or a cruel fake, preying on the vulnerable? Or is he something far, far worse?

the Shut Eye is my favourite kind of novel; a crime thriller with a dark story at its heart and a bit of humour thrown in (DCI Marvel) for good measure.

I hadn't read any of this author's work before, but I can certainly see why she has won some pretigious awards (CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year (for Blacklands), CWA Dagger in the Library, and Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (for Rubbernecker)).

the Shut Eye is the tale of the disappearance of Daniel Buck. He has tragically disappeared on Bonfire Night after his father, James, left the front door open. Something that Anna Buck (Daniel's mother) is not ever likely to forgive.

Anna Buck is a woman on the edge (literally in one part of the novel, but I don't want to give too much away). Full of anguish and grief, she becomes obsessed with cleaning her home and the footprints that Daniel left in the wet cement that was outside their home on the day he went missing.

When Anna recieves a leaflet through the door about a psychic at a local church, she is of course, sceptical. She decides to attend the meeting anyway, determined to do something, anything, to find her son who she believes is still alive.

But when she arrives Anna realises that the psychic; Richard Latham won't help her, and she becomes even more determined to help herself, stumbling upon another missing persons case along the way. 

Edie Evans has been missing even longer than Daniel, and the psychic that Anna visited is certain she is dead. Although he is reluctant to admit this to the police. As Marvel becomes more suspicious of Latham, Anna finds herself tangled in a web of visions, police pressure and confusion.

Where is Daniel? Where is Edie? And can she work out what these visions mean before it's all too late?

Without giving too much more away, the Shut Eye will have you gripped until its very last page, and will leave you wanting more.

the Shut Eye will be released on 12 March 2015 and is available to pre-order now from Random House UK and Amazon online.

    Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline
Publisher: Headline
Release date: 20 November 2014
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: One decision. One family's future in ruins. When Jake Buckman decides to let Ryan, his sixteen-year-old son practice driving home along a deserted street, he has no idea of the deadly consequences. But in the darkness of night, a runner comes from nowhere and the hit is fatal. Now Jake and Ryan have two options: admit Ryan's responsibility ... or drive home as though nothing happened. What follows is not a clear-cut hit and run, but a split-second decision by a father who will do anything to protect his son. How much should a parent sacrifice for their child? And could any family survive the burden of such a terrible secret?

 

Keep Quiet is the first novel by Lisa Scottoline that I have had the pleasure of reading, and it certainly won't be the last.

Keep Quiet is what I believe is currently being called 'grip-lit'. Loosely defined as a book that you literally cannot put down as it has you as the reader, gripped tightly in its plot.

Keep Quiet is the story of a hit and run tragedy. Ryan Buckman, wants to pratice his driving skills, so whilst out one night, his father Jake lets him drive along a quiet stretch of road where he thinks that no-one will see them.

Ryan is driving well, he is not some stupid kid, and after all, his father is in the car alongside him, but then tragedy strikes, and Ryan realises that he has hit something or somebody. Jake is quick to act, to take responsibility for the incident, and makes a split second decision that could affect their lives forever.

Ryan is consumed by guilt, but struggles on to function through his daily life, going to school, basketball practice etc. Whilst his father, Jake struggles to keep a hold on the business he has built up for himself.

At first, the novel seems like a straightforward tale of morality. But as you delve deeper into the novel, you realise that everything is not as it seems, and the Buckman's aren't the only ones keeping some dark secrets hidden.

Keep Quiet is a must read for any crime/mystery/thriller fans, and will have you gripped until the end.

Keep Quiet is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.     Thank you to bookbridgr who sent me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Haterz by James Goss

Haterz by James Goss
Publisher: Rebellion
Release date: 12 March 2015
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: A blackly comic crime novel about a one-man crusade to rid the internet of haters, flamers, trolls and vaguebookers... even if he has to kill to do it. Is there someone online who really annoys you? Who is always bragging, posting too many pictures and just doesn't get jokes? Look at your Twitter feed, don’t you get cross at the endless rage, bigotry and the pleading for celebrity retweets? Meet Dave. He decides that unfollowing someone just isn't enough. He's determined to make the internet a nicer place, and he won't stop at murder in order to achieve it. When he kills his best friend's girlfriend, he isn't planning on changing the world. She was just really annoying on Facebook. But soon Dave realises he’s being manipulated. A conspiracy are using him to gain control of something dark forming at the heart of the world wide web... 

Haterz is a crime novel for anyone, anywhere who has ever used the internet and found someone just a little bit irritating.

