Tag: thrillers

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Version Zero – David Yoon*

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From the brilliant mind of New York Times bestselling author David Yoon comes a lightning-fast and scorchingly observant thriller about how we can save ourselves from the very real perils of a virtual world.

Max, a data whiz at the social media company Wren, has gotten a firsthand glimpse of the dark side of big tech. When he questions what his company does with the data they collect, he’s fired…then black-balled across Silicon Valley.

With time on his hands and revenge on his mind, Max and his longtime friend (and secretly the love of his life) Akiko, decide to get even by rebooting the internet. After all, in order to fix things, sometimes you have to break them. But when Max and Akiko join forces with a reclusive tech baron, they learn that breaking things can have unintended–and catastrophic–consequences.

My thoughts: this was an interesting, chaotic adventure in cyberspace as two young programmers, attempt to put right all the wrongs of social media and the internet. Taking on the big companies by hacking into them is one thing, but when they’re co-opted into a reclusive tech billionaire’s slightly less hopeful schemes, things go a bit sideways.

Max is incredibly optimistic and slightly naive, he genuinely thinks he can make people reject the mega corporations that own their data and rule their lives by pulling back the curtain, and it seems to work but we all know the wizard is some guy in a black polo neck or grey t-shirt. It isn’t enough in a way, as angry as people get, the convenience and addiction to the internet won’t be replaced quickly or easily.

Pilot – the worrying former tech god turned total hermit taps into Max’s naivety and manipulates the hopeful bright young things by offering them access and support, a back way in to the CEOs and programs they want to bring down, but he has other plans.

It all becomes a spiralling nightmare for Max, and saving his friends becomes his priority, but can he save the world too? A timely and thought provoking book, which ironically I’m telling you about via a blogging platform and sharing it over social media. Max would not be impressed.

*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

Quick Reads 2021: Celebrating 15 Years of Great Stories & a review of The Skylight by Louise Candlish

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OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE: The Baby is Mine (Atlantic)
LOUISE CANDLISH: The Skylight (Simon & Schuster)
KATIE FFORDE: Saving the Day (Arrow)
PETER JAMES: Wish You Were Dead (Macmillan)
CAITLIN MORAN: How to Be a Woman, abridged (Ebury)
KHURRUM RAHMAN: The Motive (HQ)
 

One in six adults in the UK – approximately 9 million people – find reading difficult, and one in three people do not regularly read for pleasure. Quick Reads, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, plays a vital role in addressing these shocking statistics by inspiring emergent readers, as well as those with little time or who have fallen out of the reading habit, with entertaining and accessible writing from the very best contemporary authors.

Over 5 million Quick Reads have been distributed since the life-changing programme launched in 2006. From 2020 – 2022, the initiative is supported by a philanthropic gift from bestselling author Jojo Moyes. This year, for every book bought until 31 July 2021, another copy will be gifted to help someone discover the joy of reading. ‘Buy one, gift one’ will see thousands of free books given to organisations across the UK to reach less confident readers and those with limited access to books – bring the joy and transformative benefits of reading to new audiences.

 Review of Louise Candlish’s The Skylight

They can’t see her, but she can see them… Simone has a secret. She likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on the couple downstairs through their kitchen skylight. She knows what they eat for breakfast and who they’ve got over for dinner. She knows what mood they’re in before they even step out the door. There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there? Until one day Simone sees something through the skylight she is not expecting. Something that upsets her so much she begins to plot a terrible crime…

Louise Candlish is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Other Passenger and thirteen other novels. Our House won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. It is now in development for a major TV series. Louise lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Louise Candlish, author of The Skylight (Simon & Schuster) said: It’s an honour to be involved in this [next] year’s Quick Reads. Reading set me on the right path when I was young and adrift and it means such a lot to me to be a part of literacy campaign that really does change lives.”

My thoughts: this was a short and sweet thriller, and I loved it. I recommend these books all the time – Quick Reads are perfect for your commute or when you take a break. I think it’s a fantastic project and the choice of books this year is great.

As always Louise Candlish crafts a brilliant and shocking story that could be going on behind any door on any street. Simone really hates her downstairs neighbours and has been spying on them through their skylight from her bathroom for a while.

Her buttons get pushed by something she sees and she decides to wreck a terrible revenge. She’s a selfish, rather monstrous person but so are some of the other characters, none of them could be described as innocent, except one. The claustrophobic nature of living so closely together doesn’t help, the loud music, the shared hallway, bring people into proximity that maybe otherwise would never meet, and be better for it. But Simone’s past actions make her more likely to behave badly, and have things take a turn for her too. A cracking read, with all the pleasure of a longer novel but without the length that puts some people off.

