Blog tour: Review - Anything For Her by Jack Jordan

Anything For Her by Jack Jordan
Publisher: JJP
Release date: 31 May 2016
Rating: *****
Back cover blurb: Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you. Louise Leighton’s life has fallen apart, all because of one fateful night. Her husband is an adulterer, her sister is his mistress, and soon, Louise will lose everything she owns. But she never imagined she would lose her daughter. Eighteen-year-old Brooke Leighton is missing. It’s up to Louise and the Metropolitan Police to find her. Has Brooke run away? Or has she been taken against her will? And can Louise aid the investigation without mentioning the night where all of her troubles began? If she mentions that night, she will incriminate her daughter for heinous crimes. But if she doesn’t, she may never find Brooke; and if she has been abducted, the person who took her may come for Louise, too. Sometimes the past comes back to kill you. 

   

Anything For Her is Jack Jordan's brilliant debut novel and I'm not entirely sure how, but I missed its journey into the literary world last year. And now I'm kicking myself!

The novel opens with Louise Leighton's discovery of her husband's affair with her sister. Louise would be the first to acknowledge that things between her husband and herself haven't been perfect recently. 

Although she is left devastated by the betrayal, Louise can't help but think she deserves it and should have seen it coming. Her teenage daughter Brooke understands her Mothers reasoning but doesn't understand her need to leave the family home immediately.

Having fleed to their country house Louise is relieved to be away from her philandering husband and tells herself she just needs to get herself together before going back for her children, her daughter Brooke and younger son Dominic.

But someone is determined to make Louise's life more hellish than it already is. When Brooke goes missing after visiting her mother Louise knows it is some sort of personal vendetta but she doesn't fully understand who is after her or why.

As the investigation into Brooke's disappearance starts and Louise becomes becomes clear that they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Anything For Her is one of those novels once you have started that you simply cannot put down.

Anything For Her is available to buy now from Amazon online.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here:

I will also be taking part in the My Girl blog tour on 20 June.

  Thank You to Jack who kindly invited me to take part in the official blog tour.

Review: The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans

The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans

Publisher: Headline Review
Release date: 19 May 2016
Rating: *** and a half
Back cover blurb: What magic is this? You follow the hidden creek towards a long-forgotten house. They call it Keepsake, a place full of wonder ... and danger. Locked inside the crumbling elegance of its walls lies the story of the Butterfly Summer, a story you've been waiting all your life to hear. This house is Nina Parr's birthright. It holds the truth about her family - and a chance to put everything right at last.

                 

Nina Parr has never known her Father, he was killed on an expedition when she was a baby. But that's okay, she has a loving Mother, Deliah and Stepfather Malc. She doesn't need anyone else.

Or so she thinks.

When Nina meets a strange old lady in the London Library who she has never seen before in her life. Yet the lady professes to know who she is and to have known her Father, Nina is left seriously confused.

Especially when she is told to ask her Father about Keepsake.

But her Father is dead.

What can it all mean?

As Nina looks for answers to these questions, what she discovers will leave her questioning if her whole life has been a lie.

Sebastian, Nina's ex-husband is on hand to help Nina through her confusion, but then he professes that he still loves her, and Nina's world is turned upside down once again.

In the meantime, we are told a different story, the one of 'the Butterfly Summer' from the perspective of Teddy who we learn to be Nina's Grandmother. As the two stories run alongside each other, it is clear that the past influences the future, but we are not entirely certain how or why.

This novel drip feeds us the reader with tantalising snippets of information, keeping us wondering until its conclusion.

It's style might perhaps not be everyone's cup of tea, and I did find some parts of it slower than others (hence the 3.5 stars) but it is a wonderful novel nonetheless and is bound to be a surefire summer hit.

The Butterfly Summer is available from 19 May 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

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

Review: Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica

Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica
Publisher: Mira UK
Release date: 19 May 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she's the person Quinn thought she knew. Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbour town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where 18 year old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister. As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under the stranger's spell, Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted rollercoaster ride that builds to a stunning conclusion.

Don't You Cry is Mary Kubica's third novel and in my opinion it's her best to date.

