#Review I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

Another cracking read from the bestselling author Harlan Coben.

About Harlan Coben

With over 80 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the Number One New York Times author of numerous novels.  His books are published in 46 languages.  Along with Stay Close, he is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including The Stranger, Safe, The Five and The Woods.  Larry Tanz, who oversees Netflix’s original programming for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has commented on how Harlan does all the work himself – comes up with the ideas, watches the rough cuts of scenes, sits in on all the phone calls. 

Netflix recently re-upped their overall deal with Coben for several more years, adding among other books his acclaimed Myron Bolitar series. His TV series adaptation of Shelter for Amazon Studios—starring Jaden Michael and Constance Zimmer and based on Coben’s YA novel of the same name—will be released on Prime Video in the coming months.

Harlan Coben grew up in the Newark suburbs in New Jersey in the 60s.  After college he worked in the family travel company as a rep overseas.  He still lives in New Jersey with his wife Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a paediatrician, and their four children.  He had his first New York Times bestseller when his children were very small.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award, Harlan is the first author to win all three.  In Paris, he was awarded the prestigious Vermeil Medal of Honor for contributions to culture and society by the Mayor of the city. He has won the El Premio del Novela Negra RBA in Spain, the Grand Prix de Lectrices in France, and the CWA Bestseller Dagger for favourite crime novelist here in the UK.  In December 2022 he was awarded the Raymond Chandler Award, Italy’s top lifetime achievement honour to a master of the thriller genre.  And on the sports side of things he is a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame from his playing days at Amherst College and the Little League Baseball inducted him into their Hall of Excellence in 2013. Follow @HarlanCoben on Twitter, Visit harlancoben.com

About the book

David and Cheryl Burroughs are living the dream – married, a beautiful house in the suburbs, a three year old son named Matthew – when tragedy strikes one night in the worst possible way.

David awakes to find himself covered in blood, but not his own – his son’s. And while he knows he did not murder his son, the overwhelming evidence against him puts him behind bars indefinitely. – Five years into his imprisonment, Cheryl’s sister arrives – and drops a bombshell.

She’s come with a photograph that a friend took on vacation at a theme park. The boy in the background seems familiar – and even though David realizes it can’t be, he knows it is. – It’s Matthew, and he’s still alive.

David plans a harrowing escape from prison, determined to do what seems impossible – save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened that devastating night.

Review

Not sure what’s worse, thinking you viciously murdered your very young child or knowing your child is out there somewhere and possibly in danger. David has lived the last few years in the belief that he committed the most unforgivable crime during an inexplicable blackout – he deserves to serve his remaining years behind bars.

His perfect family imploded five years ago, his now ex-wife has moved on and rebuilt her life, and he is a pariah to everyone who used to know him. The why, why would he do something so awful to the child he loved so dearly? The heavy burden of guilt is probably why he is willing to cling so fast to the possibility of his son being alive when his ex-sister-in-law shows him a blurry photo of a face in a crowd. Could be and it equally might not be, because the chances are super slim and just happen to be better than believing that he murdered an innocent child.

It’s a fast-paced dark domestic thriller, which will probably end up becoming a mini series – this author certainly knows how to write with future development in mind. The plot plays with the idea of certainty, especially when it comes to evidence and the legal system, and how easy it is for good people to fall foul of said system.

Buy I Will Find You at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Century; pub date 16 Mar. 2023. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Penguin.

#BlogTour Legacy of Guilt by L.J. Morris

It’s my turn on the BlogTour Legacy of Guilt by L.J. Morris.

About the Author

L. J. Morris was born in Cold War, West Germany, but grew up in the North of England. During his childhood, books were always an important part of his life. He read everything he could get his hands on but always found himself drawn towards the thriller genre. At 16, eager to see the world he had read about, he left school and spent most of the 80s and 90s serving in the Royal Navy.

After his military service, he continued to live and work across Europe, The USA, and Southeast Asia for several more years. It was during this time that his love of storytelling resurfaced. He jotted down ideas, using the locations he found himself in as a backdrop, and added in details from his own experiences to make the stories feel authentic.

