books – Page 238 – ramblingmads

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Taking on Secrets – Kevin Pilkington

Jul 13, 2022 ramblingmads

TakingonSecrets copy

Welcome to my stop on the Taking on Secrets tour! Read on for more details about this book!

274589858_5408606902496591_5062964780156040709_n

Taking On Secrets

Publication Date: April 2, 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction/ Coming-of-Age

Publisher: Blue Jade Press

A coming-of-age tale about our protagonist Benjamin Kissel as he grows up as a single child in a upper middle class catholic home during the 60’s and 70’s. Experience his struggles with his family, lust, lies, and love as he grows from a teenager to a successful adult in the city that never sleeps, NYC.

“A coming-of-age story by Kevin Pilkington, who is a creative writing professor at the prestigious Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, a tony suburb of New York. The story is also set in Bronxville and Manhattan. I used to live in Bronxville, and Pilkington’s descriptions are spot on.” – Susan Schwartzman

“A spirited, humorous mosaic of teen life in a 1970’s America, an adult life in a forgotten Hollywood, a forgotten Lower East Side, too, and dead-on reflections on pop culture, family, and traditions. Taking on Secrets is a furious, transcendent, urgent sweep of a full life, with a prose filled with rhythm, energy, humor and poetry.”—Ernesto Quinonex, author of Bodega Dreams

“Are we merely the sum of our experiences, or can we become something more? That’s the questions that Kevin Pilkington’s Taking on Secrets is asking between the lines of every page. An addictive, funny, fearless coming-of-age story.”—David Hollander author of Anthropica and L.I. E.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

About the Author

689ad7_1482b1d52f013919b1c56700fdc6cd88

Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of ten collections: Spare Change was the LaJolla Poets Press National Book Award winner; Getting By won the ledge chapbook award; In the Eyes of a Dog received the New York Book Festival Award; The Unemployed Man Who Became a Tree was a Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award finalist. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies including: Birthday Poems: A Celebration, Western Wind, and Contemporary Poetry of New England. Over the years, he has been nominated for four Pushcarts.

He poems have appeared in numerous magazines, including The Harvard Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Boston Review, Yankee, Hayden’s Ferry, Columbia and North American Review.

He has taught and lectured at numerous colleges and universities including The New School, Manhattanville College, MIT, University of Michigan, Susquehanna University and Georgia Tech. His debut novel, Summer Shares, was reissued in paperback. His collection, Where You Want to Be: New and Selected Poems was an IPPY Award Winner. A new collection entitled Playing Poker with Tennessee Williams was recently published. Taking on Secrets is his second novel.

Kevin Pilkington | Facebook | Instagram

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

books

Book Blitz: Closer to Okay – Amy Watson

Jul 12, 2022 ramblingmads

I’m pleased to share Closer to Okay by Amy Watson with you all today. Look for it this October and be sure to enter the giveaway!

Cover

Closer to Okay

Expected Publication Date: October 11, 2022

Genre: Book Club Fiction/ Modern Contemporary Fiction/ Women’s Fiction

Publisher: Alcove Press

Weaving culinary delights with an honest, appraising look at how we deal with the world when it becomes too much, Closer to Okay is the comfort food we all need in these, well, crazy times.

Kyle Davies is doing fine. She has her routine, after all, ingrained in her from years of working as a baker: wake up, make breakfast, prep the dough, make lunch, work the dough, make dinner, bake dessert, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s a good routine. Comforting. Almost enough to help her forget the scars on her wrist, still healing from when she slit it a few weeks ago; that she lost her job at the bakery when she checked herself in as an inpatient at Hope House; then signed away all decisions about her life, medical care, and wellbeing to Dr. Booth (who may or may not be a hack). So, yeah, Kyle’s doing just fine.

Except that a new item’s been added to her daily to-do list recently: stare out her window at the coffee shop (named, well…The Coffee Shop) across the street, and its hot owner, Jackson. It’s healthy to have eye candy when you’re locked in the psych ward, right? Something low risk to keep yourself distracted. So when Dr. Booth allows Kyle to leave the facility–two hours a day to go wherever she wants–she decides to up the stakes a little more. Why not visit? Why not see what Jackson’s like in person?

