Review - Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolas Obregon

Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolas Obregon
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Release date: 2 February 2017

Rating: *** and a half stars 

Back cover blurb: Setagaya ward, Tokyo Inspector Kosuke Iwata, newly transferred to Tokyo's homicide department, is assigned a new partner and a secondhand case. Blunt, hard as nails and shunned by her colleagues, Assistant Inspector Noriko Sakai is a partner Iwata decides it would be unwise to cross. A case that's complicated - a family of four murdered in their own home by a killer who then ate ice cream, surfed the web and painted a hideous black sun on the bedroom ceiling before he left in broad daylight. A case that so haunted the original investigator that he threw himself off the city's famous Rainbow Bridge. Carrying his own secret torment, Iwata is no stranger to pain. He senses the trauma behind the killer's brutal actions. Yet his progress is thwarted in the unlikeliest of places. Fearing corruption among his fellow officers, tracking a killer he's sure is only just beginning and trying to put his own shattered life back together, Iwata knows time is running out before he's taken off the case or there are more killings . . . Blue Light Yokohama is crime fiction at its very best - gripping, haunting, atmospheric and utterly captivating. 

Blue Light Yokohama is Nicolas Obregon's debut novel. A crime thriller set in Japan, sounded like my perfect book, and I really wanted to love this novel. It had so much promise, and I love books that are set in Japan, somehow I seem to be drawn to them. But sadly this novel fell a little short somewhere for me. Inspite of a lot of twists and turns, it just never really seems to 'get going' as it were.

Kosuke Iwata is a new arrival on the Tokyo homicide team when a family of four are found brutally murdered in their own home. There are barely any clues to point the team towards the perpetrator except a half empty ice cream tub, an open web brower on a laptop and an offensive black sun painted on a ceiling in the victims' home.

The murderer has been careful, there are no fingerprints to be found anywhere, no blood except the victims', no DNA fibres- nothing. Iwata wonders where on earth to start, he feels out his depth already and the pressure is mounting. As the newest member of the homicide team he is expected to deliver results, after all he is an experienced officer.

But he has never seen anything like this before...

Blue Light Yokohama has quite a few flashbacks, some of which are helpful in getting to know its characters, and some of which are sadly not. I felt like there was a bit too much of an emphasis on a backstory for Iwata, when truthfully I'm not sure he needed one. For me he was an interesting enough character.

Of course, this is only my opinion and if you like a good police procedural with a few twists and turns thrown in for good measure, then this novel is definitely the one for you. For me sadly, it wasn't the novel I hoped it would be -  but I would read this author again, as I'd be interested to see what else he might have up his sleeve.

Blue Light Yokohama is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

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

Review - The Killing Game by J.S. Carol

The Killing Game by J.S. Carol
Publisher: Bookouture
Release date:
Rating: *** and  half

Back cover blurb:   Imagine you are having lunch at an exclusive restaurant, filled with Hollywood’s hottest stars. And a masked gunman walks in and takes everyone hostage. You must bargain for your life against a twisted individual who knows everything about you. He also has a bomb set to detonate if his heart rate changes. If he dies. You die. You have four hours to stay alive. What would you do? A heart-stopping thriller with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat, for fans of Peter Swanson, Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay.

A suspected suicide bomber holds high profile celebrities hostage at a exclusive LA restaurant.

JJ is a known name in Hollywood. Her PR company ‘Bright Lights’ are known for being able to get high profile celebrities out of some very sticky situations. But sometimes even she is not enough to help those who really need it...

When she is out for lunch at a prestigious Hollywood restaurant, looking over one of her new clients, a suspected suicide bomber holds the restaurants clientele hostage. Terrified they do exactly as he asks and no one alerts the police.

At first terrorism is suspected, ISIS or Al-Qaeda, then quickly discounted, and the perpetrator tagged as ‘just another’ psychopath..

But this isn’t a random attack – this is cold calculated murder and the perpetrator is no stranger to killing...

But what exactly is their motive?

As the madman begins bargaining with the hostages and killing those he sees fit one by one, the survivors release is reliant upon the hostage negotiator getting the info she needs from the TRN news channel.

But can she get the answers she so desperately needs before they all run out of time and die at the hands of the mad person holding them.

One things for sure, Hollywood may never be the same again.

The Killing Game is available to buy now via Amazon online.

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

Review: Last Prophecy of Rome by Iain King

Last Prophecy of Rome by Iain King

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 28 January 2016

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: An ancient empire. A terrifying threat to the World’s Superpower. Only one man can stop it. ROME: Maverick military historian Myles Munro is on holiday with girlfriend and journalist Helen Bridle. He’s convinced a bomb is about to be detonated at the American Embassy. NEW YORK: A delivery van hurtling through Wall Street, blows up, showering the sky with a chilling message: America is about to be brought down like the Roman Empire. Juma, an African warlord, set free by the Arab Spring, plans to make it happen. When a US Senator is taken hostage, a chilling chain of events begins, and Myles finds himself caught in a race against time to stop Juma. But, he’s not prepared for the shocking truth that the woman he once loved, Juma’s wife, Placidia, has now become a terrorist. 

I really enjoyed the first novel in the Myles Monro installment 'Secrets of the last Nazi' and have been looking forward to the second installment for a while now.

