The Pursuit of Ordinary by Nigel Jay Cooper #NetGalley #Review @nijay

The Pursuit of Ordinary by Nigel Jay Cooper

Roundfire Books

Publication Date 27th April 2018

320 pages

Genre: general fiction/literary fiction

Book description:

After witnessing a fatal car accident, a homeless man wanders the streets of Brighton, trying to ignore the new, incessant voice inside his head. But he can’t forget the crash, can't get the face of the woman cradling her dying husband out of his mind. She stared into his eyes, his soul. He has to find her.

Is Dan ill or has he really been possessed by the spirit of Natalie's dead husband, Joe? If he hasn't, why does she let him into her home so easily? Does she have secrets of her own? The Pursuit of Ordinary is a twisting tale of modern life and mental health where nothing is what it seems...

Following the success of debut novel Beat the Rain, Roundfire introduces the second book from bestselling author Nigel Jay Cooper.

My Thoughts:

We are thrown straight into the action at the start of this book with the accident which kills Joe having just happened.  We're not quite sure how it's happened, but it has left Joe dead in the road, his head cradled in wife Natalie's lap and homeless guy Dan wondering what on earth is going on.
The story is told in sections from each of the three main characters' points of view.  Each section has you questioning what you thought you knew from the last part. It proves just how quickly as readers we are influenced by what one character says about another. 
From Dan's point of view we are presented with the stark realities of what it is like to be homeless, and just how quickly and easily circumstances can change and an individual can find themselves homeless.  From wife Natalie's point of view there are more questions than answers as she tries to push Dan into telling her what he saw on the day of the accident.  Why is it so important that she finds out just how much he saw that day?  Then constantly in the background is the spirit of Joe, desperate not to be lost in the unconscious mind of his host as Natalie and Dan try to work out what to think of the situation and how to deal with things.
I have to admit that I liked the idea of this book but unfortunately I struggled with actually reading it.  The characters commentary occasionally gets muddled and I had to reread sections to work out who was speaking.  With the characters each relating the same time period I also found the story quite repetitive in parts.
The content covers trigger issues such as bulimia, the effects of grief and other issues of mental health which can make for hard reading and while I found it interesting it was also quite disturbing. 
I didn't dislike this book however was quite relieved once I had finished it and could move onto something much lighter. In its own way that suggests it is well written as the issues covered quite clearly hit the mark. It's fair to say that in my mind the jury is still out on this book, and I would be extremely careful as to who I would recommend it to.

My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read something outside my comfort zone and making me think about issues which affect so many people but at the same time make them invisible to the masses.

About the Author:

Nigel was born in London and now lives in Brighton (via Nottingham) with his partner, their two children and greying ginger dog.

Nigel's debut novel Beat The Rain was Roundfire's bestselling title and a Goodreads Choice Awards nominee for Best Debut Author.

Social Media links:

Website

http://www.nigeljaycooper.com

Twitter

nijay

#PublicationDay #BlogTour The Picture by Roger Bray #Extract @rararesources @rogerbray22

The Picture by Roger Bray

I am proud to present to you today, publication day, an excerpt from Roger Bray's novel The Picture at the start of the current blog tour, courtesy of tour organiser Rachel's Random Resources.

Book description:

A warehouse in Japan used as an emergency shelter in the aftermath of the 2011 Tsunami. A distraught, young Japanese woman in dishevelled clothes sits on a box, holding her infant daughter. Ben, a US rescue volunteer, kneels in front of her offering comfort. They hug, the baby between them. The moment turns into an hour as the woman sobs into his shoulder; mourning the loss of her husband, her home, the life she knew. A picture is taken, capturing the moment. It becomes a symbol; of help freely given and of the hope of the survivors. The faces in the picture cannot be recognised, and that is how Ben likes it. No celebrity, thanks not required.

But others believe that being identified as the person in the picture is their path to fame and fortune. Ben stands, unknowingly, in their way, but nothing a contract killing cannot fix.

Context:  Ben Davis is a retired police office living in Portland Oregon.  This scene is from the start of the novel when he becomes an innocent victim of a robbery gone wrong.  This incident is the catalyst for Ben to be reunited with his estranged daughter who finds the truth of her father over the next weeks through his lifelong friend as they spend time together hoping Ben will survive. 

