Tag: thrillers

How far would you go to keep your baby safe?

The fist flew past Grace’s face and smashed into the wall behind her. A switch flicked in her head. Grace bundled her eight-week-old daughter into her carry cot, opened the door and ran.

Her life in New York faded into the background. She needed to keep her baby safe. She needed to get as far away from Patrick as possible.

Now, staying in a remote cottage in Wales, Grace is trying to start again. But she can’t shake the uneasy feeling that she’s been followed.

And then she finds a note. Left on her bed. A tiny scrap of paper with scrawl in bright red pen.

Keep her close. Anything could happen.

She’s been found. Patrick wants his baby back.

But Grace will do everything to stop him.

My thoughts:

Talk about a stunning twist, this book was a cracker and a half. Everything, from the blurb, to the unfolding story suggests one thing, but then that gets flipped on its head and there’s so much more to it, a rather sinister set of events is revealed.

I enjoyed this a lot, the mix of thriller and family relationship style saga was interesting and the plots running concurrently – Grace’s flight to Wales, and her aunt’s past, blended together nicely.

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

Charming. Charismatic. Beautiful.
And deadly?

The members of a local support group in a sleepy welsh town are captivated by the new arrival, Sheena Strachan. Each member of the group has a reason for attending. Some hide dark, sinister secrets, and for others it is the highlight of their week.
But what are Sheena’s motives for attending?
The group’s leader, Rose, unexpectedly stops attending meetings. She goes into hiding, and quickly becomes an outcast. And then she is arrested for her estranged husband’s murder.
Did Sheena really have no involvement in his killing?
With Sheena at the helm, the group goes from strength to strength, both in numbers and commitment. But their behaviour is changing. No story is to leave the room. They trust nobody. Men are the enemy. The residents of the previously peaceful town start turning against each other.
Was this Sheena’s plan all along?
One mystery, however, stands out more than all the others.
Who is here to kill who…?
I AM HERE TO KILL YOU is a compelling psychological thriller that explores the potential power and devastation of manipulation.

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After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris Westlake’s short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award (not bad for the first writing competition he had entered). He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award.

Chris has written three novels. 30 DAYS IN JUNE is his first crime thriller. He is currently writing his second thriller, on schedule to be completed in 2020. He is determined to write many, many more – his main regret is that he didn’t start writing earlier.
Chris considers himself to be a developing author. He is always looking to improve, to make his next novel even better than the last. He is continuously experimenting with different styles, different genres.
You can contact Chris. He would love to hear from you.

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My thoughts:

This was a twisted trip of a book, set in a small Welsh village where the women meet up weekly to talk through their issues and find friendship. A newcomer seeks to tip the balance and change how things are done.

Sheena has a nasty plan and starts to enact, driving wedges between people – forcing women to carry out violent crimes, mostly against the men in their lives. None of the characters are particularly likeable, they all have nasty sides it seems and violence lurks under the skin. There’s a real twist at the end I just didn’t see coming.

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

Estate agent Lawrence Hennessey has his eyes firmly on the prize, a future away from the mother of his daughter and a multi-million-pound property deal to fund his new life.

His dreams are shot to pieces though when he is arrested for the most heinous sexual crimes against his seemingly embittered ex, Summer, and their seven-year-old daughter, April.
He claims his absolute innocence, but the evidence is so strong that his world quickly turns against him. Having breached his bail conditions, he is sent to prison awaiting a trial that, with his life now in constant danger, may never come. Only one person stands with him; his sister Grace.
Desperate to break the allegiance between mother and daughter, Grace vows to leave no stone unturned in her quest to clear her brother’s name before it is too late.
She unearths a web of vicious deceit in Summer’s turbulent past but nothing to prove her brother’s innocence. She is convinced though that if she keeps digging she’ll unearth something much bigger about her brother’s accuser to weaken the validity of her claims.
But as the evidence against Lawrence gets more sinister, his alcoholism, blackouts and activity on the Dark Web paint a much different story to the one her brother is telling.

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Phil Martin has published seven ebooks in the crime genre. He is a journalist in the global casino and sports betting sectors.

“I grew up in the creative cauldron of nineties Manchester when Madchester rocked the charts and the Hacienda ruled clubland. The city has shaped me as a writer. I write thrillers and crime stories based on the fine folk of Manchester and Salford and sell them online as ebooks.

The Amy Walker series is an international thriller taking in Manchester, London, Morocco, Barcelona, Monza, Zurich, Lake Como, Moscow, Chechnya, Buenos Aires, Georgia… and Milton Keynes.