Turns out that Jackson’s a jerk with a heart of gold, a deadly combination that Kyle finds herself drawn to more than she should be. (Aren’t we all?) At a time when Dr. Booth delivers near-constant warnings about the dangers of romantic entanglements, Kyle is pulled further and further into Jackson’s orbit. At first, the feeling of being truly taken care of is bliss, like floating on a wave. But at a time when Kyle is barely managing her own problems, she finds herself suddenly thrown into the deep end of someone else’s. Dr. Booth may have been right after all: falling in love may be the thing that sends Kyle into a backslide she might never be able to crawl out of. Is Jackson too much for her to handle? Does love come at the cost of sanity?

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

I’ve only seen Booth a handful of times so far, but I’ve mostly got him figured out. Flattery will get you everywhere, and compliance with his instructions almost as far. What I haven’t worked out, though, are his intentions. Put in the simplest terms: Is he a good guy or a bad one?

He looks at me over his glasses, breathes a sigh, and reaches over to close my file. “I suppose you’re right. I appreciate that you’re taking ownership of your place in the house, Kyle. You’ll find that your recovery will accelerate once you embrace my program. We can review your progress together at your appointment on Monday.”

Standing to leave, I smooth my apron back down and hustle toward the door. “Thanks, Dr. Booth. See you tomorrow.”

The kitchen is a calamity when I get back. There’s smoke pouring out of the oven. Bruce did turn off the stove and oven like I’d told him to but left everything where it was. The residual heat did a number on the eggs, now a solid brown-on-the-bottom disk that gives off the smell of burning sulfur. The muffins might be edible but are overcooked. I’d normally chuck them straight into the trash, but I have to serve them since Mary and Eddie will be here in five minutes and need breakfast if they’re going to stay on Booth’s schedule. I don’t want everyone getting off-program and being forced to sit through the same talk I just did. We all know how important schedules are here. I’ll make it up to them at dinner, maybe put some extra turkey on the lunch sandwiches.

“Oh my gosh, what is going on in here?” Mary asks, coming into the kitchen.

“Sorry, Mary. Booth called me into his office to talk as soon as I got everything cooking. You know how it goes. His two-minute talk turned into ten and breakfast burned. Bruce was in here tending the food when I left. I don’t know where he went. I can salvage the muffins. I’ll make it up to you guys, I promise.”

“You don’t have to make anything up to me, sweetie. Eddie was making a fuss; I’m sure that’s where Bruce went. How can I help? Can I get the cups and milk?”

“I’ve got this, Mary. Go sit down and enjoy your horrible muffin. You’ve got to clean the bathroom, worst chore in the house. I will not have you doing my work, too.”

She waves me off. “Nonsense. It’s no bother. I’ve spent a lifetime cleaning up after my husband. One little chore is nothing. I’m glad to help. You go get those muffins out of the pan, and I’ll get the drinks.”

She hustles around me to the refrigerator and starts humming. I move over and pop the muffins out onto one of the red plastic trays, stacking them in tiers so they’ll look good, even if they don’t taste it. I put two muffins on a separate plate and carry them all into the dining room.

“What’s up, Special K?” Eddie yells as I walk into the room. He does this every morning, and it always makes me flinch.

“It’s a bad morning, Ed. You get muffins and milk. Sorry. The bacon and eggs got burnt. I’ll make something extra-good for dinner tonight.”

“Well, ain’t that a bitch? You better make something really fucking tasty for dinner, then. I can’t get through my day in this shithole with an empty stomach.”

“Hush, Edward,” Mary says as she comes in behind me with the glasses of milk. “It’s not her fault.”

“How’s it not her fault, huh? It’s her job to cook my food and keep my belly full. How are lousy fucking muffins supposed to keep me satisfied?”

“Eddie,” Nancy warns as she walks into the dining room, stopping his rant. She has a slight accent, maybe something Slavic, that gives her voice more authority, sounds harsher to my ears. Eddie puts on his nice act; Nancy tells Booth everything. “Good morning, Nancy. Great to see you. I’m sure looking forward to these muffins Kyle made this morning.”

Nancy grunts and turns on her heel. She takes the separate plate I made, knowing Joey wouldn’t be down to eat with everyone. With her back to us, she says, “Kyle, Bruce needs the grocery list after breakfast. Drop it off in the security office as soon as it’s done. Eddie, you have an appointment with the doctor in an hour. Mary, you need to do your chores this morning.”

“Sorry again about breakfast, guys. I’m gonna get started on the grocery list. I’ll make a dessert for you tonight. Chocolate cake, maybe.” “It better be fucking good, K. This muffin shit’s for the birds.”

