Tag: blogathon

blog tour, books, reviews

Blogathon: Buried – Lynda La Plante

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DC Jack Warr and his girlfriend Maggie have just moved to London to start a new life together. Though charming, Jack can’t seem to find his place in the world – until he’s drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down.

In the aftermath of a fire at an isolated cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remains of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes.

Jack’s search leads him deep into a murky criminal underworld – a world he finds himself surprisingly good at navigating. But as the line of the law becomes blurred, how far will Jack go to find the answers – and what will it cost him?

In BURIED, it’s time to meet DC Jack Warr as he digs up the deadly secrets of the past . . .

My thoughts: Obviously, Lynda La Plante is one of the best crime writers out there, and her quality never lets up.

This series is so, so good. I have raved about it in person already to several friends, in the best way. Now it’s your turn faithful blog readers.

Jack Warr has recently joined the Met from Devon, and is plunged into a complicated case involving murder, robbery and conspiracy going back decades.

The story is so clever and I really love the gang of female crooks he uncovers, who wanted to do something really good with their ill gotten gains, but couldn’t, because the police were already suspicious of them. They’ve waited years, lost several of their original group and now, just as it seems they’ve been forgotten, a dead body and a burnt out cottage might spoil everything. Unless Jack looks the other way.

He’s also dealing with complicated personal issues – his beloved adoptive dad Charlie has terminal cancer and his parents are planning to take an around the world cruise for his final few months. He doesn’t want treatment, and he doesn’t want Jack to be upset.

This triggers a desire to find out more about his biological parents, especially his father. Even though his partner, Maggie, thinks this might not be for the best.

As he investigates his origins, it crosses paths with some of the names in his new case, will learning who his father was lead Jack down a dangerous path?

This is addictive writing, as soon as I finished this book, I was straight into book two, which I will tell you all about very soon.

If you love well written, gripping, intelligent crime writing, get reading!

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

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Blogathon: In the Blink of an Eye – Jo Callaghan

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DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat’s instincts come up against Lock’s logic.

But when the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic?

My thoughts: The premise of this book is really interesting – a brilliant scientist has developed an AI program to assist the police in solving crimes. It removes the emotions from the investigation but does that make it foolproof?

Paired with DCS Kat Frank, herself and excellent detective, can AIDE Lock help her find out who is abducting people, cases that have gone cold, before anyone else goes missing?

The case becomes very personal to Kat and Lock has a lot to learn from the human investigators in the team. Can their unique blend of cutting edge science and emotional intelligence create a crime solving team better than anything that’s come before?

I really enjoyed this, Kat and her team are great, and Lock is really intriguing, both as a concept and as a character, he’s designed to learn and expand his knowledge, but will it make him more human?

The case itself is shocking and disturbing, which adds to the sense that this is something new. It’s a science based case in many ways as well as being deeply human. Absolutely cracking stuff. I dived straight into book two from here, I couldn’t resist.

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

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Blogathon: Redemption – Jack Jordan

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For this blogathon I’m re-sharing my review of Jack Jordan’s thrilling Redemption.

THE LATEST PULSE-POUNDING THRILLER FROM MASTER OF THE MORAL DILEMMA AND SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER JACK JORDAN

Aaron Alexander has just been released from jail after serving eleven years for causing the death of Joshua Moore in a hit-and-run. Now a free man, all he wants to do is stay on the straight and narrow and leave his troubled past behind him.
But for Joshua’s mother Evelyn, eleven years in jail isn’t nearly enough. Consumed by grief and rage, she has been waiting for Aaron’s release, counting down the days until she can exact the revenge he deserves. And now that time has come.
But as Evelyn and her husband Tobias embark on a road trip to track Aaron down, they find themselves caught on two different sides of a gripping game of cat-and-mouse. Because Tobias knows what Evelyn is planning, and he will do anything to save her from herself.
Even if it means protecting the man who killed their son.

