Review - The Killer On The Wall by Emma Kavanagh

The Killer On The Wall by Emma Kavanagh

Publisher: Arrow

Release date: 20 April 2017

Rating: *****
Back cover blur: The first body comes as a shock. The second brings horror. The third signals the beginning of a nightmare. When fifteen-year-old Isla Bell finds three bodies propped against Hadrian’s Wall, her whole world falls apart. In such a close-knit community, everyone knows the victims, and the man who did it. Twenty years on and Isla has dedicated her life to forensic psychology; studying the brains of serial killers, and even coming face to face with the convicted murderer who turned her world upside down. She is safe after all, with him behind bars. Then another body appears against the Wall. And another. As the nightmare returns and the body count rises, everyone in town is a suspect. Who is the Killer on the Wall?

 

 

 

 

 

When Fifteen year old Isla Bell goes running alongside Hadrian's Wall first thing in the morning, every morning, it is to set her up for the day, to clear her head before school.

 

One morning Isla's morning run is interrupted and her young innocence shattered with the discovery of Three bodies against the wall. A Fourth 'victim' is barely alive.

 

The bodies have been placed to look as if they are merely resting against the wall, their hands clapsed together and placed in their laps, their heads lolling forwards on to their chests as if they were sleeping.

 

Isla sees through her shock enough to realise that they are not breathing and she must get help. Help arrives swiftly in the form of her Police officer father, Eric Bell. The search for the perpetrator begins almost immediately, and when another potential victim goes missing, local man Heath McGowan is arrested.

 

Twenty years later Isla is married to Ramsey, the sole survivor of the so called 'Killer On The Wall', who is supposedly safely in prison. Isla however, as a professor at the local university is about to come face to face with McGowan.

 

Her aim in her work is to scan the brain activity of serial killers, murderers and assess and identify patterns as well as placing and scoring them on the 'psychopath chart'. 

 

Isla feels safe in her job knowing that these dangerous criminals are shackled to their prison guards at all times, and all objects that could feasibly used as a weapon are put out of reach. Her meeting with McGowan is nothing out of the ordinary.

 

And then a body is found propped against the wall...

 

Has Heath instructed someone from the inside, is this a copycat killing, or a one off just to shake the local community.

 

The local residents are fearful, as well they might be, for the truth lies much closer to home than any of them dared to believe.

 

The Killer On The Wall is available  now via 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 Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins

The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins
Publisher: Quercus Books
Release date: 4 May 2017

Rating: **** and a half

Back cover blurb: Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything. Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own. As events move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of violence changes everything. The Night Visitor is a compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the question: how far would you go to save your reputation?

The Night Visitor is an intriguing novel. Dark, creepy, claustrophobic and gripping but not in the usual way.

Professor Olivia Sweetman, Historian and TV presenter has just finished her much anticipated novel. But she couldn't have done it without the help of her unofficial research assistant Vivian Tester.

Vivian is a .. peculiar woman, to say the least.

The Night Visitor is told from alternative perspectives, those of Olivia and Vivian. Both of them have a story to tell about the writing of "Annabel" a fictional account of one of the first female Doctors, and they are conflicting in their views to say the least.

From the outset of this novel it is clear that Olivia has something to hide and that her relationship with Vivian had more to it than just researcher and author, but what is it?

The Night Visitor focuses on the fraught relationships we have with those that we believe that we trust, the complexities and pressures of juggling family life and fame, and the pressures of not wanting to fail.

The Night Visitor isn't predictable until something happens towards the end of the novel, that I can't say I didn't see coming. If I did I would be lying. But that isn't to say that I enjoyed it any less...

The Night Visitor is available now via 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 Choice by Samantha King

The Choice by Samantha King
Publisher: Piatkus

Release date: 20 April 2017

Rating: ****
Back cover blurb:
Then: Madeleine lived for her children. She'd always believed she'd die for them, too. But on the morning of her twins' tenth birthday her love was put to the test when a killer knocked on their door and forced her to make a devastating choice: which child should live, and which should die - her son, or her daughter?

Now: Madeleine stands silent on the periphery of her now fractured family, trying desperately to unravel why her world was so suddenly blown apart. But while everyday life continues around her, memories of everything leading up to that tragic day return in agonising flashes.  And that's when she realises her family's life still hangs terrifyingly in the balance...

