Tag: thrillers

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Sister Olive Wouldn’t Hurt A Fly – Gill Calvin Thomas

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If this whole saga was a fight between good and evil, then who had won?

As far as Miriam could work out, neither good nor evil had triumphed yet. Now she was having to confront the grim consequences of Will’s behaviour, and she was mortally afraid.
Maybe he and his darkness would win after all.

The tragic suicide of a young student starts a shocking chain of events for William
Marshall, his wife Miriam and their son, Ollie. As Will descends into madness, a
ghostly presence appears in their old house to protect Ollie. However, when two
strangers threaten Miriam and an attempt is made to snatch Ollie, mother and son are forced to flee.

Amidst ever-present danger, they shake off pursuers to seek sanctuary in Rock House in Dorset, where they meet Caitlin and her friends. Twenty years have passed since Charlie Bond helped Caitlin solve the mystery of her mother’s death. Now, it is the turn of Charlie’s sidekick, Sam Haskell, to investigate a mysterious cult and unmask a killer.

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Gill Calvin Thomas has retired from academic life and lives with her husband in Swanage, Dorset. She finds inspiration while walking in the Isle of Purbeck. Here, she is able to escape into a world of her own making, getting to know her characters, whilst she plans the next twist and turn of the plot.

As writing has become a major part of Gill’s life, she has withdrawn from taking a
leading role in many community volunteer activities, although she has retained her
interest in local and national politics. A lifelong feminist, Gill likes nothing better than a spirited debate on the issues of the day with family and friends. As her writing
career develops, she hopes to explore those issues in her stories.

Website

My thoughts: Worried about the changes in her husband, Miriam and her son Ollie flee their home for the safety of her cousin’s home in Dorset. Unfortunately the other members of the cult her husband seems to have founded are still after Ollie.

Especially the rather malevolent Sister Olive, who has plans of her own for William, her own husband Leo and young Ollie.

But Miriam has some new friends who want to help her stay safe and Sam goes undercover in the group to try to discern their plans and find the missing William.

Twisted and strange, this cult has deviated from their original beliefs and now Olive has seized control, and no one feels safe.

The story is clever and full of twists and turns as Miriam and Ollie try to stay ahead of this dangerous woman.

*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: Don’t Answer the Phone – Miranda Rijks

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She’s the woman of his dreams. He’s the monster from her nightmares.

When Daniella rescues elderly Peggy from a mugger on a Boston street, she expects
nothing in return. But then she meets Peggy’s son, Lucas—devastatingly handsome and utterly captivating. Unlike her distant husband Grant, Lucas sees her. Wants her.

Daniella can’t resist and they spend one reckless night together which she immediately regrets.

Too late, because Lucas doesn’t just want Daniella. He needs her. And he’s willing to
destroy everything—and everyone—standing in his way.

Lucas plays the long game, worming his way into Daniella’s life—befriending Grant, charming her twin daughters, inveigling his way into her family. Every time she turns around, he seems to be there.

As the depths of his obsession become clear, Daniella realizes she’s in a fight for her life. Because the family she tried to help is hiding something dark. Something deadly.

And she’s already in too deep to escape.

Don’t Answer the Phone – the chilling psychological thriller from the best-selling
author of One Little Mistake and The Visitors.

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Miranda Rijks is a writer of fast-paced, twisty psychological thrillers many of which have been Amazon bestsellers. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. After surviving bone cancer, Miranda turned to writing and is now living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in West Sussex, England with her Dutch husband and two black Labradors and spends as much time as she can in the Swiss Alps.

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My thoughts: Daniella helps an older woman who was being mugged. Peggy is very grateful and the two women become friends. Unfortunately this brings Daniella, a married mother of twins, to the attentions of Peggy’s son, Lucas. He’s obsessive, violent and likes to get his own way. He decides that Daniella is the one for him, and won’t let anyone – his mother, her husband, get in his way.