Last Prophecy of Rome is a prequel to the previous novel and sees Myles drawn into helping the US fight a terrorism plot from an individual intent on destroying the country if the US doesn't agree to review its immigration policy.

As before Myles is a reluctant hero, drawn into the situation almost entirely by accident. This time due to the US senator specifically asking for him by name.

It transpires that an individual that Myles studied with is intrinsically involved with the plot and will only co-operate with the US if Myles is involved.

When Myles first meets the US senator he is ready to refuse the invitation to help him out, but he isn't given the chance, and before he knows what is happening they are heading towards the middle of the danger and Myles is confronted with someone he never thought he'd see again.

The US is under threat by terrorists intent on using the fall of Rome as a template and Myles with his historical knowledge must figure out exactly which element of this are using before the US faces imminent danger.

Last Prophecy of Rome is a very relevant novel and makes you think about terrorism from a different point of view.

Recommended.
 

Last Prophecy of Rome is available now from Amazon online and Bookouture.

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

Review: Landfalls by Naomi Williams

Landfalls by Naomi Williams

Publisher: Little Brown, UK

Release date: 22 October 2015

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: An epic voyage, undertaken with the grandest of ambitions. When Lapérouse leaves France in the Spring of 1785 with two ships under his command, he knows that he sails with the full backing of the French government. This is to be a voyage of scientific and geographical discovery - but every person on board has their own hopes, ambitions and dreams.  As the ships move across vast distances in their journey of nearly four years, the different characters step forward and invite us into their world. From the remote Alaskan bay where a dreadful tragedy unfolds, to the wild journey Barthélemy de Lessups undertakes from the far east of Russia to St Petersburg, the reader sees the emotional, physical and mental toll exacted by such an endeavour. Landfalls marks the launch of a brilliant new writer, who creates an unforgettable world through a web of voices and narratives.

Landfalls is Naomi Williams' debut, and I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot more from this particular author. 

As any regular reader to my blog will know, I just adore historical fiction, and this novel, whilst a little different from my usual, was still very enjoyable.

The novel, is not all fiction - The Boussole and the Astrolabe were two ships that set sail from Brest in August 1785 upon the orders of Louis XVI with the aim of recording new lands, verifying existing charts and records and making new scientific discoveries.

But the novel itself is a fictionalised account of these ships voyages of discovery.

Told from the perspectives of several onboard both ships, this could easily have been a very confusing novel, but this debut novelist is clearly very talented and keeps the reader captivates throughout.

Clearly thoroughly researched, Landfalls is a wonderful tale of exploration, loyalty, friendship and love. It's a little slow to start, but worth the perseverance.

I look forward to seeing what this author has up her sleeve next!

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

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

Review: the Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

the Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
Publisher: Random House UK/ Transworld
Release date: 2 July 2015
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: There are small towns in America that never seem to change, places where time holds still, and where nothing has or will – ever - happen. This is a lie. Summer, 1938: the small town of Macedonia, West Virginia, is celebrating its 150th anniversary, to be commemorated with parades, picnics, and most importantly, a book recounting its history. Its reluctant author, the debutante Miss Layla Beck, recently disinherited by her father, arrives in town with one goal – to get out of it as quickly as possible. Macedonia’s history seems simple enough - brief and uneventful. Then Layla meets the Romeyns: Jottie, Willa, Felix, Emmett, a family at once entertaining, eccentric, seductive, and inextricably bound up in Macedonia’s most well-kept historical secret – a secret yet to be told.

 

The Truth According To Us is a novel that has had me intrigued and wanting to read the novel for quite some time now.

Set in the fictional Macedonia, West Virginia in 1938. It is told from three main viewpoints; Willa Romeyn, Josephine Romeyn (Willa’s aunt) (Jottie) and Layla Beck a young writer from a wealthy family who is staying with the Romeyn’s whilst writing about the history of Macedonia for the Federal Writers' Project.

The Federal Writer's Project is assigned to Layla by her uncle, after her US senator Father tries to force Layla in to a marriage that she does not care for. Instead she finds herself as a writer in the small town of Macedonia, West Virginia, a world away from her rich and privileged upbringing in Washington.

Layla wants to tell the true story of the town, the residents perhaps unsurprisingly are not too sure about a stranger writing about their towns history. But Layla has an unexpected ally in the form of twelve year old Willa, a young girl who is interested to know what secrets the town she lives in might be harbouring.

But as is so often the case, once you start digging in to the past, there is always a chance that you might discover something that you don't want to.  Without giving too much away, I suppose all I can say is that some secrets are buried for a reason, and often its the families that inhabit the town and not the town itself that have something to hide.

The Truth According To Us is a beautifully written novel that really has you believing that you are there in that summer investigating Macedonia's history with Layla Beck.

The Truth According To Us is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

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

Review: The Man who Watched Women by Hjorth and Rosenfeldt

The Man Who Watched Women by Michael Hjorth and Hans Rosenfeldt.
Publisher:
Release date:
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: As a heatwave blazes in Stockholm, a series of women are found brutally murdered and the Criminal Investigation Department is getting nowhere. The murders bear all the hallmarks of Edward Hinde, the serial killer jailed by psychological profiler Sebastian Bergman fifteen years earlier. Sebastian desperately needs some order in his chaotic life. The revelation that he has a daughter, Vanya, could provide this longed-for stability. But should he tell her the truth and risk destroying her life and career? Forcing his way into the investigation, Sebastian soon learns that the murders are connected to him and that no one around him is safe. Including Vanya.

