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Before Her Eyes - Jack Jordan

21/9/2018

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Book Description
She can't see the killer
But the killer can see her...
Naomi Hannah has been blind since birth. Struggling with living in the small, claustrophobic town of Balkerne Heights, Naomi contemplates ending her life. But before she can, Naomi stumbles across the body of a young woman who has been brutally murdered. She senses someone else there at the scene - watching her. Naomi may not be able to see the killer's face, but she is still the only person who can identify him. 
For Naomi, this frightening truth changes everything: she realises that she wants to live, at the very point at which her life is in greatest peril. As the police begin hunting the person responsible and the bodies pile up, Naomi must lie in wait and answer the question that hangs her fate in the balance: why did the killer let her live? 
In a town this small, the murderer must be close, perhaps even before her very eyes...
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5/5

A woman trapped in darkness, a vicious killer, a twenty-year-old mystery and a police officer intent on finding the truth. These are the principal ingredients of 'Before Her Eyes', a chilling, captivating murder mystery by Jack Jordan.

Naomi Hannah has been blind since birth. It has been two years since her marriage has ended. With only Max, her guide dog, for companion, Naomi sees no scope in her life any more and is continuously tempted by the nearby cliffs calling out to her to go and end it all. 

One night, as she's returning home from work on foot, alone and in the dark, with her cane prodding the road, Naomi unknowingly stumbles upon a murder scene. The killer sees Naomi, touches her and taunts her, but doesn't hurt her. This happened to be the second murder in as many days at Balkerne Heights. Who was this poor victim? Who is this killer going around town murdering women?  And why was Naomi spared?

D.S. Marcus Campbell is a new police officer in town. His superior DI Lisa Elliott is quite a hateful, insensitive, condescending boss who finds great joy in belittling and ridiculing Marcus at every opportunity. Marcus becomes aware of a twenty-year-old mystery that no one likes to talk about in town. Back then, a young woman had disappeared into thin air and her body was never found. For some reason, someone had made sure that that case remained unsolved. But Marcus wants to find out who and why and if the recent murder cases could somehow be connected to that disappearance. Is he right in thinking so? What happened to that poor girl? And is that case really connected to today's murders?

Well, this was my first Jack Jordan book but it certainly won't be my last. This book is full of twists and turns and knuckle-biting moments and has kept me captivated till the end. My heart went out to Naomi, so vulnerable, fragile and lonely, trapped in her dark and brutal world. I can't even start to imagine what it would be like to live such a life, being dependent on other people to live a decent life, not even knowing who's just in front of your face, and worst of all finding yourself at the mercy of a vicious killer. I really liked Marcus with his unrelenting drive to help Naomi as she becomes entangled in these murder cases, her safety and life put in danger. He's a kind-hearted, sensitive man who risks losing everything in his determination to solve the case. On the other hand, I felt really disgusted by Lisa's attitude and her way of thinking and I found myself shouting at Marcus to grow some balls and do something about her, punch her in the face or something!!

Spanning three chapters, the epilogue contains as many dizzying twists and turns as the whole book put together. I can't say anything more except that I was left literally open-mouthed by that ending. I really wasn't expecting it. 

This is a great book and I highly recommend it. Well done to the author!

About the  Author
Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), and Before Her Eyes (2018). 

To find out more about Jack, enter numerous annual giveaways to win signed copies of his books, and be one of the first to hear of new book releases and news, follow him here:

Facebook: JackJordanOfficial

Twitter: @JackJordanBooks

Instagram: @JackJordan_Author

Goodreads: JackJordanOfficial
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Dying Truth - Angela Marsons

9/9/2018

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Book Description
How far would you go to protect your darkest secrets? 

When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents. 

As Kim and her team begin to unravel a dark web of secrets, one of the teachers could hold the key to the truth. Yet just as she is about to break her silence, she is found dead. 

With more children’s lives at risk, Kim has to consider the unthinkable - whether a fellow pupil could be responsible for the murders. Investigating the psychology of children that kill brings the detective into contact with her former adversary, Dr Alex Thorne – the sociopath who has made it her life’s work to destroy Kim. 

Desperate to catch the killer, Kim finds a link between the recent murders and an initiation prank that happened at the school decades earlier. But saving these innocent lives comes at a cost – and one of Kim’s own might pay the ultimate price. 
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5/5

By now, I must probably be one of the last humans on earth to not have read this book already. Shame on me! Now that I've read it, I honestly think that 'Dying Truth' is one of the author's best books to date.

Kim Stone and Bryant are called to Heathcrest, a private boarding school for the wealthy, where a young teenage girl has apparently just committed suicide by jumping from the roof of the school. Upon seeing the girl's broken body and its position, Kim's gut feeling tells her that something is not quite right. But what? Who was this girl? What happened to her to make her jump to certain death? Was this really the desperate final deed of a troubled girl, or was this the result of something much more sinister? 

