Tag: thrillers

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Empire of Wild – Cherie Dimaline*

ramblingmads

Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year–ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One hung-over morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher. By the time she staggers into the tent the service is over, but as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.
She turns, and there is Victor. Only he insists he is not Victor, but the Reverend Eugene Wolff, on a mission to bring his people to Jesus. And he doesn’t seem to be faking: there isn’t even a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
With only two allies–her odd, Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, and Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with deep knowledge of the old ways–Joan sets out to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor, his life, and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon her success.
Inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou–a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities–Cherie Dimaline has created a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel.

My thoughts:

Blending traditional mythology with crime thriller, this is a smart and gripping book with a strong protagonist in Joan, a member of the Métis community in Canada’s Georgian Bay.

Her search for her missing husband is all consuming, she’s stopped turning up for work regularly (good thing her mum is the boss), she’s drinking too much and it’s all she can talk about. Seeing him in a Walmart car park is a shock, but he doesn’t seem to recognise her.

I loved her sidekicks, twelve year old cousin Zeus and elderly aunt of some sort Ajean, one who doesn’t know much and one who knows too much. Zeus won’t be left behind as Joan starts following the revival mission Victor seems to have been claimed by, and Ajean provides the ancient wisdom of their people that just might save him.

I don’t know much about the beliefs of First Nations people, only what I’ve read in books so this was interesting, the rogarou or similar creatures occur in several cultures around the world, dangerous creatures that seek to take you over if you get caught. The author is Métis herself, so this is her history and culture brought up to date in an intelligent and enjoyable read.

*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 Girls Are All So Nice Here – Laurel Elizabeth Flynn*

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Two former best friends return to their college reunion to find that they’re being circled by someone who wants revenge for what they did ten years before–and will stop at nothing to get it–in this shocking psychological thriller about ambition, toxic friendship, and deadly desire.

A lot has changed in the years since Ambrosia Wellington graduated from college, and she’s worked hard to create a new life for herself. But then an invitation to her ten-year reunion arrives in the mail, along with an anonymous note that reads “We need to talk about what we did that night.”

It seems that the secrets of Ambrosia’s past–and the people she thought she’d left there–aren’t as buried as she’d believed. Amb can’t stop fixating on what she did or who she did it with: larger-than-life Sloane “Sully” Sullivan, Amb’s former best friend, who could make anyone do anything.

At the reunion, Amb and Sully receive increasingly menacing messages, and it becomes clear that they’re being pursued by someone who wants more than just the truth of what happened that first semester. This person wants revenge for what they did and the damage they caused–the extent of which Amb is only now fully understanding. And it was all because of the game they played to get a boy who belonged to someone else, and the girl who paid the price.

Alternating between the reunion and Amb’s freshman year, The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a shocking novel about the brutal lengths girls can go to get what they think they’re owed, and what happens when the games we play in college become matters of life and death.

My thoughts:

There’s a reason so many of my friends are male, and it’s girls like this to be honest. The bitchy, clique-y girls, the ones who think they’re better than anyone else. The nasty girls. That’s not to say I don’t have female friends, I do, but I shy away from women who have never grown out of their mean streak a mile wide.

Amb and Sully are those girls, Amb thinks she’s moved on and grown up but a reunion weekend at college shows she’s still the same. I felt sorry for her husband, a puppy dog of a man, so eager to please, and her other supposed friends as she and Sully basically rewind ten years in no time at all.

They did something awful to another girl, and someone wants the truth to come to light. But who? They’ve finally met their manipulative match in this shadowy figure, someone’s who has been planning this for a long time.

Twisted, dark and compelling, this is what Mean Girls can really be if left to their own devices.


*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 Invitation – A.M. Castle*

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Thirteen guests. One killer. No escape.

On an island on the coast of Cornwall, cut off from the mainland by the tides for most of the day, thirteen old friends meet at Tregowan Castle for a weekend of revelry.