This is the first ‘Sebastian Bergman’ thriller that I have read, although I understand there is a previous novel in the series. Although I enjoyed the novel, I did find it a little long, and I have seen other reviewers comment with similar views.

The Man Who Watched Women is a little show to get going, in fact I only found myself really gripped through the last couple of chapters, and as regular readers of my blog will know, I love a good crime thriller! That said, I did enjoy the novel, there was something there that stopped me putting it down, even during the earliest stages of the novel where everything was a little slow.

Michael Hjorth and Hans Rosenfeldt the authors of The Man Who Watched Women are both experienced screen-writers, and for me in quite a few aspects of this novel, it is obvious. Much of the novel could be a television series, the ways the characters and locations are detailed, could easily be part of a television script. However, I do think it would make a very good television series..

The Man Who Watched Women revolves around Stockholm’s Criminal Investigation Department at Riksmord desperately trying to track down a serial killer, a brutal murderer who seems to be copying the crimes of psychopathic killer Edward Hinde, who is now safely behind bars.

Renowned psychological profiler Sebastian Bergman is the man who put Hinde behind bars and knows him better than anyone. He is convinced that he is somehow involved in the most recent murders. But Riksmord are reluctant to ask for his help, equally as sure that this is purely a copycat killer that they are looking for.

As Sebastian becomes more heavily involved in the investigation, he realises that all is not as it first appears. There are a series of unexplained links to each of the victims that lead him to believe that the killer has some sort of personal link back to him, but struggles to articulate his concerns to the investigative team.

The Man Who Watched Women is a good crime novel there is not doubt about that, it just could have been a little but shorter in my opinion.

The Man Who Watched Women is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

Review: the last honeytrap by Louise Lee

the Last Honeytrap by Louise Lee

Publisher: Headline

Release date: 4 June 2015

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: He's the man every woman wants. Private Investigator Florence Love is out to get him. Florence has ten days to meet, charm and entrap Scott 'Scat' Delaney. Whilst sticking to THE Cardinal Entrapment Rule: One kiss, with tongues, five seconds - case closed. Scat, a superstar jazz musician, is stunning. He's also a reclusive hypochondriac with a Junta-like entourage - it's going to take a special woman to make him fall into the trap. Florence Love will tell you at length why she's that woman. She's beautiful, resourceful and relentless. A master of body language, evolutionary science and Shorinji Kempo. She'll use every tool in her armoury, especially when it comes to discovering the truth about Bambi, her absent mother - a twenty-five-year-old mystery she's determined to solve... Cardinal Entrapment Rule #2 Never EVER fall for the target (even when they're the hottest man on the planet) That would be very bad form indeed.

Sometimes when you inhabit the dark dark (reading) world of murderers, pyschopaths and sociopaths you just need a little bit of light relief- and that's where the last honeytrap comes in. 

Florence Love is a Private Investigator (P.I) specialising in entrapment; luring unsuspecting (and unfaithful) men into compromising positions that they can't argue themselves out of, no matter how much fame or fortune they may have.

Love uses her beauty, brains and relentlessness to entice these men to her and she rarely fails. They are usually quick to succumb, you could they are say putty in her hands.

She loves her job, but an encounter with a foreign government minister leaves her wondering if she shouldn't give it up. Then she begins to recieve evidence that her long deceased Mother may still be alive, so she uses work to distract herself, until she can bear to find out the truth.

Florence's brother, Michael Love is just about the most adorable man in a novel that I've ever met (read). He is so loyal to Florence, but not afraid to voice his opinion. Michael has aspergers and some of his one liners to Florence are just brilliant. Michael doesn't believe as Florence does that their mother is alive, but he adores Florence and is easily influenced by her.

Scott (Scat) Delaney is a global superstar, a renowned Jazz musician with exceptional looks who could have any woman he wanted. He has a secret girlfriend, a relationship that has been kept from the press. He wants to finally go public, but his girlfriend Alice wants to be totally sure before she is thrust into the spotlight, so she hires Florence.

As Florence begins her surveillance on Scat in order to set the 'trap' several things don't add up to her and she wonders if Alice St Croix is who she says she is? But if she isn't then why on earth would she have hired Florence. As Florence's investigation continues she grows ever closer to Scat, aware that she is breaking all the rules of a P.I.

Frankly she is past caring. Convinced that her mother 'Bambi' is out there somewhere, and distracted by a potential stalker, Florence swears that Scat's entrapment will be her last. But will she be able to tear herself away from the sexiest man on the planet? 

Only time will tell.... the last honeytrap probably wouldn't be my usual choice of novel, but I'm actually quite looking forward to the next one in the series!

the Last Honeytrap is available from 4 June 2015.