He now lives back in the North of England, with his wife and two sons, where he still works in the defence industry. His short stories have appeared in several anthologies and the first of his Ali Sinclair thriller novels, Desperate Ground, was published in 2018 by Bloodhound Books. The sequel, Hunting Ground, followed a year later. Follow @LesJMorris, Visit ljmorrisauthor.com

About the book

The latest espionage thriller from L. J. Morris, the best-selling author of the Ali Sinclair series.

When photographs of a missing Russian missile scientist show he is still alive, and a Soviet era nuclear warhead goes missing in Iraq, ex-marine Logan Palmer must track them both down before the Plutonium can be turned into a devastating, terrorist weapon. But, with thousands of lives at risk, Palmer doesn’t realise that the only person in the world he cares about is the one that’s in the most danger. Neither does he know whether he’ll survive long enough to save anyone. 

Review

Logan Palmer is old school when it comes to his job and his family or what’s left of his family. The full force of the premise is focused on the action thriller element with Palmer’s family playing a pivotal yet secondary role. They are the driving force behind his choices and his motivation, especially when he is roped back into a mission for the clandestine government groups – the ones who pull the strings in the background.

He takes the job for the money, money he needs for said family, but has no idea just how deep of a quagmire of destruction and ruthless plots he is getting himself into. It just seems like another job, albeit one that could mean the difference between many lives destroyed and lots of innocent people being able to exist further without any knowledge of the danger they are in.

It’s an explosive, fast-paced action read with elements of espionage and military genres. It starts off like a large marble ball at the top of a hill which slowly picks up speed and then becomes a runaway train without a brake – a collision waiting to happen. The question is whether Palmer can stop the train and the inevitable from happening.

I think it is definitely a read that will appeal to readers who like their reads action heavy and with less emphasis on the relationships between characters – the core is action and it certainly delivers it tenfold.

Buy Legacy of Guilt at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : ‎Dark Edge Press pub date 2 Aug. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Total Control by Alex Shaw

 It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Total Control by Alex Shaw.

About the Author

Alex Shaw spent the second half of the 1990s in Kyiv, Ukraine running his own business consultancy before being head-hunted for a division of Siemens. The next few years saw him doing business for the company across the former USSR, the Middle East, and Africa. Most recently he has spent several years in Doha, Qatar.

Alex is an active member of the ITW (The International Thriller Writers organisation) and the CWA (the Crime Writers Association). He is the author of three international bestselling thriller series featuring Aidan Snow, Jack Tate and Sophie Racine, and the standalone ‘Delta Force Vampire’. His writing has also been published in several thriller anthologies.

Total Blackout was Shortlisted for the 2021 Wilbur  Smith Adventure Writing Prize – Best Published Novel.

Alex, his wife and their two sons divide their time between homes in Kyiv – Ukraine, Sussex – England and Doha – Qatar. Follow Alex on twitter: @alexshawhetman

About the book

The target doesn’t exist. – When cyber terrorist Fang Bao abruptly reappears after years in hiding, MI6 agent and former SAS trooper Jack Tate is sent to bring him in – but when Fang is assassinated by an unknown assailant, Tate realises he was only a pawn in a plot that threatens to put the whole world in danger.

The mission is impossible. – Now Tate has to uncover a lethal conspiracy that stretches all the way from Germany through the United States and into the dark heart of the jungle in Myanmar. As the enemy hunt down the owners of military secrets that would make them indestructible, Tate must race to identify not only their next target, but the enemy themselves.

The war is about to begin… Soon he learns the dark truth at the heart of the global conspiracy. The enemy doesn’t want to just assassinate a world leader; they want to make war – and Tate is the only one who can stop them.

Review

This is the third book in the Jack Tate series, which can all be read as standalone novels. This plot is a timely one I think. The necessity of the US and Uk having to work together to combat a common enemy. An insidious game of blame can and will decide the fate of many. A treacherous game of propaganda in the cyber arena. What better way to cause havoc than to present one scenario to fool the world, and in doing so create an explosive situation.

Influencing the outcomes, whilst creating the right kind of weaknesses to exploit. It’s the kind of plot that isn’t beyond the realms of reality, which is probably what makes it a good read.

