#Blogtour No More Lies by Rachel Abbott

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour No More Lies by Rachel Abbott.

About the Author

Rachel Abbott is a British author of psychological thrillers. As a self-published author, her first ten novels (and one novella) in the DCI Tom Douglas series have combined to sell over four million copies. All have been bestsellers on Amazon’s Kindle store, and her books have been translated into over 20 languages. 

In 2015, Rachel was named the number one bestselling self-published author in the UK and the 14th bestselling author (both published and self-published) over the previous five years on Amazon’s Kindle in the UK. 

In 2017, following a five-way auction, Rachel signed a two-book deal with Headline Publishing Group. The first book, And So It Begins, was published in 2018 and features Sergeant Stephanie King. The second book in this series, The Murder Game was released in April 2020. Books three and four in the series are to be published by Headline in late 2023 and 2024.

Rachel’s writing career began in 2009, when she decided to write a book about a woman facing a situation which gave her no option but to commit murder. In November 2011, she published the story – Only the Innocent – on Amazon. It rose to number one in the charts and remained there for four weeks.

Rachel followed up Only the Innocent with The Back Road, Sleep Tight, Stranger Child, Kill Me Again, The Sixth Window, Come A Little Closer, The Shape of Lies, Right Behind You and Close Your Eyes. All the thrillers in this series focus on the victims and perpetrators of the crimes, and the complex relationships that exist between protagonist and antagonist. This series features Detective Chief Inspector Tom Douglas.

Rachel grew up near Manchester, England. She worked as a systems analyst, and then founded an interactive media company, developing software and websites for the education market. When she sold the company in 2000, she moved to Italy where she restored a 15th-century Italian monastery. For a time she and her husband operated the property as a venue for weddings and holidays. She now lives on the Channel Island of Alderney in a Victorian Fort where she spends her days writing in her office – a former gunpowder shelter. Follow @RachelAbbott on Twitter, @rachelabbottwriter on Instagram, Visit rachel-abbott.com

About the book

It would be unfair to blame the woman I met tonight for turning my life upside down. She didn’t. It was already upside down. I just didn’t know it. 

Recently life has been good for Mallory Hansen: a great job, a lovely home, and a wonderful man, Nathan, to share it with. But now she must ask herself: is it all built on lies?

A shocking accusation has been made against Nathan, and Mallory doesn’t know who to believe. He denies everything, but all the signs point to his guilt. She has learned to trust Nathan, but she also remembers the boy he used to be.

As teenagers, Mallory and Nathan were part of a close-knit group of six friends until a vicious argument drove them apart. Now, fifteen years later, they are back in touch – only to find themselves drawn into a web of mutual distrust, one by one…

The attacks on their lives are skilfully targeted, designed to hit them where they hurt the most, and when a young woman disappears and a baby is abducted, DCI Tom Douglas must try to unravel the past and discover who is the architect of their misery.

Review

Interesting premise, one that serves as a stark reminder of how hard it is to be heard as a victim by the world when someone in a position of power uses their position to commit a crime. Simultaneously what happens when someone makes an accusation that leaves a trail of destruction in the wake of said accusation, especially if it is a false one.

Coming at the story in a way that presents a perfect example of the minefield an accusation of assault creates is an excellent way of mirroring reality. When you throw something like that out into the universe and it is echoed back by a million voices in a variety of ways it often becomes irrelevant whether it is in fact the truth or not.

From that day forward there will always be an element of doubt attached to the way people think about the accused, paradoxically this also applies to the victim. Because of the nature of the accusation and the way society perceives the core structure of guilt, responsibility and victimhood, the question of guilt and punishment becomes marred in rumours and suspicion.

Built around that core of the accusation – the ripple of destruction and doubt is a sledgehammer of destruction, although often one that pounds in silence. It’s a great read. You just never know where the malice springs from and whether innocence is truly a recognisable feature in certain characters, and of course a little bit of DCI Tom never did anyone any harm.

Buy No More Lies at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Black Dot, Publication date: pub date 16th February 2023.Paperback, eBook & Audio. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Change by Kirsten Miller

It’s an absolute pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Change by Kirsten Miller.

