Review: Lost Kin by Steve Anderson

Lost Kin by Steve Anderson

Publisher: Skyhorse/Yucca publishing

Release date: 29 March 2016

Rating: ***

Back cover blurb: Reunited brothers confront a secret Allied betrayal in postwar Munich. Occupied Munich, 1946: Irina, a Cossack refugee, confesses to murdering a GI, but American captain Harry Kaspar doesn’t buy it. As Harry scours the devastated city for the truth, it leads him to his long-lost German brother, Max, who returned to Hitler’s Germany before the war. Max has a questionable past, and he needs Harry for the cause that could redeem him: rescuing Irina’s stranded clan of Cossacks who have been disowned by the Allies and are now being hunted by Soviet death squads—the cold-blooded upshot of a callous postwar policy. As a harsh winter brews, the Soviets close in and the Cold War looms, Harry and Max desperately plan for a risky last-ditch rescue on a remote stretch of the German-Czech border. A mysterious visitor from Max’s darkest days shadows them. Everyone is suspect, including Harry’s lover, Sabine, and Munich detective Hartmut Dietz—both of whom have pledged to help. But before the Kaspar brothers can save the innocent victims of peace, grave secrets and the deep contempt sown during the war threaten to damn them all.

If I'm to be entirely honest, I struggled somewhat with this novel. I don't know if it's because I have only recently read a novel set in the heart of the Second World War though, that was so very different to this.

Lost Kin is set in Berlin immediately after the Second World War. Amid the post-war chaos Captain Harry Kaspar is dragged into a murder investigation. He is pretty sure that the main suspect didn't commit the crime, but it seems that everyone is conspiring against him, in his fight to find out who did.

After being reunited with his actor Brother Max, who fought for the opposite side during the war leaves Harry at first feeling uneasy. Neither Brother is aware just what the other was doing during the war, and this makes them suspicious of each other.

Theirs is a complex relationship, which I wonder if I could have better understood had I read either of the previous novels in the series. But it makes for good reading and makes their story more believable I guess.

I don't want to give too much more away, but this novel is obviously thoroughly researched. Difficult subjects are treated sensitively so as not to appear too dramatic, but at the same time still allowing the brutality of the situation to shine through.

Lost Kin is an enjoyable historical crime thriller, just perhaps not quite the novel that I personally was expecting to read...

Lost Kin is available from 29 March 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

 

Many thanks to the publisher who gifted me a copy of this novel via netgalley.

Review: The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood

The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood

Publisher: Headline Review

Release date: 5 April 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: A one-in-a-million story for anyone who loves to laugh, cry, and think about how extraordinary ordinary life can be. Not to be missed by readers who loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Elizabeth is Missing or The Shock of the Fall. Miss Ona Vitkus has - aside from three months in the summer of 1914 - lived unobtrusively, her secrets fiercely protected. The boy, with his passion for world records, changes all that. He is eleven. She is one hundred and four years, one hundred and thirty three days old (they are counting). And he makes her feel like she might be really special after all. Better late than never... Only it's been two weeks now since he last visited, and she's starting to think he's not so different from all the rest. Then the boy's father comes, for some reason determined to finish his son's good deed. And Ona must show this new stranger that not only are there odd jobs to be done, but a life's ambition to complete...

Once in a while a novel comes along and touches your heart, in such a way that you don't even realise how it has touched you until you are left bereft that the novel has come to an end. The One in a Million Boy is such a novel.

Ona Vitkus is 104, and the recipient of help from her local scout troop in the form of an eleven year old boy, whom Ona refers to as 'the Boy'. Part of a community project, the Boy assists Ona with gardening, changing light bulbs, general odd jobs and house hold chores.

When he discovers Ona's age, the Boy is determined that he get her into the Guinness book of Records. He is obsessed with them, to him it is so much more than 'just a book'. His enthusiasm is infectious, but Ona is sceptical, even when he convinces her that he can help her obtain the record of 'oldest licensed driver'. 

When the Boy fails to turn up one day as promised, Ona feels cheated, and stupid for believing that he was different from all the other Boy Scouts before him that had left her high and dry.