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

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

Review: the Killing Lessons by Saul Black

the Killing Lessons by Saul Black
Publisher: Orion
Release date: 21 May 2015
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: When the two strangers turn up at Rowena Cooper's isolated Colorado farmhouse, she knows instantly that it's the end of everything. For the two haunted and driven men, on the other hand, it's just another stop on a long and bloody journey. And they still have many miles to go, and victims to sacrifice, before their work is done. For San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart, their trail of corpses - women abducted, tortured and left with a seemingly random series of objects inside them - has brought her from obsession to the edge of physical and psychological destruction. And she's losing hope of making a breakthrough before that happens. But the slaughter at the Cooper farmhouse didn't quite go according to plan. There was a survivor, Rowena's 10-year-old daughter Nell, who now holds the key to the killings. Injured, half-frozen, terrified, Nell has only one place to go. And that place could be even more terrifying than what she's running from.

The Killing Lessons is the first Saul Black novel that I have read. Apparently he also writes as Glen Duncan...but I haven't read any of those either!

The Killing Lessons for me is a difficult one to review. I absolutely loved parts of it, hated others and feel indifferent about the bits inbetween! It has quite a dramatic opening, in fact the first half of the novel is quite dark, gritty and disturbing until we meet the local police, who I have to be honest, for me were a little underwhelming.

For me, the pace of the novel changes as soon as the cops are introduced, and although I understand the need for police procedural work to be dealt with in some depth. I didn't enjoy the second part of the novel as much, it kind of felt like someone had taken their foot off the accelerator.

Nell Cooper was by far my favourite character. We meet her, alongside her Mother and Brother at the beginning of the novel just before they are brutually murdered and Nell escapes. Her courage and strength are admirable, and I would love to know where her character ends up after the novel has ended.

Valerie Hart is hunting a serial killer, possibly two, Rowena Cooper and her son are just numbers being added to her investigation. An investigation that is undoubtedly tough, is made more difficult by the appearance of a face from Valerie's past. I'm not entirely sure what relevance this had, other than to give Valerie a bit more a back story.

And then we have our serial killer(s). Two seriously disturbed individuals who I think actually make the novel more believable. Because we all know that serial killers are not 'normal' human beings, and the author does a great job of getting inside their warped and twisted minds.

I think perhaps I'm used to reading novels where everything happens all at once. At times the Killing Lessons to me felt a little disjointed as the author concentrated on a particular character or event for more than one chaper. I understand that many may appreciate this style and it's not a criticism as such, I think I'm just used to reading much more fast-paced thrillers.

the Killing Lessons is available from 21 May 2015. You can pre-order it now from Amazon online.

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

Review: Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: 28 August 2014

Rating: *** and a half stars

Back cover blurb: Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her. While police suspect Jeff of "instant divorce," Emory, suffering from an unexplained head injury, regains consciousness and finds herself the captive of a man whose violent past is so dark that he won't even tell her his name. She's determined to escape him, and willing to take any risks necessary to survive. Unexpectedly, however, the two have a dangerous encounter with people who adhere to a code of justice all their own. At the center of the dispute is a desperate young woman whom Emory can't turn her back on, contd.

Mean Streak is a book that has been on my 'to be read' list for an awfully long time, and would probably still be on it if I hadn't been prompted it to read it as part of an online book group.

Mean Streak is a strange novel, on one hand it reminded me a little of some of Tess Gerrittsen's work, on the other it was unlike anything I had ever read before. And whilst I really wanted there to be a happy ending, I was kind of disappointed by the novels ending and felt there could have been more depth to it.

Dr. Emory Charbonneau is an avid runner, some might say fanatical. But Emory would disagree, as she does with her husband the night before setting off in to mountains of North Carolina to practice running at Altitude. It is more than the usual husband/wife disagreement, and not for the first time Emory wonders if her husband is having an affair.

She has little time to ponder this as early the next morning whilst on her first run, she is brutually attacked and ends up in a strangers cabin. Her captor insists that he won't hurt her. But when he won't even divulge his name, Emory feels less than safe.

Emory's husband meanwhile, is with his mistress, Emory's best friend and one of the co-owners of Emory's medical practice; Alice. When Emory fails to return home as expected, Emory's husband, Jeff begins to fear that something may have happened to her.

The local police are suspicious of Jeff when he turns up on their doorstep looking for Emory. They are distinctly unimpressed by his attitude and character and wonder if he just wanted to get rid of his wife in an 'instant divorce'.

Meanwhile Emory is beginning to trust the man who insists he saved her life, bringing her in off the mountainous terrain where she had been attacked and left for dead. Emory desperately wants to believe him, but if he didn't attack her, then who did? And why won't he let her go or tell her his name?

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

Review: Don't Turn Around by Caroline Mitchell

Don't Turn Around by Caroline Mitchell
Publisher: Bookouture
Release date: 24 April 2015
Rating: *** and a half
Back cover blurb: You don’t know him. But he knows you. Soon he would be able to touch her, to feel the warmth of her blood. And when the time came, nothing would stop him. As D.C. Jennifer Knight investigates a routine stabbing in the quiet town of Haven, she is shocked at what seems like a personal message from beyond the grave. When more bodies are found, Jennifer is convinced the killings are somehow linked. What she discovers is more chilling than she could possibly imagine. The murders mirror those of the notorious Grim Reaper – from over twenty years ago. A killer her mother helped convict. Jennifer can no longer ignore the personal connection. Is there a copycat killer at work? Was the wrong man convicted? Or is there something more sinister at play …With her mother’s terrifying legacy spiralling out of control, Jennifer must look into her own dark past in a fight not only to stop a killer – but to save herself and those she loves.