Locked in a collision course set in motion eleven years ago, Aaron, Evelyn and Tobias are about to find out whether the road they have chosen leads to redemption . . . or to retribution.

My thoughts: this is a rollercoaster of a revenge road trip from hell. Ordinary couple Evelyn and Tobias had their lives turned upside down by the death of their son, and now, instead of returning to the UK and working through their grief, Evelyn has decided to track down the recently released Aaron and kill him. 

She abandons Tobias in a motel and heads off on her own with a gun and no real plan. Tobias has to commit several crimes to chase after her, trying to stop her killing anyone, especially Aaron. Unfortunately it’s a bit late as Evelyn’ rage is blinding her to anything and she’s trigger happy.

As Tobias chases Evelyn and Aaron has to go on the run to avoid her, truths come to the surface and all three are forced to reevaluate their lives.

Twisty, intelligent and cinematic, thus thriller has a real punch..

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Blog Tour: Lake Child – Isabel Ashdown

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When a young Norwegian woman wakes from an accident robbed of her most recent memories, she trusts her parents’ advice that she must stay confined to her attic bedroom while she recuperates. But when Eva decides the time has come to break free of their caring incarceration, she discovers a world of secrets and lies, and a journey to discover her true identity begins.

Could she really be the missing baby Lorna of British newspaper headlines? Are the people she calls Mum and Dad actually her abductors? And why did they choose to conceal the arrival of her new baby brother, born while Eva was locked away?

While the present day story unfolds, clear slices of Eva’s idyllic childhood are revealed as she tries to piece together the mysteries of her past – and those of her increasingly untrustworthy parents.

My thoughts: as this story slowly unfolds and Eva starts to work out what’s happened to her and piece her past together, it gets more gripping and more shocking with each revelation.

Her parents have locked her in the attic, supposedly for her own good, after an accident and a period in hospital she can’t remember. They don’t seen inclined to help her remember and they won’t allow her any visitors (like her best friends) apart from the cops.

But she’s determined to get answers, especially after she hears a baby crying, and her doctor mother keeps giving her pills that knock her out, which seems suspicious too.

The fragments of her memories are confusing and without anyone to help her put them together, she’s really scared. Then a stranger approaches her with some answers and she finds herself in the middle of a huge cold case. Is she missing baby Lorna, abducted from the hospital just before her mother’s death? Or is it a bit more complicated than that?

Clever, intense and woven with a complicated plot and a strong protagonist in Eva, who despite all the strange things happening to her is always determined to get to the truth about herself.

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

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Blogathon: Conviction – Jack Jordan

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TO STEAL A MAN’S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground. 

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence. 

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.

Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.

Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger.

For fans of Steve Cavanagh, Linwood Barclay and Gillian McAllister, introducing the latest novel from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.

My thoughts: Neve has been handed the biggest case of her career – defending a man accused of murdering his family and burning his house down to cover up his crimes. Then she is told that she must get him convicted. His late wife’s family are willing to kill her’s to ensure this happens. They’re positive he’s guilty, and even if he isn’t, tough.

Neve is placed in a difficult position, an impossible one. Her client insists he’s innocent but Neve becomes less sure as the case goes on. Can she throw the trial and have an innocent man locked up or is he as guilty as his wife’s family says?

Clever, gripping and full of twists, this is another brilliant thriller from Jack Jordan, with a fascinating, conflicted protagonist and a complex moral dilemma at its heart.

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

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Blogathon: Sleeping Dogs – Russ Thomas

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THE LIES OF THE PAST . . .

When an anonymous tip lands on his desk, DS Adam Tyler is intrigued in spite of himself. The disappearance of a young mother twenty-four years ago was big news, but the case was never solved – this tantalizing new lead is something he simply can’t ignore. But the letter has set in motion a dangerous chain of events, and Tyler’s search for the truth soon leaves him fighting for his life.