Pre-Order Here!

About the Author

Amy-Watson-credit-Rita-Earles-1160x1536-1-300x300

Amy Watson is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. A wife, a mother to two boys, and a full-time office manager. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, baking, drinking coffee, knitting, and watching football.

Amy Watson | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads

Enter for a chance to win a signed ARC edition of Closer to Okay (either annotated or not) and some sweet book swag! Giveaway closes July 15th at midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Perfect Stranger – Shalini Boland

Jul 12, 2022Jul 12, 2022 ramblingmads

Two marriages. Three little lies. Someone’s going to die…

I hold my breath as my handsome husband walks through the door. I’ve planned the perfect surprise birthday party for him. Our friends are gathered and the champagne is flowing. But when I catch the look in his deep brown eyes, I realise I’ve got this horribly wrong.

All evening my stomach is churning. And I can’t help but notice Danielle Baines speaking with Aiden. With her salon-styled hair, diamonds glittering on her ring finger and married to a rich businessman she has the kind of lifestyle I can only dream of. I’ve never liked her. And I know the feeling is mutual.

So why is she here and what is she saying to my husband?

Now it’s the end of the party and the man I love is confessing a secret that shocks me to the core. But it’s not what I was afraid of. It’s much worse.

He says we have to take our son and leave the place we call home because our lives are in danger.

I thought I knew everything about my husband. But suddenly he feels like a stranger. Should I trust him with my life?

From the million-copy bestselling author, this totally gripping psychological thriller will have you guessing until the last jaw-dropping twist. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Wife Between Us.

Amazon

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love

Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two children and Jess their cheeky terrier cross. Before kids, she was signed to Universal Music Publishing as a singer songwriter, but now she spends her days writing suspense thrillers (in between school runs and hanging out endless baskets of laundry).

Facebook Instagram

Tweets by ShaliniBoland

My thoughts: so many secrets being kept, mostly by the men, in this book. Neither Dani or Emily know what their husbands have been up to or what terrible things they’ve done. Emily agrees to go on the run with Aidan but doesn’t know the whole story. Dani has to spy on her husband to find the truth.

They do say you should be able to trust your spouse and be honest with each other but neither of these marriages are. Aidan’s secrets could destroy his family completely. And you can’t outrun your debts forever. Gripping, shocking and clever, I was rooting for both women the whole time.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Twelve Nights – Penny Ingham

Jul 12, 2022Jul 13, 2022 ramblingmads

The Theatre
London, 1592
When a player is murdered, suspicion falls on the wardrobe mistress, Magdalen Bisset, because everyone knows poison is a woman’s weapon. The scandal-pamphlets vilify her. The coroner is convinced of her guilt.
Magdalen is innocent, although few are willing to help her prove it. Her much-loved grandmother is too old and sick. Will Shakespeare is benignly detached, and her friend Christopher Marlowe is wholly unreliable. Only one man offers his assistance, but dare she trust him when nothing about him rings true?
With just two weeks until the inquest, Magdalen ignores anonymous threats to ‘leave it be’, and delves into the dangerous underworld of a city seething with religious and racial tension. As time
runs out, she must risk everything in her search for the true killer – for all other roads lead to the gallows.

Amazon UK Amazon US

I was born and raised in Yorkshire where my father inspired my love of history from an early age. He is a born story teller and would take us to the top of Iron Age hillforts, often as dusk was falling, and
regale us with stirring tales of battles lost and won. Not surprisingly, I went on to study Classics at university, and still love spending my summers on archaeological digs. For me, there is nothing more
thrilling than finding an artefact that has not seen the light of day for thousands of years. I find so much inspiration for my novels from archaeology.
I have had a variety of jobs over the years, including working for the British Forces newspaper in Germany, and at the BBC. When our family was little, the only available space for me to write was a
small walk-in wardrobe. The children used to say, ‘oh, mum’s in the cupboard again’.
I have written four historical novels: The King’s Daughter explores the story of Aethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians. The Saxon Wolves and the Saxon Plague are both set in fifth century AD, a time of
enormous upheaval and uncertainty in Britain as the Romans departed and the Saxon era began. My latest is something a bit different. Twelve Nights is a crime thriller set in sixteenth century London,
and features William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.
I now live with my husband in the Hampshire countryside. Like many others during the pandemic, we decided to try growing our own fruit and vegetables – with mixed results! We can only get
better!