Maddy is the proud Mother of twins, a boy and a girl, Aidan and Annabelle. Ten Years Old and champions at swimming. Along with her husband Dom they are her life.

 

A life that changes forever on the morning of the Twins' Tenth Birthday with a masked strangers knock at the door. A stranger with a gun who forces her to chose a child for him to kill.

 

Maddy has images of her daughter falling, Maddy clutching at her, but she has no memory of saying Annabelle's name.

 

Her husband and Son clearly must hate Maddy and so she retreats inside of herself, desperate to seem hidden so she cannot see their accusing stares.

 

Maddy has glorious memories of Annabelle and at times could make herself believe that her daughter is still alive, even though she knows she is lost forever, along with her marriage and her son.

 

If Maddy is honest with herself, then her marriage to Dom has never been perfect, an incident on their Ninth wedding anniversary cementing the doubt in her mind. But Maddy loves her children, and would do anything to keep them safe.

 

Then her memories of that fateful day start returning and she begins to question all she thought she knew.

 

The Choice is available now via 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 - New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier
Publisher: Vintage

Release date: 11 May 2017
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: 'O felt her presence behind him like a fire at his back.' Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat’s son Osei Kokote knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day – so he’s lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can’t stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players – teachers and pupils alike – will never be the same again. The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard, where kids fall in and out of love with each other before lunchtime, and practise a casual racism picked up from their parents and teachers. Watching over the shoulders of four 11-year-olds – Osei, Dee, Ian and his reluctant ‘girlfriend’ Mimi – Tracy Chevalier's powerful drama of friends torn apart by jealousy, bullying and betrayal will leave you reeling.

Othello is one of those Shakespeare works that I'm not overly familiar with, so I don't have a particular opinion on this novel as a reworking, I do however have an opinion on it as a novel...

 

Osei or 'O' is the new boy of the title. His care is entrusted to 'Dee', a sensible, smart and popular student. Osei is the first black child that the school has seen. Osei's colour doesn't bother Dee. She is perhaps more forward thinking than her friends, and maybe doesn't truly see his skin colour.

 

Dee however does see Osei in a positive light, and is almost instantly attracted to him.

 

Ian, is your standard playground bully. He is instantly way of Osei, and not just because of his colour. Some of the kids seem to genuinely warm to Osei and Ian worries that he is going to become more popular than he is, or at the very least take the playground attention away from him.

 

Ian's fears become reality as Osei proves himself to be a brilliant sportsman. Ian quickly becomes obsessed with bringing Osei down or ensuring that he leaves the school completely.

 

Meanwhile Dee is becoming obsessed with Osei for altogether different reasons. She is feeling a deep attraction towards him that she has never experienced before with a boy. She knows her Mother won't approve, but she doesn't care.

 

Osei is attracted to Dee too, but Ian tries to warn Osei off her. Not because he is interested in Dee, but why should the new boy be allowed to have the pick of any girl he wants? Especially when she is white?

 

Ian's obsession takes on a more sinister tone when he enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend to try and turn Dee against Osei. When it becomes clear that neither will turn against the other, Ian is forced to take matters in to his own hands - with devastating consequences.

 

New Boy is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

Thank You to the publishers who invited me to view this novel via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review - Based on a true story by Delphine De Vigan

Based on a true story by Delphine De Vigan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Release date: 6 April 2017
Rating: ***

Back cover blurb: What would you do if your closest friend tried to steal your life? A chilling new novel from the prize-winning author of No & Me – a Richard & Judy Bookclub selection. Today I know that L. is the sole reason for my powerlessness. And that the two years that we were friends almost made me stop writing for ever. Overwhelmed by the huge success of her latest novel, exhausted and unable to begin writing her next book, Delphine meets L. L. is the kind of impeccable, sophisticated woman who fascinates Delphine; a woman with smooth hair and perfectly filed nails, and a gift for saying the right thing. Delphine finds herself irresistibly drawn to her, their friendship growing as their meetings, notes and texts increase. But as L. begins to dress like Delphine, and, in the face of Delphine’s crippling inability to write, L. even offers to answer her emails, and their relationship rapidly intensifies. L. becomes more and more involved in Delphine’s life until she patiently takes control and turns it upside down: slowly, surely, insidiously. Based on a True Story is a chilling novel of suspense that will leave you questioning the truth and its significance long after you have turned the final page.