It was interesting to see a Tate willing to take a risk and he was certainly teetering quite close to the edge when it comes to controlling his anger. I wonder if it is intentional – a way to show the burden of stress, the result of living a life on a lethal tightrope.

When I recommend books I have quite a few readers (often men) who look for a particular genre, which can be a bit niche. I’m glad I can add another author to the list of recommendations when it comes to this action thriller, with a military vibe. The author knows exactly how to pace the story and keep it rolling until the very end.

Buy Total Control at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : ‎HQ Digital, pub date 21 July 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Harper Collins.

#BlogTour Emergency Drill by Chris Blackwater

It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Emergency Drill by Chris Blackwater. ‘Shortlisted for the 2020 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger award.’

About the Author

Chris Blackwater is a chartered engineer from Leeds. He began writing to entertain himself while working away on offshore oil platforms, power stations and shipyards. His career has taken him all over the world to many unusual locations and introduced him to some remarkable characters. His short stories have appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies.

In recent years Chris has gradually drifted down to the south coast of England where he now spends his spare time kayaking and sailing on the Solent.

About the book

Newly qualified offshore medic, Danny Verity, arrives on the Cuillin Alpha oil platform shortly before a storm damages the satellite system, severing the crew’s only mode of communication to the mainland.
It isn’t long before he is forced to carry out emergency surgery on an injured crewmate, whose accident he suspects was a result of sabotage, when another member of the crew disappears and yet another is attacked.

Then his casualty dies, and a sinister voice claiming to be that of the Pied Piper makes a threatening announcement on the PA system before Danny finds it damaged.

While the North Atlantic sea rages around them, Danny must find and stop the saboteur before anyone else gets hurt. But with no way of calling for help and unable to risk escaping on the lifeboats, it seems the crew are trapped aboard the platform with a killer.

Review

If you have any intention on visiting or working on an offshore oil platform, then you might want to reconsider after reading this. It’s not exactly an advert for a safe workplace environment. Now, the fact it is actually a rather deadly and dangerous one makes this an invigorating read, but that’s another matter entirely.

I not sure Danny thought being an offshore medic would be so brutal or become complicated quite so fast as it does. Barely on board and the casualties start piling up, and it’s more than just an bad day on the platform – there appears to be someone with an axe to grind on the isolated platform, and they have only just gotten started.

The action packed plot and accurate description of the surroundings reminded me of a book written by the late Wilbur Smith. Hungry as the Sea has the same vivid and visceral connection to the sea. Blackwater draws from the isolation, the danger, the hunger of the waves, the weakness of man in comparison to nature. Then he draws a parallel between the power, the destructive power of technology, the platform itself and the people on the platform. Sea – man – platform. Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

It’s a great read full of action, although as I mentioned before, it might not be the best recruitment for working on offshore oil platforms.

Buy Emergency Drill at Amazon Uk. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Robert Ludlum’s – The Treadstone Resurrection by Joshua Hood

Today it’s an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour for Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Resurrection written by Joshua Hood.

Coinciding with the much-anticipated return of the Treadstone series – released by Amazon in January 2020 in the UK – and with the 40th anniversary of the first Bourne book, The Treadstone Resurrection is the latest instalment of the franchise. Picking up the baton from Robert Ludlum, Joshua Hood is an author and former Airborne Division fighter, whose real-world experience and combat training makes him the perfect writer for The Treadstone Resurrection.About the Author

Robert Ludlum (1927 – 2001) was the author of twenty-seven novels, each one a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 225 million of his books in print, and they have been translated into 32 languages in 50 countries. Among his best-sellers were The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971), The Osterman Weekend (1972), The Matarese Circle (1979). He is most famous for the Jason Bourne series – The Bourne Identity (1980), The Bourne Supremacy (1986) and The Bourne Ultimatum (1990). The series was adapted for TV in 1988, for a film featuring Matt Damon in the lead role in 2002, and for a brand-new TV production from the writer behind Heroes and Chicago Hope in January 2020.