**Some of the above post contains extracts from a press release but the review is entirely my own words and opinions. I received a copy of the book in exchange for this post.**

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Both of You – Adele Parks*

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Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmom to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband, Mark, says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered.

Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman Daan and vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamorous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught.

Detective Clements knows that people disappear all the time—far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run toward, others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds. Their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the detective believes they might be.

How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be.

My thoughts: I love Adele Parks’ books and this was no exception. What starts off as a simple crime thriller about two missing women becomes so much more twisted and shocking. I had absolutely no idea who the villain of the piece was right up till the reveal.

Leigh and Kai are very different women, keeping massive secrets. Their husbands, children and friends have no idea about the real them. None whatsoever. Which makes their disappearance and the secrets that are uncovered as the police investigate all the more stunning.

Set just before lockdown last year, Parks weaves the real world events into the narrative, the fears and distractions that could mean the police stop looking as other things rise to the top of the agenda, the shift to being at home all day distracting from the worries about the missing women, how people seem less inclined to report suspected sightings as they prepare for lockdown. Which is all very cleverly done and grounds the story in the real world with a deft touch.

As always the writing is excellent, the characters feel genuine and the plot grips tight. My jaw dropped a couple of times and I genuinely followed every red herring. Very enjoyable.

*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: Where Crows Land – Paul McCracken*

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This gripping thriller is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and chronicles the dramatic events when a former detective, Joseph Carter, sets out to gain redemption from the consequences of an old case that cost him everything.

Carter is still haunted by the murders of his niece and brother-in-law at the hands of a serial killer he was trying to track down. One year on, the killer has returned and Carter, now a disgraced detective gone private, launches a personal vendetta to catch him this time around.

Northern Irish novelist, Paul McCracken was born 16th January 1991 in the Ulster hospital, Dundonald, just outside of Belfast. He grew up in the Castlereagh area of east Belfast where he also went to school.

Ever since he could hold a pencil, he wanted to be an artist and no-one, not even the school career advisor could tell him otherwise. He left education with only three GCSE’s and an Art diploma. He tried to make it as a fine artist whilst also trying to find any work to support himself financially. However, the more he learned about the commercial art world, the more he wanted no part in it.

In spring 2011, he enrolled in a five day film making course through the Prince’s Trust charity. He always had a passion for storytelling. During the course, he impressed the owner of the studio at which the course was being held, through the raw creativity he displayed. The studio owner was the first to encourage Paul to write his own material, that material being screenplays. After leaving the course with new found confidence and ambition, Paul started to learn the craft of screenwriting and got to work writing his very first feature film.

After securing full time work later that year, he found a renewed inspiration to write again and wrote a full length film script in the space of a week. Paul kept on writing other projects as well as continually editing the first script, but he kept the fact he was writing close to himself as he didn’t want to face any negativity if he were to tell anyone. The script would go on to score highly in an international screenplay competition, based out of Los Angeles. It would then place in the quarter-finals of the same competition for the next two years in a row, accompanied by another screenplay that Paul wrote next.

Years later, after entering competitions, pitching, submitting and doing some occasional freelance scriptwriting, Paul wanted to find a way to get his work into the public eye. Writing a novel was a challenge that seemed daunting but also exciting. Having first thought of converting his best script into a novel, he decided to come up with a completely original story. In 2018, he self published his debut novel, Layla’s Song. In 2020 he secured two book deals with two different English publishers. The Conrad Press and PM Books (Imprint of Holland House Books). The first of these books was Where Crows Land, a detective thriller set in Belfast and published by The Conrad Press. His other novel, The Last Rains Of Winter is due out early 2021 with PM Books.

My thoughts: this was a dark and gripping thriller exploring revenge, greed and corruption.

After his niece is kidnapped and killed, and he botches her rescue, Carter is sacked from the police and becomes a PI. A year later he’s still haunted by the case and it seems the killer has returned.

It was refreshing to read a crime story set in Northern Ireland that wasn’t related to the Troubles. I can understand why so many writers are drawn to those terrible years and events but obviously crime doesn’t begin and end there. The killings in this book are something completely separate and recent.

Carter is an interesting character, a man full of anger and self recrimination. His sister wants nothing to do with him, the police have abandoned him, he has few friends and manages to anger them too. But he’s also dogged and determined, he will get to the bottom of this case, whatever it costs him.

*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 Players – Darren O’Sullivan*

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Read my review of the author’s previous book Dark Corners

 In this game it’s kill or be killed…

A stranger has you cornered.
They call themselves The Host.
You are forced to play their game.
In it one person can live and the other must die.