 

Delphine De Vigan is an award winning French novelist, but her creative flow is seriously compromised when she meets L at a party.

 

L's true identity is never revealed, but what we do know about her is both terrifying and shocking in equal measure.

 

Despite her popularity Delphine is prone to boughts of social awkwardness, a childhood shyness she has never shaken off. That is except at parties where she somehow has the capability to literally dance like no one is watching.

 

It is via her dancing that L bursts into her life, admiring Delphine's moves and flattering her until L has seamlessly worked her way into Delphine's life.

 

L calls even though Delphine knows that she didn't hand out her number. But instead of being outraged Delphine is flattered. L has lots of contacts, she knows everyone. Why shouldn't she have Delphine's number if she wants it?

 

But this is just the beginning of what turns very quickly into a toxic friendship. L dominates Delphine's life to the extent of warning her friends away (without Delphine's knowledge) and trying to take over her literary work.

By the time Delphine realises that L is potentially dangerous it is too late, and they are holed up in the countryside together under the pretence of resting Delphine's sprained ankle.

Delphine realises that she must get away from L and get her life back, but who is going to believe her story when no one even know who L is?

Based on a true story I don't think is a novel that everyone will engage with. What happened to Delphine is truly horrifying, but that doesn't make it a novel that will appeal to all. So whilst I enjoyed it, I must say I didn't love it - but then maybe it just made me feel uncomfortable - and I'm pretty sure that is what the author set out to do, because none of us want to experience an L for ourselves. 

 

Based on a true story is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops

 

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

 

[Blog Tour] Review - All the Good Things by Clare Fisher

All the Good Things by Clare Fisher
Publisher: Viking
Release date: 1 June 2017
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Twenty-one year old Beth is in prison. The thing she did is so bad she doesn't deserve to ever feel good again. But her counsellor, Erika, won't give up on her. She asks Beth to make a list of all the good things in her life. So Beth starts to write down her story, from sharing silences with Foster Dad No. 1, to flirting in the Odeon on Orange Wednesdays, to the very first time she sniffed her baby's head. But at the end of her story, Beth must confront the bad thing. What is the truth hiding behind her crime? And does anyone-even a 100% bad person-deserve a chance to be good?

All the Good Things is one of those books that really makes you stop and consider life.

Bethany Mitchell is only Twenty One but she has done a very bad thing. This bad thing has landed her in a Women's prison.

Bethany is a shadow of her former self - what she needs to do, is think of all the good things in her life. That is according to her counsellor Erika.

Bethany thinks Erika is mad.

But she does open up to Erika...

Slowly as Bethany starts to tell her story, we learn of her tragic upbringing, her desire to fit in, and her desire to be loved, wanted.

That desire to be loved is the one that ultimately leads her tragically to her fate.

Bethany is a prickly character, but her ordeal only made me warm to her more. Her actions in the end when given a choice over doing the right thing or taking the easy way out shows that she isn't all bad, even if she did do a very bad thing...

 

All the Good Things is available from 1 June 2017.

 

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online or all good book shops.

 

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

 

 

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

 

The Friend by Dorothy Koomsom

The Friend by Dorothy Koomson
Publisher: Century
Release date: 1 June 2017
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: What secrets would you kill to keep? After her husband’s big promotion, Cece Solarin arrives in Brighton with their three children, ready to start afresh. But their new neighbourhood has a deadly secret. Three weeks earlier, Yvonne, a very popular parent, was almost murdered in the grounds of the local school – the same school where Cece has unwittingly enrolled her children.  Already anxious about making friends when the parents seem so cliquey, Cece is now also worried about her children’s safety. By chance she meets Maxie, Anaya and Hazel, three very different school mothers who make her feel welcome and reassure her about her new life. That is until Cece discovers the police believe one of her new friends tried to kill Yvonne. Reluctant to spy on her friends but determined to discover the truth, Cece must uncover the potential murderer before they strike again . . .

So I have a deep affection for Dorothy Koomson's novels, and they seem to get better with every one she publishes.