By the next evening only twelve are still alive.

Amongst them is a killer – but who? As a storm traps them on the island and past betrayals and grievances are revealed, nerves fray and friendships begin to fracture.

But with no escape and no way of calling for help it’s only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. And when everyone is keeping secrets, anybody could be the next victim…

My thoughts:

In the And Then There Were None mold, this takes place on an isolated island akin to St Michael’s Mount, off the Cornish coast.

Invited by their old uni friend, the new Lady Tregowan, this group of people are all hiding secrets that are about to surface. And then the first body drops.

I really enjoyed this, all the incestuous relationships and complicated back stories that entangle this group who maybe should have gone their separate ways years ago.

And I was completely wrongfooted by the reveal – I had no idea that the killer was who it was. Really liked that nice twist.


*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: Hotel Cartagena – Simone Buchholz*

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Read my review of Mexico Street

Twenty floors above the shimmering lights of the Hamburg docks, Public Prosecutor Chastity Riley is celebrating a birthday with friends in a hotel bar when twelve heavily armed men pull out guns, and take everyone hostage. Among the hostages is Konrad Hoogsmart, the hotel owner, who is being targeted by a young man whose life – and family – have been destroyed by Hoogsmart’s actions.

With the police looking on from outside – their colleagues’ lives at stake – and Chastity on the inside, increasingly ill from an unexpected case of sepsis, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation … and a devastating outcome for the team … all live streamed in a terrifying bid for revenge.

Crackling with energy and populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, Hotel Cartagena is a searing, stunning thriller that will leave you breathless.

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg.

In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award as well as runner-up in the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months.

She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son.

My thoughts:

This was a trippy book, with strange moments where the text changes form as the narrator lapses in and out of consciousness and struggles with sepsis. Moving from Germany to Colombia and back, it traces a reckoning years in the making as well as one eventful and strange night in a bar.

The shocking twists and turns of the night, as the story moves back in time and then returns to the present is gripping and utterly compelling. Who are the gunmen and why is the bartender so relaxed? What is happening to Chastity’s mind as her friends’ faces swim in and out of focus?


*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: A Beautiful Breed of Evil – Andy Maslen*

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He’ll never speak of the evil they did…

A former Swedish ambassador lies dead in his swanky Mayfair flat. With his tongue torn out and placed on a Bible. Competing theories swirl. A religious maniac? A psychopath? The truth is far darker than either. DCI Stella Cole’s search for the killer takes her to Sweden. There, she discovers a horrific chapter in the country’s history that throws the case into turmoil. And then more people start dying.
Teaming up with Swedish cops Oskar Norgrim and Johanna Carlsson, Stella pieces together Ambassador Brömly’s shocking past. And discovers the killer’s motive.
Meanwhile, Stella’s personal life is about to take a significant turn as her boyfriend, Jamie, suggests a change in their relationship. But as Stella tries to process what it means, she makes a fateful decision.
Why won’t the dead stay buried?
On the other side of the Atlantic, a kid practising BMX stunts over water finds a skeleton on a lake bed. When the victim is revealed to be a British cop, the FBI ask for assistance. Stella’s arch-enemy from her own department gets the case. She flies to Chicago and soon discovers the murderer’s identity.
The scene is set for a showdown in Sweden as DI Roisin Griffin pursues her vendetta against Stella all the way to the north of Sweden during the annual festival of Midsommar.
A fast-paced, twisty crime thriller …
A Beautiful Breed of Evil is the fifth book in this series of hard-hitting crime thrillers. Much of the action takes place in Sweden, home to fictional detectives Martin Beck, Kurt Wallander, Harry Hole and Saga Norén.
Even as Stella is fighting to bring the killer to justice, shadowy figures from her past are planning to silence her before she can expose their brutal methods.

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Andy Maslen was born in Nottingham, in the UK, home of legendary bowman Robin Hood. Andy once won a medal for archery, although he has never been locked up by the sheriff.

