Category: reviews

books, reviews

Book Review: The Scapegracers – Hannah Abigail Clarke

ramblingmads

I was sent this book to review at the beginning of the year but then 2020 went insane and publication was delayed, so I held this back and re-read it. Hope you enjoy my thoughts!

An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process.
Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends.

But when the three most popular girls pay her $40 to cast a spell at their Halloween party, Sideways gets swept into a new clique. The unholy trinity are dangerous angels, sugar-coated rattlesnakes, and now–unbelievably–Sideways’ best friends.Together, the four bond to form a ferocious and powerful coven.

They plan parties, cast curses on dudebros, try to find Sideways a girlfriend, and elude the fundamentalist witch hunters hellbent on stealing their magic. But for Sideways, the hardest part is the whole ‘having friends’ thing.

Who knew that balancing human interaction with supernatural peril could be so complicated?

My thoughts:

When I was 14 or 15 I wanted to be a witch, Practical Magic and The Craft made me wish for powers, a way to drown out the intense sadness and loneliness coiling in my brain. Instead I had books, which have a kind of magic all their own.

Even now, I sort of wish I had the ability to cast spells and make things happen, I wish I was a Scapegracer.

Sideways, Daisy, Jing and Yates are baby witches, taking back control from fuck boys and doing fun magic things, like levitating. Sideways has always been an outsider, but the ultimate cool girls are inviting her in.

Obviously it all goes a bit wonky, there are witch hunters, and dangerous love interests and book demons and gay dads (I adore Boris and Julian and would happily read a book all about them) and some parties to throw and high school, yada yada.

Sideways takes Jing to her first gay bar, Dorothy’s, and they meet a sort of witch librarian, who I would also happily read a book about, and I just love the idea of witches living amongst us, hidden by their ordinariness.

Basically this is a really fun book with teenage witches, some of whom are gay, and I want the next book ASAP!!!

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Fearless – Allen Stroud*

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AD 2118. Humanity has colonised the Moon, Mars, Ceres and Europa. Captain Elisa Shann commands Khidr, a search and rescue ship with a crew of twenty-five, tasked to assist the vast commercial freighters that supply the different solar system colonies.

Shann has no legs and has taken to life in zero-g partly as a result. She is a talented tactician who has a tendency to take too much on her own shoulders.

Now, while on a regular six-month patrol through the solar system, Khidr picks up a distress call from the freighter Hercules…

Allen Stroud is a lecturer at Coventry University, where he teaches BA (Hons) Media and Communications. Stroud completed a Ph. D. at the University of Winchester entitled An Investigation and Application of Writing Structures and World Development Techniques in Science Fiction and Fantasy. This thesis covered his work on the computer games, Elite Dangerous (2014) and Chaos Reborn (2016).

For Elite: Dangerous, Stroud wrote six guidebooks that inform the game’s fictional narrative and also served to help other writers with their novelisations set in the game world. He was a founding host of Lave Radio, an Elite: Dangerous fan podcast that started in February 2013 and runs the annual convention Lavecon. His novel set in the Elite: Dangerous game world, called Elite: Lave Revolution was successfully funded on Kickstarter and published in late 2014, with a second edition published in 2015. Stroud then supported Spidermind Games in developing the Elite Dangerous Roleplaying Game.

Stroud worked on Chaos Reborn with Snapshot Games and is working on Phoenix Point, due for release in 2019. Stroud was the 2017 and 2018 chair of Fantasycon, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society, which hosts the British Fantasy Awards. In June 2019, he became Chair of the British Science Fiction Association, taking over from Donna Bond.

Stroud continues to write academic papers, reviews, articles and fiction in science fiction, fantasy and horror. He lives in a messy house with two cats and his partner, Karen.

My thoughts:

This was a good, enjoyable sci-fi, with lots of action and strong characters. I was behind Shann, the captain, from the start. She’s the central figure that the events revolve around, I also like Johannson, another key figure in the unfolding drama.