 

CeCe Solarin is a newcomer to Brighton. Her husband has a fancy new job and her twins have just been enrolled in to the posh local prep school despite CeCe's principles and protestations. Little does she know that she has every right to be concerned about her choice of School.

 

Three weeks before the Solarin's arrival in Brighton local parent Yvonne was found brutally attacked and left for dead within the school grounds. Now in a coma, her three best friends are all studiously avoiding Yvonne's husband as they know he will ask them questions about the night she was attacked.

 

The truth is although all three of them are adamant they didn't attack her, they all know something about that night, and they all have something to hide.

 

CeCe who knows nothing of what has happened previously is slowly integrated into the friends group. They make her feel welcome, and reassure her about her move. When CeCe discovers that the local Police believe one of her new friends could have something to do with Yvonne's attempted murder she is horrified.

 

But she doesn't believe that any of them are capable of such a crime, and so she begins her own investigation. It turns out that we all have that one friend like Yvonne, someone we think we know until it is too late to detach ourselves from them.

 

Did Yvonne tip one of her friends over the edge, or did someone else have grudge to settle?

 

The Friend is another gripping novel from Dorothy Koomson, and I just loved the ending. Beautifully done!

The Friend is available from 1 June 2017.

 

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

 

Review - See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

See What I have Done by Sarah Schmidt
Publisher: Tinder Press
Release date: 2 May
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb:

Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her Mother Forty whacks.

When she saw what she had done she gave her Father forty-one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purposefully I hadn’t read anything about the Borden murder case prior to reading See What I have Done, and I’m not even sure that I will now. Although I will admit that I do have a bit of a morbid curiosity about the finer detail.

This is a perfect debut novel. It can be tricky to base historical fiction on events that have actually happened, but Schmidt does so with ease.

I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to loathe Lizzie Borden. But in actual fact it was her sister Emma that I didn’t like, for reasons that I can’t quite put my finger on if I’m honest.

See What I have Done is the tale of Andrew and Abby Borden are found murdered on 4 August 1892 by their youngest daughter Lizzie (who is actually Abby’s step daughter). Their other daughter Emma is quickly summoned home by Lizzie. 

Father hurt. Mrs Borden missing. A terrible accident. Come home.

There are two significant things about this, the first is ‘Father hurt’ when it is tragically so much more serious than that. The second, ‘Mrs Borden’, at some point for reasons that are never exactly clear Lizzie stops referring to her Step Mother as Abby and starts calling her Mrs. Borden.

 

Lizzie had embraced her Step Mother's arrival at first, years younger than her sister Emma, she was more accepting of a new Mother figure into the family after her own Mother's tragic death, but as the years go by the whole family dynamic changes, and we meet the Borden's of the murder house...

 

I can't say too much more, as you need to discover See What I Have Done for yourself, its; an intriguing novel, and an impressive debut. A must read.

 

See What I Have Done is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

 

Review - Obsession by Amanda Robson

Obsession by Amanda Robson
Publisher: Avon Books UK
Release date: 4 May 2017
Rating: *** and a half stars

Back cover blurb: Two couples. A doctor’s surgery. A deadly obsession. Who’s telling the truth? ‘Who else would you go for, if you could? Give me a name, someone you quite like.’ He shrugs his shoulders. A jawline held tight. ‘I quite like Jenni. What about you?’ I don’t reply. Carly and Rob, Jenni and Craig. Two couples, four friends. Betraying each other. Wanting each other. All of them have access to prescription drugs through the medical practice where they work, and all of them are fighting their own demons. But can any of them be trusted? And when the lies begin, can they ever be silenced?

Obsession is a novel that does exactly as it says on the cover, leads you to obsession. You simply won't be able to stop reading until you've reached its conclusion.

It's an obsession that starts innocently enough. A conversation between a loving husband and wife. Carly asks her husband Rob who he would 'go for' if he was given the choice. At first he is reluctant to answer. Rob loves Carly he doesn't want anyone else.

Carly is persistent. 'Give me a name'.

And so Rob does. 'Jenni'. Carly's "best friend". The consequences are devastating.

Obsession is a novel where you won't find yourself with much sympathy for any of the characters.

Carly is dislikeable from the outset. Manipulative, selfish and sex obsessed. Rob her husband is okay, there's something unlikeable there but it isn't clear at first exactly what.