Facebook: Penny Ingham Author Page | Facebook
Instagram: Penny Ingham (@penny.ingham)Twitter: Penny Ingham (@pennyingham) / Twitter
Website: Penny Ingham (wordpress.com)

Giveaway to Win a PB copy of Twelve Nights (Open to UK Only)

My thoughts: for me this book ticks lots of boxes, as a theatre history nerd, a Shakespeare (apparently my husband’s family are distantly related), a literature student, a crime fiction fan, a history lover and more.

Helpfully it’s also well written, enjoyable and has a great protagonist in Magdalen Bisset, my first name is derived from Magdalen and I have French ancestry, so I felt a kinship with the Theatre’s wardrobe mistress. She’s falsely accused of murder and being as the constable is the one convinced of her guilt and there not being a proper police force to investigate, Magdalen sets out to prove her innocence and uncover the real killer.

I loved the theatricals, most of them notorious drunks and rogues, from Burbage to Kemp, Marlowe to Condell. And of course the Swan of Avon – William Shakespeare, scribbling away in his attic room at the Mountjoys’ house on Silver Street.

I also really liked the evocation of the world of Elizabethan London, the stinking, crowded mass of it, the streets and alleyways, the fact that there was only the one bridge so you needed to catch a boat across the Thames, and they weren’t supposed to run after dark. The proximity of actors to royalty has always intrigued me, and like the author, I think Marlowe was a spy of some sort.

The conspiracy Magdalen uncovers as she seeks to clear her name is shocking but does tie in to several rumours that floated about the court even after James I & VI took the throne. I hope there’s more to come from this world. I want Magdalen and Louisa to set up as the first all women PI firm and investigate more crimes in the morass of religion, poetry and pubs of London in the 1500s.

The author’s notes at the end about the discovery of various theatre’s remains in London has given me a new activity to do next time I catch the train to the capital – go and visit these sites. So make sure you read on beyond the end of the story.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will
not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random
Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

blog tour, books

Blog Tour: Below Torrential Hill – Jonathan Koven

Jul 11, 2022 ramblingmads

belowtorrentialhill-copy

Welcome to the book tour for Jonathan Koven’s novel, Below Torrential Hill. Read on for more info!

below torrential hill-front cover

Below Torrential Hill

Publication Date: October 18th, 2021

Genre: Literary Fiction

Length: 190 Pages

Jonathan Koven, author of the beloved poetry collection Palm Lines, returns with a stunning fiction debut. Breathtaking in scope, intimate in its detail, Below Torrential Hill is a coming-of-age about family, memory, and reconciliation.

It’s Christmas, and strange occurrences are plaguing the small town of Torrential Hill: a supernatural comet, undead insects, exploding streetlights, and a presence luring people into the woods. But when the mother of Tristen—a wistful, fatherless sixteen-year-old boy—hears voices from the kitchen sink, all he can think of is running away.

A WINNER OF THE 2020 ELECTRIC ECLECTIC NOVELLA PRIZE
A FINALIST OF THE 2020 CLAY REYNOLDS NOVELLA PRIZE

“Remarkable in its empathy, successfully conveying the difficult realities of death, first love, single parenting, alcoholism . . . Both an ode to loss and to growth, a dialectic that produces a singular tone and a dynamic plot. Within these pages, Koven has constructed an entire universe, and we are left homesick by story’s end.”—Shannon Greenstein, author of Pray for Us Sinners

“Captivating, awash in poetry and sensual detail . . . beautiful, sad, and full of hope.”—Charlotte Dune, author of Mushroom Honeymoon

ADD TO GOODREADS

Excerpt

With one’s mouth agape, there is always more to swallow. And Tristen always wished to be filtered, chewed, and spit out bodiless as a dream, to be the raindrop plunging into white sea, to not shatter and spread wide the body, to pour out like the hungriest wound and demand to be filled at once. Happiness is to be loved to death. No matter how strange, the leap into silence demanded a sacrifice of the highest order. He came to relinquish his life for a different one.

His muddied shoes stepped through the brightly lit division in the trees. A hillside not far ahead oversaw the great abyss which nurtured the lowest regions of the wood, where the city limits were eaten alive by pine and lichen, where the meteorite fell just days before.