Don't Turn Around by Caroline Mitchell, is not your average Crime thriller. It contains a strong hint of the paranormal, which I am not usually a fan of. Thankfully it works well within the context of the novel, and it wasn't too overpowering - which was what I was concerned about.

Jennifer Knight is called in to investigate a stabbing; the victim, a well known local ex-boxer, the perpetrator the equally well known local criminal Johnny Mallet. The crime seems cut and dry, a standard police case in the quiet town of Haven.

But then Johnny Mallet is found dead in a suspected suicide case, Jennifer begins to see and hear things that she hasn't experienced for years, and it all becomes a lot more interesting. As more people begin to lose their lives in seemingly unsuspicious circumstances, Jennifer begins to see paraellels with a murder investigation that her mother undertook some twenty plus years before.

Jennifer though must tread carefully, as she has been moved to Haven from a previous police role after voicing her paranormal beliefs. Not wanting to upset the apple cart but determined to solve the crime, convinced that they are only looking for one killer, Jennifer confides in her colleague Will. Who she knows will believe in her no matter what.

Jennifer Knight is a brilliant detective and her relationship with her colleague Will is excellent. If any two characters in a book should be together then its those two! Sadly any fledgling relationship they may have had is upset by the arrival of Ethan who has been sent to shadow Jennifer in her work. Young, goodlooking and great at his job, Will can't help but feel a little threatened by Ethan, and there are a few scenes that left me wondering whose side I was actually on?!

Don't Turn Around's ending was one I was not expecting, but it is one that has left a huge door open for a great future for Jennifer Knight and I can't wait to see where she goes next.

Don't Turn Around is released on 24 April 2015 and available to pre-order now from Amazon online.

  

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

Review: Her by Harriet Lane

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Review: A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh
Publisher: John Murray Press
Release date: 01 January 2015
Rating: *** and a half stars

Back cover blurb: It doesn't look like murder in a city full of death . . . A pandemic called 'The Sweats' is sweeping the globe. London is a city in crisis. Hospitals begin to fill with the dead and dying, but Stevie Flint is convinced that the sudden death of her boyfriend Dr Simon Sharkey was not from natural causes. As roads out of London become gridlocked with people fleeing infection, Stevie's search for Simon's killers takes her in the opposite direction, into the depths of the dying city and a race with death. A LOVELY WAY TO BURN is the first outbreak in the PLAGUE TIMES trilogy. Chilling, tense and completely compelling, it's Louise Welsh writing at the height of her powers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh is the first novel in 'the plague times' trilogy. Whilst a little curious I cannot say that I am desperate to read the two novels that are to follow. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy the novel, I just felt it was a little lacking. But then I suppose if it's part of a trilogy then there are bound to me a few questions left unanswered so perhaps I am being overly critical!

Stevie (Stephanie) Flint is a 'sales girl' on a well known shopping channel, she has a ball everyday at work thanks to the company of her best friend Joanie. She also dates a top surgeon and is happy with their 'casual' relationship, so much so that she isn't overly bothered when he stands her up. 

But Stevie is nothing if not curious, and so when Simon doesn't return her calls, she decides to go to his flat. It is here that she makes a gruesome discovery-Simon's body. Stevie is adamant that it is not suicide as the police suspect, but what makes her so sure when she has barely know him for five minutes?

Away from Simon's flat Stevie succumbs to the pandemic doing the rounds 'the sweats' as it has been dubbed by the media. Sick for days, she has no contact with the outside world until a relative of Simon's pays her a visit. They leave behind a note that Simon had written specifically for Stevie. The note contains instructions which Stevie is reluctant to follow, until she wonders if there was more to Simon's sudden death than meets the eye.

As the outside world changes, Steve puts herself in danger as she tries to find the answers to put her mind at rest.

Chilling plausible at a time when there is so much uncertainty around Ebola, A Lovely Way to Burn at times makes for uncomfortable reading. There will be those who find it a little far fetched and there will those who adore it. Me? Well I'm somewhere in the middle. But maybe I should reserve judgement until the next instalment?

 

 A Lovely Way to Burn is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

 

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

Review: Escape by Dominique Maniotti

Escape by Dominique Maniotti
Publisher: Arcadia Books
Release date: 15 July 2014
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: 1987. Two Italian prisoners escape prison in a rubbish lorry. Parting company, Carlo heads for Milan, while Filippo treks north over the mountains. When Carlo is killed in a shoot-out during a bank robbery – and under deeply suspicious circumstances – a massive manhunt is launched. Frightened for his own safety, Filippo flees to Paris, where he’s assisted by Italian political exiles and finds work as a security guard. Long, lonely hours lead him to recall a story told to him by Carlo in prison – the explosive account of a former leader of the Red Brigades – and Filippo begins to devote his evenings to writing it down. His landlady, Cristina, finds him a publisher and the book becomes an instant bestseller. Carefully coached by his publishers, Filippo steadfastly refuses to admit that the book is anything other than fiction, but the public don’t believe him. Nor do the police. Contd...