Dave is on a mission to remove those people from society, starting with his best friends girlfriend.

Danielle is the kind of internet presence that we all love to hate, tagging you in photos that you really didn't want shared online, commenting on the most ridiculous posts on facebook, posting her own ridiculous posts (you know the kind, that no one ever wants to read).

She must be stopped.

Although Dave swears that his first killing is accidental, we the readers see a slightly different side to his story.

Once realising that he has gotten away with his crime, Dave returns to the internet, in search of his next victim. He will argue that they deserved to be killed, that the world will be a better place without them.

He will also argue that he never set out to be a serial killer, and that after killing Danielle, he was contacted via the internet by somebody that not only wanted to congratulate his work, but also wanted to enlist his help in ridding the world of people like Danielle.

Dave is a very ordinary bloke, with a very extraordinary hobby of killing people, but he is strangely likeable.

Without giving too much away;

Haterz is a very dark comedy novel, that will leave questioning your own morality as you ask for more.

Haterz by James Goss is available to pre-order now from Amazon online.

    Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: the Girl in the Red coat by Kate Hamer

The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

Publisher: Faber and Faber

Release date: 26 February 2015
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Eight-year-old Carmel has always been different - sensitive, distracted, with an heartstopping tendency to go missing. Her mother Beth, newly single, worries about her daughter's strangeness, especially as she is trying to rebuild a life for the two of them on her own. When she takes Carmel for an outing to a local festival, her worst fear is realised: Carmel disappears into the crowd. Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth embarks on a mission to find her. Meanwhile, Carmel begins an extraordinary and terrifying journey of her own. But do the real clues to Carmel's disappearance lie in the otherworldly qualities her mother had only begun to guess.

 

 

 

 

The Girl in the Red coat is an intriguing debut novel and Kate Hamer certainly knows how to keep the reader engaged. That said, I did find that I had to read the novel in large chunks or risk losing the plot slightly.

Carmel- the eight year old girl at the centre of the story, is a wonderful character, who often seems older than her years. Carmel's mother Beth, is a notorious worrier (in Carmel's eyes) and is often telling Carmel off for going 'missing' (hiding in mazes, under tables etc).

 

Beth is left bereft when her daughter goes missing at a literary festival and fears the worst. Carmel has been persuaded to leave with a man who tells her he is her grandfather and that her mother has been in a terrible accident, and left him to look after her.

What follows is a mother's tale of grief, anger and hope, and a little girls tale of strange new surroundings and lies about her family and future.

I loved that the story was told from both mother and daughter's perspective as it really helps us to get inside the characters heads.

Without giving too much away, the scary thing about the Girl in the Red coat, is that it is entirely plausible. The idea that another human being, male or female becomes so fixated with the crusade that they are on, that they are no longer in touch with the real world.

At first, I thought that the novel was going down a much darker path than I had anticipated, thankfully it didn't. 

 

I was more than happy with the ending (although disappointed that the novel had ended so abruptly) as it gives hope to families with missing children, and reiterates that not all who take children from their families do so with the intent of harming them. 

Indeed some believe that they are taking them for absolutely the right reasons and that they are going to a better place where they can give them a better life than the one they are currently living.

 

The Girl in the Red Coat is available to pre-order now from Amazon online and Faber. 
    Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: the Darkest Hour by Tony Schumacher

the Darkest Hour by Tony Schumacher

Publisher: William Morrow

Release date: 20 November 2014

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: London, 1946. The Nazis have conquered the British, and now occupy Great Britain, using brutality and fear to control its citizens. John Henry Rossett, a decorated British war hero and former police sergeant, has been reassigned to the Office of Jewish Affairs. He now answers to the SS, one of the most powerful and terrifying organizations in the Third Reich. Rossett is a man accustomed to obeying commands, but he’s now assigned a job he did not ask for—and cannot refuse: rounding up Jews for deportation, including men and women he’s known his whole life. But they are not the only victims, for the war took Rossett’s wife and son, and shattered his own humanity. Then he finds Jacob, a young Jewish child, hiding in an abandoned building, who touches something in Rossett that he thought was long dead. Contd...

  
the Darkest Hour is a novel that was very kindly sent to me by Alice Herbert at Harper 360. I love historical fiction as regular readers of my blog will know. But I also love war/post war based fiction, so this novel for me was the perfect combination of the two.

the Darkest Hour is based in post WWII London, and gives an account of just how different life could have been for us all if Germany had won the war.