When another death takes place in the same school soon after, Kim is sure that her gut was right and this is no coincidence, so she decides to look more closely at these deaths. She wants to find the truth, even if that means stepping on the toes of some very influential people in the process. Even if the school is hellbent in keeping up its reputation, Kim wants to dig deep. Her and her team's investigation leads them to yet another death that happened in the school twenty-five years previously. Could the three deaths be connected? Kim is sure that the past holds the key to solving this mystery.

Well, what can I say more about Angela Marsons and the DI Kim Stone series of books that I haven't already said in my reviews of the previous books? This is one phenomenal author who no matter what she writes I'm sure that I'm gonna love it. I can buy her books blindfolded without reading any blurb or seeing any cover and knowing that I've made the best choice.   

With Kim Stone, Angela Marsons has created the perfect recipe that proves a winner time and time again. Kim makes reading so much more enjoyable and it's as though I can never have enough of this bold inspector. I love the way Kim thinks, the way she behaves and the way she delivers results.

A clever, well-crafted plot, great realistic characters, believable dialogue, ongoing tension, together with short chapters many of which end in cliffhangers are just some of the elements that make this book so interesting and intriguing. 'Dying Truth' is also full of twist and turns, lies and secrets and many possible suspects. We also have the usual ongoing banter between Kim and her team members who we have grown to know so well after eight books. Young Kevin Dawson has quite a central role in this book. 

Once I started reading 'Dying Truth', I couldn't stop, and when I came to the last part, my heart was in my mouth together with my knuckles from where I almost drew blood. That ending!!! OMG no!!! Angela Marsons, how could you?!?! No!! 

'Dying Truth' is another memorable, not-to-be-missed book by the fabulous Angela Marsons, I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it.
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​With thanks to Bookouture for approving my request to read and review this book through Netgalley.​
About the Author
Angela Marsons is the author of the International Bestselling DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 2 million in 2 years.

She lives in the Black Country with her partner, their cheeky Golden Retriever and a swearing parrot.

She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read "Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people's".

After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.

She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 16 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 27 languages.

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The Chalk Man - C. J. Tudor

30/8/2018

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Book Description
It was only meant to be a game . . .

None of us ever agreed on the exact beginning.

Was it when we started drawing the chalk figures, or when they started to appear on their own?

Was it the terrible accident?

Or when they found the first body?
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3/5

I'd been meaning to read this book for many months. I must say that I was particularly intrigued by the hanged chalk man drawing on the cover. I like good thrillers where murderers leave their unique signatures, leaving the investigator baffled as to their meaning, but hey! On reading this book I discovered that the chalk men weren't some killer's calling cards at all.

In the summer of 1986, twelve-year-old Eddie and his friends devised a coding system by which they could communicate with each other using a set of chalk men figures drawn on each other's doorstep or pavement. This was their secret messaging system and no one else knew how to decipher it. One day, the chalk men figures lead all gang members into the woods together where they make a horrendous discovery. But, wait a minute, if none of the boys has drawn the chalk men that day, then who did? Who else knew the meaning of the chalk men?

The story goes back and forth in time from 1986 to 2016. Eddie is now a full-grown man and teacher living in his mother's house. An unexpected anonymous letter in the post, suddenly brings the summer of 2016, the summer he has tried so hard to forget, back to haunt him. That murder has never been solved. The questions he had asked himself back then remained unanswered. The terrible nightmares have returned too. Now, who after all this time has decided to rake up the past again? And why?

Well, I liked the premise of the book and the whole whodunnit mystery. This book is very well-written and we have a number of interesting, engaging characters. I liked Eddie. He's a likeable normal boy struggling with peer pressure and hormones and with a penchant for collecting (or rather stealing) odd items. I preferred reading about him as a boy though rather than an adult. 

I mostly enjoyed the first part of the book and had a definite 5-star rating in mind while I was reading it. I liked the gripping prologue, the mood and setting of the story, the individual characters, the idea of the chalk men. However, sadly, as I progressed through the book, I found myself wading through way too many twists and turns. I felt that there were like too many things going on at the same time, too many loose ends. Don't forget that the story bounces back and forth in time with twists and turns going on in both time periods. I honestly ended up struggling to keep my thoughts in order. Finally, I thought the final confrontation was far-fetched for various reasons and I'm sorry to say I was left very disappointed by the final chapter. I mean come on!! Are you serious? This was a freakin' twelve-year-old!! I can't say more as I don't want to give spoilers, but I do have a certain limit as to what to accept as credible or possible. Sorry!

Don't get me wrong. This is a good twisty thriller that kept me on my toes wanting to know more, and ultimately I think that's what has frustrated me the most. I really, really wanted to love this book. As I said it's very well written and I have connected with the characters, but I think the author tried to put in way too much. 