Extract:

He pushed the door open and glanced at the clerk before starting to turn toward the ranks of shelves. Something clicked in his mind, something was not right with the scene he’d witnessed, and he stopped and turned back toward the counter.

This was something he had attended many times post-incident but had never witnessed like this.

The clerk, a young Asian guy was feverishly pulling the bank notes out of his till and shoving them into a paper shopping bag, while he looked at a young, blonde woman standing on the customer side.

Ben took in the scene.

Robbery! his good mood sank.

The woman, well, girl; mid-twenties, but looked older, dirty disheveled hair; lank, touching her shoulders; slim, heroin chic, though completely at the other end of the scale to anything that could be called chic. She was wearing a dirty, hooded jacket, too big for her, hanging down below her knees.

Junkie, registered in his thoughts.

Ben looked up at her face, sunken cheeks, angular cheek bones protruding, acne and, when she shouted, “Fuckin’ hurry up,” to the terrified clerk, he could see her rotten teeth.

Crackhead, he corrected. Shit!

The girl turned and saw him for the first time and Ben saw the panic in her eyes, she pulled her right hand out of the overcoat pocket and pointed the handgun at him.

He raised his hands to shoulder height while talking in a voice that was a lot calmer than he felt.

“That’s fine, lady, you can take the money, I’m not going to try to stop you.”

Ben slowly moved away from the door, leaving the girl a clear escape from the counter and out onto the street. “Look …” he said, “… I’m out of your way; take the money and go.”

And stop waving that gun around, he didn’t add.

The clerk had finished and was trying to pass the bag with the cash in it over to her. The girl looked into the bag, her face clouding over with anger, and she pushed the gun toward him. His arms shot above his head and his eyes widened.

“Is that it? Is that fucking it?” she demanded.

“That’s all I got, lady, the float and some takings, slow night, haven’t got too much.”

“That’s it, lady. That’s all there is, take it and go. No need for anyone to get hurt,” Ben said softly but firmly.

The girl waved the gun first at the clerk, then at Ben, and back to the clerk. She screwed the bag of money up and shoved it into one of her coat pockets then took a half step toward the door. Fear, anger, agitation, and failure showed in her eyes and movements, indecision; should she take what she had and leave? What choice did she have? Leave or stay but she knew that there was no more money and she couldn’t force the clerk to give her money he didn’t have.

She quickly turned her body, stabbing the gun toward Ben, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Ben knew what was going to happen, as she finished, the gun went off.

The first round struck him in the left shoulder, in the center of the dimple where the shoulder becomes the arm.

Oh shit. Ben put his right hand up to where he felt as though he had been punched and turned his head expecting to see a jet of blood. He had no time to register if he was badly injured before the gun went off again.

The second round hit him half an inch above his left eye and Ben knew he was in trouble. He felt sick and his vision blurred as he rocked back from the nausea and shock. He felt his knees going out from under him and he grabbed a wheeled snack stand to steady himself, but only managed to push it off to one side as he crumpled onto the cold floor. As he fell Ben could see the horrified look on the clerk’s face and the slow realization in the haunted look of the junkie as she shoved the gun into her right pocket.

He sensed, rather than saw her run past him and he felt the cold and damp night air blow into the store as she pushed open the door and fled into the night.

About the Author:

I have always loved writing; putting words onto a page and bringing characters to life. I can almost feel myself becoming immersed into their lives, living with their fears and triumphs. Thus, my writing process becomes an endless series of questions. What would she or he do, how would they react, is this in keeping with their character? Strange as it sounds, I don’t like leaving characters in cliffhanging situations without giving them an ending, whichever way it develops.
My life to date is what compels me to seek a just outcome, the good will overcome and the bad will be punished. More though, I tend to see my characters as everyday people in extraordinary circumstances, but in which we may all find our selves if the planets align wrongly or for whatever reason you might consider.

Of course, most novels are autobiographical in some way. You must draw on your own experiences of life and from events you have experienced to get the inspiration. My life has been an endless adventure. Serving in the Navy, fighting in wars, serving as a Police officer and the experiences each one of those have brought have all drawn me to this point, but it was a downside to my police service that was the catalyst for my writing.