John Rossett a British former police sergeant (and war hero) is reassigned to the Office of Jewish affairs, and answers to the SS. 

He is responsible for the rounding up of Jews for deportation, a task that he is reluctant to do, but knows he must if he is to keep his job, and his life.

A widow after losing his wife and son to a bomb blast during the war, Rossett himself is a lonely figure. He uses his work as an escape and although he acknowledges that what he does a day job is fundamentally wrong, he does not have a choice.

Many of the Jews he is sending away are known to him as Rossett has lived in the area all his life. But he trys not to think about where is sending them to. He says that he doesn't know, but I think that deep down he knows exactly where he is sending the Jews that his bosses so deeply despise.

Why then does he choose to follow the instructions of a shopkeeper that he once knew, to save a child by the name of Jacob who has managed to avoid the clearing out of a Jewish property? 

Well, Rossett for me is an extremely likeable character, I think he is fundamentally a good man, who you just know is thinking of his wife and son whilst he is trying to save Jacob from certain death.

An intriguing and chilling insight in to what post WWII Britain could have been, the Darkest Hour is a must read.

the Darkest Hour is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

    Thank you to Alice Herbert at Harper 360 for sending me a copy of the Darkest Hour in exchange for an honest review.

Review: the Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan

The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan

Publisher: Penguin Books

Release date: 15 January 2015

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: In the summer of 1933, Alice Eveleigh has arrived at Fiercombe Manor in disgrace. The beautiful house becomes her sanctuary, a place to hide her shame from society in the care of the housekeeper, Mrs Jelphs. But the manor also becomes a place of suspicion, one of secrecy. Something isn't right. Someone is watching. There are secrets that the manor house seems determined to keep. Tragedy haunts the empty rooms and foreboding hangs heavy in the stifling heat. Traces of the previous occupant, Elizabeth Stanton, are everywhere and soon Alice discovers Elizabeth's life eerily mirrors the path she herself is on. The past is set to repeat its sorrows, with devastating consequences.

The Girl in the Photograph is a glorious book.

Ultimately a very beautiful love story set in such a different world to the one that we now inhabit.

A world in which it is a sin to be expecting a child if you are unmarried. Unthinkable if you are expecting the child of a man who is already married and cannot be associated with you.

Alice Eveleigh is an intelligent young woman, who, as so many intelligent young women do, falls for the wrong man. By the time she realises he is married, it is too late, she is in love with him. By the time she realises she is pregnant their short lived affair is over and Alice must face the consequences alone.

Unable to go through with a backstreet abortion, Alice has no choice but to tell her Mother of the predicament that she has gotten herself in to. Appalled at her daughters actions, Alice's Mother makes the decision to send her away to have the baby, with relatives in the countryside at Fiercombe Manor.

When she arrives Alice is intrigued by the old manor she find herself in, and even more curious when the housekeeper Mrs Jelphs seems so reluctant to answer any of her questions. Often left alone, and bored with nothing to really occupy her, Alice begins to explore the house and learns about its history and previous occupants including Elizabeth Stanton.

As we learn more about Elizabeth, I must admit that I felt sorry for both Elizabeth and Alice. For although their stories were in different times, life has dealt them both a pretty raw deal.

Elizabeth from the outset had it all; a wealthy handsome husband, beautiful home and daughter. But her marraige was almost certainly loveless, her husband only interested in her ability (or inability) to produce a heir. 

Alice, an intelligent woman, loved dearly by her family, until she makes a mistake that has devastating consequences forcing her family to send her away.

Both of them lonely young women facing difficult times alone.

But Alice has a saviour, in the form of a mysterious male member of the Stanton family. I don't want to reveal too much more, but I adored his character and I think the author does an excellent job of making the last part of the novel believable, particularly with what Alice has been through previously. It is a fitting end to such a wonderful tale.

The Girl in the Photograph is an excellent read and one of my stand out historical fiction books so far this year.

The Girl in the Photograph is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

  

Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Second Life by S.J. Watson

Second Life by S.J. Watson
Publisher: Doubleday
Release date: 12 February 2015 
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: She loves her husband. She's obsessed by a stranger. She's a devoted mother. She's prepared to lose everything. She knows what she's doing. She's out of control. She's innocent. She's guilty as sin. She's living two lives. She might lose both . . .

Second Life is the second novel by S.J. Watson. The authors first, 'Before I go to sleep' was always going to be difficult to live up to, but they are essentially two very different novels. I love them both, for different reasons.