His campaign to win over Daniella starts well, but as she rejects him, he turns violent. But not towards her. He believes that he can still convince her to be his. Things get nastier, more violent, Daniella becomes a victim too.

There are plenty of red flags in Lucas’ behaviour, and Daniella certainly spots some of them. He’s scarily obsessive, the death of his former girlfriend worries her, other incidents make things worse. The story is gripping and full of sudden twists and turns, Daniella and her family are put into danger, and things change for them forever.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Blind Pursuit – Rob Sinclair

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Callum Murphy thought he was happily married to a corporate consultant…
But when police show up at Callum’s work site, informing him of his wife Lea’s death – his world starts to crumble. And it turns out, her death was just the beginning…

Within a few hours, Callum is told that Lea was, in fact, an MI6 agent who was killed because of intelligence only she had, strangers with guns break into his home and he’s forced to run for his life.

Thrust into a terrifying chase across Europe, Callum has to dodge British police and shadowy MI6 operatives who believe he knows more than he’s letting on. All the while trying to piece together the
truth about his wife’s final mission.

But the deeper he digs, the more dangerous his situation becomes, forcing him to ask the ultimate question: Who did he marry, and can he trust anything she ever said to him?

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Rob Sinclair is the million copy bestseller of over twenty thrillers, including the James Ryker series.
Rob previously studied Biochemistry at Nottingham University. He also worked for a global accounting firm for 13 years, specialising in global fraud investigations.

Facebook: @robsinclairauthor
Twitter: @rsinclairauthor
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Bookbub profile: @RobSinclair

My thoughts: When his wife dies in a motorbike accident in Bucharest, Callum Murphy is thrown into a world of spies and high stakes. The woman he married is not who he thought she was. Instead she was an MI6 agent, involved in dangerous work that took her around the globe.

He is interrogated by the police and MI6, Lea was in possession of important secret information but no one knows where it is. They suspect Callum knows but he hasn’t got a clue. Lea kept him completely in the dark.

But he does find a trail of clues, put together especially for him that take him on a journey into his wife’s world of danger and espionage. All he wants is to understand who Lea was and why she had to die, all they want is the secrets she took with her. But the truth might cost Callum everything.

High stakes, high octane drama, a man who doesn’t know who to trust, spies with secrets and answers hidden that only one person can find.

*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: The Mark of Eternity – Murray Bailey

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An ancient symbol. A deadly killer. Two strangers must decode the past to survive the future

Book Two of the Egyptian Stones Trilogy – Coming Spring 2026

FBI Special Agent Charlie Reed thought the Surgeon — a notorious serial killer — was a ghost from the past. But when a new series of murders erupts, each marked with strange, arcane symbols, the trail leads Reed across continents to Egypt… and to a chilling revelation: the Surgeon has returned, and this time, his killings follow a pattern—one tied to a purpose more terrifying than anyone imagined.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, Alex MacLure has uncovered more encoded messages in ancient tablets. An ancient Egyptian was searching for a forgotten symbol. His name appears in a programme written by a brilliant AI student. The student reaches out with a wild theory — but before MacLure discovers the truth, he’s arrested for a murder he didn’t commit.

Thrown together by fate and hunted by forces beyond their understanding, Reed and MacLure must unlock an ancient secret. They must stop the Surgeon before he unleashes a plan, millennia in the making.

My thoughts: A serial killer who has hidden dozens of bodies across America and now has apparently headed to Egypt, an AI program that is spewing out word maps about Alex MacLure and secrets hidden in the desert, a race against time to save his journalist girlfriend Rebecca from fanatics that believe they can bring about a new Christ by re-enacting the crucifixtion using ancient Egyptian symbols.

Alex’s job deciphering clay tablets telling the life story of an important clerk in the ancient world and his links to pharaohs and prophecy might help him find the mysterious symbol the killer seeks.

I was absolutely hooked by this next installment in Alex’s adventures, I read a lot of crime fiction so the serial killer angle was interesting too, bringing in another dimension and the FBI in the form of Agent Charlie Reed.

