Airside by James Swallow @jmswallow #Airside #paperbackbooks #bookreview #bloggersbuybooks @welbeckpublish

 Airside by James Swallow

Published by Welbeck

Publication Date 8th December 2022

Book Description:

Stranded by a storm in the airside zone of a remote municipal airport, beleaguered businessman Kevin Tyler stumbles upon a bag of money that could be the solution to all his woes. There's just one problem – the money is part of a conspiracy of blackmail and murder, and those involved are willing to do anything to keep it...

My Thoughts:

This book is one I picked up in a local supermarket on impulse, and it is certainly not my usual type of read. It felt much more a book aimed at the male thriller market, more testosterone fuelled with gun-toting bad guys threatening to spoil our main character's already bad day. That said, my heart was racing as I followed Kevin's attempts to escape to a whole different life to that which his original plan had been.

We meet Kevin at the airport after a miserable, failed attempt at expanding his business into the European market; things get progressively worse as a storm comes in and restricts all flights in and out of the small German airport. We sit with him as he mulls over the change in fortunes his life has taken during the day. All his options seem to have disappeared over the horizon with the last flight back to the UK. But a trip to the restroom potentially changes everything if he can just stay under the radar until the next morning...

This is a story with great plotting which will have your adrenaline pumping as Kevin attempts to call in favours from his limited contacts at the airport. He's up against corruption and dodgy politics, not to mention those who are purely concerned with saving their own skins and his chances really don't look good. Is anyone on his side? Maybe not, but his enemies seem to have their own issues going on too which can only give Kevin a fighting chance, right?

I can't believe I have never heard of this author before. His writing achievements are impressive with BAFTA award nominations and numerous novels to his name. Airside has pinged James Swallow onto my radar of authors to watch and with a back catalogue of thrillers ready to read I think I'm going to be busy!!

About the Author:

James Swallow is a New York Times, Sunday Times and Amazon bestselling author, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominee, a former journalist and the award-winning writer of over fifty books, along with numerous scripts for video games, radio and television.

His Marc Dane novels are fast-paced action thrillers featuring a former MI6 field officer turned private security operative: NOMAD and EXILE.

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman @CatSteadman #TheFamilyGame #paperbackbooks #bookreview #booktwitter @simonschusterUK

 

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

Published by Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 29th September 2022

Book Description:

THE RULES

    1. Listen carefully
    2. Do your research
    3. Trust no one
    4. Run for your life
 
Harriet Reed is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir to an extremely powerful American family.
When Edward’s father hands her a tape of a book he’s been working on, she is desperate to listen.
But as she presses play, it’s clear that this isn’t a novel. It’s a confession to murder.
Feeling isolated and confused, Harriet must work out if this is all part of a plan to test her loyalty. Or something far darker.
Because this might be a game to the Holbeck family - but games can still be deadly.
 
READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME . . .

My Thoughts:

I know they say you don't just marry your partner but also their family, but Catherine Steadman has taken this concept well and truly to the extreme in this novel. Thriller novelist Harriet has moved to the US to be with the love of her life Ed, who does seem just a little too good to be true to be honest. Call me old and cynical if you will but I don't believe anyone can be that perfect a partner - an opinion which comes into sharp focus when he introduces Harriet to his family. Straightaway the red flags are flying strongly when Ed's family rearrange Harriet's work diary to suit their request to meet her - I would have been out of there faster than Lewis Hamilton if faced with that scenario!

Then, having reluctantly agreed to go ahead with the meeting she has effectively been manipulated into, the events which Harriet is subjected to at the family pile (it's way beyond being called a home) leave her feeling traumatised. Does she walk away? No. Because Ed's father has dangled a big juicy carrot of a mystery in front of her; one which the thriller writer within her cannot resist trying to solve.

This is the point where I had to suspend reality while reading as I cannot believe anyone would get involved with Ed's family as deeply as Harriet willingly allowed herself to be. Every member of the family - and everyone who had ever been connected to them - has their own level of weirdness, but to tell you any more than this will just spoil the book. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story, but it is rather a little too far-fetched for my liking. I didn't click with any of the characters, but I get the feeling that was the author's intention. While I kind of sympathised with Harriet to begin with, I ended up just wanting to shake her back into the real world by the end of the book.

If you're happy to go with the flow - in the way you would when the group in a horror film predictably decides to split up to look for clues/a way out/whatever - then this one will work for you. If not, you will end up throwing the book across the room in frustration! Not a book I would willingly subject myself to reading a second time, but it achieved what it set out to overall.

 

About the Author:

Catherine Steadman is an actress and author based in London. She has appeared in leading roles on British and American television but is perhaps best known for playing Mabel Lane Fox in the series Downton Abbey. As well as on screen she has also appeared in the West End where she has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. Catherine lives in Hackney, North London.

Catherine's first novel, Something in the Water, was a number one New York Times bestseller with rights sold in over 30 territories. Film rights were picked up Reese Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, with Something in the Water becoming a Reeses's book club pick in the US and a Richard and Judy Book club pick in the UK.

Mr Nobody, her second novel, was listed as one of Newsweek's 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2020, and her third novel, The Disappearing Act, released in 2021, was number #1 in on the iTunes Audiobook chart.

The Mother by Yvette Edwards #paperback #bookreview #bloggersbuybooks @panmacmillan #TheMother

 

The Mother by Yvette Edwards

First Published by Mantle April 2016

This edition released 3rd March 2022 by Pan

Book Description:

Marcia Williams thought she knew her son. She thought he was safe. She was wrong . . .

Today, Marcia is heading to the Old Bailey. She's going there to do something no mother should ever have to do: to attend the trial of the boy accused of her son's murder.

She's not meant to be that woman; Ryan, her son, wasn't that kind of boy. But Tyson Manley is that kind of a boy and, as his trial unfolds, it becomes clear that it's his girlfriend Sweetie who has the answers Marcia so badly needs and who can – perhaps – offer Marcia some kind of hope for the future. But Sweetie is as scared of Tyson as Ryan should have been and, as Marcia's learned the hard way, nothing's certain. Not anymore.

My Thoughts:

What an emotional read! With knife crime an ever-present threat to our society this is a book I think everyone should read. It's the story of one family's battle to deal with the loss of a son through the selfish, mindless actions of a young man with little to lose.

Told from mum Marcie's point of view throughout we meet her as she attends court for the first day of the trial of the young man accused of killing her son Ryan. Her main desire is to find out one thing: why Ryan? Was it a targeted act or was Ryan just unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

We read of the devastating effect the crime has had on Ryan's close-knit family: there was only his mum, dad and his aunt. A small family group full of love and kindness. His mum now suffers from alopecia due to the stress of trying to cope, his dad is no longer able to work and lives in his own little world, struggling to even converse with his wife while going through the motions of getting up in the morning and making her a cup of tea which she can't face.

I felt every emotion with Marcie as I read: the anger, the attempt to make heartfelt excuses for the boy in the dock, the confusion when some of the evidence presented didn't even sound like they were describing Ryan. They didn't know him like she did - or did she even really know the young man he was growing in to?

This was a book which will stay with me for a long time, and despite being a work of fiction I'm sad when I realise that it must be the reality for so many families across the UK.

Excellent work from a writer with a superb talent.

About the Author:

Yvvette Edwards is a British author of Montserratian origin. Her debut novel, A Cupboard Full of Coats, was nominated for a number of literary awards including the Man Booker prize. Her second novel, The Mother, was published in 2016. She loves travel, dazzling autumn landscapes and carrot cake. She currently resides in London with her family.