Medically retired after being seriously injured while protecting a woman in a domestic violence situation I then experienced the other side of life. Depression and rejection. Giving truth to the oft said saying that when one door closes another opens I pulled myself up and enrolled in college gaining bachelor and master degrees, for my own development rather than any professional need. The process of learning, of getting words down onto the page again relit my passion for writing in a way that I hadn’t felt since high school.

So here we are, two books published and another on track.

Where it will take me I have no idea but I am going to enjoy getting there and if my writing can bring some small pleasure into people’s lives along the way, then I consider that I will have succeeded in life.

Social Media Links –  https://twitter.com/rogerbray22

                                      https://www.facebook.com/rogerbraybooks/

                                      https://rogerbraybooks.com/

                             Roger Bray on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/RogerBray/e/B0725KF3NF/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1523285262&sr=1-1

#Review The Lido by Libby Page #Debut #NetGalley @LibbyPageWrites @orionbooks #LoveTheLido

384 pages

Orion Publishing

Publication Date 19th April 2018

Women's Fiction

Book Description:

'THE LIDO is a joyous and uplifting debut - a testament to kindness and friendship and all those values society must hold dear' SARAH WINMAN, author of When God Was a Rabbit and Tin Man

Meet Rosemary, 86, and Kate, 26: dreamers, campaigners, outdoor swimmers...

Rosemary has lived in Brixton all her life, but everything she knows is changing. Only the local lido, where she swims every day, remains a constant reminder of the past and her beloved husband George.

Kate has just moved and feels adrift in a city that is too big for her. She's on the bottom rung of her career as a local journalist, and is determined to make something of it.

So when the lido is threatened with closure, Kate knows this story could be her chance to shine. But for Rosemary, it could be the end of everything. Together they are determined to make a stand, and to prove that the pool is more than just a place to swim - it is the heart of the community.

The Lido is an uplifting novel about the importance of friendship, the value of community, and how
ordinary people can protect the things they love.

My thoughts:

Two women lonely in London.  One is lifelong Londoner and lido patron Rosemary who at 86 years of age lives alone after losing her devoted husband George; the other is 26 year old rookie journalist Kate who has moved from the west country in search of her dream job in the newspaper industry.  With no friends or family nearby and her confidence buried deep within herself Kate spends her time outside the office shut away in her room in a shared house with her books and the occasional ready-meal for company.  Then Kate's boss assigns her the job of covering the potential closure of the community lido and a firm friendship is born as Rosemary and Kate join forces to save the lido.

This is a beautiful book which I easily lost myself in.  The descriptive writing is gorgeous and very emotive at certain points.  Rosemary is going through what most pensioners do: the feeling that time has ambushed them and left them with a body belonging to a much older person than the one they feel to be inside themselves. Kate is still young but is fighting anxiety and panic attacks which catch her at unexpected moments in the big City; she has lost her sense of who she is and what she is capable of.

Together Kate and Rosemary draw strength from each other in a common cause, and Kate encourages Rosemary to drum up support for their campaign from the network of friends she has built up over decades of living in the area.  In doing so, Rosemary mentally revisits times and events she shared with her husband George who was a well known grocer in the area.  She gradually realises how well loved and respected she is in her community as she introduces Kate to a whole new group of friends who all jump at the opportunity to support the ladies in whatever capacity they are able.

I really wasn't sure whether the ladies would be successful in their work but the way the community came together restored my faith in human nature and there were points I felt so proud of various characters as they found hidden strengths all in the name of the lido.  Other scenes had me reaching for my tissues to wipe a tear - sometimes through laughter, sometimes in sadness. 
This is a fantastic example of the new genre of up-lit which is sure to take the charts by storm this spring - a worthy companion on the shelves for the likes of Joanna Cannon's Three Things About Elsie.

5 stars and more if it were possible from me.

About the Author:

Libby Page previously worked in marketing, moonlighting as a writer. She graduated from The London College of Fashion with a BA in Fashion Journalism before going on to work as a journalist at the Guardian. THE LIDO is her first novel. It was pre-empted within 24 hours of submission for six figures in the UK, pre-empted for six figures in the US, and will be published in 2018 by Orion UK and Simon & Schuster US, followed by eleven other territories around the world.

