Review - The Resistance Girl by Mandy Robotham

The Resistance Girl by Mandy Robotham

Publisher: Avon Books UK

Release date: 31 March 2022

Back cover blurb: Norway, 1942. War rages, and, under cover of darkness, Rumi Orlstad and her fellow resistance fighters smuggle British agents, fugitives and supplies across the North Sea into Nazi-occupied territory. One night, when he braves a storm to complete an ill-fated mission, Rumi’s fiancé is lost to the dangerous waters. Broken-hearted, she withdraws from the clandestine group, vowing never to let her loved ones put themselves in the line of fire again. But months later, Rumi stumbles across a Nazi secret that lays Hitler’s plans for Norway bare, and she knows she has no choice but to risk her life for her country once more. She has lost everything to the Nazis. But now she fights back…

Rumi Orlstad, the Resistance Girl of the title is a strong Norwegian woman, unafraid of Hitler who is determined to do her bit for the Norwegian war effort, even if it means becoming part of the resistance.

Rumi, alongside her Father and others help to smuggles British agents, fugitives and supplies across the North Sea in to her beloved homeland. When an ill fated mission means that Rumi loses her fiancé to the sea, she vows to never put herself or fellow countrymen in danger again.

Until she meets Jens Parkes, a man who is as British as his is Norwegian, but who's heart lie with Norway. A British SOE (Special Operations Executive) sent to gather intelligence, sabotage the occupiers in any way he can, and help the local resistance movements.

The Nazi's who occupy Norway though are notorious, and when Jens realises who one of them is, he realises that it may not only be his life that is at stake. After a frosty start with Rumi, they become accustomed to one another and Jens doesn't want to put any one else in danger.

Rumi is headstrong, determined and stubborn. After a number of false starts following her fiancés loss, she re-joins the resistance fight with a renewed passion, and wants to help Jens in anyway that she can. When she discovers what's going on at a former stately home, she becomes more determined than ever.

The Resistance Girl touches upon a part of WW2 that I wasn't too familiar with before, and it was all the more interesting for that. Of course there are some rather unpleasant things to read about, but that is part of history, and I believe that it is important these things are shared. Overall this was a really enjoyable read, and I look forward to the authors next. 

The Resistance Girl 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 - Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release date: 31 March 2022

Back cover blurb: CHECK THE WINDOWS. It’s been like this since her big 4-0 started getting closer. LOCK THE DOORS. Her mother stopped sleeping just before her 40th birthday too. She went mad and did the unthinkable because of it. LOOK IN ON THE CHILDREN. Is that what’s happening to Emma? WHY CAN’T SHE SLEEP?

Emma Averell has a brilliant life, a family that she loves, a high flying career, and a possible promotion on the cards. She is just days away from her 40th birthday. The same milestone birthday that her Mother hit when life came crashing down for Emma and her sister Phoebe.

Insomnia has never been an issue for Emma before, but she is very much aware that it is an issue her Mother had before her birthday. Before it all went wrong.

Surely it's just a coincidence. Nothing to worry about. 

Perfectly normal.

But then Emma's sister, Phoebe turns up out of the blue, demanding that she visit their Mother in hospital, and suddenly nothing seems normal...

It can't be a coincidence that their Mother has had an episode after years of stable treatment. She had always said that Emma would follow in her footsteps. As the sleepless nights continue, and strange things begin to happen. Emma can't help but wonder, is it lack of sleep? Or is she really following in her Mother's footsteps?

I always find Sarah Pinborough's books intriguing, you never quite know what direction they are going to go in, and this is no exception!

Insomnia 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 Pilot's Girl by Catherine Hokin

The Pilot's Girl by Catherine Hokin

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 4 April 2022

Back cover blurb: ‘Smile, nod, and don’t breathe a word of what happens here. Or I’ll put you on the next train to Auschwitz myself.’ Four years later. Hanni Winter shivers in her thin coat as she hurries through the empty Berlin streets to her job. Despite the freezing winter and poverty all around, her cheeks flush when she meets the man she is photographing today, charismatic Tony Miller, the American pilot risking his life to bring food and provisions to the starving people of the city. But her rush of joy turns to ash as she sees the man behind him… It’s been years since Hanni fled her terrible past, but seeing Reiner Foss now brings back harrowing memories of the man they called The Showman, and of the concentration camp he commanded. The last time she tried to expose him, Hanni almost died, can she dare to try again? Or should she seize the chance she sees in Tony’s sparkling eyes to leave the horrors of the war behind? Hanni is no longer the frightened child she was when the Nazis devastated her life beyond repair. She vows to avenge every person who suffered at Reiner’s hands. But does her attraction to Tony leave her vulnerable? Can Hanni protect her loved ones from her past, or will the cost of fighting her demons ultimately prove more than she can pay? 