Escape is a novel that I would not necessarily have picked up myself, despite it being within the crime genre I love, purely because it has been translated from the French version. Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong with translated novels (I have read a few crackers!) but for some reason I don't always get on that well with the French ones. Maybe it's delayed guilt at being so awful at A Level French?!

However, I was very kindly sent Escape by Arcadia Books a while back, and finally got around to reading it, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It's not my favourite crime novel ever, but for such a small book (160 pages) it packs an awful lot in.

Escape opens with the (somewhat predictable) escape of the title. Two Italian prisoners escape their prison in a refuse lorry. Although Carlo's escape is planned, Fillipo is more spur of the moment as he realises that he could be left behind to fend for himself.

Fillipo doesn't want to be left behind and makes a snap decision to follow in Carlo's footsteps.The escape is not as simple as Fillipo imagined and he is left to fend for himself after all when Carlo says that they must part company. Scared and alone, Fillipo has no choice but to follow Carlo's instructions and heads north over the mountains.

Meanwhile Carlo is on his way to Milan, his parting words to Fillipo are to head to Paris if he should get into trouble and look up an old friend of Carlo's who will be able to help. Fillipo barely takes notice of his friends advice as he convinced he will not need it. But when Carlo is shot in a bank robbery, Fillipo without an alibi realises he needs all the friends he can get.

He flees to Paris where he expects to be greeted like an old friend at the mention of Carlo's name, but is sorely disappointed. Finding himself alone again with no friends to speak of, Fillipo begins to write, he insists the novel he produces is fiction, but those around him are not so sure.

As Fillipo's plot develops he finds himself under increasing scrutiny. Will anyone believe a word he has to say, or has he got himself in to deep? Well, you will have to read to find out, as I refuse to give any more away :) 

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

 

Thanks to Arcadia who sent me a proof copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Munich Airport by Greg Baxter

Munich Airport by Greg Baxter
Publisher: Penguin

Release date: 03 July 2014
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: An American expat in London, about to enter a meeting, takes a phone call. The caller is a German policewoman. The news she has to convey is almost incomprehensible: the man's sister, Miriam, has been found dead in her Berlin flat, of starvation. Three weeks later, the man, his elderly father, and an American consular official find themselves in an almost unbearably strange place: a fogbound Munich Airport, where Miriam's coffin is to be loaded onto a commercial jet. Greg Baxter's extraordinary novel tells the story of these three people over those three weeks of waiting for Miriam's body to be released, sifting through her possessions, and trying to work out what could have led her to her awful death. Munich Airport is a gripping, daring and mesmeric read from one of the most gifted young novelists currently at work.

Munich Airport tells the tale of a disjointed family, living separate lives across many miles. Father and Son are bought together by the untimely death of daughter and sister, Miriam, who has died of starvation.

Munich Airport is told from Miriam's brothers point of view, from the moment that he took the phone call informing of her death right through to the delay at Munich Airport where Father and Son are waiting to bring Miriam's body back to the USA.

Whilst the characters pasts are touched upon, I didn't feel that Miriam's story was told as fully as it could have been, and for me, the novel quite a few unanswered questions. 

Nevertheless it was an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to others.

Munich Airport is ultimately an imaginative and moving novel that will make you question the complexity of the modern family, and if you could or should be doing more within your own.

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

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

Review: The Vacationers by Emma Straub

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

Publisher: Picador

Release date: 5 June 2014

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: It was set to be the family vacation of a lifetime. From Manhattan to Majorca, two weeks in a remote island villa, with the sort of relaxation, culture and cuisine that only Europe can offer. At least, that was Franny's plan. She wasn't counting on the extra baggage ...
 




 






The Vacationers was a quick but satisfying read for me. I've not read anything by Emma Straub before, so I didn't have any particular expectations going in to the novel. From the back cover blurb I was expecting a fun summery read, and that was exactly what I got.

The book centres around the Post family who are swapping their lives in Manhattan, USA for a two week vacation in Mallorca, Spain. Staying in a villa acquired through a friend, the Posts are expecting the holiday to paper over the cracks of their fractured lives, if not repair them fully.

For Franny, it is a chance to get away from it all and try to repair her marriage to Jim, the very same marriage that they should be celebrating thirty-five years of.

For Jim, it is a chance to try and fix things with Franny, to show how much he regrets past events, and he is not

For Sylvia at 18, it is her last family holiday prior to enrolling at Brown University. The Posts have booked Sylvia a Spanish tutor, Joan to make the most of their time there. As soon as Sylvia sets eyes on the beautiful Joan, she is no longer contemplating the local lingo, but instead checking out the local talent.

Joined in Mallorca by their son Bobby Post, 28 years old, with a girlfriend ten years his senior who no one much likes, and Franny's best friend Charles and his boyfriend Lawrence, the Posts vacation was never going to be the quick fix that the family needed.

But none of them are prepared for the chaos that ensues, the lessons they learn and the emotions they feel over the short two week period.

Is it the heat? The Country? Or something else entirely? Pop this book into your beach bag and join the Posts on vacation to find out... 