Joshua Hood is the author of Warning Order and Clear by Fire. He graduated from the University of Memphis before joining the military and spending five years in the 82nd Airborne Division. He was a team leader in the 3-504 Parachute Infantry Regiment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006, conducting combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. From 2007 to 2008, Hood served as a squad leader with the 1-508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan for which he was decorated for valour in Operation Furious Pursuit. On his return to civilian life he became a sniper team leader on a full time SWAT team in Memphis, where he was awarded the lifesaving medal. Currently he works as the Director of Veteran Outreach for the American Warrior Initiative.

Follow @joshuahoodbooks on Twitter, Joshua Hood on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit joshuahoodbooks.com, Buy The Treadstone Resurrection

About the book

Working as a cabinet-maker in rural Oregon, Adam thinks he has left Treadstone – the CIA Black Ops programme – in the past, until he receives a mysterious email from a former colleague, and soon after is attacked by an unknown hit team at his job site.

Operation Treadstone has nearly ruined Adam Hayes. The top-secret CIA Black Ops programme trained him to be a nearly invincible assassin, but it also cost him his family and any chance at a normal life, which is why he was determined to get out. Everything changes when he receives a mysterious email from a former colleague, and soon after is attacked by an unknown hit team at his job site rural Oregon.

Adam must regain the skills that Treadstone taught him – lightning reflexes and a cold conscience – in order to discover who the would-be killers are, and why they have come after him now. Are his pursuers enemies from a long-ago mission? Rival intelligence agents? Or, perhaps, someone inside Treadstone? His search will unearth secrets in the highest levels of government and pull him back into the shadowy world he worked so hard to forget.

Review

The Treadstone Resurrection is the first in the Treadstone series, which is going to be one heck of a series, if this one is anything to go on. The release coincides with the return of the Treadstone (tv) series on Amazon (January 2020 in the UK) and also with the 40th anniversary of the first Bourne book. I can’t believe it has already been four decades!

It’s fair to say that Operation Treadstone has left more than a mark on Adam Hayes – it has destroyed any semblance of a normal life he once thought he could have. The side-effects of the manipulations and changes that make him the operative he is, ergo a highly trained ruthless assassin without any compassion, make living a normal life impossible. His mood swings and violent outbursts have made his wife and child put plenty of miles between himself and them. The other physical side-effects are kept at bay by popping more pills than a hardcore addict.

He has a target on his back, but he has no idea why. All he knows is that a team of well-trained killers are determined to take him, and anyone who helps him, down. By down I mean kill. They have no idea what they have just triggered, because when Hayes gets his teeth into something he doesn’t stop until he is the last man standing.

It’s an action thriller with military and covert operations at the core of it.

One thing is for sure it starts with a bang – continues at an alarmingly fast pace and ends with a bang. Joshua Hood absolutely does the Bourne/Treadstone/Ludlum legacy justice with this first instalment. The plot, writing and the majority of the scenes benefit from the fact the author is a former Airborne Division fighter and brings real life experience to the story.

The authenticity he brings to the table is equally as important as the moments of frustration and sheer rage a Treadstone operative feels, whilst captivating readers with the hardcore action scenes.

Buy The Treadstone Resurrection at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Head of Zeus pub date 25 Feb. 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Deep State by Chris Hauty

Today it’s a pleasure to take a part in the BlogTour Deep State by Chris Hauty. It’s a cracking read.About the Author

Chris Hauty is a screenwriter who has worked at all the major movie studios, in nearly every genre of film. He currently lives in Venice, California, in the company of a classic Triumph motorcycle and a feral cat. Deep State is his first novel.

Follow @ChrisHauty on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Visit chrishauty.com, Buy Deep State

About the book

Hayley Chill isn’t your typical West Wing intern. Ex-military and as patriotic as she is principled, she is largely vilified by her peers and lauded by her superiors – it’s a quick way of making enemies.

It is Hayley who finds the body of the White House chief of staff, Peter Hall, on his kitchen floor having died from an apparent heart attack. It is also Hayley who notices a single clue which suggests his death was deliberate, targeted. That he was assassinated.

Unsure who to trust, Hayley works alone to uncover a wideranging conspiracy that controls the furthest reaches of the government. And Hall is just the beginning – the president is the next target.

Hayley must now do the impossible: stop an assassination, when she has no idea who the enemy is, all while staying hidden, with Peter’s final words to her ringing in her ears: Trust no one. Because the Deep State will kill to silence her. And they are closing in.

