Review - Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land

Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Release date: 12 January 2017

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: NEW NAME. NEW FAMILY. SHINY. NEW. ME.' Annie's mother is a serial killer. The only way she can make it stop is to hand her in to the police. But out of sight is not out of mind. As her mother's trial looms, the secrets of her past won't let Annie sleep, even with a new foster family and name - Milly. A fresh start. Now, surely, she can be whoever she wants to be. But Milly's mother is a serial killer. And blood is thicker than water. Good me, bad me. She is, after all, her mother's daughter... 

Fifteen year old Milly has a privileged new life, a year 11 place at a prestigious girls school, a beautiful new home with a perfect family, Foster Father psychologist Mike , Foster Mother Saskia, and Foster Sister Phoebe.

Milly however is struggling to leave her past behind, formerly known as Annie, the reason for her new foster family is her Mother.

A Mother on trial, a serial killer guilty of some truly heinous crimes.

The case has hit the headlines with Milly's Mother being dubbed 'the Peter Pan Killer'. A monster guilty of abusing, torturing and killing young children in the worst way imaginable.

Despite Mike and Saskia welcoming Milly into their family with open arms, Milly is struggling to fit in, struggling to escape her Mother's voice, deep inside her head, and struggling with Mike and Saskia's biolgocial daughter, Phoebe.

Phoebe hates Milly almost instantly. Milly shouldn't take this personally, Phoebe pretty much hates anyone who takes the spotlight away from her. She is young, blonde, pretty and has the luxury of being one of the most popular girls at school.

But Phoebe underestimates Milly, thinks that she is just another foster kid. Milly is a much more complex character, conditioned from a young age by her evil Mother. She is a fragile creature, struggling to cope in the outside world, and Phoebe may be the one that pushes her over the edge.

How exactly will she handle that?

Ali Land's debut is a dark and disturbing novel, that is sure to be a hit in 2017. It will be well deserved...

It is a cracker of a novel to start the year with, and I hope she has more like this up her sleeve.

Good Me, Bad Me is available from 12 January 2017.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

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

Blog tour: Review - My Girl by Jack Jordan

My Girl by Jack Jordan 
Publisher: JJP 
Release date: 4 July 2016 
Rating: *****
Back cover blurb: Paige Dawson: the mother of a murdered child and wife to a dead man. She has nothing left to live for… until she finds her husband’s handgun hidden in their house. Why did Ryan need a gun? What did he know about their daughter’s death? Desperate for the truth, Paige begins to unearth her husband’s secrets. But she has no idea who she is up against, or that her life isn’t hers to gamble – she belongs to me. From the bestselling author of Anything for Her, Jack Jordan's My Girl is the new chilling thriller that you won't want to miss.

Before I started My Girl, every time I saw it on my kindle I started singing 'My Girl' in my head. Let's just start by saying, I'm definitely not singing that any more...

When I read Jack Jordan's debut novel, Anything For Her I realised that he was an author to watch. My Girl has now made Jack one of my go-to thriller authors, and I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve for his next novel.

Paige Dawson is a broken woman, A grieving widow; her husband has committed suicide and a childless mother; her daughter was brutally murdered ten years ago and her killer never found. Her life has been shattered in the worst imaginable way.

Perhaps understandably Paige drinks a lot. Her friends and family are worried about her, particularly as her behaviour becomes more and more erratic. But what does she have to live for?

Paige's Father, is desperate to help her, and as he helps her clear out her husbands things, in the hope she might begin to move on, Paige finds a gun in the hidden compartment of a filing cabinet.

Why on earth did her husband have a gun?

Did he have a double life she knew nothing about? Or was he just trying to protect them both after the death of their daughter?

Paige knows that if she decides to delve into the reasons behind her husbands secret then she may find something more than she bargained for but nothing could prepare her for what she is about to uncover.

I can't say much more without starting to give away some of the plot, but know this; My Girl is a dark, disturbing novel that grips you from its first page and doesn't let you go until its final sentence.

My Girl is available from 4 July. You can pre-order it now via Amazon online
Don't forget to check out the rest of the blog tour;

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

Review: The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

Publisher: Bookouture

Release date: 5 February 2016

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Eighteen years ago your baby daughter was snatched. Today, she came back. A sinister and darkly compelling psychological thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of The Girl With No Past. Eighteen years ago, Simone Porter’s six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted. Simone and husband, Matt, have slowly rebuilt their shattered lives, but the pain at losing their child has never left them. Then a young woman, Grace, appears out of the blue and tells Simone she has information about her stolen baby. But just who is Grace – and can Simone trust her? When Grace herself disappears, Simone becomes embroiled in a desperate search for her daughter and the woman who has vital clues about her whereabouts. Simone is inching closer to the truth but it’ll take her into dangerous and disturbing territory.

