Wednesday 30 September 2020

The Ex Boyfriend by Rona Halsall @bookouture @RonaHalsallAuth #TheExBoyfriend #NetGalley

 


The Ex-Boyfriend by Rona Halsall
Published by Bookouture
Published 30th September 2020
Genre: Mystery/Thrillers

Book Description:

He promised to love her until her dying day…

When Becca’s first love shows up on her social media feed, she can’t help but smile fondly. Once upon a time Connor was the love of her life, and though it was over ten years ago, he’s always held a place in her heart.

Then he sends her a message. He sounds happy – still kind and funny, still living across the world in Australia. But he wants to know everything about her life now. How can Becca tell him the truth? About her workaholic husband, her stressful job, and the challenges of caring for her elderly father and her longed-for, adorable but exhausting three-year-old daughter Mia?

Becca hesitates, knowing she shouldn’t even reply. But Connor lives on the other side of the world. Just how dangerous can becoming friends again be?

It feels harmless. Until Mia gets sick – in a way that no one can explain. And it starts to become clear – someone will do absolutely anything to make sure Becca never escapes her past…

A completely unputdownable psychological thriller – perfect for fans of My Lovely Wife, The Girl on the Train, and The Woman at the Window.

My Thoughts:

I find books about young families to be quite emotive and this certainly lives up to that expectation.  Rona Halsall has taken every mum's biggest fear and made it the focus of her latest heart rending novel: Becca's young daughter's health is causing concern and nobody can explain what is making her ill. As a district nurse Becca has a fairly broad knowledge of medical conditions and there's only one thing she can think her daughter's symptoms point to but she can't understand why or how this could be happening. Then when she approaches the experts for support her world is flipped on its head and she ends up on the wrong side of the authorities.

The author leads us sensitively through all the emotions the lead character experiences then gives us a background to Becca which doesn't seem to reflect the person we have seen her demonstrate in her every day life. She's a caring person who is meticulous in caring for her daughter and her many patients in the local community. It's not long before she finds herself completely isolated from everything she holds dear and seeks refuge back with her widowed father who is delighted to be on hand to support her. Her sister however is a different kettle of fish, seemingly full of sympathy one minute then more interested in her own agenda the next.

I really enjoyed how the story switches focus to Becca's younger days; a trip across the world to relieve the stress of work-related issues and the whirlwind romance she had with Connor, a young surf-dude and free spirit who captured her heart many years ago. But why would her two worlds collide all of a sudden? I did kind of work out the plotline regarding the two story threads but the book is about so much more than the two individual time frames. Some of the characters will shock you, some you will find reassuringly comforting - and not always those you expect as you try to work out what is happening to Becca's family and who is responsible.

I'm reluctant to say too much more regarding the relatively small cast of characters in case it helps you work out what's going on, but suffice to say they're not a very nice bunch of folks - with the odd exception. 
I will be interested to know what other readers thought with regards to the conclusion of the book as I was in two minds over a couple of issues.  My thanks to Bookouture for the opportunity to read this novel prior to publication and I look forward to being able to discuss it with other readers soon.

About the Author:


Rona is the author of Best Selling psychological thrillers published by Bookouture. Her sixth book will be out 30th September 2020.

She lives on the Isle of Man with her husband, two dogs and two guinea pigs. She is an outdoorsy person and loves stomping up a mountain, walking the coastal paths and exploring the wonderful glens and beaches on the Island while she's plotting her next book. She has three children and two step-children who are now grown up and leading varied and interesting lives, which provides plenty of ideas for new stories!

To find out more about Rona and her novels, go to:
Website: https://ronahalsall.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RonaHalsallAuthor
Twitter: @RonaHalsallAuth
Instagram: @ronahalsall

Saturday 26 September 2020

How The Wired Weep by Ian Patrick @ipatrickauthor @damppebbles #HowTheWiredWeep #damppebblesblogtours

 

How The Wired Weep by Ian Patrick

Independently Published

Publication Date: 30th June 2020

Genre: Crime


Book Description:

The Wire crosses the pond.

 

Ed is a detective who handles informants. He recruits Ben, a young man, who is treading a dangerous path into the criminal underworld.

 

Ben's unsure of where his loyalties lie. They have to find a way to work together despite their differences.

 

Both men are drawn into the world of Troy, a ruthless and brutal leader of an Organised Criminal Network.

 

Ben is torn between two worlds as he tries to walk the impossible line between criminality and helping Ed combat crime.


He lives in fear of discovery.


When your life is thrown upside down who do you turn to in order to survive?

Set against the backdrop of the 2012 Olympic Games, How the Wired Weep is a fast paced urban thriller where time is against both men as they attempt to serve their own agendas.

 



 ! !
!
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$
 %!
&'

!

(
)!*+,*%- 
!.!

 ! !
!
"#!
$
 %!
&'

!

(
)!*+,*%- 
!.!

 ! !
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$
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&'

!

(
)!*+,*%- 
!.!

My Thoughts:

First of all my thanks go to Emma Welton of damp pebbles blog tours for the opportunity to read this book as part of the blog tour.  All opinions here are my own and unbiased.