Obviously as for my other reviews, this is just my honest unbiased opinion. I've seen that many readers have enjoyed this book more than I did and I'm sure many others will too.
About the Author
C. J. Tudor lives with her partner and young daughter. Her love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert.

Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, dog walker, voiceover artist, television presenter, copywriter and, now, author. 

Her first novel, The Chalk Man, was a Sunday Times bestseller and sold in thirty-nine territories.
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The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

24/8/2018

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Book Description
‘I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.’

Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford – her assigned name, Offred, means ‘of Fred’. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs.

Masterfully conceived and executed, this haunting vision of the future places Margaret Atwood at the forefront of dystopian fiction.
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4/5

​After watching the first episode of the TV series 'The Handmaid's Tale', I realised from the credits that it was based on an 80s novel by Margaret Atwood, so I decided to buy a copy and read the book as well.

Having seen some of the first episodes by the time I started reading the book, I could easily put a face on all the characters and I could clearly visualise many of the scenes and the atmosphere of the book. The fact that the author herself was one of the producers, ensured that the TV adaptation adhered as much as possible to the book's script.

"Don't let the bastards grind you down."

In this dystopian novel (I don't usually read dystopians but this was too tempting to resist!), Atwood takes us forwards in time to 'the near future', to the Republic of Gilead, the land that once used to be called the US. Gilead is ruled by a ruthless, fanatically religious and brutal regime that took over after the president and all the Congress were eliminated and the Constitution suspended. This is a place, a future, in which I certainly wouldn't want to exist, not even dead! It's a bleak, oppressive, perilous world in which everyone must adhere to a strict set of rigid laws, in which there's no freedom of expression, no tolerance, no human rights. Imagine that!! Anyone caught breaking the regime's rules is harshly punished, on many occasions put to death. Gays and lesbians don't stand a chance. And women have no rights whatsoever. They can't work, they can't own a property, they can't have a bank account, they can't read or write, they can't wear what they want, they can't listen to music. Women serve just one purpose - produce babies, procreate or end up in the Colonies. They're regarded as 'two-legged wombs' and used to counteract a steep decline in birthrate. 

The story's main character is Offred (Of Fred - Fred's property), a handmaid living in a tiny room in the childless Waterford residence. A handmaid is not a concubine or a courtesan, she's not a cleaner or a cook. She's there just for breeding purposes. She's regarded with distaste by the rest of society. Offred's main scope is to produce a child for Mrs Waterford. In the past Offred, like thousands of other handmaids, used to have another name, she was an independent, happily married wife and mother, she had a career and lived a normal life. Now, separated from her husband and child, she's a shell of her former self, a ghost in red, a lost soul to be used and abused, a wreck of a woman caught in this terrible reality, seemingly with no way out other than death. For how long can a person endure such violence and oppression before throwing in the towel?

There is so much pain, fear and cruelty in this novel that at times I found it a bit difficult to keep reading and had to take breaks. It's a powerful tale in which the author has managed to create such a terrible far-off reality, filling and shocking the reader's mind with messages, questions, thoughts, what ifs. At times I felt as if I was reading a historical book, of times when public executions were the norm, but I had to constantly keep in mind that the story is actually set in the near future, with cars, computers and all the gadgets and mod cons we're used to have in our day-to-day life. Just Gilead is a closed territory, a scary place cut off from the rest of the world, ruled by an iron fist and from which there's no escape. 

The story constantly jumps back and forth in time as Offred remembers her past life when she was happy, when the trouble began, when she was separated from her family. With no clear distinction of where memories and the present start and finish throughout the book, this could be a bit confusing at times. The ending made me think, hope and ask questions. I'm not sure it will go down well with all readers though. The book ends at the point where season 1 on TV ends, but the producers stretched their imagination further and have also produced season 2. 

This was quite a different read for me, but a great book nonetheless with a powerful message that I think is almost more relevant to today's society, than to that of thirty+ years ago when it was written. I just hope we don't let our societies deteriorate to such an unimaginable extent. 
About the Author
Margaret Atwood is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays.

In addition to the classic The Handmaid's Tale, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy, The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize and Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, was published in 2009. She was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature in 2008.

Margaret Atwood lives in Toronto, Canada. 
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The Dry - Jane Harper

15/8/2018

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Book Description
WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

I just can't understand how someone like him could do something like that.

Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasn't rained in small country town Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.
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Policeman Aaron Falk returns to the town of his youth for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's death threatens to unearth. And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past and why he left home bubble to the surface as he questions the truth of his friend's crime.
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5/5

Oh my! What a stunning book! But, shame on me!! I've had 'The Dry' sitting in my library waiting to be read for two whole years. Had I known how good it is, I would have read it on the day I received it. And yes, it has absolutely lived up to the hype surrounding it, as far as I'm concerned.