Jenni, Carly's "best friend" is married to Craig. On first appearances these two are more likeable, less self obsessed. But it soon becomes clear that all is not as it seems. These two couples are not like the rest of us, they don't think the same as the rest of us, don't act the same as the rest of us.

You can trust no one. 

Obsession isn't a novel for everyone, at times it makes for uncomfortable reading, but it's a novel that has an important lesson for us all - obsession no matter how big, or how small, can be a very dangerous thing indeed...

Obsession is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who invited me to view this novel via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

[Blog tour] Review - You Don't Know Me by Imran Mahmood

You Don't Know Me by Imran Mahmood
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Release date: 27 June 2017
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: An unnamed defendant stands accused of murder. Just before the Closing Speeches, the young man sacks his lawyer, and decides to give his own defence speech. He tells us that his barrister told him to leave some things out. Sometimes, the truth can be too difficult to explain, or believe. But he thinks that if he's going to go down for life, he might as well go down telling the truth. There are eight pieces of evidence against him. As he talks us through them one by one, his life is in our hands. We, the reader - member of the jury - must keep an open mind till we hear the end of his story. His defence raises many questions... but at the end of the speeches, only one matters: Did he do it?

You Don't Know Me is a crime novel with a difference, not only is it from the defendant rather than the victim's perspective, but we also never know the name of our perpetrator. On trial for murder he sacks his lawyer just before the closing speeches and decides to deliver his own defence.

In a sense we the reader, are an additional member of the jury, but we hear none of the preceding trial evidence, hear no witness statements, no cross examination. All we have is the defendant's word.

As he talks through the evidence that has been previously presented we are allowed an insight into this young mans life. His upbringing, his family and friends, and the path that led him to be tried for Murder.

Gangs and criminals in London may not be anything new, but to delve into them in the depths that this novel does, from the perspective of this nameless character certainly is. And it works. Sure, it may put us into a world in which we are unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but as the defendant argues, we don't always get to chose what happens to us.

His is a convincing argument, whether it is convincing enough, well sadly the jury is still out on that one. And there lies my one and only frustration with this novel is that we don't learn the outcome of the trial. I understand that this is deliberate, that we are supposed to make our own decisions, but it would have been interesting to get the authors perspective.

You Don't Know Me is a brave and clever debut novel that is sure to have you gripped. The voice of the defendant is raw and gritty as he appeals to the jury to believe his story, but you will want to know who he is and if you can trust him to tell you the truth. Do we know him at all, is he guilt-free? Or is he just another murderer trying to convince himself and the jury of his false innocence?

You Don't Know Me is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Don't forget to check out the previous stops on the blog tour;
 

 

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

 

Review - The Cows by Dawn O'Porter

The Cows by Dawn O'Porter
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release date: 1 June 2017
Rating: ****
Back cover blurb:

COW n. /ka?/

A piece of meat; born to breed; past its sell-by-date; one of the herd.

Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype. The Cows is a powerful novel about three women. In all the noise of modern life, each needs to find their own voice. It’s about friendship and being female. It’s bold and brilliant. It’s searingly perceptive. It's about never following the herd. And everyone is going to be talking about it.

 

 

 

 

 

If I'm brutally honest I rarely pay attention to the back cover blurb on books, other than a quick cursory glance. The Cows back cover blurb is perfect, and true. It is bold, it is brilliant, and I'm pretty sure that everyone is going to be talking about it.

 

Three brilliant females, who don't know each other at all...

 

Tara is a single Mother with a great job, but her Male bosses don't give her the recognition she deserves. After meeting a man on a night out, (but not the one she was supposed to be on a date with) Tara feels like she is worth something again, and gives into a moment of madness that will have disastrous consequences.

 

Cam is a brilliant blogger, but she doesn't want kids, and her Mother despairs of her. Her online audience is torn after a radio interview where her views are made crystal clear. Suddenly her popularity soars, but the online trolls are quick to attack where others are quick to praise and admire.

 

Stella is still grieving the loss of her twin sister, but struggling to find her own identity, ever fearful of the cancer that seems to come after the females in her family. She is desperate to have a baby, but her boyfriend seems to be distancing himself from her just when she needs him most.