He has worked in a record shop, as a barman, as a door-to-door DIY products salesman and a cook in an Italian restaurant.

He lives in Wiltshire with his wife, two sons and a whippet named Merlin.

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My thoughts:

This was a really enjoyable international thriller with investigations spanning the UK, Sweden and the US.

When a former ambassador is murdered and mutilated, seemingly related to lines in the Bible left underlined, DCI Cole discovers a discrepancy in the victim’s past that may just help her find the killer, so she’s off to Sweden to fill in the gaps.

Meanwhile bodies have been recovered from a lake in Minnesota that link back to the UK, and could spell trouble for Cole.

It’s a fast paced, whip crack of a case as more bodies start to drop in Sweden and Cole’s neck is on the line.

Really enjoyable, utterly gripping thriller with lots of red herrings and dodgy dealings and a link to a shocking chapter in Swedish history.

I actually know the Swedish Church in London, I used to work about two doors down but I never went in for the delicious cinnamon buns that prove a vital plot point (buns not the probably very nice Swedes in the church).

*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 Guilty Husband – Stephanie DeCarolis*

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THE PERFECT HUSBAND…

Vince Taylor has everything he could dream of. He’s the CEO of a tech firm in New York City, owns a beautiful home, and most importantly, he is married to Nicole – the woman who stole his heart the first moment he set eyes on her. Together they have built the perfect life.

ONE GUILTY SECRET

But when Layla, a stunning young intern at Vince’s company is found dead, all eyes are suddenly on him. Vince has a secret that threatens to tear their perfect world apart…

He was having an affair with Layla. And he’ll do anything to cover his tracks.

DO YOU BELIEVE HIM?

When the police discover Vince lied about their relationship, they are convinced they have found Layla’s killer.

If Vince kept quiet about the affair… what else is he guilty of?

My thoughts:

Vince comes across as typical wealthy boss who took advantage of his intern – complete with lying to the cops and fiddling the evidence, but he was being played too. As the case unrolls, secrets are slowly coming to light that cast a different angle on Layla, Vince and some of the other potential suspects.

The twist at the end was very nicely done – it paid off only really seeing things from limited perspectives, because the more you know, the more doubt you have. Did Vince do this?

Enjoyable and gripping, this was a clever thriller about secrets, lies and money.


*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: Anthrax Island – D.L. Marshall*

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FACT: In 1942, in growing desperation at the progress of the war and fearing invasion by the Nazis, the UK government approved biological weapons tests on British soil. Their aim: to perfect an anthrax weapon destined for Germany. They succeeded.

FACT: Though the attack was never launched, the testing ground, Gruinard Island, was left lethally contaminated. It became known as Anthrax Island.

Now government scientists have returned to the island. They become stranded by an equipment failure and so John Tyler is flown in to fix the problem. He quickly discovers there’s more than research going on. When one of the scientists is found impossibly murdered inside a sealed room, Tyler realises he’s trapped with a killer…

A gripping thriller that will leave you guessing until the final page. Perfect for fans of Terry Hayes, James Swallow and Alistair MacLean.

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D. L. Marshall was born and raised in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Influenced by the dark industrial architecture, steep wooded valleys, and bleak Pennine moors, he writes thrillers tinged with horror, exploring the impact of geography and isolation. In 2016 he pitched at Bloody Scotland. In 2018 he won a Northern Writers’ Award for his thriller novel Anthrax Island.

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My thoughts:

This was a clever, dark and gritty thriller. On a small island off the coast of Scotland, the killer can only be one of the people already there, but who is it?

Tyler is an asset of the government but one they can deny exists, he’s been tasked to find out what’s going on, while avoiding getting exposed to one of the deadly strains of anthrax still present on the island.

I’m a big fan of these sort of stories – Agatha Christie had everyone in a country house but modern versions employ various isolated locations. It’s always interesting to see how people develop their relationships when you can’t trust anyone but need an ally.