The Vacationers is available to buy online now and from 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: Black Lake by Johanna Lane

Black Lake by Johanna Lane

Publisher: Tinder Press
Release date: 1 May 2014
Rating:  *** and a half
Back cover blurb: For generations, the Campbells have lived happily at Dulough, an idyllic, rambling estate on the windswept coast of Ireland. But upkeep has drained the family coffers. Faced with the heartbreaking possibility of having to sell, John Campbell makes a very difficult decision; to keep Dulough he will turn the estate into a tourist attraction. He and his wife, daughter and son will move from the luxury of the big house to a small, damp caretaker’s cottage. The upheaval strains the already tenuous threads that bind the family, and when a tragic accident befalls them, long-simmering resentments and unanswered yearnings are forced to the surface. As each character is given a turn to speak, their voices tell a complex and fascinating story about what happens when the upstairs becomes the downstairs, and the legacy that remains when family secrets are revealed.

I was intrigued when I sent details about Johanna Lane's debut novel, Black Lake and immediately requested a copy on netgalley, which was duly approved.

Black Lake is Johanna Lane's debut, and I was expecting great things. Johanna writes beautifully, but the novel itself for me was lacking that extra little something special.

 

I expected Black Lake to revolve around an 'event' and to a certain extent, it does, but just perhaps not to the degree of impact that I was expecting. In fact, I actually had to read back several pages to check, as I almost missed it.

John Campbell and his wife Marianne, along with their children Phillip and Kate are forced to move out of their stately home (the fictional) 'Dolough' (Black Lake) in County Donegal, Ireland, when the family's historic financial issues finally catch up with them.

John inherited the estate, his brother the family's money, and it appears that they have not communicated well regarding the finances of the estate and that John has largely buried his head in the sand where monetary matters are concerned.

After striking a deal with the local government, the family move into a cottage in the grounds whilst the estate is taken over by the government for guided tours and general profiteering. 

The move inevitably causes a huge impact on the whole family, and they all deal with it in very different ways, until one of these ends in tragedy.

Black Lake is told from all four family members points of view in turn, and covers both past and present events which at times can be a little confusing. It is a short novel about how one family and its members deal with loss, in all kinds of different ways.

Black Lake is available from Amazon online and all good book shops.

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

Review: The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah

The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah
Publisher: Hodder & Staughton
Release date: 24 April 2014
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb:  Controversial newspaper columnist Damon Blundy has been murdered, and a woman who has never met him – housewife and mother Nicki Clements – is brought in for questioning. Nicki can’t answer any of the baffling questions detectives fire at her. She has no idea why a killer might use a knife in such an unusual way – a way that involves no stabbing or spilling of blood.  She doesn’t know what ‘HE IS NO LESS DEAD’ means, or why the murderer painted it on the wall of Damon Blundy’s study. And she can’t explain why she was so close to the crime scene – not without revealing the secret that could ruin her life. Because, although Nicki is not guilty of murder, she is far from innocent…

The Telling Error is another of those novels that has been on my 'to be read' list for ages and I was kindly granted authorisation by the publishers via netgalley whilst I was in Canada, and have literally only just gotten around to reading it.

The Telling Error is a complex story featuring the murder of controversial (and unpopular) newspaper columnist Damon Blundy. Nicki Clements is driving to her son's school to deliver his forgotten P.E. Kit when she sees the Police stopping vehicles in Elmhirst Lane where Blundy lived. Rather than waiting for instructions, Nicki does a u-turn to avoid the police. 

Unfortunately for her Nicki has to make several trips to the school that day, so when the Police view the CCTV footage from that day looking for clues and see a women behaving bizarrely, she becomes one of their prime suspects.

Of course, Nicki didn't kill Damon Blundy, but she can't answer the questions that the Police are throwing at her for fear that she will land herself in real trouble - with her family. For Nicki is deeply embroiled in an online relationship with a man that she has never met.

As the investigation in to Damon's murder gathers pace, detectives are told that Nicki Clements was having an affair with Damon Blundy. Was he really her online lover, or is someone trying to frame Nicki?

 

I really enjoyed the Telling Error, right up until the end. Whilst others may enjoy the uncertainty for Nicki following the uncovering and ending of her online affair, I didn't, and would like to know what happens next... but maybe Hannah has this in mind for a future novel.

  The Telling Error is available from Amazon online and all good book shops.
    Thank you to the publishers who approved by request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Dynamite Room by Jason Hewitt

The Dynamite Room by Jason Hewitt

Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
Release date: 27 March 2014

Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: July 1940. 11 year-old Lydia walks through a Suffolk village on a baking hot day. She is wearing a gas mask. The shops and houses are empty, windows boarded up and sandbags green with mildew. She strikes off down a country lane to a large Edwardian house – the house she grew up in. But Lydia finds it empty too, the windows covered in black-out blinds. Her family are gone. Late that night he comes, a soldier, gun in hand and heralding a full-blown German invasion. There are, he explains to her, certain rules she must now abide by. He won’t hurt Lydia, but she cannot leave the house. Is he telling the truth? What is he looking for? Why is he so familiar? And how does he already know Lydia’s name?



The Dynamite Room is the debut novel from playwright and actor Jason Hewitt. A claustrophobic and disturbing account of World War II featuring a young evacuee and a lone German soldier.