Libby has been a leading campaigner for fairer internships and has spoken on TV and in parliament in support of fair pay for interns. Libby has been writing from an early age and when she was 16 she wrote an illustrated book called Love Pink to raise money for Breast Cancer Care.

After writing, her second passion is outdoor swimming. Libby lives in London where she enjoys finding new swimming spots and pockets of community within the city. 

Social Media Links:   

Website

https://libbypage.wordpress.com/

Twitter

LibbyPageWrites

#BlogTour The Last Friend by Harvey Church

My thanks go to Caroline Vincent of Bits About Books for inviting me to read Harvey Church's novel The Last Friend and be part of the Blog Tour which has stopped here at Sandie's Book Shelves today.  I'm not generally a fan of US fiction but this book went beyond my expectations and has made me reconsider.

Book Description

The Knock on his Door...That Changed his Life

Fifteen years after Donovan’s daughter is abducted, Monica Russell knocks on his door. She claims she knew his daughter while in captivity and says she made a promise to tell him about their friendship.

The Last Friend to hold His Daughter's Hand

When Monica claims to know where his daughter’s remains are buried, Donovan is immediately committed to doing whatever this last friend needs from him, regardless of the warnings from his family and friends.

The Friend Who Can Help Him Seek Vengeance

And when Monica claims to know where he can find the man who abducted, assaulted, and murdered his princess, Donovan knows he will stop at nothing to get his vengeance.

What Cost Will He Ultimately Pay?

Monica claims she can show Donovan a lot of things about his daughter, but what price will Donovan ultimately pay the young lady who claims to be the last friend to know his daughter?

My thoughts:

US fiction isn't my first choice especially when it comes to crime fiction/police procedurals as I am unsure of the legal hierarchy and who's who in the ranks.  Fortunately this did not create any issues for me in the reading of this heartbreaking novel.

Donovan's daughter Elizabeth was snatched on a family day out as he waited in line to buy candyfloss for her on the pier.   Every day since Elizabeth was taken Donovan has made it his mission to find her and bring her home, whatever the cost.  Sadly that cost was that his wife, overcome with grief and with Donovan withdrawing into himself to search for his daughter, could no longer cope and took her own life.  The added sense of her loss merely made him more determined.

He has spent hours and many sleepless nights chasing leads and researching possibilities - some of which have almost cost him his liberty and financial security - all of which have proven fruitless.  Until one night fifteen years after the abduction a woman with wacky hair turns up on his doorstep alleging that she was held captive with Elizabeth.  Despite serious doubts something about this woman suggests to Donovan that she is genuine.  The main thing that makes him question her validity is her request for a large sum of money in return for information leading to Elizabeth's whereabouts.

The author leads us on an intriguing journey of people, places and scenarios which first of all confirm to the reader that Monica is genuine, then puts doubts on every word she says.  Some of her associates leave a lot to be desired and one wonders whether she is part of the criminal fraternity involved in Elizabeth's disappearance or a victim of their activities.  You can genuinely feel the depth of Donovan's desperation to know what happened that day and where he can find his daughter.  

I really was hooked into wanting to get closure for Donovan and read this book quite quickly, as despite the harrowing subject matter there were some witty one-liners and sarcastic put-downs between Donovan and the various cast of characters, particularly the detectives who had failed him over many years.

I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to and would now be far more likely to tackle more US crime fiction that I would previously have considered.  

My thanks to Caroline Vincent, tour organiser, and the publisher for the advance copy of the book and the opportunity to feature on the blog tour. My review has not been influenced in any way by this.