About the Author

Kirsten Miller is an outstanding feminist author in the YA and children’s space, who spent twenty-five years as a strategist in the advertising industry. During that time, she worked for some of the largest agencies in the world – including J Walter Thompson, DDB, Lowe, and Ogilvy & Mather – as well as boutique agencies and an eight-person start-up. 

She’s proud to have quit a senior job at one of the most famous ad agencies in America over an ad that’s described in The Change. The Change is her first adult novel. Follow @bankstirregular on Twitter

About the book

Nessa: The Seeker, Harriett: The Punisher, Jo: The Protector – with new-found powers the time has come to take matters into their own hands…

After Nessa is widowed and her daughters leave for college, she’s left alone in her house near the ocean. In the quiet hours, she hears voices belonging to the dead – who will speak to her.

On the cusp of fifty Harriett’s marriage and career imploded, and she hasn’t left her house in months. But her life is far from over – in fact, she’s undergone a stunning metamorphosis.

Jo spent thirty years at war with her body. The rage that arrived with menopause felt like the last straw – until she discovers she’s able to channel it.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio discover the abandoned body of a teenage girl. The police have written off the victim. But the women have not. Their own investigations lead them to more bodies and a world and wealth where the rules don’t apply – and the realisation that laws are designed to protect villains, not the vulnerable.

Review

This has got to be one of the most interesting melding of genres I have read in a long time. It’s a tale of empowerment, of sisterhood, and of being invisible in plain sight. It’s also a tale of the biological monster that lurks within us and how easy it is to dismiss women when they hit a certain age, and of course how many girls and women sink into the pages of history without leaving a footnote behind. there’s a reason for that of course, one that is ingrained deep into society.

Jo, Nessa and Harriett couldn’t be more different, and yet there is a common denominator. The kind of bond that links all women, because although some elements may be different there is no escaping certain biological changes or womanhood in general.

Harriett is considered to be the betrayed woman, who has lost her sanity and acquired a bit of a reputation in town. Jo has always been at odds with the way her life has been controlled by her body, now it’s time to channel the rage that burns within her. Then there is Nessa, the woman with a gift of bringing members of the sisterhood home, when they are lost.

If this is optioned for the screen, and it absolutely should be, then I hope that the powers that be cast women of an appropriate age-range, and not younger women acting said age. If not, the whole concept and story would be submerged in the industry norm, and it would lose the power it contains and emits.

I enjoyed it so much I have bought copies for women who need to read this – it hits a lot of the right notes when it comes to reaching a certain age as a woman, and indeed when they start to navigate the erratic and bountiful nuances of the change. Yes, I am being simultaneously polite and facetious when it comes to the great biological power of the menopause.

Even if this is a story filled with magical realism, built upon a foundation of women and their individual experiences, which are often similar in tone and nature, it is also a riveting story of mystery and murder. A crime read with the frank intensity of Blackwell’s Sound of her Voice. The truth about the worth of girls, women and their lives, and how expendable they are. It gives this read the feel of an intense thriller.

The true intensity however is driven by the power within each woman. The comparison between the powers and the upheavals women go through during life and the change is really well written. Ah, were we but able to throw off the invisible chains of societal norms and misconceptions, to avert the labels of crazy, angry or vengeful.

I can’t recommend this enough – it is an incredible read. 

Buy The Change at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Harper Collins.

#BlogTour The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

It’s my turn on the Blogtour The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken.

About the Author

Erin Litteken is a debut novelist with a degree in history and a passion for research. At a young age, she was enthralled by stories of her family’s harrowing experiences in Ukraine before, during and after World War II. Her first historical fiction title, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv, draws on those experiences. She lives in Illinois, USA with her husband and children. Follow @ErinLitteken on Twitter, Visit Erin’s website: erinlitteken.com

About the book

In the 1930s, Stalin’s activists marched through the Soviet Union, espousing the greatness of collective farming. It was the first step in creating a man-made famine that, in Ukraine, stole almost 4 million lives. Inspired by the history the world forgot, and the Russian government denies, Erin Litteken reimagines their story.

In 1929, Katya is 16 years old, surrounded by family and in love with the boy next door. When Stalin’s activists arrive in her village, it’s just a few, a little pressure to join the collective. But soon neighbours disappear, those who speak out are never seen again and every new day is uncertain.

