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 But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to seem strangely withdrawn.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in to their new lives, Justine becomes increasingly concerned with her daughters behaviour, she seems very quiet and withdrawn, almost a different teenager from the one that travelled with the family from London.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: Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull

Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull
Publisher: Hodder & Staughton
Release date: 18 June 2015
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: In the 18th century, Dawnay Price is an anomaly. An educated foundling, a woman of science in a time when such things are unheard-of, she overcomes her origins to become a natural philosopher. Against the conventions of the day, and to the alarm of her male contemporaries, she sets sail to Portugal to develop her theories. There she makes some startling discoveries - not only in an ancient cave whose secrets hint at a previously undiscovered civilisation, but also in her own heart. The siren call of science is powerful, but as war approaches she finds herself pulled in another direction by feelings she cannot control.

Often when you read a debut novel by a talented new author you wonder if 'the difficult second book' will live up to your expectations. I never had any such worries about Rebecca Mascull's latest offering. There are some authors who you just instincively know you will love whatever they write. Rebecca Mascull doesn't disappoint.

Song of the Sea Maid opens with our (quite simply amazing) protagonist Dawnay Price as a young girl, being taken to an Asylum for the Destitute Wretches of the Streets of London after she attempts to steal the wig of a kindly gentleman who takes pity on her. 

Dawnay is quickly singled out as being different from the other 'foundlings', not only as the only street 'urchin' but also as a loner. She has made up her own mind not to make friends in the institution and instead becomes fixated on obtaining an education.

Practically unheard of for Women in general, let alone a young girl of Dawnay's background, at first she is flatly refused. But Dawnay is determined and rarely lets the word 'no' prevent her from doing what she wants.

 

Often when a novel begins with the protagonist as a child you are forced to skip forward through their life to adulthood where the novelist wishes you to pick up the story. There is none of that nonsense here. Rebecca artfully takes us through each stage of Dawnaty's intriguing life.

 

Our introduction to Dawnay's early life really sets the scene for her adventures later in life. Her benefactor having despaired and probably given up on the idea of Dawnay ever marrying, gives Dawnay his reluctant blessing for her to travel to Portugal unchaperoned (unheard of at the time) in the name of research.

 

As a condition of the trip she must sail with Lieutenant Commander Alexander, a man who on first meeting she is not particularly fond of. But during her journey Dawnay changes somewhat as she experiences that there is more to life than exploration (although not much in her opinion).

 

I can't really say much else without giving away more of the wonderful plot than I want to, so I will conclude with the fact that Song of the Sea Maid is a beautiful book, with a heroine that I now definitely have a bit of a girly crush on. A must read!

Song of the Sea Maid is available to pre-order now from Hodder & Staughton and 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: Jakob's Colours by Lindsay Hawdon

Jakob's Colours by Lindsay Hawdon
Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton
Release date: 9 April 2015
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: Austria, 1944. Jakob, a gypsy boy - half Roma, half Yenish - runs, as he has been told to do. With shoes of sack cloth, still bloodstained with another's blood, a stone clutched in one hand, a small wooden box in the other. He runs blindly, full of fear, empty of hope. For hope lies behind him in a green field with a tree that stands shaped like a Y. He knows how to read the land, the sky. When to seek shelter, when not. He has grown up directing himself with the wind and the shadows. They are familiar to him. It is the loneliness that is not. He has never, until this time, been so alone. 'Don't be afraid, Jakob,' his father has told him, his voice weak and wavering. 'See the colours, my boy,' he has whispered. So he does. Rusted ochre from a mossy bough. Steely white from the sap of the youngest tree. On and on, Jakob runs. Spanning from one world war to another... contd.

Jakob’s Colours like so many is a novel that I first heard of via Twitter. I immediately requested it via Bookbridgr as soon as it became available and was delighted to receive my copy in the post just days before my recent holiday to Italy.

Jakob’s Colours is a beautifully told tale of heartache and loss; the courage of a young boy and the brutality of war.

Jakob’s Colours is told from three main perspectives; those of Yavy (Jakob’s father), Lor (Jakob’s mother) and Jakob himself. And from three separate periods in time; this day -1944, before – 1943 and long before – 20s-30s.

Long before; Yavy and Lor’s first meeting, in the grounds of a mental institution is an unconventional one. But despite her seemingly privileged English upbringing Lor has had a lot to deal with and finds it easy to identify with Yavy. Can they make a new life together, or will they both be haunted by the past?

Before; Separated from Yavy, Lor is desperate to find the man she loves, and knows that there is only one place he could possibly be. With WW2 raging around them, Lor must decide if it is safe for her to find Yavy, or if she should keep her family hidden.

This day; Jakob’s struggle for survival in an unfamiliar world is heartbreaking, but his strength and courage are undeniable. But where are the rest of his family? And will he ever see them again?

Jakob’s colours is a difficult novel to put down. The timespans move effortlessly along, and at no stage did I have any difficulty following the characters progress.