Canine laughter sprawled out against the void, just near enough to hear. Then, spoken slowly and dully like a voice from the sink, in the middle of the raspy sunrise, his name seemed to hum within an acute ringing: “Trist-en.”

The ringing grew and took hold of his arms and pulled him to the ground. The sky pealed his name unto him as he bowed over the whitening earth. He coughed into his chest. Frostbite and blood covered his skin from wrists to elbows. Curling his fingers into the snow, his knuckles cut deep; using them, he lifted his body and swung forward. He moved with determination, each spring forward going farther than the last. Everything was a cry to continue moving. It even echoed from fractures in the bark. Eternity was waiting for Tristen. His ankles were set in a motion too hypnotic to break.

Torn trunks pointed their roots toward the hillside where old snow whistled with old wind. At the hillside’s ledge, deformed trees met the capsizing sky, longing back to the morning’s jaw. Mist peeled back to reveal the ledge.

Tristen walked to it slowly.

The sound bawled from everywhere, two drawn-out torrents of energy. They droned the essence of shared solitude, unmasked arousal of vulnerability and, at the center of the sound, consonants proudly shattered and burst. “Tri-sten.” A cry so lowly, lovingly, morbidly exasperated— stretched open, crackling. All around him coursed a magnitude of feeling. Catching a deformed tree’s lowered branch, he waited at the ridge. These—these long waves, this sheer density—this heavy slowness were the years of his life that hadn’t happened yet.

“Tri-st!-enn.”

Then, pushing down on the branch, it snapped halfway, and Tristen tumbled fast into a scar in the earth.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

About the Author

Delana + Jonathan

Jonathan Koven grew up on Long Island, NY. He holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from American University, works as a technical writer, and reads chapbooks for Moonstone Arts. He lives in Philadelphia with his best friend and wife Delana, and their cats Peanut Butter and Keebler. Read Jonathan’s poetry debut Palm Lines (2020), available from Toho Publishing. His fiction debut Below Torrential Hill (2021) is also available, a winner of the Electric Eclectic Novella Prize.

Book Tour Schedule

July 11^th

R&R Book Tours (Kick-Off) http://rrbooktours.com

@hodophile_z (Review) https://www.instagram.com/hodophile_z/

@brandidanielledavis (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/brandidanielledavis/

Rambling Mads (Spotlight) http://ramblingmads.com

July 12^th

Riss Reviews (Review) https://rissreviewsx.wixsite.com/website

@rissreviews_xx – https://www.instagram.com/rissreviews_xx/

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com

July 13^th

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com

@fariha_binte_islam (Review) https://www.instagram.com/fariha_binte_islam/

Timeless Romance Blog (Spotlight) https://aubreywynne.com/

July 14^th

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.com/

@gryffindorbookishnerd (Review) https://www.instagram.com/gryffindorbookishnerd/

Nesie’s Place (Spotlight) https://nesiesplace.wordpress.com

Liliyana Shadowlyn (Spotlight) https://lshadowlynauthor.com/

@Fle_d (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/fle_d

July 15^th

@thrillersandcoffee (Spotlight) https://www.instagram.com/thrillersandcoffee/

Book Tour Organized By:

R&R Book Tours

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Listen To Me – Tess Gerritsen

Jul 11, 2022Jul 5, 2022 ramblingmads

The murder of Sofia Suarez is both gruesome and seemingly senseless. Why would anyone target a respected nurse who was well-liked by her friends and her neighbours? As Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles investigate the baffling case, they discover that Sofia was guarding a dangerous secret — a secret that may have led the killer straight to her door.

Meanwhile, Jane’s mother Angela Rizzoli is conducting an investigation of her own. She may be a housewife, not a police detective, but she’s savvy enough to know there’s something very strange, perhaps even dangerous, about the new neighbours across the street. The problem is, no one believes her, not even her own daughter.

Immersed in the hunt for Sofia’s killer, Jane and Maura are too busy to pay attention to Angela’s fears. With no one listening to her, and danger mounting in her neighbourhood, Angela just may be forced to take action on her own…

Bestselling author TESS GERRITSEN is also a physician, and she brings to her novels her first-hand knowledge of emergency and autopsy rooms. Her thrillers starring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TV series Rizzoli & Isles. But Tess’s interests span far more than medicine and crime. As an anthropology student at Stanford University, she catalogued centuries-old human remains, and she continues to travel the world, driven by her fascination with ancient cultures and bizarre natural phenomena.