I am always keen to find great new authors whose work I haven't read before. Especially in the crime genre I like a contemporary setting and this writer's work is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy reading.  The voices of the two main characters are written perfectly, a young lad fresh from a spell at Her Majesty's Pleasure and the covert police operations team who try to encourage Ben to step across the line and help keep crime off the streets for the appropriate financial inducement.  I was very much reminded of the young man who features in Imran Mahmood's book You Don't Know Me with the representation of a young man who has had to fit in with the social pressure from those around him which unfortunately has led to him falling foul of the law.  

Ed wants nothing more than to persuade Ben (not his real name) to turn his back on the criminals who are dragging him into their dirty world of drugs, stabbings and guns. Some days he feels he is starting to make an impression then a few days later it becomes obvious Ben is in deeper than he's letting on with the criminal activities he's reporting back with. 

It is crystal clear that the author has a personal insight into how things work in the world Ed and Ben inhabit and this reinforces the storyline to bring us a credible and at times quite emotional look at life in inner city estates. I was easily drawn in to their world throughout the book which was paced perfectly and I was hoping that Ben would realise that there is a different pathway he could take, away from the risk-taking downward spiral he appeared to heading for.  It's all to easy to see how youngsters are tempted by the gang leaders to do their dirty work, with promises of bigger, better slices of the profits if they 'just do one more thing for them'. Often being products of the social care system with no other role models to base themselves on it's small wonder they end up in situations such as those we see Ben in.

Whilst controversial, the work Ed and his team do to try and infiltrate the criminal networks is valuable in trying to control the escalating crime figures. I found this a very interesting read with input from both sides as to why each of them was getting involved. There are some shocking scenes throughout the book which kept me on my toes as to what goes on in the real world and the conclusion had me turning the pages far later than I should have to find out how things would pan out for Ben and his mates. 

A cracking read, and I am also interested to see that the author is having some of his previous work made in to a TV series which I will definitely be looking out for.


Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/332xpRm

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3jRISKb

About the Author:



Ian spent twenty-seven years in the Metropolitan police officer. The majority as a Detective Sergeant within the Specialist Operations Command. He specialised in Child Protection and was part of a Major Investigation Team that targeted abusers and investigated the murder of children. His last seven years were spent in the Covert Policing Command where he managed a specialist covert unit dedicated to the detection and disruption of organised criminal networks across London and the UK.


Rubicon is his debut novel and Stoned Love the second in the series.
Rubicon is in development with the BBC for a six part TV series.
He's appeared at Bloody Scotland in 2018 as a spot light author on the opening night with Val McDermid and Denise Mina.
Ian's undertaken a mentorship with Write4Film Scotland. He's also an ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Scotland. He lives in Scotland where he divides his time between family, writing, reading and photography.


Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IPatrick_Author

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IPatrickAuthor/

Website: https://www.ianpatrick.co.uk/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ian_patrick_author

Thursday 3 September 2020

Truth Be Told by Kia Abdullah #NetGalley #bookreview #TruthBeTold @HQstories @KiaAbdullah

 


Truth Be Told by Kia Abdullah
Published by HQ 
Publication date 3rd September 2020
Genre: Mystery & Thriller/Courtroom drama

My thanks to publisher HQ who kindly approved my request to read and review this publication prior to publication. All thoughts and opinions are my own and unbiased.

Book Description:

ARE YOU READY TO START THIS CONVERSATION?

Kamran Hadid feels invincible. He attends Hampton school, an elite all-boys boarding school in London, he comes from a wealthy family, and he has a place at Oxford next year. The world is at his feet. And then a night of revelry leads to a drunken encounter and he must ask himself a horrific question.

With the help of assault counsellor, Zara Kaleel, Kamran reports the incident in the hopes that will be the end of it. But it’s only the beginning…

Powerful, explosive and important, Truth Be Told is a contemporary courtroom drama that vividly captures today’s society. You will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come.

My Thoughts:

If ever there was a book which makes you look at how different sections of society conduct themselves this would be it - on more than one level.  It made me look at different genders, religions, classes and sexual preferences and that's before taking into account the shocking events of one raucous night at a public school where one man's boundaries are breached by another's blatant sense of entitlement - well, that's one side of the story any way.

Kamran and Finn are both students at a prestigious boarding school which upholds strict rules for the majority of term time, with the odd exception when parties are held and everyone turns a blind eye to excess drinking and related naughtiness. But the events of one such night get out of hand when one student enters another's personal quarters uninvited and takes advantage of the resident who is in bed feeling worse for wear after a heavy night of partying. 

The book then follows events as the violated student deliberates how to deal with what he sees as rape. The taboo of male rape is dealt with in a very sensitive manner - and with religious views on homosexuality also being thrown into the mix together with overbearing parents who expect their very well-to-do children to behave within extremely strict rules, this is a minefield that many authors would shy away from.

The author explores the feelings of both parties involved - the feelings of guilt on both sides, the soul searching of both men and how events affect them both as the situation suddenly gets thrown into the public spotlight of the media and the courts. All of these things are handled in a well balanced way I felt and made me explore my own opinions and thoughts on the issues involved.