But then the Boy's Father, Quinn turns up to cover the Boys chores, and Ona realises that her instincts about the Boy were right.

Despite both of their efforts to dislike each other immediately, Ona and Quinn become good friends, and as time passes, we discover the reason for the sudden arrival of Quinn on Ona's doorstep...

Beautifully written, with wonderful characters, the One in a Million Boy is a novel that will stay with me for a very long time.

The One in a Million Boy is available from 5 April 2016
You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Headline.





Thank you to the publishers who sent me an advance proof copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Tastes Like Fear by Sarah Hilary

Tastes Like Fear by Sarah Hilary

Publisher:  Headline

Release date: 7 April 2016

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Home is where Harm lies...  The young girl who causes the fatal car crash disappears from the scene. A runaway who doesn't want to be found, she only wants to go home. To the one man who understands her. Gives her shelter. Just as he gives shelter to the other lost girls who live in his house. He's the head of her new family. He's Harm. And when Harm's family is threatened, Marnie Rome is about to find out that everything tastes like fear...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah Hillary has done it again. Written a brilliant thriller that keeps you guessing right up until its climax.

The third in Hilary’s Marnie Rome series, Tastes Like Fear could easily be read as a standalone novel. But why would you want to do that when the previous two are so good?

When a young girl crosses the road straight in front of a car, causing a major traffic accident, Marnie and her team are bought in to investigate the possibility that the girl could be one of their missing persons.

May Beswick has been missing for 12 weeks, leaving her parents and younger distraught and fearing the worst. But she isn’t the girl who stepped in front of the car eyewitnesses are sure.

The girl they describe is a walking skeleton, a scared feral creature who may be in danger.

When a young murder victim turns up on their patch, DI Rome and her colleague DS Noah Jake assumes it’s the girl from the accident, but when they turn up and discover May’s body they are immediately struck at the oddness of the crime scene.

Just who and what are they dealing with?

When another body turns up in a very different setting to the one before, the pair are baffled but convinced that they are looking for the same person, despite the differences.

As the traffic accident and the murders become clearly interlinked, the police realise that they may be dealing with something quite different to what they were first anticipating.

Making unpleasant reading at times, Tastes Like Fear may be my favourite Marnie Rome novel so far.

Sarah Hilary knows how to touch on some pretty disturbing subjects with just the right amount of detail. She is fast becoming a master of her craft, and I cannot wait for her next novel.

 

Tastes Like Fear is available from 7 April 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Headline.

 

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

Blog tour - the English Girl by Katherine Webb

Secrets, feuds, passion and turmoil in 1950s Arabia. The new novel from Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author, Katherine Webb. Joan Seabrook, a fledgling archaeologist, has fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Arabia by travelling from England to the ancient city of Muscat with her fiancé, Rory. Desperate to escape the pain of a personal tragedy, she longs to explore the desert fort of Jabrin, and unearth the treasures it is said to conceal. But Oman is a land lost in time - hard, secretive, and in the midst of a violent upheaval - and gaining permission to explore Jabrin could prove impossible. Joan's disappointment is only alleviated by the thrill of meeting her childhood heroine, pioneering explorer Maude Vickery, and hearing first-hand the stories that captured her imagination and fuelled her ambition as a child. Joan's encounter with the extraordinary and reclusive Maude will change everything. Both women have things that they want, and secrets they must keep. As their friendship grows, Joan is seduced by Maude's stories, and the thrill of the adventure they hold, and only too late does she begin to question her actions - actions that will spark a wild, and potentially disastrous, chain of events. Will the girl that left England for this beautiful but dangerous land ever find her way back?

Today I am delighted to be hosting Katherine Webb on my blog and the locations featured in her latest novel, the English Girl;

 1)    The ancient city of Muscat, with its small harbour and the dry, baking rocks all around. This is the political centre of Oman, where the Sultan still has a palace and is careful not to let high rise development ruin the traditional look and feel of the city. By the water you can see the twin forts of Merani and Jalali, guarding the entrance to the city. Jalali used to be a prison of fearsome reputation, as my character, Joan, experiences first hand...