Agent Aaron Falk begrudgingly returns from Melbourne to his hometown Kiewarra, a tiny speck in the middle of nowhere, a place from where he and his father were practically chased away two decades earlier. Falk is back to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke Hadler and his family. Luke, his wife Karen and six-year-old Billy were found all dead in an apparent murder-suicide. How did such horror happen? What could drive a family man to do the unthinkable? Did Luke really snap and slaughter his own family? Or was this the deed of someone else? But who could have wanted the Hadler family exterminated? And why?

It has not rained for two years in Kiewarra, the town is in the grips of the worst drought ever, and with the heat, tempers are bound to flare up. Falk's return stirs up old emotions, recriminations and suspicions among the townsfolk. Old wounds are reopened. Past horrors resurface. So, he's not exactly welcomed back by those remembering the events of twenty years previously. He, of all people, should not be here nosing about on what happened to the Hadlers. What he should do, instead, is tell the truth on what he and his father did twenty years back.

Well I can't believe this to be a debut novel. It's absolutely mesmerising. I have never read a book located in Australia, but hey, I felt as if I were there. Thanks to the author's vivid descriptions, I could almost feel the heat emanating off the dry land in every page. The melancholy and misery of the townsfolk dealing with not only the shortage of water but also the fear and horror taking place practically in their backyard was almost palpable. I was drawn into the story right from the brilliantly written, authentic prologue and I dreaded having to put down the book because of work and other real-life distractions. As I was immersed in the story, I could clearly visualise everything that was taking place around me. I loved the way the author expertly leaps through decades from one paragraph to the next, as the characters relive past episodes. Don't worry, the use of italics for past episodes eliminates any possible confusion. I also loved the fact that such episodes are given to us from different perspectives.  

A brilliant, riveting prologue literally buzzing with blowflies; a pacy plot; twists and turns; engaging, realistic characters; impeccable story-telling; a fluent, articulate writing style and vivid descriptions ensured I was kept intrigued and on my toes in the town of Kiewarra throughout. The author expertly included a number of possible suspects but kept the mystery under wraps till the very end, nicely tying up all loose ends, even those that have waited decades to be tied, in neat little bows. Huge well done!

This is an outstanding book, I really enjoyed it and would highly, highly recommend it. 
About the Author
Jane Harper is the author of The Dry, winner of various awards including the 2015 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, the 2017 Indie Award Book of the Year, the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year Award and the CWA Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 2017. Rights have been sold in 27 territories worldwide, and film rights optioned to Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK and lives in Melbourne.
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Driftnet - Lin Anderson

4/8/2018

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Book Description
A driftnet catches everything.

A teenage boy is found mutilated in a Glasgow flat. Forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is called to the scene, but her grim task is even more unsettling than normal by the boy's remarkable resemblance to her - Could he be the son she gave up for adoption seventeen years before?
 
Amidst the turmoil of her own love life and consumed by guilt from the past, Rhona sets out to find both the boy’s killer and her own son. The powerful members of an Internet paedophile ring have nothing to lose and everything to gain by Rhona MacLeod’s death.
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4/5

This time round I wanted to read a book whose main character was not a police officer or detective operating from a police station. Rhona MacLeod is a forensic scientist (yes, granted, she works for the police, but she's not a police officer!) She takes samples of other people's lives, mistakes and crimes, to the lab and examines them. She's the main protagonist in a Glasgow-based series by Lin Anderson. Written quite a number of years back now, 'Driftnet' is the first book.

The mutilated, naked body of a teenage boy is discovered in a small flat. It seems he has been killed during some sort of sex game, and the injuries and signs of abuse found on his body point to a vicious, demented killer. When Rhona is summoned to the scene to take her samples, she's shocked to notice that the victim bears an uncanny resemblance to her. Someone later tells her that he looked so like her, he could have been her younger brother! Unbeknown to everyone else, seventeen years earlier, Rhona had given up a baby boy for adoption. Without an ID for the victim and stunned by the horrible possibility, Rhona becomes desperate to dig deep to help the police find out who this boy was, why did he end up there, who did this to him. She also suddenly wants to trace her son in the hope that he's still out there alive and well. But could this really be her son? Racked by guilt, Rhona is determined to find out. Not so eager is the man who fathered that boy, lawyer and by-election candidate Edward Spencer, who's now married with children. He warns Rhona that he doesn't want a scandal to crop up now and ruin his prospective future career in politics. Still, Rhona doesn't care, with or without his help, she will find out the truth. 

Well, I've known about author Lin Anderson for a long time now, but for one reason or another I'd never read any of her books. I found this one quite intriguing and brilliantly written. Even though it was written a number of years ago, it doesn't feel dated at all. The author's vivid descriptions and the way she puts her words kept me interested throughout. The possibility that the victim could be Rhona's son kept me hooked till the end, wanting as much as herself to find out if that was the case or not. Was he, or not?? 