The Girl You Lost is a gripping psychological thriller that had me hooked from its first page.

Simone and Matthew Porter are left devastated at the disappearance of their six month old daughter Helena. Although young themselves they are committed to each other and vow never to lose hope.

Despite the odds they stick together, Matthew goes on to a successful career as a GP and Simone equally as successful as a journalist.

Eighteen years later Simone is approached in John Lewis by a young woman acting strangely. She insists that she has important information about Helena, but naturally Simone's guard is up. She has had Eighteen years of people claiming to know something. Each lead is followed but inevitably leads to heartache.

In spite of herself Simone ends up following the girl, Grace to a local cafe where Grace presents with some information that she could not possibly know unless she is telling the truth. Is this finally the moment that Matt and Simone have been waiting for?

But then Grace drops an unexpected bombshell, she is in trouble and needs Simone's help. Against her better judgement Simone agrees, if only to try and cling to the hope that Helena may be alive and well. Things are looking up, until Grace disappears.

What follows is a complex Cat and Mouse chase with Simone desperately seeking the truth, and seemingly everyone around her trying to stop her from doing just that.

Sometimes disturbing, with some hateful characters, but always brilliant the Girl You Lost is set for big things in 2016!

The Girl You Lost is available from 5 February 2016.

You can pre-order it now via Amazon online.

 

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

Review: Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Circus  Release date: 14 January 2016 Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Helen and Ellie are identical twins – like two peas in a pod, everyone says. The girls know this isn't true, though: Helen is the leader and Ellie the follower. Until they decide to swap places: just for fun, and just for one day. But Ellie refuses to swap back... And so begins a nightmare from which Helen cannot wake up. Her toys, her clothes, her friends, her glowing record at school, the favour of her mother and the future she had dreamed of are all gone to a sister who blossoms in the approval that used to belong to Helen. And as the years pass, she loses not only her memory of that day but also herself – until eventually only 'Smudge' is left. Twenty-five years later, Smudge receives a call from out of the blue. It threatens to pull her back into her sister's dangerous orbit, but if this is her only chance to face the past, how can she resist? Beside Myself is a compulsive and darkly brilliant psychological drama about family and identity – what makes us who we are and how very fragile it can be.

Beside Myself by Ann Morgan is a gripping novel, unlike any psychological thriller I have read before (and I've read my fair share!)

Helen and Eleanor (Ellie) Sallis are identical twins. Ellie has always lived in Helen's shadow. Helen has always been the "good" twin whilst Ellie is prone to accidents, general clumsiness and some slight behavioural issues. 

Helen is clearly the leader and at the beginning of the novel she even bullies Ellie slightly into doing what she wants. It is her idea for the girls to "swap" identities in a childish game just for a time to see if anyone can tell the difference. 

When the girls arrive home that afternoon they find their Mother distracted and seemingly unable to tell that they are not who they say they are. Helen isn't bothered, she knows that her Mother will see the difference, Ellie will somehow trip herself up and reveal the truth.

Only she doesn't, and then she refuses to swap back.

As the girls grow up Ellie (Helen) is treated appallingly by her family, whilst Helen (Ellie) is treated like a perfect little princess. One day, a tragic accident finally tears the sisters apart and Ellie is forced to live a tragic existence whilst her sister flourishes.

The storyline is split between present day and the twins growing up. I found it a difficult read at first, not only did I not know who to believe, or who to trust but at times it really makes for some uncomfortable reading. 

The characters in this novel are unbelievably flawed and treat each other horribly, but it only makes the story more interesting in my opinion.

Beside Myself is sure to be one of 2016's books to watch and I can't wait to read the next from this author.

Beside Myself is available from 14 January 2016. You can pre-order it now from Bloomsbury or Amazon online.
  Thank you to TBC on Facebook and Bloomsbury who provided me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A game for all the family by Sophie Hannah

A game for all the family by Sophie Hannah

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: 13 August 2015

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Justine thought she knew who she was, until an anonymous caller seemed to know better... After fleeing London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine Merrison plans to spend her days doing as little as possible. But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to seem strangely withdrawn. Checking Ellen's homework one day, Justine finds herself reading a chillingly articulate story about a series of sinister murders committed at the family's new house. Can Ellen really have made all this up, as she claims? Why would she invent something so grotesque, set it in her own home and name one of the characters after herself? When Justine discovers that Ellen has probably also invented her best friend at school, who appears not to be known to any of the teachers, Justine's alarm turns to panic. And then the phone calls start... 