As a lover of historical fiction (particularly war based historical fiction) I can confirm that the story of the Romany (gypsy) holocaust during WW2 is one that is seldom told. But it is a story that needs to be heard and Jakob and his family are the perfect narrators to this tragic tale.

Jakob’s Colours is one of my favourite novels so far this year.

Jakob's Colours is available to buy now from Amazon online and all good book shops.

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

Review: Seeing Other People by Mike Gayle

Seeing Other People by Mike Gayle
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release date: 28th August 2014
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: 'With the exception of my lack of a hangover-how could I have drunk so much that I'd forgotten the whole night and didn't have so much as a headache? - it all made sense. After the best part of twenty years of faithfulness I'd done the one thing I'd never dreamed I'd do. I'd cheated on my wife.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing Other People was a book that had been on my 'to be read' list for some time now. I get a lot of my book recommendations these days from other bloggers, authors, publishing houses, publicists etc via Twitter. I'd had purposely saved it until after I had read Broadchurch and The Secret Place, as I wanted to get stuck into something completely different - I wasn't disappointed!

 

I love the way that Mike Gayle writes, he is honest and he is a realist. For most of us, life isn't perfect and Mike Gayle is not afraid to confirm this in his writing.

 

Seeing Other People centres around Joe Clarke, a married Father of two, who loves his wife to pieces, or so he thinks. Until he wakes up one morning in bed with the new office intern. He is sure that he was mugged whilst texting her the previous night, and he is sure that he told her they couldn't meet.

 

Yet there he is in her flat, without any injuries and still with his belongings.

 

Joe has no idea what's going on so he acts like everything is normal, creeps home to his wife and thinks nothing of it (or maybe tries to....) until he goes to the funeral of an ex-girlfriend. 

 

Weirdly after the funeral Joe thinks he sees his ex. But Joe doesn't believe in ghosts and once again wonders what on earth is going on?

Has he gone mad with guilt?

Should he therefore make a confession to Penny his wife, to save his own sanity?

Or should he just keep his mouth shut and hope his life goes back to normal?

You will need to grab a copy for yourself to find out, but Seeing Other People is one of the best books that I have read from a male perspective in quite some time.

Seeing Other People is available to buy from Amazon online and all good book shops.

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

Review: The Secret Place by Tana French

The Secret Place by Tana French

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release date: 28 August 2014

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: ‘I know who killed him.’

Could these few words, posted on a notice board in an exclusive girls’ boarding school, be Detective Stephen Moran’s passport to the Murder Squad? Moran is about to be plunged into the single most intense and nerve-shredding day of his life, investigating the story of a boy whose murder has been unsolved for a year, and a group of girls on the verge of womanhood, who all seem to have something to hide.

Well, I finally know who killed him!

Let's just say it definitely wasn't who I was expecting, but you will have to read for yourself to find out.

The Secret Place at first glance, might seem like a bit of an epic read at 500 odd pages, but it is worth the effort because every single one of those pages is beautifully written.

Holly Mackey, the infamous Detective Mackey's daughter is already known to Detective Stephen Moran, when she turns up at his office with a crucial piece of evidence for a case that remains an unsolved mystery.

The murder of local school 'boy' Chris Harper.

Chris was a popular boy, didn't do drugs, didn't drink (well no more than the usual amount that teenagers do anyway) so who killed him and why?!

It's a question that Detective Antionette Conway has been asking for the past year. She has interviewed Chris Harpers' friends, family and ex-girlfriend(s) but has gotten no where. She is certain that Private girl's school St Kilda's holds the answers and Holly Mackey herself is a border there.

When Detective Moran turns up in Conway's team with the evidence she is determined to re-open the case, with or without Moran. Moran convinces her that they should work together, and their Detective partnership is born, and my is it a good one!

The way they bounce off each other (good and bad) is ingenious. I digress slightly...

Moran and Coran are on their way to St Kilda's before you can blink, convinced that The Secret Place holds... well, the secret I suppose!

The Secret Place is the key to the investigation, but it could refer to so much more; a hiding place for a mobile phone, a hang-out for teenage girls etc...

I'm not going to give any more away because I really want everyone to read this book for themselves and find out exactly who killed him.

The Secret Place is available to buy from TODAY online and from all good book shops.

    Many thanks to Commuter reads who sent me an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Review: Confessions by Kinae Minato

Confessions by Kanae Minato (translated by Stephen Snyder)
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Release date: 14 August 2014
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: When Yuko Moriguchi's four-year-old daughter died at the Middle School wehre she teaches, everyone thought it was a tragic accident. Now it's the last day of term, and Yuko's last day at work. She tells her students she's resigned because of what happened-but not for the reasons they think. Her daughter didn't die in an accident. Her daughter was killed by two pupils in the class. And before she leaves, she has a lesson to teach... But revenge has a way of spinning out of control, and Yuko's last lecture is only the start of the story. In this best-selling Japanese thriller of love, despair and murder, everyone has a confession to make, and no one will escape unharmed.

I must have a really warped and twisted mind, because I seem to have a penchant for dark Japanese novels. Confessions is no exception, and had me hooked from start to finish. 

