Category: reviews

I know everything about you.

I know your name, your birthday, your kids’ names, where you live, where you work. I know when you get that big promotion, or when you argue with your spouse.

You tell me all this because I’m your bartender.

But someone knows everything about me too. Someone knows all my secrets and they’re using them against me. They’re setting me up.

The police think I murdered Emily Parker. To prove my innocence I need to find the real killer.

I need to beat him at his own game.

My thoughts:

This was a very twisted thriller, the killer is playing a dark game for his own reasons that aren’t apparently clear to either Clay or the reader.

While Clay was playing with fire sleeping with a married woman, he certainly doesn’t deserve to be framed for murder and forced to go on the run, following the orders of the real killer to keep himself and his friends alive.

A tense cat and mouse game ensues, with Clay determined to find the real killer and evade the police who think he’s the guilty one.

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

How long can the desire for revenge last?

Kate Shaw, a successful pharmacist, goes to a thirty-year reunion at her old university and uses the weekend to settle some old scores. Her main target is her ex-lover, Jonathan. She decides to scar him for life as he scarred her. Her bizarre plan works but he shocks her with his strange, unwanted reaction.

What is the unexpected link between Jonathan and Kate’s husband?
What is the significance of the ‘Love Bite’ photograph?
What hold does Jonathan have over Kate?

Revenge is never simple.
A darkly humorous story of love, lust, loss and vengeance.

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Linda Fawke is an arts person who studied science but always wanted to write. Now retired, she indulges this passion, writing fiction and non-fiction, even occasional poetry, preferably late at night.

She has now written two novels, ‘A Taste of his own Medicine’ and its sequel, ‘A Prescription for Madness’ using her background in pharmacy as the setting of both. These are easy books to read, suitable for Book Club discussions. ‘ A Prescription for Madness’ is more serious than the first book, dealing with such issues as pregnancy in later life and Down’s Syndrome.
She has been a winner of the Daily Telegraph ‘Just Back’ travel-writing competition and has published in various magazines including ‘Mslexia’, ‘Litro’ online, ‘Scribble’, ‘The Oldie’, ‘Berkshire Life’ and ‘Living France’. She was a finalist in the ‘Hysteria’ short story competition.

Visit Linda’s blog where her ‘Random Writings’ include a range of topics
from travel to ‘Things that pop into my head’.

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My thoughts:

I didn’t really take to the character of Kate, who’s held on to grudges for thirty years and decides to carry out some acts of revenge at her university reunion, both large and small. While her embarrassing of one former classmate was a little funny, some of the other things she does just seem a little mean. She should really have seen a therapist instead to work out her issues.

And it doesn’t go well, the one person she decides to take the most long-lasting revenge on, former boyfriend Jonathan, turns out to be a truly nasty, manipulative man, twisting everything into a cruel game, involving her unwitting husband (who isn’t a particularly faithful one), seemingly planning to toy with Kate’s happiness for the foreseeable future.

It ends on a cliffhanger, with Kate forced to wait and see what Jonathan will do next. Neither of them are particularly good people and maybe they deserve each other.

I did enjoy the book, I just didn’t warm to the characters, either trapped in the past or boastful idiots, I don’t think I’d enjoy knowing them if they were real people. But then that may be the point – who would want to be around this lot.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, so the saying goes, and I think the point of this twisted and well written story is that no one ever gets away with it, you can’t carry out cruel games and expect to walk away.

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

‘Some secrets were meant to be buried forever. Until now.’

Sean Richardson, a disgraced former intelligence agent, is tasked to lead a team to search for a British intelligence officer on the cusp of exposing thousands of secrets to the media. It includes a long lost list of Russian moles embedded since the Cold War, one of whom remains a public favourite in the British parliamentary system.

The action moves with absorbing pace and intrigue across Central Asia and Europe as the puzzle begins to unfold through a deep hidden legacy. As Sean gets closer to the truth, senior figures are left to nurse their anxiety knowing that if the secret is revealed, it will destroy their lives.

On the verge of success, his eye is taken off the ball, and the Russians step forward ready to pounce.

Tense, fast paced, and insightful, The Failsafe Query twists and turns to a satisfyingly dramatic finale.

The first in a set of spy thrillers that have been expertly crafted with stunning plot lines, magnificent locations, and twists that leave you gasping for air. Perfect for fans of Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, and Scott Mariani.

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I started climbing at 13, survived being lost in Snowdonia at 14, nearly drowned at 15, and then joined the Army at 16. Risk and adventure was built into my DNA and I feel very fortunate to have served the majority of my working career as an intelligence officer within Defence Intelligence, and as an explosive ordnance disposal officer and military surveyor within the Corps of Royal Engineers.

I was privileged to serve for twenty-eight years in the British Army as a soldier and officer, rising through the ranks to complete my service as a major. I served across the globe on numerous military operations as well as extensive travel and adventure on many major mountaineering and exploration expeditions that I led or was involved in.I was awarded the Geographic Medal by the Royal Geographical Society for mountain exploration in 2003 and served on the screening committee of the Mount Everest Foundation charity for many years. It was humbling after so many years of service when I was awarded the MBE for services to counter-terrorism in 2007.

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My thoughts:

This was a fast paced, clever and knotty thriller. There’s a mole somewhere in government, secrets threatened with publication, a missing body and the Russians are on the trail of a list of names. Sean and his team must do whatever is necessary to locate the dead agent’s remains and his files full of top secret information before the Russian operatives do.

Combing the French countryside looking for potential burial sites quietly, trying not to attract attention, the team utilise both high tech and low (dogs’ noses mostly) to look for the remains. The files are even better hidden, even the killers missed them.

Meanwhile an enemy agent deep within the government is starting to feel uneasy, his name is on a list and the scandal his exposure could bring will topple the government.

This was gripping and fascinating stuff, I was interested in all the clever techniques used by Sean’s colleagues and the brilliant way the secret files had been hidden. The political subplot ties very nicely in with the rest of the story and the ending leaves things waiting ready for the sequel.

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