2)    The ruins of Tanuf, a village in the Jebel Mountains, home to one of the sheiks who led the uprising against the Sultan in the 1950s. It was bombed out by the RAF in 1955, but the villagers were warned in advance, so there were no casualties. The idea was to give the rebels nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide... But it didn't work very well - the mountains are riddled with caves, and they simply fell back to shelter in those instead.

3)    Up on Jebel Akhdar - seriously unwelcoming terrain! And vast areas of it completely arid. The rebels who rose up in favour of the Imam, in opposition to the Sultan, knew these mountains like the backs of their hands, but for the British and Muscati soldiers trying to find and defeat them, it must have been incredibly hard going. They had to carry all their water with them, and sometimes used donkeys or mules. But, in many places, the going was too steep for the animals.

4)    The desert when the wind blows...truly magical. The sand moves like smoke, snaking rapidly across the ground. This was taken in Wahiba Sands, in the north not too far from Muscat. It was the first night of five consecutive nights I was to spend wild camping - ie, no toilets, no washing facilities, no campsites... I spent ages enjoying the dramatic feel of the wind and taking pictures before I realised I was completely caked in sand. And would remain so, for five days...

5)    In the dunes of The Empty Quarter, not far from the Saudi border. What can I say? More beautiful, harsh, alien and peaceful than anywhere else I've ever been.

6)    Between the vast dune chains, a lot of The Empty Quarter looks like this. Very flat, very hot, and very, very dry. It must have been so dispiriting to cross on foot, or by camel, in the early years, with this view not changing for days on end!

The English Girl is available from 24 March 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Orion books.

      Thank you to Sam Eades at Orion for inviting me to take part in the English Girl blog tour.

Review: the End of Law by Therese Down

The End of Law by Therese Down
Publisher: Lion Fiction
Release date: 27 March 2016
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Berlin, 1933: as Hitler rises to power; the law--designed to protect and serve--becomes twisted to the will of those who dream of a pure Aryan race. SS Officer Walter Gunther is intensely loyal to the Third Reich. His readiness to kill without question or remorse would seem to make him the ideal candidate to lead the T4 euthanasia programme. SS officer Karl Muller, a trainee doctor and engineer, is also brought into the programme, and assured that his work is consistent with the Hippocratic oath he's due to take. Their mandate: to kill the "unworthies"--not just the Jews, but crippled children, the mentally ill, homosexuals. Hedda, Walter's wife and old acquaintance of Karl, has no idea of what their work entails. Until, that is, the fate of their families is at stake, and each must confront afresh the choices they have made. This dark, tense novel is a compelling story of human tragedy, and man's potential to revel in, or fight against, the evil actions of a corrupted nation. 

For me, there are lots of important books about Nazi Germany that deal with the holocaust and are usually from the victims perspective. But I have never read a novel quite like the End of Law, and it is brilliant (and not only for its alternative viewpoint/subject matter)!

Hedda is a sensible girl from a good family who is expected to marry well, and she does, capturing the heart the eligible and handsome SS Officer, Walter Gunter. Unfortunately Hedda has yet to realise that Gunter’s loyalty to his political party far outweighs any loyalty he may have for his family.

Walter is already a highly regarded officer in the Nazi party when he is asked to become involved with T4 – an SS managed euthanasia ‘program’ designed to expel Germany of the mentally ill and disabled. As he becomes more involved with his work, he withdraws from his family.

His parents visit he and his wife unannounced as Walter's father is concerned about his work with the Nazi party, the direction that the party are taking, and his sons beliefs.What follows is the first real indication of just how deeply entrenched the parties beliefs have become instilled in Walter, and this sets the scene for the rest of the novel.

Hedda is unaware of the work that her husband is doing, she is only aware of a change in him, and he is no longer the man she married.

As the war in Europe rages on, tensions between husband and wife escalate, their family further torn apart by a bomb ruining their family home and threatening their daughters life. Could this bring them closer together, or will it drive a terrible wedge through an already strained marriage?

What follows cannot be predicted. It is a true exploration of how even those around us that we love, can at times be completely different human beings to the ones that we thought they were.

It is a novel that reminds us that although all of the war crimes that were committed were horrific, at the end of the day they were committed by real people, with real families and loved ones of their own. 

And that only makes it even more chilling.