It’s a fast paced story, with lots of action and the puzzles Alex must translate and solve in order to save the day.

*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: The Secretary – Deborah Lawrenson

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Moscow, 1958. At the height of the Cold War, secretary Lois Vale is on a deep-cover MI6 mission to identify a diplomatic traitor. She can trust only one man: Johann, a German journalist also working covertly for the British secret service. As the trail leads to Vienna and the Black Sea, Lois and Johann begin an affair but as love grows, so does the danger to Lois.

A tense Cold War spy story told from the perspective of a bright, young, working-class woman recruited to MI6 at a time when men were in charge of making history and women were expendable. Authentic details are provided by the 1958 diary kept in Moscow by the author’s own mother, who worked for British intelligence.

Amazon UK

Deborah Lawrenson spent her childhood moving around the world with diplomatic service parents, from Kuwait to China, Belgium, Luxembourg and Singapore. She read English at Cambridge University and worked as a journalist in London. She has written ten novels, including two Death in Provence mysteries as Serena Kent, and her writing is praised for its vivid sense of place.

My thoughts:This was utterly gripping and really, really good. I’ve had a bit of a love of Russian history since my A Levels and a very memorable trip to the country (the hotel we stayed in is mentioned in the book!) and it was interesting to read something set during an infamous period of time  – when the Cambridge spy ring was being unmasked.

It was also really interesting to have the story from a female perspective, inspired by the author’s mother’s own role as a secretary at the British Embassy and as an MI6 operative. Most spy thrillers are full of gungho action and men who are either very dashing or the extreme opposite (like Jackson Lamb from Mick Herron’s Slough House series), they are very rarely female.

Lois is indeed a secretary, but she’s also under orders from MI6, and her job is a cover. She’s been sent to see if she can work out if anyone on the embassy staff might be passing information to the Russians. She’s been told not to trust anyone but German journalist (and fellow spy) Johann.

At times she feels completely out of her depth, and her very strange flatmate and colleague doesn’t help matters. There are important things to do, possible defectors to locate, Russian tails to shake off, and the very real possibility of romance.

Things do go somewhat awry, and far from anyone she can ask for advice, Lois has to essentially wing it. But can she do the job?

I really liked Lois, I liked her determination, the way she wanted to stay the course, even when things were going wrong all over the place. She’s level headed and practical, willing to improvise to get the job done. A really enjoyable, intelligent thriller.

*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: Genesis – Chris Carter

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A killing like no other.
A killer more twisted than he’s ever seen before.
A case that will test him to the limit.
Has Robert Hunter finally met his match?

‘Do you believe the Devil exists, Detective?’ the officer at the end of the line asks. ‘Because if you don’t . . . I’m sure you will once you get here.’

Robert Hunter is called to the most vicious crime scene he has ever attended. It is made even more disturbing when the autopsy reveals a poem, left by the killer, inside the body of their victim.

Soon, another body is found. The methods and signature of the murder differs, but the level of violence used suggests that the same person is behind both crimes. Hunter’s fears are confirmed when a second part of the poem is found.

But this discovery does more than just link the two killings – it suggests that this is the work of a serial murderer.

With no forensic evidence to go on, Robert Hunter must catch the most disciplined and systematic killer that he has ever encountered, someone who thrives on the victims’ fear, and to whom death is a lesson that needs to be taught.

From #1 Sunday Times and multi-million copy bestselling author, Chris Carter, comes the most compelling and ruthless Robert Hunter thriller yet.

My thoughts: Called to a truly gruesome murder Hunter and Garcia find even their stomachs turning, and they’ve seen some grim things.

As this case unfolds, they’re truly stumped, there appears to be absolutely no connection between the victims, and no explanation as to the motive driving the killer. Each crime scene is even more disturbing than the last and the MO is different each time, the only link is a line of some sort of poem left with each victim. But it isn’t something that was published, so it continues to leave them puzzled. Until Hunter spots something in a crime scene that might just help them solve this one…

Another disturbing, and awful, but ingenious case. A sort of sins-of-the-father reasoning and a murderer who wants to deliver a lesson that no one will forget.