 

These three women's lives are about to become intertwined, even though they seemingly have nothing in common.

 

The Cows is an important novel, that showcases the society we live in, how we can all be oh so quick to judge others, yet expect people to have our backs when the world has turned against us.

 

The Cows is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

 

 



Review - He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly

He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: 20 April 2017

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb:

Who do you believe?

He said it was consensual.

The woman said nothing.

But Laura saw it...

... didn't she?

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura and Kit interrupt something awful. Laura is sure about what happened. Later, in a panic, she tells a little white lie - and four lives are changed irreparably. When the victim turns up on their doorstep, her gratitude spills into dangerous obsession. Laura and Kit decide to run - but Beth knows they have pledged to see every eclipse together. They will never be able to entirely escape her. As the next eclipse draws near, Laura must confront the fallout from what she saw in the darkness. Confessing will cost her marriage; keeping the secret might prove fatal. But all secrets, sooner or later, will come to light.

He Said/She Said may just be my favourite psychological thriller novel so far this year. So many twists and turns, and suspicions and accusations flying everywhere...

 

Not that I'd expect anything less from the author who has already written some amazing novels and collaborated on some of my favourite Television shows/adaptations.

 

Usually I'm not a fan of novels being taken from their written format and transformed into television shows,  but there is just something about this novel that I could foresee gripping the nation, akin to Broadchurch - which incidentally Erin Kelly knows a thing or two about.

 

Laura Langrishe is a very young adult, still a teenager really when she stumbles across a terrifying sexual assault at an eclipse festival. Her boyfriend Kit chases after the young woman's attacker but to no avail.

 

Kit and Laura are asked to testify as witnesses after the attacker Jamie Balcombe is bought to trial. He maintains his innocence throughout, but they all know that that is a lie. But it is Jamie's word against Beth's, a classic He Said/She Said case according to the journalists camped outside the courtroom.

 

Can justice be served?

 

Decades later and Laura is terrified of Beth finding her and Kit's marital home.

 

What changed so much after Jamie's sentencing to make Laura so petrified of the girl she saved? And is it really Beth that Laura needs to be afraid of?

 

One thing that we can all take away from He Said/She Said is that one little white lie can quickly lead to another, and before you know it the life you thought you knew is brutally torn apart.

 

He Said/She Said is destined to be a huge hit. It is so clever, just when you think you have it sussed, something happens that you weren't expecting and you have to start all over again.

 

He Said/She Said is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

Review - The Wall Between by Jesper Bugge Kold

The Wall Between by Jesper Bugge Kold
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Release date: 21 March 2017
Rating: *** and a half stars

Back cover blurb: Why would someone want to murder the father he never knew? After Peter Körber is stabbed to death in Berlin, his son, Andreas, leaves Denmark, where he was raised by his mother and stepfather, and travels to that once-divided city to uncover the brutal truth. In his search to know this complete stranger, Andreas hopes to come to grips with his own identity crisis, stalled academic career, and failed relationship. But what kind of man was his father? A complicated portrait begins to emerge concerning Peter’s role in the German Democratic Republic before reunification. As Andreas struggles to find a chink in the wall of secrets and lies that obscures the real Peter Körber, he brings to light disturbing revelations that open fresh wounds and have devastating consequences. Gripping and profoundly moving, The Wall Between is a haunting novel of the harsh realities of living under a repressive regime, the price of blind allegiance to ideology, and the moral complexity of personal culpability.
 

The Wall Between is the first novel I've read that features the falling of the Berlin Wall and life in Germany before the fall.

In it we meet Andreas, a son searching for and trying to get to know his father following his death.

Andreas' father is former Stasi officer and Andreas is forced to search for answers from people whose lives in East Berlin have led them to be cautious or even fearful of the truth.

They do not want to answer Andreas' questions, but he is desperate to know the truth.

The wall between offers us three differing perspectives, those of Peter; the deceased Stasi officer, his illegitimate son; Andreas and one of his 'victims'.

But rather than damning the DDR State Sicherheit, this novel lets us draw our own conclusions as we given the perspectives of those living through the troubled and difficult periods.

It is a clever and thought provoking novel and one that should be considered by anyone looking for something a little different to read. 

 

 

The Wall Between is available now via Amazon online.

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