Hanni Winter, formerly known as Hannelore Foss is the daughter of a high ranking former concentration camp commandant SS officer, Reiner Foss. She has spent years both during the war and after trying to think of a safe way to expose him without putting her own life in danger. Each time she comes close, he fires a warning shot her way.

Now a photographer, who also works with the local police Hanni has rebuilt her life, but her desire for it to be normal is overshadowed by her Father. She is unable to be with the man she loves through a sense of guilt and fear that she is complicit in her Father's crimes by knowledge and association. 

Reiner has survived the war and is living his life undercover so he doesn't have to face up to the crimes that he committed during the war. Still a fully fledged Nazi, he is working undercover to retain the party's name and all that it stands for. In his ideal world, the party would rule again, and he would be one of the elite.

Tony Miller, an American pilot, arrives in Berlin under a celebratory fanfare. The Americans bring food and provisions to the city, and with that a heroic persona. Hanni, is tasked with taking photographs of the popular American, and is at first as taken in with him as everyone else.

But there is something about Tony Miller that isn't quite what it seems. His German is almost too perfect for a native American, and there is a strangeness about him at times, almost as if he's weighing up your usefulness to him.

Hanni can't decide whether she should be in love with him, or afraid of him. It makes her relationship with Freddy seem almost straightforward...

As a serial killer stalks the streets of Berlin, Hanni's love life is the least of her worries, and she is thrown into working with Freddy again and must cast her feelings aside if they are to find the killer together.

The Pilot's Girl is the second of what I believe to be three books in a series, and I can't wait for the next!

The Pilot's Girl 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 Hostage by Melinda Di Lorenzo

The Hostage by Melinda Di Lorenzo

Publisher: Headline

Release date: 15 March 2022

Back cover blurb: Surviving the plane crash was the easy part. After losing someone close to her, nurse Joelle Diedrich needs a change of scene. But stepping in as a last-minute medical escort on a prisoner transfer flight results in a bigger one than she bargained for. Waking in the wreckage of a crash, Joelle swiftly gathers that no one else on the plane was what they seemed. And if she wants to make it out of this alive, she must place her trust in the only survivor who's not trying to kill her: Beck, the convicted murderer who was being transported. Fleeing with Beck presents more than one danger - not only that of simple survival across treacherous terrain, but by making Joelle a target in a ruthless plot. As the threats multiply and Beck and Joelle grow closer, Joelle has to ask herself just how much she's willing to risk for a man she's just met, and figure out whether Beck will risk the same for her ...

The Hostage wouldn't be everyone's choice of novel before a long haul flight, but then I've never been conventional!

Having said that, the plane crash itself is not really the focus of the novel, it's more of an opening to the rest of the story.

Joelle is grieving her Mother's death when she is assigned as a medical escort for a prisoner transfer flight. Used to working in prisons as a nurse, passenger transport isn't something she's experienced before. 

Beck, the convicted murdered who is being transported is not what Joelle expected, but then she wasn't given a whole lot of information about the last minute assignment so shouldn't be surprised by that!

When the plane that they are travelling on crashes, Joelle at first believes that she is the only survivor, but she quickly realises that Beck is also alive. Should she trust him in, and allow him to help them both to safety? Or should she risk going it alone and not making it?

It's a tough call, but one that's made easier when they are shot at, and realise that they are not the only survivors, and that someone is after Beck certainly, and maybe Joelle too. As they flee the crash site, Joelle can't help but wonder not for the first time what the hell she has gotten herself into.

Nothing is as it seems in this fast pace thriller. I hadn't been sure what to expect from this, but it was a great read and left me wanting more.

The Hostage 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.