*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: The Daughter – Alesha Dykema

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I won’t let my four-year-old daughter Skylar go through what I had to. I won’t let my father do to her what he did to me and my sister.

I know how to play the good daughter. The perfect mother. The wife who smiles
on cue.

But you don’t grow up in a house like mine without learning how to survive—how to
keep secrets buried so deep they almost stop hurting.

Almost.

Last night I finally did something unforgivable. I tried to kill my father.
Only . . . my mom picked up the wrong glass.

Now she’s lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. And I’m the dutiful daughter by her side, pretending to be shocked . . .

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Alesha Dykema is a thirty-something-year-old author of thriller novels.

She lives in the dreadful Midwest with her strange husband, head-banging toddler son, a neurotic dog, and warden cat.

Besides writing, Alesha loves to read (like every other author in the world). Alesha is
also a health and fitness junkie and a dabbler in furniture refinishing. She is extremely anti-social and wishes she lived off-grid in the middle of the woods, but her husband hates good ideas and happiness and won’t allow this to happen.

Even though she’s pretty anti-social, she still likes to make new friends and have casual chats about people’s childhood traumas.

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My thoughts: With a controlling father who won’t let anyone make their own decisions – he even decided who his children should marry, it’s not surprising you might just reach the end of your rope. But there are secrets, things that a man who has to manipulate everyone, will go to great lengths to protect.

The narrator is one of this man’s children, a woman who will do anything to protect her daughter from ending up like her, controlled and manipulated by a bully. When she makes a new friend, things don’t add up, and when she learns the truth, it’s a shock and only adds fuel to the fire of her determination to put an end to her father.

This is a dark story about a family completely under the control of the patriarch that only murder seems to be the solution. I enjoyed it, if you can say that about a book narrated by a murderer!

*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: What We Did – Brian R. O’Rourke

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The only thing more dangerous than the truth is the lie she told to hide it.

After years of struggle, Raven Kendrick is giving up on her dream of a theater career in New York. Returning to her hometown, she moves back in with her parents and resigns herself to a quiet life.

But that humble dream is shattered when her tyrannical father is murdered. Even worse, Raven is convinced her beloved mother killed him while sleepwalking. So instead of calling the police, she decides to cover up the crime.

But as detectives close in, Raven’s carefully constructed lies begin to crumble. Her alibi isn’t holding up and her father’s business partner is asking way too many questions. And she’s pretty sure her mother knows more than she’s saying.

With the police circling, Raven is shocked to find that she herself has become suspect
number one. She needs to get to the truth of what happened that night—and fast.

But as she digs, Raven uncovers a tangled web of buried resentments and festering
revenge.

And behind that web, a horrifying secret that will change her life forever.

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Brian R. O’Rourke has been writing stories since he was eight years old. A lifelong,
avid reader, Brian believes that fiction has the power to change the world. He enjoys
spending time with his family, exercising, playing the violin, and golfing.

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My thoughts: Raven is desperate to learn the truth about her controlling father’s death, but she also wants to protect her mother – who she thinks killed him while sleepwalking.

The police are circling, neither Raven or her mother has a very convincing story and the evidence doesn’t add up. It doesn’t help that Raven is trying to cover up what she thinks her mum did. 

She’s not exactly a criminal mastermind, and her own investigation isn’t really going anywhere. Moving back to her hometown and reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend really isn’t going too well.

I liked Raven, she’s just trying to protect her mum, her dad was a controlling bully and didn’t treat her mum very well, and the murder while sleepwalking is a clever idea, although in the end the truth is more than Raven could imagine.

*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: Caller Unknown – Oliver Johnson

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DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!

The note on the envelope was addressed to a man who had been officially dead three years earlier. It read: “To Ed Constance. If you’ve come this far, that is your name.”