Yuko Moriguchi is a home room teacher at S Middle School in Japan intent on teaching her pupils a lesson.

For two of her home room students played a major role in the untimely death of her four year old daughter, Manami, who's death was thought to be accidental.

Yuko's last home room lesson of the year has been carefully thought out by the single parent teacher.

Each chapter that follows is told from a different characters perspective; Mizuki, the class president, Shuya and Naoki, and relatives such as Naoki's sister.

Each of them thinks that they are justified in behaving the way that they do in the aftermath of Yuko's revelations, and set out to gain the readers empathy.

Mostly, the behaviour is shocking with nobody willing to blame for their own actions, but more than ready and willing to blame others.

Just when you think you know what is going to happen (from Shuya's viewpoint) the author reintroduces Yuko.

Giving the final chapter back to Yuko to behave as she does, in my opinion is a work of genius. I urge you to read Confessions as soon as you can. You won't be disappointed.

Confessions is available to buy from TODAY from Amazon online and all good book shops.

   

Huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Bookbridgr who approved my request in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Three by Sarah Lotz

The Three by Sarah Lotz
Publisher: Hodder & Staughton
Release date: 22 May 2014
Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: Black Thursday.  

The day that will never be forgotten. The day that four passenger planes crash, at almost exactly the same moment, at four different points around the globe. There are only four survivors.  

Three are children, who emerge from the wreckage seemingly unhurt. But they are not unchanged. And the fourth is Pamela May Donald, who lives just long enough to record a voice message on her phone. 

A message that will change the world.  

The message is a warning.

  
02 January 2012.  

Dubbed Black Thursday by the media.  

Four almost simultaneous plane crashes across the globe; 

Maiden Airlines goes down in the Florida Everglades 
Go! Go! Airlines seemingly vanishes into the sea
Dalu Air in to a shanty town in Africa
Sun Air into a creepy 'suicide' forest in Japan. 

They're here ... The boy. The boy watch the boy watch the dead people oh Lordy there's so many ... They're coming for me now. We're all going soon. All of us. Pastor Len warn them that the boy he's not to??-- The last words of Pamela May Donald (1961 - 2012)

I'm not sure exactly how much I can say about The Three. I don't want to give anything away - at all.

That is how much it enthralled me, and I want others to experience the same.

It's one of those novels, where the less you know about it, the better.

Others may disagree, but I would just recommend that you pick it up.

Trust me, you won't be able to put it down until you've finished.

Even then, you will still be thinking about it.

The Three is available 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 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 Visitors by Rebecca Mascull

The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 2 January 2014
Rating: ****

Back Cover Blurb: Imagine if you couldn't see. Couldn't hear. Couldn't speak... Then one day somebody took your hand and opened up the world to you. Adeliza Golding is a deafblind girl, born in late Victorian England on her father's hop farm. Unable to interact with her loving family, she exists in a world of darkness and confusion; her only communication is with the ghosts she speaks to in her head, who she has christened the Visitors. One day she runs out into the fields and a young hop-picker, Lottie, grabs her hand and starts drawing shapes in it. Finally Liza can communicate. Her friendship with her teacher and with Lottie's beloved brother Caleb leads her from the hop gardens and oyster beds of Kent to the dusty veldt of South Africa and the Boer War, and ultimately to the truth about the Visitors.

The Visitors is the second historical fiction novel I've picked up in less than a week. It was kindly sent to me by Wish List books, and by the time I'd read the first few lines I was hooked.

The Visitors is a beautiful tale of friendship, romance and learning how to overcome disability. It follows the protagonist, Adeliza (Liza) from birth, right through to adulthood.

Liza is born partially sighted (from what I can gather), but after contracting a fever at the age of Two, she is left both deaf and blind, plunged into darkness and silence. Unable to communicate with her beloved family, Liza becomes increasingly frustrated and angry. Her only communication is with the Visitors, the ghosts that she speaks to in her head.

One day Liza escapes from her monotonous routine with her Nanny and runs out into her Father's hop fields where her hand is taken and drawn on to by a complete stranger, who we learn to be Charlotte (Lottie), a young hop picker whose family help Liza's father out every summer.

Lottie has had tragedy in her own life, her sister died at a young age and was blind, which is how Lottie learned to 'finger speak'. Lottie is taken on to help Liza, and we never hear of 'Nanny' again, as Lottie teaches Liza more and more, their friendship blossoms into something beautiful and she is introduced to the rest of Lottie's family. She is particularly taken with Lottie's beloved brother Caleb. I could almost sense that this would have a major impact later on in the book, but I wasn't entirely sure how. I don't want to give anything away, but Caleb is pivotal to how the story ends and I guess in some way also, to the woman that Liza becomes.

The Visitors themselves are also crucial to how certain events play out, but again I don't want to give anything away. I'm not usually a fan of 'ghost' stories, but this novel was so much more...

I still can't quite believe that this is a debut novel as it is so well written. I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

You can purchase the Visitors from Amazon online and all good book shops.