Quinn Collins awakes one morning to find her roommate Esther Vaughan missing. Quinn is unconcerned, "Saint Esther" is more than likely at church. It's Sunday morning after all and Esther never misses her Sunday morning sessions.
As the hours pass Quinn wonders where Esther could be, and decides she is doing someone in the community a good dead and stopping to get them both brunch, but as evening falls, she begins to worry. 
Is Esther hurt somewhere?
Or has she intentionally run away?
Quinn dismisses the 'run away' theory quickly, Esther is far too sensible for that. There must be a valid reason for Esther's absence. Could the key to Esther's disappearance be among her things? Quinn wrestles with herself before finally looking in Esther's room for clues. but instead of giving Quinn answers, it only throws up more questions.
Meanwhile teenager Alex Gallo is working in a local restaurant to pay the bills and get away from his alcoholic Father. One day a mysterious young woman arrives who Alex immediately knows is not local. His attention is caught immediately by the beautiful stranger in his workplace. But as he find himself getting to know her, he realises that she is is not the woman he thinks she is at all.
I was so certain that I knew exactly how this novel was going to play out that the last couple of chapters had me go back and read the again just do that I could be sure what I was reading was right. I hadn't seen it coming at all, and this for me just highlights the brilliance of Kubica's writing.
Don't You Cry is available from 19 May 2016. You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.
  Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Review: Play Dead by Angela Marsons

Play Dead by Angela Marsons

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 20 May 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen. The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess. Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime. Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next? As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …?

Play Dead is Angela Marson's fourth novel to feature D.I. Kim Stone, and in my opinion they just keep getting better.

The Westerley research facility is 'a body farm', a rare entity in the United Kingdom, which has been useful in helping Kim's colleagues in a neighbouring police force close some of their cold cases. D.I. Stone's boss is keen to see if it can do the same for the their team and duly sends them on their way to Westerley.

It is a macabre place, full of dead bodies left in various deliberate states of decay to see how the flesh reacts to certain 'experiments'. What the team don't expect to come across is a 'live' one, a 'fresh' body. A young woman with a mouth full of dirt and strange marks on her body.

Kim and her team work quickly to seal off the site to those who are not needed. Work begins to excavate the ground at Westerley and another body is duly found, and then the case takes a strange turn when a woman is found in the same circumstances, dirt in mouth, marks on body etc but very much still alive.

The only problem is, when she awakes from a coma days later in hospital, she can't remember a thing.  

Is she the key to helping Stone and her team find the killer, or is she is a mere coincidence?

When Tracey Frost, Kim Stone's arch enemy goes missing, the investigation takes a surprising turn - for all involved. We see a different side here to both characters, and I can't wait to see how this will pan out in future novels.

Play Dead is another excellent D.I. Stone novel from Angela Marsons. Roll on the next one...

  Play Dead is available from 20 May 2016. You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.        Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Review: This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell

This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell 
Publisher: Tinder Press
Release date: 17 May 2016
Rating: *****
Back cover blurb: Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway. He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with twenty years ago, and this discovery will send him off-course, far away from wife and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back? Maggie O'Farrell's seventh novel is a dazzling, intimate epic about who we leave behind and who we become as we search for our place in the world.

This Must Be The Place is the wonderful tale of a brilliant, but flawed man with a hugely complicated life.

Daniel Sullivan lives with his reclusive ex movie star wife, Claudette Wells and their two young children in the wilds of Ireland. It is a world away from his home "town" New York, his adulteress ex-wife and two older children that he never sees.

Whilst on the way to the airport for a flight home to see his father (whom he cannot stand) for his 90th birthday, Daniel learns something he always suspected about an individual from his past. There is little he can do about it at that time, but the question is, should he do anything about it at all?

As Daniel battles with these decisions, we are taken on a journey via multiple narrators through different times in both Daniel's and Claudette's lives and those around them. We learn how they first met, how Claudette became the recluse that she is now, and so much more.

The characters we are introduced to along the way are so very real and believable that you feel compelled to care about them, no matter how they behave.

This Must Be The Place is ultimately a novel about the complexities of marriage and familial relationships, and the decisions that we all must face in order to make the most of our lives. It is a beautifully written novel and I think Maggie O'Farrell's best novel to date.

I don't want to say too much more about the plot, as I don't want to give away anything else about this wonderful novel. You must read it and experience it for yourselves.

It is sure to be one of the books of 2016.

This Must Be The Place is available from May 2016.
You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and Tinder Press.

    Thank you to Bookbridgr who sent me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

The Woman Next Door
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Release date: 5 May 2015
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbours. One is black, one white. Both are successful women with impressive careers. Both have recently been widowed. And both are sworn enemies, sharing hedge and hostility which they prune with a zeal that belies the fact that they are both over eighty. But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. And gradually the bickering and sniping softens into lively debate, and from there into memories shared. But could these sparks of connection ever transform into friendship? Or is it too late to expect these two to change? 

Hortensia James and her next door neighbour Marion Agostino are sworn enemies. Both are in their Eighties and have both been members of the local community committee for years.

It is at one of these meetings that we first meet the two ladies together and encounter their bickering. Their dislike for each other is palpable. Neither woman is afraid of saying exactly what she thinks even if it might hurt those around her.