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My thoughts:

Lawrence is accused of some of the most heinous crimes around and the evidence seems pretty solid, if incredibly grim but his resourceful, brilliant and determined sister Grace knows he could not have done any of the things criminal genius and probable psychopath Summer has accused him of.

Grace has an investigative mind but Summer is a monster, and the two of them have to try to outwit each other. What Grace goes through to try to clear Lawrence’s name, and what he suffers after the arrest are reprehensible and awful. It’s hard to imagine how someone could be so cold and calculating.

Truly clever and utterly gripping, this is a suspenseful and intelligent thriller that left me cold – after all anyone could be like Summer, couldn’t they?

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

HE SAW WHAT YOU DID…

Teenager Ebby Engstrom witnesses a murder – and then passes out. The next morning, he wakes in his bed with no memory of how he got there, and is told his mother was stabbed to death the previous night.

Thirty years later, the case has gone cold, with numerous suspects but no new clues – until Ebby starts having uncontrollable flashbacks to that night. As repressed memories surface, he questions his own role in the murder, leading to a dramatic confession and Ebby’s arrest.

Family friend and attorney Olivia Sinclair is convinced of Ebby’s innocence, but the only way to clear his name is to find the real killer herself. And it seems almost everyone connected to the Engstrom family had a reason to want Cynthia dead…

My thoughts:

I hadn’t read the first Olivia Sinclair book but this stands up perfectly well without needing to.

Ebby Engstrom is starting to remember flashes of the night his mother was brutally murdered, and he’s worried he might have been the killer. Can Olivia prove him wrong?

The unravelling of the events that happened 30 years ago is cleverly done, pretty much everyone’s a suspect and as the secrets come out it gets more tangled and the finger could be pointed at a growing number of family members.

While dealing with this case, Olivia also gets involved with her friend and colleague Brian’s suspicious new girlfriend – is she who she says she is?

Both cases are convoluted but hold the reader’s interest nicely, and don’t distract from each other. The supporting cast of characters is interesting too – Ebby’s brother is awful, but his aunts and friends seem lovely.

I really enjoyed the way suspense is built with both cases and how Olivia cuts quickly through all the legal shenanigans and gets to the truth. The shocking revelations about the Engstroms is handled very nicely. An excellent and enjoyable legal thriller. I aim to go back to book one in the series to fill out the back story a bit more before book three is released.

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

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating, grisly secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbours are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

My thoughts:

The therapist of the title isn’t any of the characters you meet, but rather the absent Nina. The plot revolves around Alice’s obsession with knowing what she can about the former occupant of her home.

This was an intelligent, enjoyable domestic thriller, with the glamorous suburban neighbourhood seething with secrets underneath the veneer of respectability and social interaction.

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

Read my review of The Rules

The wrong choice may just get you killed…

Mike Regan and Zara Ezra believe the so-called Governor is safely locked away – in Zara’s hangar.

But less than twenty-four hours later, the Governor is loose and out there, wreaking havoc.

After what Zara made him do to his own son, she knows he’ll be back with more than murder on his mind.

Moving the families to a safe place was all the firm could do to protect them. But now one of the boys goes missing. It can only mean one thing – the Governor has started his revenge.

Zara is faced with an unimaginable choice just as she forced the Governor to make his – only this time, it could cost the man she loves his life.

My thoughts:

This is another violent and revenge fuelled gangland thriller. Following directly on from the end of The Rules, Zara, Mike and their gang are still in pursuit of whoever is flooding the streets with an incredibly dangerous drug and working to bring down the Governor.

But there’s another player who enters and puts the son of one of the gang in serious danger, setting off a chain of events that raises the body count.

As they hunt out the head of the snake all of them are in danger.

These books don’t mess around, death is around every corner and conspiracies abound. Every time Zara and Mike think they’ve found some peace another thug appears to wreck it. Zara especially is incredibly ruthless and will do whatever it takes to get the result she wants.

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

Read my review of Everything to Lose

Incredible conspiracy. Intricate espionage. Spy story.
Zoe Tampsin is resourceful, smart and Special Forces-trained, but she has been given an impossible mission.

She has to protect scientist, Gavin Shawlens, from assassination by the CIA, and discover the secret trapped in Gavin’s mind that the CIA want destroyed.
As the pressure to find Shawlens escalates – the CIA send Zoe’s former mentor to track her down and her fate seems sealed when he surrounds Zoe and Gavin with a ring of steel. With each hour that passes, the ring is tightened, and the window for discovering Gavin’s secret will shut.
Zoe is faced with a decision that goes against all of her survival instincts. If she is wrong – they both die. If she is right – she will discover the secret and become the next target for assassination.
Run for your life…

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I was born and brought up in Glasgow, Scotland. I studied biochemistry, and I’ve worked in several Scottish universities where I did research on enzymes, and taught biochemistry. After thirty years of teaching and research I retired my academic pen, and took of a mightier fiction pen.