  The End of Law is available from 27 March 2016. You can pre-order it now via Lion Hudson and Amazon online.        Many thanks to Rhoda at Lion Hudson for sending me an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Blog tour: (Review) The Dolocher by Caroline Barry

The Dolocher by Caroline Barry
Publisher: Black and White Publishing
Release date: 17 March 2016
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: The Dolocher is stalking the alleyways of Dublin. Half man, half pig, this terrifying creature has unleashed panic on the streets. Can it really be the evil spirit of a murderer who has cheated the hangman's noose by taking his own life in his prison cell, depriving the mob of their rightful revenge? Or is there some other strange supernatural explanation? This terror has come at the perfect time for down-at-heel writer Solomon Fish. With his new broadsheet reporting ever more gruesome stories of the mysterious Dolocher, sales are growing daily and fuelling the city's fear. But when the Dolocher starts killing and Solomon himself is set upon, he realises that there's more to the story than he could ever have imagined. With the help of his fearless landlady, ship's surgeon-turned-apothecary Merriment O'Grady, Solomon goes after the Dolocher. Torn between reason and superstition, they must hold their nerve as everyone around them loses theirs. But are they hunting the Dolocher or is the Dolocher hunting them?

The Dolocher is a terrifying prospect to those living in Georgian Dublin.

Half man, half pig, the demonic creature has unleashed panic in the City following a spate of violent incidents.

When a notorious rapist and murderer escapes the hangmans noose after slitting his own throat, Dublin is in uproar.

And then Dolocher appears, so called because of the resemblance to the dead criminal - it is said to be his spirit, but not everyone is convinced of this.

Merriment O'Grady, local apothecary and former ships surgeon learns of the Dolocher through her new lodger, the beautiful and charming Solomon Fish. As a writer he is revelling in the terror that the Dolocher is creating.

But Merriment is among the sceptics, until Solomon himself is attacked...

Between them they decide that they must take on the Dolocher and keep the streets of Dublin safe.

But quickly they realise that the Dolocher is not a beast to be tamed. There is something behind the Dolocher that is even more sinister than anyone could have imagined.

Despite its content, the Dolocher is a beautifully written work of historical fiction with some truly wonderful characters and I really look forward to reading more from this author.

 The Dolocher is available from 17 March 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Black & White Publishing.

 Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour!

    Thank you to Black & White Publishing for allowing me to review an advance copy of the Dolocher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Teacher by Katerina Diamond

The Teacher by Katerina Diamond

Publisher: Avon Books UK

Release date: 10 March 2016

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: You think you know who to trust? You think you know the difference between good and evil? You’re wrong... A LESSON YOU WILL NEVER FORGET. The body of the head teacher of an exclusive Devon school is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall. Hours earlier he’d received a package, and only he could understand the silent message it conveyed. It meant the end. As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again. But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community. And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him? SMART. GRIPPING. GRUESOME. This is a psychological crime thriller in a class of its own. Warning: Most definitely *not* for the faint-hearted!

The Teacher is the first novel I've read in a while that comes with a warning; that it's not for the faint-hearted.

Of course, being a prolific reader it's very rare that I actually pay attention to these warnings, but if you are not a fan of graphic descriptions of murder scenes and/or torture then it may pay to you take note.

When the body of a head teacher is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall of his exclusive school for Boys, it appears to be nothing more than suicide. Only the deceased at that moment in time is aware of the package that he received hours before his death prompting him to fear for his life. 

With good reason.

What follows are a series of gruesome murders that at first seem to have absolutely no connection at all, other than their brutality. But a closer look reveals they are connected, but not by the person that DS Adrian Miles' boss is convinced they are.

Investigating officers, DS Adrian Miles and his new partner DS Imogen Grey are thrown together by circumstance, but they work well together, and I would really love to read another novel that features them - I have no idea if this novel is a one off, but it is a partnership that I would definitely read more of.

As more men are murdered and the killings become more high profile and more violent, the urgency on the Police to find the perpetrator intensifies, but then the motive for the killings is discovered and everything changes...

There is so much more that I could say about this novel, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is yet to have the pleasure of reading it.