Resistance has a price, and as desperate hunger grips the countryside, survival seems more a dream than a possibility. But, even in the darkest times, love beckons. Seventy years later, a young widow discovers her grandmother’s journal, one that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past.

This is a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the love that sees us through our darkest hours and the true horror of what happened during the Holodomor. – May we never forget, lest history repeat itself.

A share of proceeds will be donated to DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

Review

I think of myself as lucky in regard to the influence my father has had on my education – in filling the gaps created by country hops, school moves, schoolyear jumps and just in general where society and the system is inadequate in passing on knowledge. Irrespective of whether it be intentional or due to curriculum changes. 

He is a font of knowledge, especially when it comes to history, and putting historical events into perspective when it comes to current events. Why is this story of historical importance, even if certain details and characters make it faction – a melding of historical fact and fiction. It’s important because it gives context to the current conflict – the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia, or Putin to be more precise.

Putin styles himself on a man he admires, a ruler upheld by many of the Soviets then and even now in Russia. Stalin was a murderer, a monster, a dictator who was a master of propaganda, both inside and outside the boundaries of Mother Russia. Even now the millions of the Ukrainian people he purposely starved, killed and tortured – they are a mere footnote in history, and one that is purposely held under a suspicion of doubt.

In a way that is exactly why Katya’s story is buried and hidden for decades. It’s not uncommon for survivors of extreme trauma, such as war or the Holodomor – the Terror Famine – to simply remain silent about the events they have experienced. People displaced, ripped from their homes, family and culture in the most horrifying way, only to then be subjected to the horrors of World War 2. How do you resume a semblance of normality after that?

This story is about generational trauma, family secrets and about finding peace after experiencing the unimaginable. It’s also a stark reminder about the lack of empathy when it comes to the pursuit of power and control, which is why the small gestures and moments of connection are even more important. It’s a captivating story – a timely piece of work.

Buy The Memory Keeper of Kyiv at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎ Boldwood Books pub date 16 May 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Boldwood.

#BlogTour Requiem in La Rossa by Tom Benjamin

 It’s my turn on the BlogTour Requiem in La Rossa by Tom Benjamin. ‘Requiem in La Rossa is the third in Tom Benjamin’s critically-acclaimed Bologna-set series featuring British private detective Daniel Leicester.’ 

About the Author

Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and began his working life as a journalist before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He later moved into public health, where he led drugs awareness programme FRANK. He now lives in Bologna. Follow @Tombenjaminsays on Twitter

About the book

In the sweltering heat of a Bologna summer, a murderer plans their pièce de résistance…

Only in Bologna reads the headline in the Carlino after a professor of music is apparently murdered leaving the opera. But what looks like an open-and-shut case begins to fall apart when English detective Daniel Leicester is tasked with getting the accused man off, and a trail that begins among Bologna’s close-knit classical music community leads him to suspect there may be a serial killer at large in the oldest university in the world. 

Review

Leicester is asked to look into a peculiar case, a young musician who has caused the death of a professor. A clear case, but someone believes there are unanswered questions. Then again perhaps it is just about soothing a guilty conscience.

Daniel has this suave way about him, not at all like a foreigner far from home. The assimilation between himself and his country of choice helps him to blend in, and perhaps it also helps him to comprehend the truth of the matter.

I enjoyed the way the author used the imagery, sensations and reactions of the instability of the earth to parallel the same in the characters and the story. The earth moving, buildings shifting and the feeling of possible impending disaster runs smoothly alongside the revelations of Daniel’s investigations.

The author definitely makes the reader want to experience the surroundings for themselves. The moments of serenity whilst taking in the surroundings, the history and the people. You can absolutely understand how captivating it is, then add a little crime to the mix, and hey presto. It’s also another one I would love to see on the small screen.

It’s a story that comes alive through the eyes of the main character – a crime that starts off with one simple deed and evolves into something much more wicked.

