Showing posts with label Transworld Publishers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transworld Publishers. Show all posts

Friday, 8 January 2016

Review: The Widow by Fiona Barton

The Widow by Fiona Barton
Publisher: Bantam Press
Release date: 14 January 2016
Rating: *** and a half
Back cover blurb: We've all seen him: the man - the monster - staring from the front page of every newspaper, accused of a terrible crime. But what about her: the woman who grips his arm on the courtroom stairs – the wife who stands by him? Jean Taylor’s life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she’d ever wanted: her Prince Charming. Until he became that man accused, that monster on the front page. Jean was married to a man everyone thought capable of unimaginable evil. But now Glen is dead and she’s alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms. Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows.
 






The Widow is Fiona Barton's debut novel, but you wouldn't know...

Jean (or Jeanie) Taylor is a widow, her husband recently run over by a bus on a busy main road. But that isn't why she has reporters camped outside her door...

Jean's late husband, Glen Taylor was under the scrutiny of the police for the disappearance and suspected murder of Bella Elliott. Detective Bob Sparkes was about to re-arrest Glen when he learned of his death.

Jean has to decide whether she wants to tell her side of the story and get rid of the reporters once and for all.

The Widow is told through the perspective of several narrators, The Widow - Jean Taylor, The Husband - Glen Taylor, The Reporter - Kate Waters,  The Detective - Bob Sparkes and The Mother - Dawn Elliott.

This novel is a fascinating insight into the woman behind the accused.

We've all seen those women on TV standing beside or just behind their men outside the court when they are accused of hideous crimes. You often wonder if they knew? How could they not? Fiona Barton has really explored this and written an interesting novel.

From the beginning I was waiting for a big twist, possibly because the book is being described as a psychological thriller, as an avid reader of such novels.

I'm not sure it fits this description.

There is plenty explored from the psychological perspective, but it isn't a fast faced thriller. More of an in-depth exploration of the ultimate dysfunctional marriage, people's obsessions and how this affects those around them.

The Widow is sure to be a big hit and I look forward to Fiona Barton's next.

The Widow is available from 14 January 2016.
You can pre-order it now from Amazon online and Transworld Publishers

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

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Review: Bryant & May- the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler

The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler
Publisher:
Doubleday
Release date: 26 March 2015
Rating: ****
Back cover blurb: London is under siege. A banking scandal has filled the city with violent protests, and as the anger in the streets detonates, a young homeless man burns to death after being caught in the crossfire between rioters and the police. But all is not as it seems; an opportunistic killer is using the chaos to exact revenge, but his intended victims are so mysteriously chosen that the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to find a way of stopping him. Using their network of eccentric contacts, elderly detectives Arthur Bryant and John May hunt down a murderer who adopts incendiary methods of execution. But they soon find their investigation taking an apocalyptic turn as the case comes to involve the history of mob rule, corruption, rebellion, punishment and the legend of Guy Fawkes.At the same time, several members of the PCU team reach dramatic turning points in their lives...  contd.


I was very kindly pointed in the direction of this novel by Sophie Christopher at Penguin Random House, and I am very glad I was.

The Burning Man is the 12th novel in the Bryant and May series, but the authors introductions to Bryant and May themselves at the beginning of the novel meant that it really didn't matter if I hadn't read another book in their series (I hadn't).

Bryant and May have a brilliant relationship, both inside and outside of their roles as Detectives for the Peculiar Crime Unit of the City of London police force. Theirs is the kind of relationship experienced by very few. Each has a deep mutual respect for the other, even if they wouldn't admit it!

But the truth is, as Senior decectives, they are seen as bumbling and ageing by many of those around them. Only their closest colleagues are aware of their true brilliance.

In the Burning Man, the crimes that the Peculiar Crime Unit are initially asked to investigate are brutal-but it's nothing Bryant and May haven't seen before.

With Londoners becoming increasingly scared of the rioters on their streets, Bryant and May must work hard to catch a serial killer who seems intent on destroying his chosen victims beyond recognition.