You are the next player.
You have a choice to make.This is a game where nobody wins…

A nerve-shredding cat-and-mouse serial killer thriller that will keep you guessing and reading into the night, perfect for fans of Adrian McKinty, John Marrs and Steve Cavanagh

My thoughts: trips to Peterborough are never going to be the same again, and neither are pipecleaners!

A motorbike helmet wearing man declares himself “The Host” in a series of horrific videos where he makes two people fight to the death while threatening their loved ones, but who is he and why is he doing this?

Inspired by the classic Trolley Problem and the idea of whether humans are always good, this is cold blooded and deeply chilling thriller. DI Karen Holt is suspended but that doesn’t stop her trying to catch the sinister figure instigating these terrible events, even when it puts her in the killer’s sights.

An interesting protagonist, Karen spots clues before some of her colleagues but she isn’t perfect or always able to save a life, which makes for a more realistic character. She is however perhaps too driven, after the case that led to her suspension, she’s willing to risk everything, from her career to her marriage, to her life, to solve this case fast, and she misses things because of that.

*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 Girl on the Platform – Bryony Pearce*

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A missing child. A single witness.

I am the girl on the platform.

When new mother Bridget catches her train home from London, she witnesses something terrible: a young girl is taken from the platform, right before her eyes.

No one knows where I am.

But no one is reported missing and with Bridget the only witness, she is written off as an attention seeker. Nobody believes her – not even her own husband.

Can you find me?

But Bridget knows what she saw, and becomes consumed with finding the little girl. Only she can save the child’s life… but could delving into the mystery cost Bridget her own?

A dark and absorbing thriller with the impact of memorable series like Broadchurch or The Missing, perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and Erin Kinsley’s Found.

My thoughts:

This was a clever and enjoyable thriller, exploring ideas of memory and mental illness.

While suffering from post natal depression, a terrible condition, and on medication, Bridget sees a child being abducted from a train station platform. But no one believes her.

Unable to trust her memory, and her rather terrifying mother, scared she might lose her baby daughter, she tries to prove she saw a crime and isn’t crazy.

As someone who lives with depression and anxiety, I completely understood how frustrating Bridget found things, people so easily blame your mental health when you seem a little unsure about things. It’s a cruel trope and unfair. Just because you’re unwell doesn’t mean you can’t see things or be trusted.

Bridget’s mother is the one spreading doubt about her health, manipulating events and causing fractures in Bridget’s marriage. I really didn’t like her from the off.

The final act is full of twists and surprises, and takes this into darker territory. I wasn’t expecting any of it and it was 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: Hit and Run – Maria Frankland*

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Read my reviews of the author’s previous titles; The Last Cuckoo, The Man Behind Closed Doors , Left Hanging & The Yorkshire Dipper

He took his dark secrets and lies to his grave…


Fiona keeps herself to herself – it is safer that way. She allows few people to get close, having learned the hard way that most have their own agendas.

Lowering her barriers and trusting her husband Rob, is a decision she has reason to regret. His indiscretions were coming to light even before the news of his hit and run killing one summer afternoon.

In the aftermath, blame and hostility is shown to her by many. The relationship with her mother is unravelling and she has shut herself away from any friends she once had. Who can she turn to? Who will believe her? Other than her son Jack and her father, there is nobody she can count on.

Can Fiona stay away from her oldest and most faithful friend, the bottle? Or is her life as over as her husband’s?

Only the truth of Rob’s untimely death can decide that.

Amazon

Maria Frankland’s life began at 40 when she escaped an unhappy marriage and began making a living from her own writing and becoming a teacher of creative writing.

The rich tapestry of life with all its turbulent times has enabled her to pour experience, angst and lessons learned into the writing of her novels and poetry.

She recognises that the darkest places can exist within family relationships and this is reflected in the domestic thrillers she writes.

She is a ‘born ‘n’ bred’ Yorkshirewoman, a mother of two and has recently found her own ‘happy ever after’ after marrying again.

Still in her forties, she is now going to dedicate the rest of her working life to writing books and inspiring other writers to also achieve their dreams too!

Twitter Website

My thoughts:

As is probably obvious from the fact that this is the fifth title I’ve reviewed, I really enjoy Maria Frankland’s dark, clever thrillers, featuring ordinary people whose lives get completely turned inside out.

In this case it’s Fiona, a wife and mother, recovering alcoholic and daughter of warring parents herself, whose life is suddenly flipped upside down after her husband Rob is killed in a hit and run.

As the police investigate, Fiona finds herself the number one suspect, but Rob had a lot of secrets and she’s sure one of those will eventually lead to his real killer. Meanwhile she’s trying to hold it all together for her young son, and resist the urge to throw away her sobriety.

Fiona is a likeable protagonist, naive and perhaps a little overly trusting, but her love for her family is genuine and her determination to find out what Rob was keeping from her is a powerful motivator to keep going.