The book deals with paedophilia and paedophile rings, a theme not everyone is comfortable reading about, however the author treats it very sensitively. The crime scene's description can be a bit disturbing to go through, however there aren't any violent scenes of children being abused in the book. 

All characters and dialogues are realistic. Rhona is quite likeable, a brilliant scientist who has not quite put her past behind her. The guilt feelings and regrets of abandoning her child have never left her. I'm now keen to learn more about her and some of the other characters like Chrissy, her assistant; DI Bill Wilson who leads the investigation; and Sean, the man she loves, in the following books. 

All in all, I thought for a debut, this book was very good, however the ending felt a bit rushed and certain questions remained unanswered, or not clearly answered. Having said that, I really enjoyed it and will certainly be reading more books by this brilliant author.
About the Author
Lin Anderson is best known as the creator of the forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod series of crime thriller novels, and for her part in founding the annual 'Bloody Scotland' crime writing festival.

There are 13 novels and one novella in Lin Anderson's Forensic Scientist Rhona MacLeod Series:-
Novella - Blood Red Roses (prequel to Driftnet) 
Book 1 - Driftnet
Book 2 - Torch
Book 3 - Deadly Code
Book 4 - Dark Flight
Book 5 - Easy Kill
Book 6 - Final Cut
Book 7 - The Reborn
Book 8 - Picture Her Dead
Book 9 - Paths of the Dead (Shortlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2015)
Book 10 - The Special Dead (Longlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2016)
Book 11 - None but the Dead (Longlisted for Scottish Crime Book of 2017)
Book 12 - Follow the Dead
Book 13 - Sins of the Dead

Lin has a second mystery thriller series featuring private investigator Patrick de Courvoisier, set in glamorous Cannes (think 'The Rockford Files' meets James Bond):-
Book 1 - The Case of the Black Pearl 
Book 2 - The Case of the Missing Madonna
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Truth and Lies - Caroline Mitchell

29/7/2018

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Book Description
Meet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer.

DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart.

Responsible for a string of heinous killings decades ago, Lillian is pure evil. A psychopathic murderer. And Amy’s biological mother. Now, she is ready to reveal the location of three of her victims—but only if Amy plays along with her twisted game.

While her fellow detectives frantically search for a young girl taken from her mother’s doorstep, Amy must confront her own dark past. Haunted by blurred memories of a sister who sacrificed herself to save her, Amy faces a race against time to uncover the missing bodies.

But what if, from behind bars, Grimes has been pulling the strings even tighter than Amy thought? And can she overcome her demons to prevent another murder?
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5/5

Having read all the fab thrillers written by Caroline Mitchell, I couldn't wait to read the first one in her new exciting DI Amy Winter series, Truth and Lies, especially after reading the intriguing blurb. 

"You can't run away forever... My blood runs through your veins. Mine and your father's."

Can you imagine having serial killers for parents? What effect would that have on you and your life? Well, in a nutshell, this is DI Amy Winter's situation in this book. In order to move on with her life, Amy learned how to suppress the horrific memories that have shaped her early childhood. However, her past soon comes slapping her in the face when she receives a letter from prison following the death of her adoptive father, Superintendent Robert Winter. Back in the 80s, Robert was instrumental in catching and imprisoning the 'Beasts of Brentwood', Jack and Lillian Grimes, a serial killer couple convicted for the murder of nine young women. To her absolute horror Amy discovers that the Brentwood monsters were actually her biological parents, the past she wants to escape, the source of her nightmares. What impact will this have on her life and career? Can the daughter of serial killers even be a police officer? 

Lillian Grimes, her 'mother', wants to 'help' Amy find the remains of three of the victims that have never been found, but Amy is sure that Lillian has something up her sleeve. As more horrific memories resurface and her personal and work lives collide, Amy resolves to give some peace to the missing girls' grieving families at the cost of her own sanity and reputation. She decides to make a pact with the devil herself - her 'mother', but in doing so she will have to dance to Lillian's music like a puppet on strings. What's the real reason behind Lillian's sudden change of heart? What is she planning? At the same time Amy and her team have to solve the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl and her cat. Who has abducted this girl? And why? Can the police locate her before it's too late? And how come from prison Lillian Grimes seems to know more than the police about this case?

Well, Caroline Mitchell has done it again. She's written another absolutely brilliant engrossing thriller that kept me on my toes from start to finish. I'm so excited as this is just the first book of a series and so hopefully there will be many more books in the pipeline. Amy is not your run-of-the-mill crime fiction cop. She's a complex, unique character, the daughter of serial killers! Can such a cop function properly? Or is she destined to turn out the same way in the end?

The author has created some very realistic, engaging characters. Apart from Amy, I especially followed Paddy, Amy's most trusted colleague, with interest. I knew the type of life he was leading couldn't go on for long before something catastrophic happens. I just could never have foreseen the huge twist the author had in store for this character's story in the end. 