We meet Lydia as she flees from her evacuation 'home' in Wales, back to Sussex to find her family. Instead she finds her the village and her home deserted, apart from Heiden a German Soldier wielding a gun at her. Lydia is taken hostage in her former family home by the soldier who claims that he will not hurt her if she does as she is asked.

Lydia is a sweet young girl, if at times a little naive. Against all the odds she begins to build to trust and build a friendship with Heiden, and as she opens up to him about her family, little by little he begins to reveal his story to her.

In a novel such as this, I would generally expect to feel some unease towards a character such as Heiden, but so brilliant is Hewitt's writing that I actually found at times that I was feeling sorry for him. This novel carries a clear message that even in war we are all human beings with feelings.

Heiden wants to do the right thing and let Lydia go, but he thinks he is in too deep to claw his way back out of the mess he has found himself in.

At times the Dynamite Room is a little confusing as it jumps between different back stories and points of view, but the story is so compelling that it is worth persevering with.

 The Dynamite Room is available from Amazon online and all good book shops.

    Thank you to the publishers who approved by request on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Zenith Hotel by Oscar Coop-Phane

Zenith Hotel by Oscar Coop-Phane
Publisher: Arcadia
Release date: 15 March 2014
Rating: *** and a half

Back cover blurb: 'I'm a street prostitute. Not a call girl or anything, no, a real street whore, with stiletto heels and menthol cigarettes'. Nanou gives a detailed account of her day, from the moment she wakes up with a foul taste in her mouthh, in her sordid rented room, until the minute she crawls back into her bed at night to sleep. Interwoven with her story are stark portraits of her clients. Oscar Coop-Phane invents an astonishing cast of orignial and deeply human characters - losers, defeated by the world around them - who seek solace in Nanou's arms. Original and moving, this novel deftly paints a world of solitude and sadness, illuminated by precious moments of tenderness and acts of kindness. A series of vignettes, written in spare, elegant, yet deeply powerful prose, with an insight that defies the author's years, Zenith Hotel is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Zenith hotel is quite literally, the smallest novel I have ever read. Around the size of a small pocket guide book, Zenith hotel could be read comfortably in one sitting by the slowest of readers. That's not to say it's a short story - it isn't. Neither is it a Novella. Zenith hotel is a novel, of tiny proportions which tells a unique story.

Zenith hotel is a gritty account of real life on the streets of Paris. There is no romantic talk of the river seine or the Eiffel tower, here we see the real Paris, from the eyes of prostitute Nanou and her many clients. Nanou does not want us to feel sorry for her, she is not ashamed of who she is, or what she does, she just wants to tell her story.

A story that evolves over the course of one day, Nanou's day. A normal day in the life of a street prostitute. Nanou's clients are sprinkled in to the story here and there, we don't get to hear what Nanou thinks of them, we see only their background, so that we can try and figure out how and why they end up with Nanou.

Nanou's clients all seem to have one thing in common with her - other than sex, and that is loneliness. Although they all have companionship in different ways, from wife's to dying pets, they are all lonely, including Nanou herself.

Is this why she does what she does? We don't know as this is never addressed.

It's clear that she needs the money, and that prostitution is all she has ever known. But how exactly did she end up there? It's a question you will find yourself wondering the answer to, long after you have finished the novel.

You can purchase Zenith hotel from Amazon online and all good book shops.

    Thank you to Arcadia for the advanced proof of this novel.    

Review: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Publisher: Tinder Press
Release Date:7 January 2014
Rating: ***.5

Back Cover Blurb: Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ... A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.

 

 

 

The Invention of Wings is a historical novel, with a little bit of a difference. 

 

I didn't realise until the end when reading the Authors notes that it is based in part on the real lives of the Grimké sisters. American history wasn't something we studied when I was in Secondary School, but part of me wishes that I had, based on the fascination I now have with the subject matter of this novel.

The Invention of Wings is told in alternate chapters by the two main characters, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké (the slave) and Sarah Grimké (the wealthy plantation owners daughter) over a thirty year period. We meet the two when Hetty is being presented to Sarah as a 'gift' for her Eleventh Birthday. Sarah is appalled by the gesture and immediately tries to refuse her 'present'.

 

"I felt my spirit rise up to meet my will. I would not give up. I would err on the side of audacity. That was what I'd always done".

Despite her strong beliefs Sarah quickly learns that she is unable to do exactly as she pleases, and is forced the following day to accept her 'gift'. Having witnessed one of the family slaves being beaten at an early age, Sarah is determined to protect Hetty in any way that she can, even if this involves being getting into trouble herself.

A close friendship is formed between the two young girls, which grows as Sarah teaches Hetty to read. This was illegal in slave owning states, which shows how committed Sarah was to her cause. As we follow the two girls through to adulthood, we see their relationships change as the world around them changes and different characters are weaved in and out of their lives.

The Invention of Wings is a thought provoking novel which doesn't shy away from the horrors of pre-abolition in the deep south of America. It does make for uncomfortable reading at times, but that is purely down to how well written the novel is. 

 

I found it a little long personally (hence the 3.5 rather than 4 stars) but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. It's a great historical novel that's very informative as well as enjoyable. But don't take my word for it, go and check it out for yourself!

You can purchase The Invention of Wings from Amazon online and all good book shops.       Thank you to the Publishers who approved my request on Net Galley in exchange for an honest review