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

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Blog Tour: All My Lies – Sophie Flynn*

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Anna wants to escape. She doesn’t know when her marriage to James began to feel like a trap or when he became so controlling. All she knows is that she needs to leave before it’s too late. And she has a plan.

When Anna reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, Sam, she sees it as the answer to her problems. Finally, they’ll have a life together, like they’d always planned – the life she was meant to have. But the lies are catching up with her . . .

On the morning of their escape, Sam goes missing. Anna knows he wouldn’t leave her, that something must have happened to him. Her search for answers will force her to confront her past, something that she has been running from for a very long time . . .

Sophie Flynn is a Cotswolds based psychological thriller author with an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes. Alongside writing, Sophie is the Head of Marketing at Jericho Writers. After being awarded a place at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School on the TopWrite scheme for young writers in 2017, Sophie began writing short fiction. She has since had many stories published and placed in competitions with organisations s uch as Writing Magazine and The Cheltenham Literature Festival.

When not writing, Sophie can mostly be found on muddy walks with her husband and rescue dog or disappearing to Cornwall whenever possible. She is represented by Kate Nash of Kate Nash Literary Agency.

To find out more, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.

My thoughts:

Everyone in this story seems to be telling lies – Anna, Sam, James, Sue, Louise, Rosie’s husband Richard. The lies range from fairly small to life wrecking. And they keep coming.

Honestly, it’s the children I feel sorry for – Rosie’s small sons, Lucy, none of them asked for such terrible adults as parents and role models.But it’s the way those lies take on lives of their own and get manipulated that leads to the tragedy in the final third of this story and almost cost Anna everything.

Those big lies, including the omitting of past secrets, can cause someone who’s already possessive and jealous to lash out and in really terrible ways.

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

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Blog Tour: Geiger – Gustaf Skordeman*

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The incredible story of a codeword, an extraordinary murder, and the woman who must solve both to stop a deadly plot fifty years in the making. Perfect for fans of I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
__________________

The landline rings as Agneta is waving off her grandchildren. Just one word comes out of the receiver: ‘Geiger’.

For decades, Agneta has always known that this moment would come, but she is shaken. She knows what it means.

Retrieving her weapon from its hiding place, she attaches the silencer and creeps up behind her husband before pressing the barrel to his temple.

Then she squeezes the trigger and disappears – leaving behind her wallet and keys.

The extraordinary murder is not Sara Nowak’s case. But she was once close to those affected and, defying regulations, she joins the investigation. What Sara doesn’t know is that the mysterious codeword is just the first piece in the puzzle of an intricate and devastating plot fifty years in the making . . .

My thoughts:

This started really well, but then I felt it slowed down a bit, much like Sara’s investigation, before speeding up again as the past and its dark secrets started to come to light.

Stasi agents from East Germany, spies from Russia, Sweden’s own past politicians and important figures, all combine in a heady mix of Cold War secrets, conspiracies and contingencies. There’s some very clever and shocking twists in the tale as Sara digs deeper into the past and gets herself further into trouble with her bosses.

She’s an interesting character, at odds with herself in many ways, not entirely enamoured with her job, reacting with violence and anger to things, struggling in her home life – her children are growing up and she doesn’t feel close to them or her husband.

She uses this case as a distraction but also to answer some questions about her own past, her parentage and her mother’s silence.

An interesting thriller, exploring some of Europe’s darker parts and hidden history.


*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 Wild Girls – Phoebe Morgan*

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FOUR FRIENDS.
A LUXURY RETREAT.
IT’S GOING TO BE MURDER.

In a luxury lodge on Botswana’s sun-soaked plains, four friends reunite for a birthday celebration…

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL
Has it all, but chose love over her friends…

THE TEACHER
Feels the walls of her flat and classroom closing in…

THE MOTHER
Loves her baby, but desperately needs a break…

THE INTROVERT
Yearns for adventure after suffering for too long…

Arriving at the safari lodge, a feeling of unease settles over them. There’s no sign of the party that was promised. There’s no phone signal. They’re alone, in the wild.

THE HUNT IS ON.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting thriller from one of my favourite writers of the genre, Hannah, Grace and Alice all feel guilty about that night two years ago that blew up their long time friendship with Felicity and ended with her moving to New York.

Now she’s invited them to a swanky 30th in Botswana, but her messages are vague on plans and none of them have actually spoken to her about anything. Cue terror on the plains, an empty lodge, invisible staff, it’s all very creepy. I would have got out of there as fast as possible.

The way the back story unfolds and a suspect looms into view is nicely unsettling, the terrifying happenings at the glamorous lodge are suitably unnerving and that twist. No spoilers but it’s a good ‘un.

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