The book has also numerous nail-biting, suspenseful scenes that made my heart race, there are heartbreaking and disturbing ones as well, twists and turns, a sprinkle of humour... and spiders!! Oh yes, I was horrified to encounter the creeps throughout the book and was thrilled to find that just like me, Amy is absolutely terrified of spiders and cobwebs and so I could relate to her when faced with the eight-legged monsters in some of the scenes. 

The plot's fast pace kept me interested throughout. The story goes back and forth in time as Amy's horrific memories of disturbing episodes from her childhood begin to resurface one by one. I didn't find this confusing at all, it rather made me understand more what Amy was going through in her mind. The ending was unexpected and the epilogue left the door open for a continuation, so I'm now dying to find out what happens next in book two.

Well written and with an intriguing, suspenseful plot, engaging characters and an original touch, I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to those loving twisty, fast, gripping plots. 

With thanks to the author and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book which I voluntarily accepted to read and review through Netgalley.
About the Author
A former police detective, Caroline Mitchell now writes full time.
She has worked in CID and specialised in roles dealing with the vulnerable victims—high-risk victims of domestic abuse and serious sexual offences. The mental strength shown by the victims of these crimes is a constant source of inspiration to her, and Mitchell combines their tenacity with her knowledge of police procedure to create tense psychological thrillers.
Originally from Ireland, she now lives in a pretty village on the coast of Essex with her husband and three children.
You can find out more about her at www.caroline-writes.com, or follow her on Twitter (@caroline_writes) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/CMitchellAuthor/).

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Shoeless Child - J. A. Schneider

7/7/2018

2 Comments

 
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Book Description
A little boy has seen a horrific murder but is too traumatized to speak. Detective Kerri Blasco struggles to connect with him...

Charlie Sparkes peeks out to see his mother and another young woman brutally shot. Hysterical, the brave child bolts into the cold November night for help. He screams and cries, only to fall into more trauma.

Homicide Detective Kerri Blasco is called to the murder scene. One woman lies dead next to the blood soaked rug where Rachel Sparkes was seriously wounded. With little memory of the attack, she has been taken to the hospital - but where is her child? He too, Kerri discovers, now lies in a hospital bed, mute and traumatized in a fetal position, refusing even food and water.

Charlie must have seen what happened. Kerri's heart aches for this piteous little boy and she struggles to help him; struggles, too to find the monster who did this horrible crime. "It's your kind of case," Sergeant Alex Brand, Kerri's boss and partner tells her, stepping up police urgency when another innocent is shot, and then another...

Kerri Blasco finds herself more emotionally obsessed with this case than with any other, despite clear and onrushing danger to herself...
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5/5

A bloodbath... A terrified child running for his life... 

That's what we find at the beginning of J.A. Schneider's fourth chilling thriller in her Detective Kerri Blasco series. This is a fast-paced book that grabbed my undivided attention from the get-go and I couldn't put it down till I turned the last page. It can very well be read as a standalone thriller.

The whole story centres around a little five-year-old boy who is testimony to a horrific scene his little eyes and mind should never have had to witness. His own mother and her friend are shot in his own home by a masked intruder. Covered in blood, the poor terrified boy escapes into the dark streets outside with the killer in pursuit. Fortunately he is saved by someone before the killer had a chance to snatch him. 

Detectives Kerri Blasco and Alex Brand are alerted and rush to the scene to start their investigation. Lauren, a friend visiting the boy and his mum, has been killed on the spot. Rachel, the mother, is rushed to hospital barely alive. The little boy, the only person to witness what's happened, goes mute with shock. He's frozen, is not saying a word and has no eye contact with anyone. Kerri's heart goes out to the poor terrified boy. She knows that in order to solve this crime, she needs to coax little Charlie into opening up and recounting what has gone on, but that would be easier said than done. With no apparent motive, no evidence left at the scene and just a mute little boy as witness, Kerri knows that this case will be a tough nut to crack. Who is the killer? Why did he target the two women? Is it someone from one of the women's past? Someone with some grudge maybe? Did Charlie recognise this person? Will Kerri be able to persuade him to talk? And will she be able to keep him safe? The killer might resurface at any time to finish off the job.

​Well, I've been meaning to read this book for a long while. Now that I've read it, I can only kick myself for not having done so before. It's just amazing! A pure adrenaline rush! I love Ms Schneider's 'voice', the way she structures her sentences and the words she uses to make my heart leap with the bursts of suspense she knows how to inject so well in her books. I've read the other books in the series bar the first one and I can say that it's getting better and better with each new instalment. 

I just love Kerri Blasco, this brilliant, intuitive cop with the ability to read a crime scene like an open book and a painful past behind her. ​I enjoy reading about the secret love story she shares with her superior Alex, how they strive to keep it under wraps at work for fear of being separated, how they function so well as a team and a couple and how they care for each other, making each other's pain and anguish go away at the end of each trying day in the privacy of one or the other's residence. They're just so sweet together!