Hortensia's husband is dying, Marion's husband already dead. You would think the neighbours at last, might have some common ground.

But both have been bought up in very different backgrounds, racially and culturally and Marion in particular has a hard time accepting Hortensia for the remarkable woman that she is, beyond the colour of her skin.

A series of remarkable events lead the two ladies to become closer to each other than either ever wished to be. One of them dependant upon the other.

Could this finally the start of a truce? Or even a friendship?

Or is too late for either of them to 'start again'?

The Woman Next Door is available now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

Blog tour: The Wacky Man by Lyn G. Farrell - Author Q&A

Today I am delighted to welcome to my blog, Lyn G. Farrell, author of the Wacky Man and winner of the 2015 Luke Bitmead bursary.

My new shrink asks me, ‘What things do you remember about being very young?’ It’s like looking into a murky river, I say. Memories flash near the surface like fish coming up for flies. The past peeps out, startles me, and then is gone… Amanda secludes herself in her bedroom, no longer willing to face the outside world. Gradually, she pieces together the story of her life: her brothers have had to abandon her, her mother scarcely talks to her, and the Wacky Man could return any day to burn the house down. Just like he promised. As her family disintegrates, Amanda hopes for a better future, a way out from the violence and fear that has consumed her childhood. But can she cling to her sanity, before insanity itself is her only means of escape? 

The Wacky Man is published by Legend Press and was released on 2 May.

Did you always want to be an author?
I’d say authorship has crept up on me. I’ve always liked writing but never really expected it to go anywhere, especially as I struggled initially with how to translate my ideas onto the written page. I went back to education instead and then tried out a raft of different jobs (Housing, IT, academia). All the time I was writing in my spare time and reading books on creative writing and this novel would just not go away. I was always thinking about it and started the very first notes on it about ten years ago.

If so did you always want to write fiction or did you ever have a different genre in mind?
I knew that I’d write a novel before any other kind of writing (except for academic writing which is part of my day job) and I’ve spent a huge chunk of my life on learning how to do it as well as I can. I have another two novels in mind to write and I fancy experimenting with other kinds of fiction writing, perhaps a theatre or TV play. I can’t see myself writing biographies or history books though I love to read them but a travel book sometime perhaps?

Writing about the subjects in the Wacky Man must have been upsetting at times? When you are writing something dark or disturbing do you often find the need to escape?
If I realised in time the effect it was having on me I could get away from the computer and relax for a while, to watch Bargain Hunt or water the plants, before coming back to it. Many times I was ambushed by emotion and just had to ride it out, or I couldn’t switch off despite the feelings bubbling up because they – along with my own memories - actually helped shape the work.

There is one part of the novel that I still can’t read without sobbing. You might think it’s unfair to unleash it on the reader, but the novel is inspired by real violence and terror, I couldn’t leave it out.

If so what is your favourite way to ‘get away from it all’?
Pottering about on my allotment. I wish I had more time to spend there as I can only snatch a few hours here and there. I love growing vegetables and it’s helped cure me of my fear of beetles (almost). I sometimes just sit in a chair without doing very much, surrounded by greenery. I always come home at peace with myself.

Do you have a favourite author?
I have a whole raft of favourite authors. It would take days to list them. Cormac McCarthy, Roddy Doyle, Peter Carey, Hilary Mantel, Marge Piercy, Margaret Atwood, Michelle Roberts, Dorothy Allison, Barbara Kingsolver, Elif Shafak, Carol Shields, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Lionel Shriver, Sebastian Barry, John Banville. They’re the names that spring to mind but there are just so many that I love. 

Is there anyone that particularly inspires you – literary or otherwise?
The Dalai Lama. I’m not Buddhist but I think his ideas on the mind and heart being more connected could really help us all. And I particularly admire the way he has managed to keep his Tibetan people in the spotlight despite almost impossible odds. On a personal level, I wish I could laugh as much as he does – life would be easier. I laugh a lot but I get grumpy at times over things that don’t matter.

If you could have written any novel what would it be?
Woman on the Edge of Time. It was a life changer for me, as a teenager, and I remember reading without sleeping so I could finish it. I think I’ve read it about four times now and it’s one of the books I used to buy and give away to other people.

Do you have any peculiar writing habits or quirks?
I sometimes get up in the night to go write something, especially when I’ve been working on the same thing in the day. If jotting notes doesn’t work, I have to leap out of bed and get the computer switched on and all the ideas written out. It’s very irritating actually, especially when I’m really tired. However, the few times I’ve not done it I’ve lost the thread of the idea by morning and been even more annoyed with myself.

What are you reading at the moment?
A diary of interrogations and Fifteen Dogs (just started the latter).