Review Quotes
"An unexpected and exciting series of events that will grab readers." -The Booklife Prize

"The short chapters and fast pacing coupled with an intriguing storyline made this a page turner that I could not put down." - novelgossip.com

"There's no way to read this and not feel the gravity of it." 5-star review, an Amazon reader

"You know it's a 5-star book when you can't put it down and stay up way too late reading!" 5-star review by an Amazon reader

"This book was a fast read . . . if you like psychological thrillers, then this will be right up your alley!" Goodreads Reviewer

"The plot hummed along at an incredible rate." 5-star review by an Amazon reader

Buying Links

Amazon UK: bit.ly/AmUKtoTheLastFriendHarveyChurch
Amazon US: bit.ly/AmUStoTheLastFriendHarveyChurch

About the author

Harvey Church has a background in finance, which is how he found himself writing about the people and ridiculousness (sometimes the same thing) of that field in his Edwin Burrows light mystery series. Although he considers himself retired from that field (aka not working), he's planning another three Edwin Burrows novels for 2018.

His first "serious" novel, The Last Friend, is a Kindle Scout writing competition winner and was published by Kindle Press on January 9, 2018. The BookLife Prize called it "an entertaining read for mystery and thriller fans alike," and said it is "an unexpected and exciting series of events that will grab readers." Harvey plans two sister novels to The Last Friend in 2018, one titled The Last Night (Spring 2018) and the other tentatively titled The Last Survivor.

For fun, Harvey likes to practice street magic and spends hours engineering tricks to wow his audiences. He is also an avid hockey fan (Go Leafs Go). He has a wife and two kids. His favorite color is blue, but he drives a black car because he read somewhere, back in the 90’s, that radar detectors have a tough time seeing them. Interestingly, he never speeds because he's too busy singing like nobody's watching, or maybe it's that everybody is deaf.

He's a supporter of double-chins, double-dates, and double-dipping (though never on double-dates), and obviously enjoys writing about himself in the third person, in the voice of the narrator from The Royal Tenenbaums.

Connect with Harvey Church by searching Harvey Church Mysteries on Facebook, at @hashtag_harv on Instagram, and @harveychurch1 on Twitter. You can also find him wandering the streets of Chicago, Toronto, Montreal or the Lido deck of a Princess Cruise ship. If you ever meet Harv, ask to see a magic trick!

Don't forget to sign up for his email list at AListHarvey.com

Harvey Church Online:

Website:         harveychurchmysteries.com
Twitter:           twitter.com/HarveyChurch1  
Instagram:     www.instagram.com/hashtag_harv/

#BlogTour Too Close to Breathe by Olivia Kiernan - Random Things Tours

Publication date: 5th April 2018

Frankie Sheehan #1

Published by Dutton
336 pages

Book Description:

Find the killer who likes to play dead.

TOO SOON TO SEE

Polished. Professional. Perfect. Dead. Respected scientist Dr Eleanor Costello is found hanged in her immaculate home: the scene the very picture of a suicide.

TOO LATE TO HIDE

DCS Frankie Sheehan is handed the case, and almost immediately spots foul play. Sheehan, a trained profiler, is seeking a murderer with a talent for death.

TOO CLOSE TO BREATHE

As Frankie strives to paint a picture of the killer, and their victim, she starts to sense they are part of a larger, darker canvas, on which the lines between the two blur.

Olivia Kiernan's debut is a bold, brilliant thriller that will keep you guessing and leave you breathless.

My Thoughts:

My first impression of this book is that it is an exceptional debut, with strong characters and well researched facts behind police procedures. 

Set in Dublin, Frankie Sheehan returns to duty after being left mentally and physically scarred from her last case where 22 year old Tracy Ward was being held by an armed man. Sheehan is attacked by the knifeman herself and suffers severe injuries.  Her first case back is the apparent suicide of university lecturer Eleanor Costello. Found hanging in her home, Eleanor's husband Paul has gone AWOL and his sister is convinced there is foul play involved.

A matter of days later, the girl Eleanor's sister in law accuses Paul of having an affair with is found dead in the depths of a community bonfire.  Frankie is voicing her concerns about Eleanor and Amy's deaths when video footage of Amy's murder appears online.  The autopsy confirms the fact that Amy was dead before being placed in the bonfire. 

I really enjoyed the way the author has combined the investigative techniques of the 21st century - the use of the dark web (the murky depths of the internet), advanced IT knowledge and forensic science - together with the traditional detective's gut feeling when something doesn't quite add up.  The investigation leads to one particular suspect and all eyes are fixed in that direction until Frankie and her team get the vital piece of information that points the spotlight in a completely different direction.  The determination of Frankie and her close team to solve the case and get justice for all the victims not only answers the mystery of Eleanor and Amy's deaths but also ties up some loose ends on a much more personal level for Frankie. 