In this book, the author did a great job in exposing Kerri's gentle, patient and caring nature, but also her ingenuity and resourcefulness. The way she takes care of Charlie, how she goes out of her way to take his little mind off the horrors he witnessed, but at the same time gently getting out of him what little information he might be keeping locked inside, was pure professionalism. Only Charlie holds the key to solving this case. Will Kerri find the right way to take it?

The author keeps the killer's identity a mystery till the very end. Through twists and turns she made me suspicious of various characters along the way, however that final twist was a complete surprise to me. I really wasn't expecting it, but it did suddenly answer the many questions I had swirling in my mind. Well done!

Shoeless Child is an outstanding, spine-chilling psychological thriller that kept me on my toes throughout, I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it. Now I can't wait for book 5!

​With thanks to the author for a review copy which I voluntarily accepted to read and review.

Click on cover (above) to get book!
About the Author
J.A. Schneider is a former staffer at Newsweek Magazine. She is the author of the Embryo medical thriller series, and of the Detective Kerri Blasco Police/Psychological Thrillers: Fear Dreams, Her Last Breath, Watching You, and Shoeless Child.
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Close to Home - Cara Hunter

29/6/2018

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Book Description
HOW CAN A CHILD GO MISSING WITHOUT A TRACE?

Last night, eight-year-old Daisy Mason disappeared from a family party. No one in the quiet suburban street saw anything - or at least that's what they're saying.
DI Adam Fawley is trying to keep an open mind. But he knows the nine times out of ten, it's someone the victim knew.

That means someone is lying...
​
And that Daisy's time is running out. ​
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3.5/5

I'd read a lot of good comments about this book. Its mysterious, attractive cover, showing an abandoned scooter, kept popping up as a 'recommended read' in the communications I receive, so I downloaded a copy, if nothing to see if all the hype surrounding it was truly justified. 'Close to Home' is the first book in the DI Adam Fawley series.

Daisy Mason, an eight-year-old girl, disappears one evening during a fancy-dress party in her own garden. When her distraught parents raise the alarm, DI Adam Fawley rushes to their home to investigate. After questioning everyone present at the party, an organised search of the house and surrounding area is undertaken, but frustratingly it yields nothing. It's as though the girl vanished into thin air. 

With the passing of days, the investigation gains momentum and becomes very complex, but due to the lack of evidence and credible witnesses, the prospect of finding the little girl alive dwindles rapidly, making DI Fawley wonder whether this case would have to be escalated to a murder investigation even without a body. Where's Daisy? What happened to her? Was she abducted? Was she murdered? But who would want to do that? And why?

The plot in this book is very intense and pacy. It is also very intriguing and brimful with suspicious characters, dead ends, and twists and turns. Adam Fawley is a likeable character, a brilliant investigator riddled by guilt and painful memories.

Practically every character (apart from the police) is a suspect, including both parents, who act very strangely and seem to be hiding something. All characters in the book may have had a possible motive for harming the girl. The author spends considerable time and effort diverting the reader's focus from one character to the other, raising their suspicion in each one of them. I honestly had no idea where the story was going or who could possibly be the culprit. Every time I was convinced a particular character was responsible, the author introduced some twist making me shift my focus on another one, and scratching my head in confusion... Oh yes! She did a great job in keeping me guessing till the end. 

I was surprised to see that the book is not divided into chapters. Different sections are separated by asterisks. I found this a bit confusing as the story continuously bounces back and forth in time. We do have dates and locations added for our benefit though whenever a flashback takes place.

In my opinion, what we're told Daisy did in the flashbacks, points to a girl much older and wiser than an eight-year-old. Can't elaborate on this I'm afraid.

Apart from the text, the book is filled with news feeds and social media posts, making this a very contemporary read, even though the many Twitter feeds can prove quite exhausting to go through with all the @@@!

Finally, I imagined millions of ways in which the story would end, but I certainly wasn't expecting that ending. To be honest after such a thrilling, on the whole enjoyable, albeit disturbing story, it was a bit like an anticlimax by comparison. Sorry, I was hoping for something better and I thought it was a bit far-fetched, that's all. Such a pity! 
About the Author
I'm lucky enough to live in the city I write about. Oxford will be familiar to crime fans across the whole world because of the fabulous Morse novels and TV, but my version of the town is a long way from the beautiful ivy-clad colleges. A much edgier place where the crimes are darker and closer to home.

I've always been a voracious reader and viewer of crime - I've learned so much from the outstanding writing that we now see on crime TV like Line of Duty or Broadchurch, and I've tried to recreate the experience of watching series like that for my readers. I love true crime TV as well - my husband used to tease me about it but now just nods sagely and says 'research' !