The ending I found heartbreaking as things come to a very emotional conclusion and the families of both men have to come to terms with the decisions made back at the boarding school.

Who is right and could anyone have handled things differently? There are so many viewpoints to be had on those questions but either way I felt the author presented both sides in a confident yet sensitive way. 
It seems wrong to say I enjoyed this book due to the content but overall I liked the way the (maybe slightly stereotypical) characters were drawn and feel the author achieved what she set out to do by getting me to analyse my thoughts on the storyline.

About the Author:

Kia Abdullah is an author and travel writer from London. She has contributed to The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC and Lonely Planet, and is the founding editor of outdoor travel blog Atlas & Boots, read by 250,000 people a month. Kia's new novel, Take It Back, is out now (HQ/HarperCollins, March 2020).

Wednesday 2 September 2020

The Stepdaughter by Georgina Cross @bookouture #NetGalley #bookreview @GCrossAuthor



The Stepdaughter by Georgina Cross
Published by Bookouture
Publication Date: 2nd September 2020
Genre: Suspense, Mystery & Thrillers

My thanks to publisher Bookouture for the opportunity to read this title ahead of publication via NetGalley.

Book Description:

It’s a normal afternoon when I walk out the patio doors of our kitchen to check on Mia, my stepdaughter, who is swimming in our backyard pool. But she’s gone. My heart stops when I see the back gate is open, her pink, fluffy towel lying folded on a chair. I was just feet away. Why didn’t I hear her scream? Who took our little girl?

My husband can’t understand how I could I have let his daughter disappear. And when the police come asking questions, I wish I could wind back time to that normal afternoon when I was cooking lasagna for my family, Mia’s favorite. I can tell the officers don’t believe me: they’ve cast me as the evil stepmother.

I just wish I could understand the messages I’ve found from my husband on Mia’s phone: I’m so sorry, I still love you. And why his wedding ring is found at the bottom of the pool after Mia disappeared. He never told me it was missing. What else is he hiding?

But the detective keeps asking me where I was during those ten minutes when Mia vanished. And I can’t tell her my secret. From the way she’s looking at me, I know she thinks I did something to my stepdaughter. Mia and I haven’t always been that close and sometimes she drives me nuts, just like any normal teenager, but I would never hurt her.

I just need you to believe me.

A twisty novel packed with unputdownable suspense about the power and damage of secrets we hide. Perfect for anyone who was totally hooked by The Mother-in-Law, Kerry Fisher and Big Little Lies.


My Thoughts:

Oh what a tangled mess a neighbourhood can be! There are secrets and lies (often by omission)  aplenty in this excellent debut from Georgina Cross.

Julia and Thomas Sinclair live next door to Tripp Tanner and his second wife Vanessa and Tripp's daughter from his first marriage, Mia.  Julia was close friends with Mia's mum but does her best to welcome Vanessa into the neighbourhood despite her reservations that Tripp is rushing into bringing a new woman into the family home. Everything appears to be going well until the day that Mia, a champion swimmer in her age group, goes missing from the pool in their back garden. Incredibly, Julia's home is engulfed in flames in virtually the same instant. Surely a kidnapper would never go to such extremes merely to cause a diversion to their actions?  This is the situation the local police and fire departments are faced with solving - and the pressure's on to find Mia.

I really enjoyed reading about the inner thoughts of the different characters in this book - it's hard to believe it is the author's first publication. Tripp is career driven and expects everyone to fall in with his plans at the drop of a hat - something I was surprised Vanessa was willing to do when she was such a career woman herself before she met him. The torment Vanessa  experiences is explored too, as she tries to get the balance right between doing what was best for the family but without trying to take Mia's mum's place. I couldn't quite work out Julia and Thomas and their family though as very little is said about their children - I couldn't get a grip on how the friendship group worked between the two families. I liked that the story focused on the families rather than the officials investigating as we get in most crime novels. The rumours which threatened to lead the enquiry astray are typical of most communities when news like this breaks and the way the leading officer put the clues together was well-presented, the light bulb moment coming across as much a shock to the reader as to the officer herself. A plot very well executed in my opinion.

I feel this is a very strong first novel and yet another author on my watch list - my poor shelves/kindle!!

About the Author:


Georgina Cross is the author of The Stepdaughter (publishing September 2020) and Book 2 (title to be released January 2021) and Nanny Needed (to be published 2021) which are works of domestic suspense, psychological suspense, and thriller.

She is represented by Rachel Beck with Liza Dawson Associates with her suspense fiction appealing to readers of The Good Girl by Mary Kubica, The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle, The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth, and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

Georgina has been writing since she was a child. Notebooks & floppy discs filled with stories: adventures growing up in New Orleans and tales from Malaysia & England where her family lives. After graduating from Louisiana State University, she pursued a career in marketing & communications and founded Susie's Wish non-profit which sends patients with life threatening illnesses to the beach. She spends time with her husband and their combined family of four sons watching plenty of scary movies and is thrilled to be a full-time author.

Author website: www.Georgina-Cross-Author.com
Twitter: @GCrossAuthor
Facebook: GeorginaCrossAuthor
Instagram: GeorginaCrossAuthor