Buy Requiem in La Rossa at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Constable pub date 5 May 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Flames by Sophie Haydock

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Flames by Sophie Haydock. The Flames: This is the story of four muses. Let them speak…

About the Author

Sophie Haydock is an award-winning author living in east London. The Flames, is her debut novel. She is the winner of the Impress Prize for New Writers. Sophie trained as a journalist at City University, London, and has worked at the Sunday Times Magazine, Tatler and BBC Three, as well as freelancing for publications including the Financial Times, Guardian Weekend magazine, and organisations such as the Arts Council, Royal Academy and Sotheby’s. 

Passionate about short stories, Sophie also works for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award and is associate director of the Word Factory literary organisation.

Her Instagram account @egonschieleswomen – is dedicated to the women who posed for Egon Schiele – has a community of over 110,000 followers, and continues to grow. For more information, visit: sophie-haydock.com. Follow @Words_by_Sophie on Twitter

About the book

Every Painting tells a story, but what if the women on the canvas could talk…

Vienna, at the beginning of the 20th century, is an exhilarating social whirl, a city of ideas, of music, of ground-breaking art, led by Gustav Klimt until the arrival of his scandalous protegee, Egon Schiele. Into this world come four women, each with their own story to tell:

Adele: passionate, fierce, obstinate. The daughter of a bourgeois family, she rails against the strictures of her class and harbours her own wild fantasies.

Gertrude: spirited, single-minded, possessive. The sister to budding artist Egon Schiele, she longs for an exciting life away from their tempestuous family home.

Vally: determined, independent, proud. A model for celebrated artist Gustav Klimt, she has carved her way out of poverty and is now forging a brave new path for herself.

Edith: quiet, conventional, loyal. Or is she? Younger sister to Adele, Edith is overlooked and wonders if there is another version of the woman she might become.

Four flames, four wild, blazing hearts, longing to be known. In an elegant bohemian city like Vienna, everything seems possible – until an act of betrayal changes everything. For just as a flame has the power to mesmerize, it can also destroy everything in its path.

Review

The story of the women, the muses of Egan Schiele. Set in dual timelines, we meet one of the women as an older woman, desperate to find peace and forgiveness. In moments of confusion it’s hard to detect the truth and clarity of the life she has led and the role she played in the world of art.

In the past the reader is introduced to the artist, who in the 21st century would have been embraced for his vision, but in the early 20th century was a scandal unto himself. Egon Schiele, a protegee of Klimt, has no concern for those around him. He wants to paint what inspires him, even if it is considered scandalous in the eyes of society. 

In pre-war and subsequently the duration of the Great War his relationships with the women who inspired such imagery unfold before us, and perhaps give an insight into his process, passion and psyche in a way that helps others to understand the font of creative source.

There is a fine line between genius and insanity, passion and borderline abusive behaviour, between obsession and the embers of mutual attraction. The author captures this untamable wildness of creative passion, and the victims who are left trailing behind in the wake of creation. Although I am certain the majority wouldn’t see themselves as such, but rather as the chosen who have been deemed worthy  enough to be the source of said creativity.

Haydock draws readers into her fictional narrative and interpretation, which is supported by historical facts and nuances. The result is a riveting, powerful, passionate and visceral read. It’s an excellent story I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend and gift this book.

Buy The Flames at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Doubleday Uk; pub date 17 March 2022. Hardback – £14.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Penguin.

#BlogTour The Patient by Tim Sullivan

It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Patient by Tim Sullivan.

About the Author

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director, whose film credits include A Handful of Dust, Coronation Street, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, Jack and Sarah, and Cold Feet. His crime series featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross has topped the book charts and been widely acclaimed. He is currently the UK chair of the Writers’ Guild of America (West).

Tim lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman. To find out more about the author, please visit TimSullivan.uk, Follow @TimJRSullivan on Twitter

About the book

An outsider himself, having been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Condition, DS Cross is especially drawn to cases concerning the voiceless and the dispossessed. In The Patient his attention is drawn to a woman who has been sitting in the reception of the Major Crime Unit, patiently, for three days. Her daughter is dead. With no fingerprints, no weapon and no witnesses, the Bristol Crime Unit are ready to close the case. The victim has a long history of drug abuse and the coroner has given a verdict of suicide. But her mother is convinced it was murder.