My thoughts: I’ve been a Tess Gerritsen fan for a long time, so the new Rizzoli and Isles book was bound to be exciting. And it doesn’t disappoint. I love that Angela, Rizzoli’s mum, is running her own neighbourhood investigation too. She’s pretty sure her daughter got her detective’s nose from her.

The murder of Sofia Suarez is baffling, a widowed nurse, she doesn’t seem to be a typical victim – was it a burglary gone wrong as it appears? Or does her recent Internet search history hold the answers?

Meanwhile the quiet neighbourhood Angela lives in gets some new residents and there’s something odd about them. She’s going to find out what, and find a runaway teenage girl too. Even though the local police would prefer it if she didn’t get involved.

Cracking crime writing as always from the author, much more going on underneath than the apparently straightforward crimes appear. Sofia Suarez opened a whole can of worms and it can only end badly if the detectives can’t work it out fast. And Angela Rizzoli might be in serious trouble too.

I really enjoyed having a secondary story that was so fun and slightly less serious than the murder being investigated. The supporting characters have grown since the first book to become more interesting and more of a presence, adding to Rizzoli and Isles’ lives and helping them evolve into more rounded figures. Sometimes the other stuff, Isles’ piano playing in an orchestra of doctors, Rizzoli’s crazy family, is more interesting than the crimes they solve. I liked the way this one was linked into their lives in some ways – a colleague of the victim is in the same orchestra. It made it feel more realistic and also gave them another way into the victim’s life.

I keep thinking about authors whose work I want to go back and re-read and Tess Gerritsen is definitely one of those, I remember borrowing The Surgeon from the library when it was first published in 2001, and being completely thrilled by it. Her books have only gotten better.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Getaway – Ross Armstrong

Jul 10, 2022Jul 8, 2022 ramblingmads

One private island. Seven guests. One killer…

The perfect holiday. The perfect murder. The perfect beach read…

Get away from your problems.
Multimillionaire Robert Rathwell and his entourage arrive at their private Greek island. White sand, turquoise water, the perfect place to relax. But this is no ordinary family, and this holiday will be their last.

Get away from your life.
The next morning, a scream shatters their peaceful world. Someone has been murdered, his body arranged to make it look like suicide. Everyone has a motive and, under the burning sun, secrets quickly simmer to the surface.

Get away with murder.
Soon the guests see a darker, more violent side to paradise. Because the Rathwells don’t just own the island; they own the people on it. And they can do whatever they like – maybe even commit murder…

My thoughts: a reclusive millionaire, his family and a few staff on a disconnected private island. What could go wrong? With a few uninvited guests (or are they?), the patriarch in poor health, secrets and assumed identities abound.

Everyone is hiding something – but are they the killer? Between them they intend to find out and get off the island once the weather clears. But who can they trust?

With multiple narrators, all with their own agendas, it’s hard to decide who to believe, although some of the things they’re hiding aren’t as bad as murder. There’s plenty of motivation to do away with a few people. And even when it’s supposedly resolved, there’s a few lingering questions. The ending gives a sudden whole new slant on everything too. Very cleverly done.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Truly, Darkly, Deeply – Victoria Selman

Jul 9, 2022Jul 8, 2022 ramblingmads

Twelve-year-old Sophie and her mother, Amelia-Rose, move to London from Massachusetts where they meet the charismatic Matty Melgren, who quickly becomes an intrinsic part of their lives. But as the relationship between the two adults fractures, a serial killer begins targeting young women with a striking resemblance to Amelia-Rose.

When Matty is eventually sent down for multiple murder, questions remain as to his guilt — questions which ultimately destroy both women. Nearly twenty years later, Sophie receives a letter from Battlemouth Prison informing her Matty is dying and wants to meet. It looks like Sophie might finally get the answers she craves. But will the truth set her free — or bury her deeper?

My thoughts: this is a clever, complex and interesting book with a fascinating concept – Sophie’s father figure turned out to be a serial killer, she’s spent her whole life trying to understand why he did it. She talks to her mother but gets no answers there, would finally confronting the dying Matty resolve things?