Clever plotting and a nice amount of depth to the characters for the first in a series have left me looking forward to reading further instalments.  I definitely recommend this if you enjoy a gritty police procedural.

Buy your copy here:  http://amzn.eu/cFw9a6R

About the Author:

Olivia Kiernan is an Irish writer living in the UK and author of crime thriller, TOO CLOSE TO BREATHE. She was born and raised in County Meath, near the famed heritage town of Kells and holds an MA in Creative Writing awarded by the University of Sussex.

Follow the tour:

My thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for the invitation to read this exceptional title and be part of the blog tour.

#BlogTour The Tin God by Chris Nickson

Today I am pleased to be the host of the blog tour for Chris Nickson's historical police procedural novel The Tin God.  The sixth book to feature Superintendent Tom Hartley, this novel will be published by Severn House Publishers on 29th March 2018.

224 pages

Book Description:

When Superintendent Tom Harper's wife is threatened during an election campaign, the hunt for the attacker turns personal. Leeds, England. October, 1897. Superintendent Harper is proud of his wife Annabelle. She's one of seven women selected to stand for election as a Poor Law Guardian. But even as the campaign begins, Annabelle and the other female candidates start to receive anonymous letters from someone who believes a woman's place lies firmly in the home.

The threats escalate into outright violence when an explosion rips through the church hall where Annabelle is due to hold a meeting - with fatal consequences. The only piece of evidence Harper has is a scrap of paper left at the scene containing a fragment from an old folk song. But what is its significance?

As polling day approaches and the attacks increase in menace and intensity, Harper knows he's in a race against time to uncover the culprit before more deaths follow. With the lives of his wife and daughter at risk, the political becomes cruelly personal ...

My thoughts:

This is the first book from the series which I have read, but when I was invited to review it I found the subject matter drew me in.  I am not a particularly fierce fighter for women's rights per se, but do feel that women deserve an equal say on how our country functions so the thought of how things were back in 1897 doesn't sit comfortably with me.  I did wonder before I started reading whether I would find the writing style difficult to adjust to as I don't read many novels set pre 20th century but Chris Nickson has managed to keep a modern style to his writing which flows well and is easy to read whilst keeping the Victorian setting well and truly alive.  Descriptions of the city of Leeds are excellent and extremely atmospheric and the very different setting of Whitby to where his former colleague Billy has relocated is brought alive equally as well.

The sense of tension and foreboding build well as the threatening letters are received by the ladies standing in the election and as the culprit ups his game with far more serious incidents.  Harper is stumped as to the identity of the criminal and clues seem very thin on the ground. 
I found myself realising just how far forensic investigation techniques progressed during the 20th century, with even the most basic of evidence such as finger prints not being available to aid the police investigation - indeed the telephone was still very much in its infancy at this time.
Despite there being a few suspects in the frame I did manage to work out who the culprit was but this in no way spoilt my enjoyment of this book. 
A great story which I felt reflected the personal effect crime can have on those who investigate it, I am so pleased I took up the invitation to review this book and I will definitely be more likely to read more historical novels in future - in fact I would now like to go back and read this whole series from the start and find out what has happened in the relationship between Tom Harper and his former colleague Billy.

About the Author:

The author of the Richard Nottingham books, historical mysteries set in Leeds in the 1730s and featuring Richard Nottingham, the Constable of the city, and his deputy, John Sedgwick. The books are about more than murder. They're about the people of Leeds and the way life was - which mean full of grinding poverty for all but the wealthy. They're also about families, Nottingham and his and Sedgwick, and the way relationships grow and change, as well as the politics, when there was one law for the rich, and another, much more brutal, for everyone else.

Leeds in the 1890s is the settling for the Tom Harper series. The books are mysteries, but relationships are paramount, as well as politics - strike, racism against Jewish immigrants, the slow build of socialism and more.

My thanks to Abby at Anne Bonny book reviews for the opportunity to read and review this title, and to be part of this exciting tour.