DS Cross risks his career and the reputation of the force to uncover the truth. In defiance of his superiors, he re-opens the case and is soon mired in a labyrinth of potential suspects – an addict ex-boyfriend who is the father of Flick’s daughter, a predatory ex-employer, and the therapist she came to rely upon, but can he solve the case before his superiors shut it down for good?

Review

It’s an interesting one, because you go into the read with that extra bit of information on the main character, ergo with certain expectations, and yet simultaneously the author doesn’t build the story around that aspect per se. Instead the reader is drawn in by the obvious barriers Cross encounters, emotionally, psychologically and physically.

The result is a strong compassionate thread throughout this crime read, which in itself draws from a deep emotional well of despair. Imagine knowing your child’s death was suspicious and the police were determined to file it away without any further investigation. Frustration, anger, and a constant adding of fuel to the fires of grief.

Cross sees patterns others are unable to see or perhaps unwilling to acknowledge, and when he takes a step across one of the many boundaries he crosses on occasion, there is no way back until he finds the truth.

I really enjoyed the subtlety and the way the author conveys this essence of peace, empathy, compassion and in equal measures life from a neurodiversity perspective. It doesn’t overshadow the crime element – it is woven comfortably into the story.

I think this is a series with a lot of potential, and Sullivan is an author with plenty of talent. The read engages and pulls the reader in, which is exactly what you want from a good story.

Buy The Patient at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Head of Zeus; pub date 3 March 2022 – Hardback – £18.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Born Of No Woman by Franck Bouysse

It’s a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Born Of No Woman by Franck Bouysse. Translated from the French by LaraVergnaud. 

The Word-of-Mouth International Bestseller – The tagline couldn’t be a more appropriate description for this book. ‘Born Of No Woman has won every prize awarded by readers in France, including the Grand Prix Des Lectrices Elle, one of the most important prizes in France. It has also won the Prix Des Libraires (given by booksellers), Prix Psychologies Magazine and the Prix Babelio.’

About the Author

Franck Bouysse is a French author. His novels Grossir le ciel in 2014, Plateau in 2016 and Glaise in 2017 have met with wide success and won a vast array of literary awards. Previously a teacher of biology and horticulture, Bouysse lives in the south-west of France.

About the book

Nineteenth-century rural France. – Before he is called to bless the body of a woman at the nearby asylum, Father Gabriel receives a strange, troubling confession: hidden under the woman’s dress he will find notebooks in which she confides the abuses she suffered and the twisted motivations behind them.

And so Rose’s terrible story comes to light: sold as a teenage girl to a rich man, hidden away in a old manor house deep in the woods and caught in a perverse web, manipulated by those society considers her betters. A girl whose only escape is to capture her life – in all its devastation and hope – in the pages of her diary…

Review

First and foremost, kudos to the translator Lara Vergnaud. Without a skilled translator, who also comprehends the art of storytelling, and not just the technicality of translation, it would be impossible to grasp and give readers the true voice of the original language and story. 

It’s an incredible piece of literary fiction and Bouysse is a master of his craft. The lyrical prose flows endlessly with such ease. It comforts and soothes, and yet simultaneously disturbs, angers and makes the reader feel a whirlpool of emotions.

A fourteen-year-old girl, one of four sisters, is sold by her father to a wealthy blacksmith. It takes her a while to understand the betrayal and her fate. It also takes her many years to reclaim her name – Rose. The new chapter in her young life appears at first to be that of a skivvy. A maid, cook, servant and general dogsbody. But the truth is far worse than she could ever have imagined.

Father Gabriel becomes aware of the story of Rose when her diaries come into his possession in the most tragic of circumstances, and what he reads both compels, drives and changes him forever.

It’s a masterpiece of literary fiction, which clearly hasn’t reached enough eyes and ears overseas as yet. The storytelling has a natural fluidity to it, even as the story hops from one narrator to the other. It’s a mystery, crime, so many things, and yet at the heart it is a story about identity, loss and the fragile connections that are woven between us on so many different levels. It’s a beautiful story, written by an amazing writer.

Buy Born Of No Woman at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 21 October 2021 in hardback: £14.99, eBook: £7.99, and audio: £19.99. Buy at Amazon com. At Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 

#BlogTour #Audiobook The Vaccine by Joe Miller

It’s a pleasure to take  part in the Blogtour for the Audiobook The Vaccine: Inside the Race to Conquer the COVID-19 Pandemic by Joe Miller narrated by John Sackville. Also credited Ugur Sahin (Author), Özlem Türeci (Author).