Adding in the risk of exposure to a deadly bacteria heightens the tension – what does the killer want and who are they working for?

*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: The Housewife – Alex Kane*

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Even perfect mothers have secrets…

Leah. She’s the perfect mum to ten-year-old Samuel, wife to loving husband Thomas, head of the PTA. But her closet is full of skeletons – and if the truth gets out, her world could be destroyed.

Annie. She’s the gangster’s moll with a brain. She might be a woman, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty to play the men at their own game. But what no one knows is the devastating secret haunting her.

Terry. He’s the king of Glasgow gangland, working his way up from estate to mansion. From drugs to guns, there’s nothing he won’t stop at to grow his dirty money. He might be a hard man, but his weakness is women.

As their three stories collide, the lives of each will never be the same. Because even perfect women hide dark secrets… Don’t they?

Alex Kane is a writer from Glasgow. She has been writing for ten years and in 2018 signed with Hera Books, a digital first publisher.

(2019) No Looking Back
(2019) What She Did
(2020) She Who Lies
(2020) The Angels
(2021) The Housewife

Alex Kane writes gangland crime and psychological thrillers and will read anything she can get her hands on from both genres.

If she is not writing, she can be found relaxing at home reading, or drinking tea and/or gin (sometimes all of the above).
Alex is currently working on future books but can also be found procrastinating on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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My thoughts:

This was a clever, gripping thriller set in Glasgow. Annie works her way into Terry Reid’s affections and business, until one night she disappears. Ten years later Terry’s still looking for her.

Leah lives a quiet life with her husband and son. But a threatening note through the door upsets everything.

Moving back and forth in time and weaving several different lives together The Housewife slowly builds up the events and how Leah will have to set things right in order to protect the ones she loves.

The payoff at the end was very satisfying and tied up all the disparate threads nicely. Setting some people free and punishing the guilty.

*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: Double Identity – Alison Morton*

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Deeply in love, a chic Parisian lifestyle before her. Now she’s facing prison for murder.

It’s three days since Mel des Pittones threw in her job as an intelligence analyst with the French special forces to marry financial trader Gérard Rohlbert. But her dream turns to nightmare when she wakes to find him dead in bed beside her.
Her horror deepens when she’s accused of his murder. Met Police detective Jeff McCracken wants to pin Gérard’s death on her. Mel must track down the real killer, even if that means being forced to work with the obnoxious McCracken.
But as she unpicks her fiancé’s past, she discovers his shocking secret life. To get to the truth, she has to go undercover—and finds almost everybody around her is hiding a second self.
Mel can trust nobody. Can she uncover the real killer before they stop her?
A stunning new thriller from the author of the award-winning Roma Nova series, fans of Daniel Silva, Stella Rimington or Chris Pavone will love Double Identity.

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Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers series featuring tough, but compassionate heroines. She blends her deep love of France with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical, adventure and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.

“Grips like a vice – a writer to watch out for” says crime thriller writer Adrian Magson about Roma Nova series starter INCEPTIO. All six full-length Roma Nova thrillers have won the BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural indie review.

All six full-length Roma Nova thrillers have won the BRAG Medallion, the prestigious award for indie fiction. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. The Bookseller selected SUCCESSIO as Editor’s Choice in its inaugural indie review.

Now Alison continues to write thrillers and drink wine in France with her husband.

Other works

The Carina strand
INCEPTIO where New Yorker Karen Brown is thrown into a new life in mysterious Roma Nova and fights to stay alive with a killer hunting her
CARINA, a novella, Carina’s first mission abroad. What could go wrong?
PERFIDITAS, six years on, where betrayal and rebellion are in the air, threatening to topple Roma Nova and ruin Carina’s life.
SUCCESSIO, where a mistake from the past threatens to destroy the next generation.