Have you read anything that made you think differently about how you write?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The prose was so bare, so stripped to essentials of communication. It was a brilliant use of language to convey the story of the fight for survival. I would love to be able to mould language around a story the way he has. It’s one of my all time favourite novels.

Do you prefer an E-book or a physical book?
Both. I love sitting in bed reading a physical book and I love the fact that I have shelves and shelves of amazing books. E-books are great on the bus or train and they’re great for the research I’m doing at the moment. I can flip between books so easily on my Kindle app and then I can make notes on my phone immediately to. I couldn’t live without it to be honest.

Is there another novel on the cards? If so can you give anything away yet?
Yes there is! I’m working on my second novel at the moment. It’s about the healing power of unusual friendship.  

A huge thank you to Lyn for taking the time to answer my questions.

You can read my review of the Wacky Man here.

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

 

Review: The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish

The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish

Publisher: Michael Joseph
Release date: 5 May 2015
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: It's summer, and for teachers Ed and Natalie Steele this means six weeks off work with their young daughter Molly. Their lives are predictable and uncomplicated - or, at least, they were - until they met the Channings. Suddenly, glamorous Lara Channing, a former actress leading an eccentrically lavish lifestyle, is taking Natalie under her wing and the stability of summer takes an exciting turn. But are there hidden motives behind this new friendship? And when the end-of-summer party at the lido is cut short by a blackout, Natalie realizes that she's been kept in the dark all along . . .








From it's opening paragraph, The Swimming Pool had me hooked. There are hints that something terrible has happened but exactly what that is, is a mystery waiting to be solved.

Natalie Steele is a teacher, counting down the days until the Summer holiday begins and she can spend some time with her family; her husband Ed and daughter Molly.

At the opening of the new local Lido, Natalie meets Lara Channing. A former actress, beautiful, glamorous and wealthy, she is everything Natalie is not. Natalie is inexplicably drawn to Lara, who seems somehow familiar to her, yet she is certain that their paths have never crossed.

The Lido should be off limits to Natalie, for her teenage daughter Molly has severe aquaphobia, caused by a near drowning incident when she was much younger. But soon Natalie and her best friend Gayle find themselves at the Lido nearly every day under the semblence of keeping fit.

Gayle thinks Lara and her friends are self-obsessed but Natalie is bewitched by Lara, and Ed and Molly are quickly sidelined as Natalie is drawn into Lara' exclusive inner circle. Convinced that she can 'cure' Molly, Lara recommends a hypnotherapist.

Natalie is skeptical. Molly has been afraid for so long. Can a couple of sessions with a hypnotherapist really cure her fear of the water? So obsessed is she with the Lido, Natalie agrees to the expensive sessions, and in doing so allows her fledgling friendship with Lara to develop into something much more complex.

There is a constant tension in this novel, that I can only describe as an 'atmosphere'. You just know that when the summer ends things are going to look very different, but you don't know quite how or why.

The Swimming Pool is a very cleverly written novel, full of suspense and intrigue. It will stay with you long after its conclusion.

The Swimming Pool 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: The Wacky Man by Lyn G. Farrell

The Wacky Man by Lyn G. Farrell

Publisher: Legend Press

Release date: 2 May 2016

Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: My new shrink asks me, ‘What things do you remember about being very young?’ It’s like looking into a murky river, I say. Memories flash near the surface like fish coming up for flies. The past peeps out, startles me, and then is gone… Amanda secludes herself in her bedroom, no longer willing to face the outside world. Gradually, she pieces together the story of her life: her brothers have had to abandon her, her mother scarcely talks to her, and the Wacky Man could return any day to burn the house down. Just like he promised. As her family disintegrates, Amanda hopes for a better future, a way out from the violence and fear that has consumed her childhood. But can she cling to her sanity, before insanity itself is her only means of escape? 

The Wacky Man is possibly one of the most important books that I've read so far this year. The subject matter is tough, but necessary.

Light reading it is not, but this novel's length makes it readable without being too dark.

The Wacky Man details Amanda's early life and the events leading up to her isolation in her bedroom.

As the youngest child, and the only girl, Amanda was the black sheep of the family from the moment she was born.

Amanda's Father Seamus, comes from a large stereotypical Irish family, his wife Barbara has never been 'good enough' for his family. From the moment they are married Barbara struggles to control her husband's moods.

When the Twins, come along Barbara trusts that she is doing the right thing for her family by staying with her husband.

And then Amanda arrives, a noisy, demanding baby who seems to bring out the worst in her Father...

I don't want to say too much more about this novel, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who has not yet had the pleasure of reading.

I will be hosting a Q & A with Lyn G. Farrell, Author of The Wacky Man on 6th May.

The Wacky Man is available from 2 May 2016.

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

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