There’s battles, strange new tech, conspiracies abound and the crew have to scrabble to stay alive, fighting an unknown enemy without knowing why they’ve come under attack.

I’ve passed my copy onto the two sci-fi fans in my family (my husband and my dad) to read next. I think they will really enjoy it too.


*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: Ransomed – M.A. Hunter*

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Investigative journalist Emma Hunter never thought she’d be a bestselling author. Especially not for
a blistering exposé of the brutal horrors committed at a children’s home.
Some secrets breed in the dark…

All she wants is to return home to the anchoring salt air and solitude of Weymouth where questions
still fester unanswered and a twenty-year-old secret binds her to the beach.
And some of them always escape…

But then she finds herself sucked into the chaos of another cold case and soon realises the search for
the missing girl will not only unearth the rot ravaging the safety of children across the south of England, but could even solve the mystery that has tortured her since she was seven years old…

Ransomed marks the beginning of a nerve-shredding new crime series of feral reckonings and found
family in the face of harrowing inhumanity, perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Ann Cleeves.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Hi, I’m M.A. Hunter and have been a huge fan of crime fiction since a young age, and always fancied
the idea of trying to write some myself. That dream became a reality when One More Chapter
signed The Missing Children Case Files series.

Born in Darlington in the north-east of England, I grew up in West London, and moved to Southampton to study law at university. It’s here I fell in love and have been married for fifteen
years. We are now raising our two children, on the border of The New Forest where we enjoy going for walks amongst the wildlife. We regularly holiday across England, but have a particular affinity for
the south coast, which formed the setting for the series, spanning from Devon to Brighton, and with
a particular focus on Weymouth, one of our favourite towns.

When not writing, I regularly binge-watch the latest shows from streaming services, or have my head
buried in the latest story from Angela Marsons, Simon Kernick, or Ann Cleeves.

Twitter Facebook

My thoughts:

This was a really good read, with Emma investigating a missing child case even though she starts off not keen at all.

She wants to write about her own sister’s disappearance, but her publisher isn’t interested. So she reluctantly agrees to meet the girl’s grandfather.

As she and copper Jack delve deeper into the case, convinced it’s not as open and shut as the police believe, uncovering secrets and lies.

This was a knotty thriller, with plenty of twists and some characters who inspire strong feelings, I was suspicious of some of the family members from the start.

*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: Ravishment – James Walker*

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A 17th-century whodunnit – It’s 1653 and Lady Jane Tremayne has inherited the estate of her late husband.
When a young woman is raped, as Lady of the Manor she decides to investigate, assisted by her closest friend, Lady Olivia Courtney.
Then the stakes are raised when the rapist strikes again.
More than just a whodunnit, this is an absorbing tale of a brave woman living in dangerous and unique times.

Retired lawyer, and still active charity worker, living in Kent,with a keen interest in European history, who’s published six novels including Aliza, my love and Ravishment.

My first book, Ellen’s Gold is a historical drama set in the early nineteenth century.

This was followed by My Enemy, my love set in the First World War and I think he was George, a drama also set in that era.

I then published Shamila, a story of forbidden love between a Moslem and a non-Moslem, set in the near future, beforein the last year publishing Ravishment, which is whodunnit, set in 17th century England.

Finally, this was followed by Aliza, my love, which is set in Nazi Germany.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting take on the crime novel, set in Puritan England in the 17th century, a troubled time when families were divided along political lines and people suspected their friends and neighbours of either being or harbouring dangerous royalists.

Lady Jane and her late husband were indeed loyal to the Crown, something that makes her relationships with her brother-in-law and with some local dignitaries, like the local Justice of the Peace and the vicar.

She’s also involved in a small way in hiding royalists trying to raise an army on behalf of Charles II, risking confiscation of all of her property and imprisonment if caught.

Despite all this, Lady Jane remains determined to find the culprit after a series of rapes and a murder in her community. She takes her role of Lady of the Manor seriously, and even when it seems hopeless, keeps fighting for justice.