It is entrenched. It is hidden. It is deadly.Who can you trust?

Review

I have to be honest. It was a pleasure to read a political action thriller with a strong woman as the protagonist. A military veteran and an excellent boxer, who is as smart as a whip and cool as a cucumber when it counts. Hayley Chill is the new woman in town.

When Hayley starts her internship at the White House the last thing she expects is to be accidentally drawn into a conspiracy to bring the man in charge down. She certainly isn’t going to stand by and watch it happen. Her training and her conviction to protect, honour and serve make her the kind of opponent the opposition should fear, and yet they underestimate her instead.

What I really liked about this premise was the way Hauty shows his readers the flipside of the coin. The president is a threat to the world and to America. He lacks diplomacy skills, he acts on instinct instead of taking a moment to think and he doesn’t mind making enemies out of his allies, whilst befriending enemies of the state. Sound familiar?

Right, now hold your horses because this story isn’t another sanctimonious we need to save the world from the biggest threat the world has ever seen, ergo POTUS, scenario. Instead Hauty makes the so-called saviours the Deep State and the game is afoot to save the President.

I thought that was a clever way of putting politics and power struggles as we are experiencing them at the moment into a different perspective. If you believe in the sanctity of the office and the position then surely if you serve at the pleasure of the President you have no choice but to protect him, right? Or do you try and save the country? Which choice makes you a traitor?

It’s a political action thriller with a woman at the helm of the ship.

For a debut novel this is remarkable. The storyline is on point, the characters are genuine and the political divisiveness mirrors real time events, opinions and emotions. It’s an incredibly clever way of shining a light on the other side of the fence, especially when that fence has driven a wedge between the people, their identity and everything the country was built upon.

And if I wasn’t clear – it’s a cracking read.

Buy Deep State at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK; pub date 23 January 2020 – Hardback – £12.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Hidden Steel by Stuart Field

It’s my turn on the BlogTour Hidden Steel by Stuart Field. It’s the second book in the John Steel series.About the Author

Stuart Field was born in the UK, in the West Midlands. He spent his early years in the army, seeing service in all the known (and some unknown) hotspots around the world. He now lives in Germany with his wife Ani. When not engaged in highly confidential security work, he writes thrillers which perhaps mimic his life-experience more than the reader would like to believe.

Follow @StuartField14 on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, Buy Hidden Steel

About the book

In the UK, Detective John Steel is investigating the organization who killed his family. When he comes across information that something big is going to happen on the cruise ship Neptune, Steel goes undercover. He has fourteen days to figure out what is going to happen – and to stop it.

In New York, Steel’s NYPD partner, Detective Samantha McCall, is investigating a series of deaths. All seems run of the mill for the homicide detective until they find out that the deaths are somehow connected to the cruise ship John Steel is on.

McCall is convinced there is a mole in the department, but can she figure out who he is – and who he’s working for? Meanwhile, Steel is running out of options… and the clock is ticking.

Review

This is the second book in the John Steel series, both books can be read as standalone novels.

The book seems to be split into two storylines with no apparent connection, aside from the fact John Steel and Sam McCall know each other. Steel is on a cruise ship playing his – my name is Steel, John Steel – role. He does have a wee bit of super spy aura going on. He is everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

He is working undercover chasing something based on information that the Neptune is linked to a possible crime in the making. He isn’t sure what he is looking for he just knows that something wicked this way comes.

Meanwhile Sam McCall and the rest of the NYPD team are dealing with a series of deaths. What appears to the inexperienced to be accidental is something more nefarious to the more weathered eye of McCall.

I like the way the author creates this imperfect perfect and almost mystical figure in Steel. His reputation proceeds him as he appears to save people and situations with such ease and power. Then Field balances the story by giving readers the normality of his police colleagues. The banter, the crime and the personalities, it all gels really well.

It’s a fast-paced thriller, a combo of police procedural and action thriller. Field presents both storylines as separate entities at first, which makes for a split read, but not a disjointed one. The two are woven together naturally as the read progresses.

Buy Hidden Steel at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published in paperback and digital formats by Next Chapter Publishing on 25th December 2019. Buy at Amazon com.