The Teacher is available 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: Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama
Publisher: Quercus Books

Release date: 3 March 2016
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: SIX FOUR. THE NIGHTMARE NO PARENT COULD ENDURE. THE CASE NO DETECTIVE COULD SOLVE. THE TWIST NO READER COULD PREDICT. For five days in January 1989, the parents of a seven-year-old Tokyo schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter's kidnapper. They would never learn his identity. They would never see their daughter again. For the fourteen years that followed, the Japanese public listened to the police's apologies. They would never forget the botched investigation that became known as 'Six Four'. They would never forgive the authorities their failure. For one week in late 2002, the press officer attached to the police department in question confronted an anomaly in the case. He could never imagine what he would uncover. He would never have looked if he'd known what he would find. 

I first heard about Six Four several months ago, and was keen to read as both a fan of crime fiction and in particular Japanese Crime Fiction. But its not often as a UK blogger that Japanese Crime Fiction comes with hype such as Six Four.

Six Four is a wonderfully translated (by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies) slow burner of a novel. And it's a big novel, at 600 pages, its not going to be everyone's cup of tea. But it was most definitely mine!

the Six Four of the title is a 14 year old unsolved kidnapping/murder enquiry so called because the incident took place in the 64th year of the rule of the Japanese Emperor Showa.

Our protagonist, Mikami is a former Police detective who has been transferred from Criminal Investigations to the Administrative affairs department of the Police department in his prefecture. He now has to deal on a daily basis with media relations and PR rather than 'real detective' work.

For Mikami this means he has to deal with ruthless reporters rather than shady criminals, and for us the reader, this makes for a very different novel to what we might be used to. But Mikami has other issues to deal with besides his job. His own teenage daughter Ayumi is missing, presumed to have run away from home, and this ultimately leads him back into the Six Four enquiry.

Six Four explores Japanese Policing, culture and society wonderfully and I don't want to say too much more about the continuing Six Four/Ayumi story as I don't want to give anything away.

Six Four is a novel that requires the readers utmost concentration, but it is worth it. It carries an intensity that I haven't come across in a novel for a while and is a challenging but very satisfying read. If you are struggling with it, then please persevere, it is worth it I promise.

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

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

Review: the Poison Artist by Jonathan Moore

The Poison Artist by Jonathan Moore

Publisher: Orion

Release date: 10 March 2016

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: Dr. Caleb Maddox is a crack San Francisco toxicologist leading a ground-breaking study of the human pain threshold based on minute analysis of chemical markers. He has also just broken up with his artist girlfriend after she discovered a shocking family secret in his past. Seeking solace, Caleb finds a dark, old-fashioned saloon called House of Shields, and is mesmerized when a beautiful woman materializes out of the shadows, dressed like a 1940s movie star. The enigmatic Emmeline shares a pouring of absinthe with him, brushes his arm and vanishes. As he pursues her through the brooding, night-time city, desperate to see her again, he simultaneously becomes entangled in a serial murder investigation that has the police stymied - men gone missing, fished out of the bay, with no clue as to how they met their end - until Caleb's analysis of the chemical markers in their bodies reveals that each one was tortured to death. Also present are some of the key components of absinthe. As Caleb finally looks forward to a night spent alone with Emmeline, part of his mind wonders if behind the seductive vision is something utterly terrifying...

Caleb Maddox has just broken up his artist girlfriend, naturally as men do, he goes off to drown his sorrows and meets a beautiful yet mysterious woman in a bar.

After a brief whispered conversation, the woman disappears without leaving her name, and soon Caleb is trawling all the bars in San Francisco in a bid to find her.

Meanwhile there is a serial killer on the loose in San Francisco, who is torturing their victims before dumping them in San Francisco Bay.

As a toxicologist Caleb is drawn into the investigation but as his search for the mysterious Emmeline continues, the cops begin to view him in a different light.

The deeper he becomes involved in everything, the more danger he finds himself in until this novel reaches its dramatic climax.

The Poison Artist is a very dark and atmospheric novel which I think would translate well into a movie (not something I usually say about books....)

I've got to be honest, I'm still a little confused by this novels conclusion - but maybe that's what the author was hoping for?!

The Poison Artist is available from 10 March 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online or Orion.

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