I live in central Scotland with my wife and we enjoy reading, writing, and walking in the hills.

The Lambeth Group books follow the secret government investigations of agent Zoe Tampsin. A strong female protagonist with courage, determination, and guile. She is assisted by specialist consultant, Gavin Shawlens.

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My thoughts:

Another thrilling adventure for Zoe and Gavin, as they attempt to avoid the CIA, acting on British soil without authorisation.

Somewhere inside Gavin’s head is a secret the US will do anything to protect, including murder, kidnap and launching rockets on public roads.

Trouble is Gavin doesn’t have a clue what it is they think he knows. And he and Zoe are running out of time, and heading to Scotland, running out of country.

Clever, gripping and action packed, Zoe believes she’s following orders but is that the case and what is so secret that the CIA are willing to break all the rules?

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

1996. Essex. Thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Carly lives in a disenfranchised town dominated by a military base, struggling to care for her baby sister while her mum sleeps off another binge.

When her squaddie brother brings food and treats, and offers an exclusive invitation to army parties, things start to look a little less bleak…

2006. London. Junior TV newsroom journalist Marie has spent six months exposing a gang of sex traffickers, but everything is derailed when New Scotland Yard announces the re-opening of Operation Andromeda, the notorious investigation into allegations of sex abuse at an army base a decade earlier.

As the lives of these two characters intertwine around a single, defining event, a series of utterly chilling experiences is revealed, sparking a nail-biting race to find the truth… and justice.

A tense, startling and unforgettable thriller, The Source is a story about survival, about hopes and dreams, about power, abuse and resilience.

Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan.

She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs.

As passionate about fiction as nonfiction, she recently completed a Masters of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, adding to an undergraduate language degree in French and Spanish, and Masters of Philosophy in History, Film and Television.

When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if…

My thoughts:

This was really good. Clever, tense and gripping, especially as Marie and Carly’s stories draw closer together and more secrets and conspiracies are forced up to the surface.

Marie wants to use the power of the press to expose corruption at the heart of the military and government, corruption the police have decided to reinvestigate after their previous attempt failed. But dragging the darkness into light means pressure is being applied to find the leaks and stem them.

The scandal it revolves around is pretty grim and hard to stomach but just as in reality, you mustn’t look away, that’s how the men behind this get away with it. It’s why Marie and her colleagues are so angry when their trafficking story might get pulled. It’s why Marie pushes so hard to expose the truth. It’s why the leak is there.

The writing is crisp and concise and crackles with condemnation and the rage Carly and Marie feel over the coverup, and the way they’ve been hung out to dry. Only by naming names and getting the worst of the worst to justice can they be safe.

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

Two strangers, a child, and a split second choice that will change everything . . .

Ellen was just trying to help a stranger. That was how it started: giving a few minutes respite to a flustered young mother sitting opposite her on the train. A few minutes holding her baby while the mother makes an urgent call. The weight of the child in her arms making Ellen’s heart ache for what she can never have.

Five minutes pass. Ten.

The train pulls into a station and Ellen is stunned to see the mother hurrying away down the platform, without looking back. Leaving her baby behind. Ellen is about to raise the alarm when she discovers a note in the baby’s bag, three desperate lines scrawled hastily on a piece of paper:Please protect Mia Don’t trust the police Don’t trust anyone

Why would a mother abandon her child to a stranger? Ellen is about to discover that the baby in her arms might hold the key to an unspeakable crime. And doing the right thing might just cost her everything . . .

T.M. Logan’s thrillers have sold more than 900,000 copies in the UK and are published in 18 countries around the world.

His novel The Holiday was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and became a Sunday Times bestseller in paperback.

Formerly a national newspaper journalist, he now writes full time and lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children.

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My thoughts:

I’ve read a few of the author’s other books so I knew it would be a knuckle biting thriller, wrong footing me at every turn and with more twists than a rollercoaster and I was right!

The plot speeds along, throwing out clues, red herrings and new suspects, till you’re not remotely sure who to trust, apart from Ellen. She seems to be the only one with Mia’s safety in mind, despite not knowing any history or why this baby is so important.

I was utterly gripped as Ellen deals with some very odd characters, tries to move on from her own losses and somehow make it back home in one piece.

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