He had another name only yesterday… He had a wallet with credit cards, a driver’s license and a social security car to prove it. He had a photograph of a woman who, only last night, he could not remember. But now he did: Sarah, his wife.’ 

In the early hours of a summer night, seven drugged children are found dumped beside a highway in northern Maine. There’s no record of their disappearance. No therapy or hypnosis can release them from their amnesia. They are the Apostles, created by a sinister organisation with one terrifying endgame in mind.

Ed is one of those abandoned children, locked away for years and then set free on an unsuspecting world. As his college days approach and with only fragments of memory left, his life implodes when an old adversary calls upon him. Suddenly the true purpose of his whole existence is revealed. He does the only thing he can. He runs… 

Special plans have been devised for Ed Constance, but he isn’t like the others. He knows what his pursuers want. Will he have the strength to deny them their ultimate goal?

Oliver Johnson’s expertly-paced, high-concept thriller grips from its opening pages to its spectacular finale.

OLIVER JOHNSON is an editor of commercial fiction and non-fiction and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including John Grisham, Iain Banks and Michael Crichton. He is the author of several fantasy novels and children’s books. He spends his time between London and a writing bolthole in East Sussex. Caller Unknown is his first thriller.

My thoughts: This is a strange and at times bewildering book taking in the supposed CIA MKUltra experiments, terrorism, brain washing and mind control. It all moves at an incredible pace.

Ed was one of seven children found abandoned by the side of the road, he was maybe nine years old, and could recall nothing of his life before that moment. Adopted by a couple in Boston, he’s exceptionally bright and capable, excelling at school. But he has no friends beyond the owner of the bait and tackle shop by Lake Tranquility in Maine, where his adoptive parents have a house.

When things from his past start to enter into his present on his first day at college, he runs, assuming a new identity and moving to Florida, as far as he can go.

Building an entirely new life for himself as a successful lawyer, marrying and believing himself safe from the mysterious organisation that had him as a child, he manages to live quietly for some years. Then things take another strange turn and he must turn to his only friend, Vietnam vet Jerry Dove once more for help.

There are so many twists and turns, so many threads in this rather brilliantly written book, I was completely hooked and could not put it down. And the ending! Oh, so intriguing.

*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: The Bridge of Fire – Maria Karamanou

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Looking for something gothic, suspenseful, and atmospheric? The we highly recommend The Bridge of Fire by Maria Karamanou!

The Bridge of Fire

Release Date: October 2024

Genre: Gothic Mystery/ Thriller

Cover Artist: @selkkiedesigns

  • Haunted village
  • Trauma-bonded sisters
  • Hidden diary mystery
  • Prophetic dreams
  • Femme fatale revenge arc
  • Morally grey love interest
  • Dark family secrets
  • Deadly games & deception

In the quiet village of Snowshill, where shadows linger longer than the daylight, two sisters uncover a truth that was never meant to surface.

Victoria is haunted by vivid, prophetic dreams, visions that pull her toward a darkness buried deep within the village’s past. When she and her sister, Alice, discover a hidden diary detailing a string of unsolved murders, they awaken something ancient… and vengeful.

Alice, driven by pain and a dangerous need for retribution, slips into the underbelly of Snowshill, gambling, deceiving, and risking everything to chase a justice that could consume her. But the deeper she goes, the more she realizes her greatest enemy may not be the monsters lurking in the shadows… but the truth she’s been running from.

As history threatens to repeat itself, the sisters must confront the secrets that shaped them, the evil infecting their bloodline, and a destiny that has been waiting for them in the dark.

Some secrets were never meant to be found.
Some murders were never meant to be solved.
And in Snowshill… the truth always demands a sacrifice.

In the end, one haunting question remains: Who will survive to tell the tale of Snowshill?

A gothic psychological thriller about sisterhood, trauma, revenge, and the thin line between love and destruction

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Triggers – Scenes of violence
• Death and loss
• Trauma-related themes
• Mentions of abuse

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