I find this enjoyable and a fun romp through a familiar landscape (my grandmother was from Devon and some of my family still live there). It’s also a reminder that before we had properly established police forces and laws, it was often up to one man to decide whether or not to investigate a crime.

*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 Heights – Parker Bilal*

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What starts with the gruesome discovery of a severed head on the Tube soon becomes personal for former DI Cal Drake.

After one betrayal too many, Drake has abandoned the police force to become a private detective.He’s teamed up with enigmatic forensic pathologist Dr Rayhgana Crane and it’s not long before the case leads them to the darkest corners of the nation’s capital and in dangerously close contact with an international crime circuit, a brutal local rivalry and a very personal quest for retribution. With the murder victim tied to Drake’s past, his new future is about to come under threat.

Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, the critically acclgaimed literary novelist. He is the author of the Makana Investigations series, the third of which, The Ghost Runner, was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The Divinities, the first in his Crane and Drake London crime series, was published in 2019. Born in London, he has lived in a number of places, including the UK, Denmark, Spain and, currently, the Netherlands.

Twitter Website

My thoughts:

A gruesome discovery on the Tube, of a woman’s head in an IKEA bag, kicks off several investigations. Who was she? Is she connected with the case that derailed former DI Drake’s career?

Meanwhile Crane and Drake have been hired to find a missing young woman, but all is not as it seems. Did she really get abducted by her uncle and taken back to the Middle East or is her aristocratic author boyfriend hiding something?

As the pair hurtle around London following various clues and red herrings, they deal with suspicious coppers and dodgy gangsters, uncovering more than they planned.

This was a really fast paced, gripping thriller, complete with untrustworthy and unsavoury figures, both criminals and police. A few innocent people get entangled along the way, but justice is served as the former police detective and criminal psychologist run the guilty parties to ground.

*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: Fifty Fifty – Steve Cavanagh*

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Alexandra Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife.

Sofia Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body and needs the police right away. She believes her sister, Alexandra did it, and that she is still in the house, locked in the bathroom.

Both women are to go on trial at the same time. A joint trial in front of one jury.

But one of these women is lying. One of them is a murderer. Sitting in a jail cell, about to go on trial with her sister for murder, you might think that this is the last place she expected to be.

You’d be wrong.

My thoughts:

Eddie Flynn is back and with his most complicated case yet. Two sisters accuse each other of murdering their father, but who is the real killer?

Flynn represents one in a court case, there’s evidence that could go each way, and DNA’s no help – they’re identical twins.

As always Steve Cavanagh keeps us guessing right up till the last page and then throws in a few extra twists, just to completely fox his readers.

Brilliant as always, gripping and suspenseful, with a dash of humour for good measure.

*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 Riven Realm Vol 1 – Deck Matthews*

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How do you kill a shadow?

As a raging storm descends on the Blasted Coast, the crippled young rigger, Caleb Rusk, meets a stranger on the road. Little does he know that the encounter will pull him into a conflict that threatens everything he holds dear—and change the course of his life forever.

Meanwhile, in the Capital of Taralius, a string of inexplicable deaths have captured the attention of the Ember Throne. Second Corporal Avendor Tarcoth is tasked with uncovering the truth behind a danger that could threaten the very fabric of the Realm

Goodreads

About the Author
Deck Matthews is a pseudonym for one particular Matthew Ward. He is a life-long reader who fell in love with writing and fantasy in middle school.

He remains an avid reader, a casual gamer and a dabbler in the visual arts. He has worked as a designer and currently spends his days neck-deep in code as a front-end web developer.
He also holds a Master’s degree in English Literature and currently resides in Ottawa, Canada with his wife, two daughters and one little fluff ball of a dog named Wicket.

My thoughts:

The three novellas that make up volume one of the Riven Realm cover a lot of ground, literally in terms of the distance the characters cover, and in terms of the plot.

Shadow monsters are attacking people, seeking a source of power once in the the ownership of the royal family. Caleb, our hero, now has it and is now a target.