Sadly, I have seen quite a lot of online criticism for Second Life, which I think is unfair. Obviously we are all entitled to our own opinions, but I can't help feeling that some are trying to hard to compare this to the authors debut, and as I said - they are two very different books.

Without giving too much away, Second Life is a novel that centers around Julia, a woman who has just discovered that her sister has been brutually murdered in Paris. In recent years, Julia has has a troubled relationship with her sister, and they haven't always seen eye to eye.

As Julia's guilt over her sisters death begins to consume her, she makes the decision to delve further into her sisters life, and discovers a world that she didn't even know existed.

Second Life is a chilling account of just how wrong (and how far) things are able to go from a single, simple, online conversation.

The little white lies we weave ourselves are nothing in comparison to those of others. 

Yet how can we trust others to tell the truth when we do not tell the truth ourselves? 

I didn't feel overly sorry for the main protagonist Julia, but I'm not sure I was meant to. I think she is a deliberately unlikeable character.  

You don't have to be likeable to vunerable... 

You just need to set up an online dating account, get emotionally (and physically) attached to someone, sit back and watch the sparks fly.... 

 Second Life is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

    Thank you to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: the Girl who wasn't there by Ferdinand Von Schirach

The Girl Who Wasn't There by Ferdinand Von Schirach
Publisher: Little Brown UK
Release date: 8 January 2015
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb:

Sebastian von Eschburg, scion of a wealthy, self-destructive family, survived his disastrous childhood to become a celebrated if controversial artist. He casts a provocative shadow over the Berlin scene; his disturbing photographs and installations show that truth and reality are two distinct things. When Sebastian is accused of murdering a young woman and the police investigation takes a sinister turn, seasoned lawyer Konrad Biegler agrees to represent him - and hopes to help himself in the process. But Biegler soon learns that nothing about the case, or the suspect, is what it appears

 

 

 

The Girl Who Wasn't There was kindly sent to me by after I was made aware of the novel via a Twitter proof giveaway frenzy (regular book bloggers know exactly what I mean here...)

Sebastian Von Eschburg is a gifted photographer. Some may say his photographs are works of art. But others may find some of his subject matter a little offensive, pornographic even. Others would see only beauty in his work.

Sebastian has grown up in a dysfunctional family, and we see glimpses of his early life in the first part of the novel. This helps us to understand how he behaves further on in to the novel when confronted with certain dilemmas and situations.

Sebastian lives a lonely adult existence until he meets Sofia, a woman who truly understands him. As he lets himself open up to her, slowly, Sebastian begins to change. 

 

But then something terrible happens that puts Sebastian's freedom in jeapordy and from this point we are taken through the rest of the novel by Biegler; a seasoned lawyer.

A fairly short novel with a quick pace, The Girl Who Wasn't There is an intriuging read and comes highly recommended

 

The Girl Who Wasn't There is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

  

 

Thank you to Poppy Stimpson at Little Brown for the advance copy of this novel.

Review: The Book of You by Claire Kendal

The Book of You by Claire Kendal

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release date: 10 April 2014

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Clarissa is becoming more and more frightened of her colleague, Rafe. He won’t leave her alone, and he refuses to take no for an answer. He is always there. Being selected for jury service is a relief. The courtroom is a safe haven, a place where Rafe can’t be. But as a violent tale of kidnap and abuse unfolds, Clarissa begins to see parallels between her own situation and that of the young woman on the witness stand. Realizing that she bears the burden of proof, Clarissa unravels the twisted, macabre fairytale that Rafe has spun around them – and discovers that the ending he envisions is more terrifying than she could have imagined.

The Book of You is Claire Kendal's debut novel and wow, what a debut it is!

A brilliant psyschological thriller, the Book of You, will have you looking over your shoulder without you even realising the effect that the novel has had on you.

the Book of You, is a book that belongs to Clarissa. Clarissa is an academic, an intelligent woman who abandoned her PHD but still works at a University, who loves to sew and read poetry. She works alongside Rafe Soames, a respected lecturer with an unhealthy interest in Clarissa.

the Book of You begins when Clarissa begins to realise that Rafe's overly friendly behaviour towards her is not normal. It begins, as so many of these situations do, with Rafe misreading the signals after a one night stand with Clarissa.

But even then, all is not as it seems. Clarissa can't remember sleeping with Rafe, she barely remembers getting home, and she is certain in her heart that she did not want to sleep with him.