. . . LIVE IN THE PRESENT

With Tyler out of action, DC Mina Rabbani must step up to lead the Cold Case Review Unit in his absence, retracing Tyler’s steps and uncovering his secrets to figure out what he was working on. But as she begins to put the pieces together, the case starts to hit frighteningly close to home. Without DS Tyler to protect her, Mina realizes that now she’s the one with hard choices to make.

And this time she’s on her own.

My thoughts: I was really pleased to be reading this excellent addition to the Adam Tyler series, and for Mina to get her own book. Adam’s out of action in hospital, Mina needs to solve the case he was working on, and despite being told to stay away, she’s also looking into what happened to Tyler. On her own.

She’s a very capable and experienced detective, even if she doesn’t always believe in herself. The case will require her to finally open up conversation with her own family as well as dig into the case files and cross paths with an MP, who’d rather not find his late wife’s killer.

This was an excellent read, and a brilliant, complex, knotty case that Mina unravels while Tyler’s life hangs in the balance.

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

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Blog Tour: Beautiful Liars – Isabel Ashdown

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Liar, Liar

In the photograph Martha Benn has kept for two decades, three girls lounge on the grass during a school field trip. Beside Martha, there’s Liv, petite and wickedly funny, and Juliet, their unofficial leader, brave, kind, and effortlessly beautiful. Back then, they meant the world to each other. But when Juliet disappeared, the bond between Martha and Liv unravelled too.
 
Martha was the last known person to see Juliet alive, and she still has no idea what happened after the two said goodnight on a towpath beside London’s Regent’s Canal. The next day, Juliet’s abandoned bicycle was discovered, but no sign of Juliet. Without witnesses or clues, the investigation fell apart.
 
Martha, now a TV celebrity preparing to host a show investigating cold cases, finally has a chance to get answers. As Martha tries to piece together what happened to Juliet, she realizes that her memories of those long-ago bonds may not tell the whole story. And someone else may know more about Juliet’s fate, and their friendship, than she could ever have imagined . . .

My thoughts: Friendship is a weird thing, it changes over time, sometimes getting stronger, sometimes it just falls away. But we never forget, not really.

Martha is trying to put the pieces together about the disappearance of her friend Juliet, years after the fact. The third member of their group, Liv, might have some idea but it’s been tricky getting in touch, she’s vague over email, and Martha is desperate to meet up and compare notes.

But there seems to be more to all this, and maybe one of the few witnesses, someone always on the sidelines, in the background, knows the truth.

It’s a bit creepy, with a stalker’s perspective on the events around Juliet’s disappearance and on Martha’s attempts to figure it all out. I imagine we don’t notice those people, the ones on the fringes of our lives, very often, and that’s certainly the case here, with a controlling and manipulative person who seems incredibly innocent as well.

Isabel’s books just get better, and more sinister, this is definitely the darkest one yet I reckon. I really enjoyed reading it, she has a brilliant knack at getting you to understand the characters and their strange minds without being put off or disturbed. I felt for Martha, and for Casey, both held in place by something that happened so long ago that many people have forgotten.

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

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Blogathon: Cold Reckoning Russ Thomas

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THE DARKNESS FROM HIS PAST WILL FINALLY COME TO LIGHT

The death of DS Tyler’s father irrevocably changed his life. As a child, he believed Richard had killed himself but, as the years have passed, Tyler has grown convinced he was murdered.   

When a cold case lands on Tyler’s desk, there’s nothing immediately notable about it, apart from the link it has to his father. Richard was investigating the same case shortly before he died.

Finally, Tyler has a tangible link to the past, one that could give him the answers he has been looking for. And while there are dangerous people who will do anything to keep him quiet, he knows he has to keep digging.

Because you’d risk anything for your family – even your life.

Russ Thomas grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get his hands on, writing stories, watching television, and playing videogames: in short, anything that avoided the Great Outdoors. After a few ‘proper’ jobs, he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day. Now a full-time writer, he also teaches creative writing classes and mentors new authors.

My thoughts: Tyler is getting closer to answers about his father’s death and the seam of corruption running through the city. He’s getting info from crooks as well as his father’s former colleagues. He knows his father’s suicide wasn’t right and he’s sure he’ll prove it.