Meanwhile in the capital there are signs of other trouble brewing and the Queen brings together a team to investigate.

The two plot lines slowly begin to coalesce, could there be a connection between the shadow monsters and the disturbances in the capital?

Although the two groups don’t meet up in this collection of stories, I imagine they will eventually and pool their experiences.

I preferred Caleb’s story line, I found his family and friends more engaging than the other plots. He’s an interesting protagonist, full of doubts and in awe of his companions, but with his own gifts.

Overall I really enjoyed this volume of stories and I can imagine as all the plots come together that they grow into a complex and interesting conclusion.

*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: Truth Be Told – Kia Abdullah*

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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:

This author seems to specialise in plots where secular society and the criminal justice system butt the Muslim community. She examines not only the crime and its impact, but the shame and anger that accompany it, the sometimes toxic masculinity that families see as traditional.

Her previous book, Take It Back, was shocking and this one is too.

Following lawyer turned ISVA Zara Kaleel as she supports vulnerable victims of horrific crimes, in this case a teenage boy assaulted at school, you see the process of reporting and then the secondary trauma of a court case through both Zara and the victim’s eyes.

Dealing with sex crimes is heavy stuff (I used to work for a victims support service) and Zara has to battle her own demons to stay strong enough to support her clients. It makes her a more interesting, rounded character.

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

books, reviews

Book Review: The Boy in the Woods – Harlen Coben

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I was sent a copy by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A man with a mysterious past must find a missing teenage girl in this shocking thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Run Away.

Thirty years ago, Wilde was found as a boy living feral in the woods, with no memory of his past. Now an adult, he still doesn’t know where he comes from, and another child has gone missing.

No one seems to take Naomi Pine’s disappearance seriously, not even her father — with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde — with whom she shares a tragic connection — to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can’t ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it’s too late.

My thoughts:

The title is a little misleading, you only learn tiny snippets about the titular ‘boy’, now a man called Wilde, it’s actually mostly about the hunt for two missing teenagers, one a probable runaway, the other’s disappearance a bit more sinister.

I liked Hester a lot, I can imagine her as an elderly wise cracking femme fatale, a bit Lauren Bacall. Wilde was interesting – I would have liked more of a focus on him and his past, perhaps in another book.

I knew that the plot would be less straightforward than the blurb suggests, having read a few of the author’s other books (and watched The Stranger on Netflix during lockdown like everyone else).

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Gilding the Lily – Justine John*

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A gripping mystery of jealousy, murder and lies.

An invitation to her estranged, wealthy father’s surprise 75th birthday party in New York sees Amelia and her husband, Jack, set off across the pond to meet a whole new world of family politics.

Amelia, now a successful businesswoman, feels guilty about never liking her father’s women, so does her upmost to give his new socialite partner, Evelyn, the benefit of the doubt. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could just all get along? But there’s something very dark, determined and dangerous about her…

When Amelia’s father, Roger, becomes ill, Jack grows suspicious that there is more to it. Amelia understands why, but no one else will believe them. They travel back to America to piece together the puzzle, but when Roger goes missing, the couple are driven to their wits’ end. It takes a DEA officer and a secret assassin to bring them answers, but the ruthless truth is something no one expected…

Amazon

After thirty years in corporate life in London, half of which was running a successful events company, I decided to take a chance to write the novel that was ‘in me’ since I was a child. Gilding the Lily is the result of this and is a domestic noir story which I hope will keep you on the edge of your chair/sofa/bed/train/plane-seat…

Website

My thoughts:

This was a clever, twisted thriller about family and gaslighting and getting even.

Evelyn is a monstrous creation, gold digging (although she owns about 8 homes), probably murdered her last 2 husbands, possibly poisoning Roger, definitely twisting the truth and manipulating the situation.

Luckily Amelia and Jack see right through her lies and deceptions, and eith the help of a few friends determine to sort her out.

I did not see the twist at the end coming at all, it was very well played. An enjoyable read, and seeing the villain get her comeuppance is always satisfying.

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