The ending of the novel both surprised and saddened me, and I would love to know if there is another Bryant and May release in the pipeline. In the meantime, I am trying to clear some room on my 'to be read' pile for the previous Bryant and May novels!
  

Bryant & May-The Burning Man is available from Amazon online and all good book shops.
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Thank you to Sophie Christopher who provided me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Review: the Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer

the Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer
Publisher:
Transworld Publishers
Release date:
12 March 2015
Rating: *****
Back cover blurb: Five footprints are the only sign that Daniel Buck was ever here. And now they are all his mother has left. Every day, Anna Buck guards the little prints in the cement. Polishing them to a shine. Keeping them safe. Spiralling towards insanity. When a psychic offers hope, Anna grasps it. Who wouldn't? Maybe he can tell her what happened to her son...But is this man what he claims to be? Is he a visionary? A shut eye? Or a cruel fake, preying on the vulnerable? Or is he something far, far worse?








the Shut Eye is my favourite kind of novel; a crime thriller with a dark story at its heart and a bit of humour thrown in (DCI Marvel) for good measure.

I hadn't read any of this author's work before, but I can certainly see why she has won some pretigious awards (CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year (for Blacklands), CWA Dagger in the Library, and Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (for Rubbernecker)).

the Shut Eye is the tale of the disappearance of Daniel Buck. He has tragically disappeared on Bonfire Night after his father, James, left the front door open. Something that Anna Buck (Daniel's mother) is not ever likely to forgive.

Anna Buck is a woman on the edge (literally in one part of the novel, but I don't want to give too much away). Full of anguish and grief, she becomes obsessed with cleaning her home and the footprints that Daniel left in the wet cement that was outside their home on the day he went missing.

When Anna recieves a leaflet through the door about a psychic at a local church, she is of course, sceptical. She decides to attend the meeting anyway, determined to do something, anything, to find her son who she believes is still alive.

But when she arrives Anna realises that the psychic; Richard Latham won't help her, and she becomes even more determined to help herself, stumbling upon another missing persons case along the way. 

Edie Evans has been missing even longer than Daniel, and the psychic that Anna visited is certain she is dead. Although he is reluctant to admit this to the police. As Marvel becomes more suspicious of Latham, Anna finds herself tangled in a web of visions, police pressure and confusion.

Where is Daniel? Where is Edie? And can she work out what these visions mean before it's all too late?

Without giving too much more away, the Shut Eye will have you gripped until its very last page, and will leave you wanting more.

the Shut Eye will be released on 12 March 2015 and is available to pre-order now from Random House UK and Amazon online.

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

Saturday, 10 January 2015

Review: The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
Release date: 15 January 2015
Rating: *****
Back cover blurb: Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…







The Girl On The Train is a novel I've been hearing a lot about recently, after reading it, I think its safe to say we will probably all be heaing a lot more about it.

The Girl On The Train is a thriller of  the highest quality. Paula Hawkins writes excellently and you certainly wouldn't recognise this novel as a debut.

Rachel 'The girl on the train' is a character only the extremely hard hearted wouldn't feel sorry for. Lonely, unemployed, depressed and an alcoholic, Rachel seeks comfort in her daily 'commute' to work (so that her flatmate doesn't know she lost her job) where she makes up stories about the houses and strangers she sees - who doesn't?!

One day she sees one of her regular 'friends' kissing a man who isn't her husband. Rachel feels saddened and angry by this. Although she doesn't know the couple that inhabit the house, only two doors down from where she used to live, she feels that she does, and she doesn't understand why someone would be so stupid as to to flaunt their dirty laundry in public.

As with most thrillers, things are not what they seem, and Rachel is not the only woman keeping secrets from her family and friends. When the woman goes missing sparking a massive man hunt, Rachel feels compelled to tell the Police what she saw, but will they believe an alcoholic prone to black outs? Or will Rachel find herself in more trouble that she could ever imagine?

The Girl On The Train is a novel told not just from Rachel's perspective but also that of two other women, but to tell you about them, would give a little more away about the plot than I would wish to. I want you all to read this amazing debut for yourselves!


The Girl On The Train can be preordered from Amazon online and Doubleday now and will be released on 15 January 2015.

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