What else about me? I have pet cats who do their best to distract me whenever I get close to a keyboard (if you have cats, you'll know), I love travelling, spending time with friends, and I have never knowingly turned down a glass of champagne....
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Kiss Me Kill Me - J.S. Carol

20/6/2018

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Book Description
She thought she could trust him. She was wrong ... 
When Zoe meets Dan she can't believe her luck. He's everything she is looking for in a man - intelligent, charming, stable, supportive. 
Until they're married.
Then Zoe realises that Dan is controlling, aggressive, paranoid. 
And there's no way out. 

Or is there?

When Zoe discovers that she's pregnant, she realises that the only way she can keep her baby is to leave Dan.
But that's harder than you think. 
He found her once before, and she knows he can find her again. 
But Dan has plans of his own - plans that don't necessarily include Zoe. 

But then, even the best laid plans often go awry, and you really need to be careful about who you trust . . .
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4/5

Zoe lives the perfect life, in a perfect home, with the perfect husband. She wears designer clothes and drives a top-of-the range sports car. But that's everyone's impression from the outside. If you were to look closer, you might just see a padlock securing the fridge in her kitchen. You might notice Zoe getting thinner by the minute, or you might notice her wince as she gets up from the chair.

When Zoe meets Dan and he asks her out, she falls under the spell of his charm. She fails to see that beneath lurked a cruel, manipulative, controlling freak. Soon after marrying her, Dan starts to show his true nature. He starts dictating what she eats, what she wears and where she goes, and he starts beating her. 

Zoe lives in fear, and when she finds out she's pregnant one day, she realises that the only way to save her baby, is to escape from Dan's clutches. But how can she do this? He has eyes and ears everywhere and she knows that wherever she goes, he will find her in no time, like the last time she tried. What can she do? How will she save the baby from a certain death at the hands of her monster of a husband?

Soon Zoe comes up with a plan, but as soon as she's about to act on it, something unexpected happens. At this point we have a huge, startling twist in the story that made me stop reading for a moment. I wanted to put my thoughts back in place and order. WOW! WTF is happening here?? Dan had also been concocting a plan of his own regarding his wife. But what happens now? Whose plan will work? Who would get their own way? Dan or Zoe? It's not that simple.

'From the frying pan into the fire' was what came to mind as soon as I've finished reading this book. From the beginning of her ordeal, my heart went out to Zoe. She was a prisoner in her own house, living in fear and suffering as she had all her basic needs taken away from her, while her husband lived the life of a king. Her mental torture at the hands of her abusive husband was difficult to read through and simply overwhelming to just contemplate. I thought that once her plan was activated she would get rid of her husband and the life she's lived and start anew. That's what I thought and hoped anyway, but hell no, the author wasn't finished with her yet. He wanted to put her through even more misery, pain and fear. What happens to Zoe? What happens to her baby? And what about Dan? Will Zoe ever get rid of him?

With twists and turns, ongoing tension, terrifying heart-pounding scenes, realistic characters (some of whom you don't want to meet in true life), this claustrophobic story kept me engrossed from start to finish. I wanted to know what happens next, I wanted to know how everything will end, but I needed to have breaks at regular intervals. The suspense was simply too much at times. I championed for Zoe throughout, but a question kept popping in my mind. Can a human being endure what Zoe goes through and remain sane, intact or even alive? I seriously doubt it. 

I really enjoyed reading this book (even though I've bitten through all ten of my fingernails) and have no problem whatsoever in recommending it to all those loving chilling, adrenaline-pumping stories.

​With huge thanks to Bonnier Zaffre for sending me a copy of this fantastic book to read and review.
About the Author
James Carol is the bestselling author of BROKEN DOLLS, the first in a series featuring former FBI profiler Jefferson Winter. The novel was released in the UK in January 2014 to rave reviews and reached number 1 on the Amazon fiction and thriller charts. In addition James is writing a series of eBooks set during Winter's FBI days. PRESUMED GUILTY is the first of these. Under the pseudonym J.S. Carol, he has also written a number of standalones. KISS ME KILL ME is the latest.

‘BROKEN DOLLS has it all. Horrifying evil, a brilliant, conflicted profiler and cracking pace and tension. I read it in what seemed like two trembling gulps.’ (Stephen Fry)

‘Strikingly well-researched and written with a real swagger, it leaves you desperate for more.’ (The Mail)

Praise for WATCH ME:
'James Carol is a non-American who has mastered the idiom of the US thriller … Carol is no [Lee] Child clone, and carves out his own menacing canvas with real panache. (Barry Foreshaw, The Independent)

James was born in Scotland and moved to England in the early-eighties. At various times he has worked as a guitarist, sound engineer, guitar tutor, journalist, and a horse riding instructor. When he's not writing, James can usually be found in a pair of headphones writing and recording music. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and two children.

For more information go to: www.james-carol.com
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