I really enjoyed the author’s Ziba Mackenzie books, and I was excited to read this, her writing is accessible and the book’s premise unfolds nicely. Sophie is an intriguing protagonist – guilty by association, even though she was a child and had no idea what was going on. She’s piecing the clues together though, fragmented memories and newspaper inches. An intelligent and engaging read.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Binding Room – Nadine Matheson

Jul 9, 2022Jul 8, 2022 ramblingmads

Detective Anjelica Henley confronts a series of ritualistic murders in this heart-pounding thriller about race, power and the corrupt institutions that threaten us

When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of a popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body shows signs of a dark religious ritual.

With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.

Both fans of The Jigsaw Man and readers coming to Matheson’s work for the first time will get swept away in this heart-pounding thriller. Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.

Listen to an extract here

My thoughts: this book goes to some dark places – it seems to be Henley’s lot in life. Extreme religious beliefs, secrets, embezzlement, lies and murders. Vulnerable people, often with mental health issues are disappearing and later turning up dead, looking like they’ve been tortured. What is the connection to the dead preacher? And can Henley and team stop it before anyone else loses their life?

I really liked the previous book in this series – The Jigsaw Man, and I think Henley is a really interesting protagonist. She’s clever and good at what she does but keeps a lot of things close to her chest, and isn’t always as open, even with her closest colleagues, as she could be. These crimes are in her community, and she wants to keep people safe but when all she gets is lies and obfuscation from those involved, it’s not easy.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Halfways – Nilopar Uddin

Jul 8, 2022Jul 4, 2022 ramblingmads

Nasrin and Sabrina are two sisters, who on the face of things live successful and enviable lives in London and New York. When their father, Shamsur suddenly dies, they rush to be with their mother at the family home and restaurant in Wales, and reluctantly step back into the stifling world of their childhood.

When Shamsur’s will is read, a devastating secret is revealed that challenges all that people thought and loved about him. It also profoundly changes the lives and identities of the sisters, and creates an irreparable family rift…

Moving between London, Wales, New York and Bangladesh, this is an epic family drama that spans over four decades. A story of mothers and daughters, of fathers and daughters, of sisterhood, it is a tale that explores belonging, family and what makes forgiveness and redemption possible.

My thoughts: firstly I want to talk about the striking and beautiful cover on this book, it really is lovely. And I know you should never judge a book by its cover but you can certainly admire it.

The story it contains is not an easy read, it starts with the death of the family patriarch, a man who loves his family and keeps all of its secrets, who protects and cares for his employees, who was well known and loved in the community and whose death, a sudden one, leaves a deep hole in the centre of everyone and everything.

The differing reactions to his death, and to the fallout of his will, make up the rest of the book. His daughters, niece and wife all have very different ways of dealing with things, Sabrina’s rage, Nasrin’s epilepsy returning, and revelations he leaves behind all have profound impacts. The business struggles – more than the food they serve, the Peacock was Shamsur, and without him customers don’t quite seem to be coming.

Afroz, his niece, has travelled from Bangladesh, leaving her husband and impossible mother-in-law behind. She tries to help, finding she enjoys working in the restaurant, enjoys being with the staff, who Shamsur treated like family. She struggles with her cousins, and looks after her aunt, whose grief is complicated by secrets left behind in both the past and Bangladesh.

In a way this reminded me of one of my favourite books – Nadeem Aslan’s Maps for Lost Lovers, with its intergenerational secrets and pain, the foreign born younger generation having to unpack the things their immigrant parents prefer to keep hidden, not always understanding the mess of culture, religion and society that wrap around certain people and events. Seeing their parents’ homeland as backward and even ridiculous compared to the Western world they live in.

There are further tragedies, and more heartbreak to be reckoned with, the ripples of Shamsur’s will lingering long after his death. Nasrin’s illness and struggles in particular seem acute and complicated. Sabrina’s determination to push her ethnicity, her mother tongue, as far as possible away from her, to be ultra modern and keep up with the culture of her world of investments and trades threaten to unmoor her completely from her family. Afroz too needs time to decide what she really wants – the husband she didn’t choose and a life of unwilling servitude or this new one in the shadow of the Brecon Beacons, in her aunt and uncle’s footsteps.

Incredibly moving, powerful and engaging, this is a striking book both in looks and in contents.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

	Zooloo's Book Tours on Blog Tour: Maxwell’s Eni…
	Zooloo's Book Tours on Blog Tour: The Book and the Kn…
	Penpusher1 on Blog Tour: Death in Wiltshire…
	Zooloo's Book Tours on Blog Tour: Death in Wiltshire…
	Zooloo's Book Tours on Blog Tour: Happy Anniversary…