‘The exclusive story of the greatest scientific breakthrough of the 21st century – the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine.’ 

About the Author

Vaccine is the story of this race against time. Written by Joe Miller, the Financial Times’ correspondent who covered the team’s COVID-19 project in real time, and based off more than 150 hours of interviews with Sahin and Türeci, as well with scientists, politicians, and public health officials, it offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes account of this extraordinary breakthrough. Follow @JoeMillerJr on Twitter

About the book

In mid-January 2020, scientists Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci learned of how a new virus that had emerged in Wuhan, China, was spreading. Recognising the threat at once, they dropped everything and committed themselves to developing a vaccine against the disease that would soon be known as COVID-19. 

No one believed it was possible. But by December, the revolutionary BioNTech-Pfizer mRNA inoculation became the first clinically approved COVID-19 vaccine. Soon it was being injected into the arms of millions, turning the tide on the deadliest pandemic in living memory. 

Cutting-edge science that feels like a thriller, this is an historic account of the triumph of human endeavour in a time of adversity. 

Includes exclusive interview with Joe Miller, Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci.

Review

What Vaccine does really well is capture the entirety of the picture, especially when we are only able to see parts of it. For someone to openly recognise and be honest about the trajectory and evolvement of the pandemic, then following the battle to find a solution and way to curb the pandemic, and of course the amount of fatalities.

During a time when people are fractured into different sides, especially when it comes to Covid and subsequently the vaccine, it’s important to shed light on the science to counter the conspiracies.

Conspiracy theorists see and make connections where others don’t. There is a general feeling of mistrust towards science, government and the medical experts in general, which is why books or audiobooks like this are of paramount importance. Countering the stream of misinformation and hopefully allaying some fears along the way.

It’s science heavy – obviously – but for the majority it is explained quite well for a reader who is also a layperson. The use of metaphors really helped with equivalency and association. I could do with a written version of it too.

Given the book was written during the time of the pandemic, the author had certain limitations to deal with and yet he still managed to interview scientists, politicians and staff at BioNTech, and of course Uğur Şahin und Özlem Türeci. The result is a fascinating window into the world behind the vaccine, the company, and the people who created it.

I think it’s worth pointing out that our media, and often the mouthpieces of governments, focus on the negative to gain traction and viewers. The numbers we hear and read about tend to be the losses, the victims, and whilst they are important it’s perhaps impossible to quantify the positive results of the vaccine. Both now and in the future.

It’s a compelling audiobook – I highly recommend it.

Buy The Vaccine at Audible UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Buy at Amazon Uk.

Listening Length – 11 Hours and 10 Minutes,Author – Joe Miller, Ugur Sahin, ÖzlemTüreci,Narrator – John Sackville,Audible.co.uk Release Date – 14 September 2021, Publisher – Audible Originals,Program Type – Audiobook,Version – Original recording,Language – English.

#BlogTour On The Edge by Jane Jesmond

 It’s my turn on BlogTour On The Edge by Jane Jesmond.

About the Author

On The Edge is Jane Jesmond’s debut novel and the first in a series featuring dynamic, daredevil protagonist Jen Shaw. Although she was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, raised in Liverpool and considers herself northern through and through, Jane’s family comes from Cornwall. Her lifelong love of the Cornish landscape and culture inspired the setting of On The Edge. 

Jane has spent the last thirty years living and working in France. She began writing steadily six or seven years ago and writes every morning in between staring out at the sea and making cups of tea. She also enjoys reading, walking and amateur dramatics and, unlike her daredevil protagonist, is terrified of heights! Follow @AuthorJJesmond on Twitter, Visit jane-jesmond.com

About the book

Jen Shaw has climbed all her life: daring ascents of sheer rock faces, crumbling buildings, cranes – the riskier the better. Her entire life revolved around free climbing, and the adrenaline high it gave her. Until one day her luck ran out and someone she cared about got hurt. So she’s given it all up now. Honestly, she has.