There’s a frozen body in the lake, frozen before it even hit the water, and a teenage girl to protect. So it’s business as usual in that regard. But Tyler is also looking for his missing boss/godmother, sure Stevens has done something terrible to her.

As some of the storylines running through the series finally come to a conclusion with answers that Tyler (and I) finally get as the evidence and events combine in shocking twists. 

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

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Blogathon: Do No Harm – Jack Jordan

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As part of this Jack Jordan blogathon, I’m re-posting my review of his book Do No Harm.

MY CHILD HAS BEEN TAKEN.
AND I’VE BEEN GIVEN A CHOICE . . .
KILL A PATIENT ON THE OPERATING TABLE
OR LOSE MY SON FOREVER.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?

My thoughts: I don’t have kids but I do know a fair few mums and I completely understand how dedicated and how much they love their children.

I don’t know however if they’d actually be able to kill for them as Anna is blackmailed into doing here. The people who took her little boy will kill him if the local MP makes it off her table. Doctors pledge to do no harm, but mothers will say they’d do anything for their child.

This is such a delicious and chilling set up and Anna can’t just leave it there. Especially when she doesn’t get her terrified son back straight away. Something else is in play here and it’s only by following every tiny lead (and dodgy nurse Margot) that she can finally get Zack back.

The cops are on the case so she also needs to throw them off the scent, survive a review at work, and keep her ex-husband from finding anything out. Easy peasy. Not like it’s oh, open heart surgery or anything.

I was totally hooked, the way the story plays out, the alternating viewpoints from Anna and Margot, as they’re pulled into a deadly world of crime and politics, it’s dark and clever and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Blogathon: Little Sister – Isabel Ashdown

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After sixteen years apart sisters Jessica and Emily are reunited. With the past now behind them, the warmth they once shared quickly returns and before long Jess has moved into Emily’s comfortable island home. Life couldn’t be better. But when baby Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care, the perfect life Emily has so carefully built starts to fall apart.

Was Emily right to trust her sister after everything that happened before?

My thoughts: I’m a big sister and while my younger sister sometimes drives me nuts, I would do anything to keep her safe. I think it’s why I found Jess and Emily’s story and their relationship at times hard to believe, especially what happened between them as teenagers. 

Daisy being kidnapped is absolutely awful, but none of it was Jess’ fault, if anything Emily has a not insignificant role in what happens – as does her husband, who isn’t as wonderful and trustworthy as she thought.

But as the story unravels and the long separation between Jess and Emily – sixteen years – and the reasons why – or the reasons that Jess thinks and what Emily did turn out to be very different. That was what was shocking. As an older sister, yes sometimes I have wanted to get rid of sister – maybe not permanently, and resented her, of course. But I would never stoop as low as Emily did, never drive a wedge between parents and child.

I think I had such a strong reaction to this book not just because of my own sibling relationship, but because I am surrounded by sisters. My mum is an older sister, my dad has two older sisters, many of my friends are older (and younger) sisters. And even at their worst, I can’t imagine any of them doing what Emily did. She’s monstrous. But it’s all hidden so well behind a veneer of charm, success and happiness. The ending might be quite twisted, but a part of me can’t blame Jess for wanting to put Emily in her place, for taking a sort of revenge.

It’s also incredibly well written, moving back and forth between the sisters, creating empathy and antipathy as you learn more, the darkness of Emily’s cruel behaviour, Jess’ own plotting to finally get one over on her sister.

Cassie (Emily’s step-daughter), a big sister herself, is contrasted against the nasty relationship between Emily and Jess, is more empathetic. There’s a big age gap between her and Daisy (I have a friend with a similar one, it does complicate things sometimes) but Cassie doesn’t resent her sister, the way Emily does hers.

The book is excellent, the writing strong and the plot intense, something I’ve really come to enjoy in Isabel’s books. A real pleasure to read even as I sort of hated Emily!

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