The Aurelia strand
AURELIA, in late 1960s Roma Nova, Aurelia Mitela battles her life-long nemesis, silver smuggling and is forced to choose between her love, her child and her country
NEXUS Mid 1970s, London, where a simple favour for a friend becomes a chilling pursuit across Europe
INSURRECTIO, where Aurelia Mitela struggles against a manipulative tyrant grabbing power. But it may already be too late to save Roma Nova…
RETALIO, a classic tale of resistance and retribution – the endgame between Aurelia and Caius

Extras
ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories from AD 370 to the present

Contributions
‘A Roman Intervenes‘ in 1066 Turned Upside Down
How Galla Mitela, Roma Novan imperial councillor, attempts to stop the Norman invasion of England. One of a series of possible alternative outcomes of 1066.

‘The Mystery of Victory’ in Rubicon (HWA/Sharpe Books)
What did happen to the Altar of Victory in the dusk of the Roman Empire?

‘The Idealist’ in Betrayal (Historical Fictioneers, 2020)

Non Fiction
Military or civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War.

The 500 Word Writing Buddy: 35 Inner Secrets for the New Writer

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My thoughts:

This was a really enjoyable, intelligent thriller with an interesting protagonist and full of intrigue and double crosses.

Initially accused of the murder of her fiancè, Mel is then recruited by a new trans-Europe investigative body, her boss believes Gèrard’s death is part of something much bigger.

There’s lots of action but also lots of sifting through tedious CCTV and paperwork, making this feel a lot more realistic than some thrillers where they just know who all the players are with no work!

Mel is an intriguing and clearly very well equipped protagonist, her background in French special forces makes her ideal for the dangerous world of espionage and she equits herself with skill and flair. I liked her no nonsense approach and her relationship with McCracken.

*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 Two Fathers – Keith Dixon*

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Read my review of The Cobalt Sky

Why does Jessica Hastings come home late several times a week?

Her husband asks Private Investigator Sam Dyke this simple question. Dyke doesn’t want the case: he doesn’t do divorce work … but Brian Hastings doesn’t want a divorce, he wants an explanation.

When Sam finds out what Jessica is doing, it opens up more questions. And when Brian Hastings goes missing, they’re questions he feels compelled to answer.

At the centre of the mystery is a man who most people in Manchester don’t know—Larry Stone. But those who do know him, know that far from being the simple florist he seems to be, he’s actually the biggest crook in town. He’s powerful, he’s dangerous, and he’s currently working a deal with a Dutchman who’s even worse.

And Sam is now caught in Stone’s sights as he works to find Brian Hastings, to solve a couple of murders, and to prevent Stone corrupting even more members of his own family than he already has.

Before the biggest deal of Stone’s crooked career goes down.

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Keith Dixon was born in Yorkshire and grew up in the Midlands. He’s been writing since he was thirteen years old in a number of different genres: thriller, espionage, science fiction, literary. Two-time winner of the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE First in Category award for Private Eye/Noir novel, he’s the author of ten books in the Sam Dyke Investigations series and two other non-crime works, as well as two collections of blog posts on the craft of writing. His new series of Paul Storey Thrillers began in 2016.

Two-time winner of the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE First in Category award for Private Eye/Noir novel, he’s the author of ten books in the Sam Dyke Investigations series and two other non-crime works, as well as two collections of blog posts on the craft of writing. His new series of Paul Storey Thrillers began in 2016.
When he’s not writing he enjoys reading, learning the guitar, watching movies and binge-inhaling great TV series. He’s currently resident in France.

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My thoughts:

Private Investigator Sam Dyke can’t catch a break, manipulated into finding out where Brian Hastings’ wife is sneaking off to, he finds himself involved in a much bigger case, and one that comes with a body count.

Darkly funny, this is an intelligent crime thriller, where no one actually seems to have a plan, least of all Dyke, and chaos thrives. A really enjoyable and clever plot involving florists, a man named Leg, and two rather strange police detectives.

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