Yet, when Jen awakens to find herself drugged and dangling off the local lighthouse during a wild storm less than twenty-four hours after a family emergency takes her home to Cornwall, she needs all her skill to battle her way to safety.

Then the real challenge begins. Jen must embark on a high-stakes, action-packed search for the truth in order to figure out whether she’s fallen back into her old risky ways, or if there is a more sinister explanation hidden in her hometown. Only when she has navigated her fragmented memories and faced her troubled past will she be able to piece together what happened – and trust herself to fix it.

Review

What gives this read an edge – no pun intended – is the fact the unreliable narrator is so unreliable she makes it easy for the bad guy, and that includes the fact Jen herself is possibly the bad guy. A sketchy drug-riddled past puts her in the curious position of not believing herself and no other person believing her either.

When an family member calls her home she finds her nightmares become the reality when she ends up dangling off a lighthouse in the middle of a storm. An attempt to end her life, but did she put herself in that dangerous position or was it someone else? Was the itch to dance with death, to feel the rush of adrenaline – her drug of choice above all others – is it the reason she finds herself bobbing off a lighthouse like helpless fish on a hook.

It’s a web woven out of lies, denial, doubt, blame and guilt. A fast-paced thriller with plenty of potential as the series progresses. The author keeps readers on their toes by creating a framework of instability. She doubts, you doubt. The fog that Jen manifests, or rather the author manifests, is what drives the story, thrill and mystery.

Buy On The Edge at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Verve Books, pub date 26th October 2021, Paperback Original, £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Keeper of Songs by Fiona Mountain

It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Keeper of Songs by Fiona Mountain.

About the Author

Fiona grew up in Sheffield worked for the BBC for ten years, in the press office for Radio 1. She has written five novels, which have been published around the world. Her debut, Isabella, was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. It was followed with Pale as the Dead and Bloodline, which feature ‘ancestor detective’, Natasha Blake. Bloodline is the winner of the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award from the Mystery Writers of America. She lives in the Cotswolds with her family.

Follow @FionaMountain on Twitter, Visit fionamountain.com

About the book 

1967:  Enigmatic young folk singer Molly Marrison disappears on the cusp of fame.

2002:  Silva is working as a housemaid at Chatsworth when her father suddenly dies, leaving her with one instruction – find Molly.  

The only clue is a haunting song, centuries old, that Molly recorded before she vanished. The only person who can help Silva fulfil her father’s dying wish is song collector, Robbie Nightingale.  They were teenage sweethearts, but Silva’s not spoken to Robbie for decades. If they try to find Molly, what else will they discover? For Molly is not the only girl to have disappeared.  Silva’s mother, Sukey, vanished when Silva was a child, leaving her with scars that Robbie once tried to heal.  

A modern day Downton Abbey set at Chatsworth House, England’s most famous stately home. The Keeper of Songs is inspired by the work of Mercury Music Nominated folk singer and song collector, Sam Lee and by Bella Hardy’s song ‘Henry & Clara,’ which is based on real events – the murder of ‘The Runaway Lovers’ in the Winnats Pass in the Peak District.

Review

The dual timeline and stories of Molly and Silva are told individually at first and yet slowly become intertwined to become one. The first Silva becomes aware of Molly is when her father utters his last words, then it is just a question of finding out who Molly is, where she is and why is she the last person Silva’s father thought of.

At the very core of this story is one of the oldest traditions to pass information and history along – the tradition of oral history through the medium of folk songs. The modern day folk singers are the conduits for the men and women of the past, of their voices and experiences, they keep the songs and pass them on to the next generation, hence the keeper of songs.

Mountain combines history, factual events and the rich tradition of folklore and the truths of history. The difference is the folk song is usually told by the working men and women, the people whose voices aren’t heard or written in history books. If this book awakens an interest in the subject then I can only recommend tracing the extraordinary roots of these songs – some of them are quite surprising.

It’s a beautiful read that manages to combine multiple genres at the same time. The dual timeline lends itself to a modern and historical story, then a mystery and the magical realism of folk song is woven into the story to create a captivating read.

Buy The Keeper of Songs at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎SnowGlobe Books pub date 2nd July 2021- Paperback Original. Buy at Amazon com.