Then Clarissa is called for jury service, a long trial which will leave her free of Rafe for a while. Or so she thinks. As the trial gets underway, Clarissa believes that she is safe. But as the jury begins to hear the evidence, Clarissa realises that the case is a little closer to home than she would have liked.

The evidence she hears has an impact on how she lives her life outside of the court, and as Rafe finds his way back in to Clarissa's everyday life, she realises that she is in even more danger than even she could have imagained.

  

 The Book of You is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

Review: Her by Harriet Lane

Her by Harriet Lane
Publisher: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Release date: 01 January 2015
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: Two women; two different worlds. Emma is a struggling mother who has put everything on hold. Nina is sophisticated and independent - entirely in control. When the pair meet, Nina generously draws Emma into her life. But this isn't the first time the women's paths have crossed. Nina remembers Emma and she remembers what Emma did. But what exactly does Nina want from her? And how far will she go in pursuit of it?

So, I chose to read her by Harriet Lane for several reasons; because it was weekend reads book for January, because it caught my eye when I was buying some other books and because I'd heard great things about it.

Now that I've read it, I can truly understand all the good thats been written about it.

BUT the ending really, really wasn't for me. All the way through I was set to give this book 5 stars until I got to the last chapter or so and thought, okay, I'm not sure about where this is going and by the last page I was like - okay, what the hell just happened? Is that really it?

Her up until then had had me gripped, wondering what I had missed, what was going to happen next and exactly what had happened in the past. To say that the ending for me was an anticlimax is a bit of an understatement, I was so disappointed. On the other hand I can see why others have admired the ending, but I personally felt there was little or no justification for what happened.

Her is told from two female perspectives, that of Nina, a successful artist with a teenage daughter and a loving husband, and that of Emma, a harrassed mother of two, with a loving but somewhat preoccupied husband.

Nina knows Emma, and from the start of the novel it is clear that Emma did something in the past that Nina wants revenge for. Emma doesn't appear to remember Nina though, which I struggled with until the last few chapters, where it becomes clear just how unstable Nina is.

The novel itself is well written, and I am sure that there are people out there who are probably just as unhinged as Nina, but if I had ever met one of those people, I doubt they'd be as easy to forget as Emma has.

Her is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

Review: the Book Thief by Markus Zusak

the Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Publisher: Knopf

Release date: 14 March 2006

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: 

Here is a small fact. You are going to die.

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.   

Some important information; 

This novel is narrated by Death. It's a small story, about;  a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.

Another thing you should know;
Death will visit the book thief three times.
 

 

 

 

the Book Thief is shamefully a book that has been sat on my shelf for an absolute age. It's one of those books I keep meaning to read and then get distracted by something else. I also wanted to read the novel before I saw the film, and as I'm sure it must be due out on DVD soon I thought I'd best get a move on!!

 

As the back cover blurb suggests the Book Thief is narrated by Death. Now Death as a narrator is nothing new in the world of fiction, but I don't think I've ever read a novel where I actually emphathised with it. 

 

Death here almost has a conscience. Almost...

But this is Germany in World War II and there is little room for conscience as Liesel finds out in more ways that one.

 

Liesel Meminger is just nine years old when she is effectively orphaned (her Mother is forced to give up her two children and her brother dies on the journey to Molching) and taken to live with the Hubermann family in Molching a fictional town just outside of Munich, Germany.

 

Hans Hubermann is a painter and accordionist, Rosa Hubermann the local washerwoman. To Liesel at first, her new home is frightening and she often wakes in the night dreaming about her brother. As the nightmares become more frequent, Hans is the one to calm and soothe Liesel and the two begin to bond.

 

Slowly Liesel is taught to read by Hans who one night discovers the book she stole from her brothers graveside. Hans helps Liesel further by painting at first letters and then words increasing in difficulty on to the walls of the basement of the house.

 

A basement that will grow with significance as the story progresses. 

 

Hans is a survivor of the Great war, surviving a dear friend. He has always promised to help his friends family if the need should arise, and sure enough as World War II gets underway, Hans is needed more than he ever thought he would be.

 

Max Vandenburg is Hans' friends son, and is in desperate need of a place to hide, for he is Jewish. Hans himself struggles to conform to the Nazi party rules and although he recognises the risk involved is more than happy to keep Max in his basement to help out his old friend.

Liesel and Max are an unlikely friendship, but they too share a love of the written word. And whilst hiding a jew in your basement, stealing books and beating up other kids in the playground are perhaps not the usual activities of a young girl- Liesel Meminger is anything but ordinary.

 

the Book Thief is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.