 

A game for all the family is only the second Sophie Hannah novel I've read, although I know she has written a lot more. I shall certainly be seeking out a few more of her novels after this. 

There is so much I want to say about this novel, that I don't know where to begin. I fear that if I start talking about just how good it is, then I won't be able to shut up! It is a novel unlike any other I have read before. 

A game for all the family is a novel that had me gripped from its first pages. When Justine Merrison and her family move from London to Devon, something happens on the way to Justine that sets the tone for the novel to come. 

As they settle in to their new lives, Justine becomes increasingly concerned with her daughters behaviour, she seems very quiet and withdrawn, almost a different teenager from the one that travelled with the family from London. 

And then Ellen begins writing a murder mystery story for School that makes Justine feel very uneasy, and you start to ask yourself these questions; 

Why are the Merrison family leaving London? Why is Ellen writing a story about their new house? Why does Justine seem so on edge? 

It is a puzzle of a novel, with its pieces slowly given to you by the author to put into place or discard as you see fit. There are times where absolutely nothing seems to make sense, and then there are moments of pure clarity. 

Told from Justine's point of view, with Ellen's story as a secondary plot line, A game for all the family makes for compelling reading. It is a novel that you certainly won't forget in a hurry. 

A game for all the family is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good shops.

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

Review: the Slaughter Man by Tony Parsons

the Slaughter Man by Tony Parsons
Publisher: Cornerstone (Random House UK)
Release date: 21 May 2015
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: On New Year’s Day, a wealthy family is found slaughtered inside their exclusive gated community in north London, their youngest child stolen away. The murder weapon – a gun for stunning cattle before they are butchered – leads Detective Max Wolfe to a dusty corner of Scotland Yard’s Black Museum devoted to a killer who thirty years ago was known as the Slaughter Man. But the Slaughter Man has done his time, and is now old and dying. Can he really be back in the game? And was the murder of a happy family a mindless killing spree, a grotesque homage by a copycat killer–or a contract hit designed to frame a dying man? All Max knows is that he needs to find the missing child and stop the killer before he destroys another innocent family–or finds his way to his own front door .. A murdered family. A dying serial killer. A missing child. And a detective who must learn that even the happiest of families have black, twisted secrets that someone is ready to kill for…

The Slaughter Man is the second novel by Tony Parsons to feature DC Max Wolfe. Wolfe is my absolute favourite detective of the moment. He is so refreshingly normal that it is easy to identify with him. He has a sensitivity that is rare in detective novels and his relationship with his daughter is adorable.

The Slaughter Man of the novel's title, is ultimately a murderer responsible for the death of a wealthy London family, the Woods.

Behind a gated community in Highgate, the family are enjoying a quiet New Years Eve together, before their peace is shattered, forever. Mary Wood a former winter Olympian, her husband Brad, a former US winter Olympian and their two children; Marlon and Piper, all wiped out in a cold and calculated deliberate massacre.

Their third and youngest child, Bradley Wood is missing- presumed dead.

When DC Max Wolfe and his team arrive, even they as experienced detectives are shocked at the carnage they encounter. Initially Max suspects that they have all been shot at point blank range, and their injuries seem to confirm this. Until the forensic team get their hands on the bodies and conclude that the truth is much worse.

The family have been slaughtered by an unusual weapon, a gun usually used to stun cattle, not the usual weapon of choice for a serial or spree killer. When Max visits his familar haunt; the Black Museum, he is intrigued to find a similar case dating back some thirty years ago. Suddenly they have themselves a prime suspect, but does he have a motive?

The investigative team dig up a series of links and unexplained occurences that could indeed link the Slaughter Man to the Woods' murders. But are they clutching at straws? And is the real murderer still at large with a desire to kill that still hasn't been satisifed?

Max and his team have difficult times ahead as they try to find the answers and hope against hope that they can find Bradley Woods alive. A truly brilliant novel from start to finish, the Slaughter Man may just be my favourite detective led novel this year.

A definite must read. Add it to your reading lists now crime fans!

the Slaughter Man is available from 21 May. 

You can pre-order it now from Random House UK and Amazon Online.

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