Tag Archives: Matador

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#BlogTour The Children of Pisces: The Two Pendants by R.E. Lewin

It’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Children of Pisces: The Two Pendants by R.E. Lewin.

About the Author

Rachael has loved writing since she finished her first book at thirteen. Since then she has broadened her experiences by becoming a project manager, energy healer and helping animals with applied zoopharmacognosy, as well as helping to nurture creativity in others, including her twins, who are the primary age group for this, her debut.

About the book

It’s 2070 and our post-apocalyptic world is different. Aliens secretly invaded with a lethal biological weapon: a terrifying virus that annihilated almost every living creature in its path. People still believe it was a natural virus, oblivious to aliens and the truth. Humanity’s survival is in the hands of the alliance, a team of humans and aliens who stand against the evil arch-enemy alien leader. Orphaned children are raised in army-style schools. But from this barren wasteland, a few shall rise…

Tammy and Mikie are half-human and half-alien siblings, with immense metaphysical powers and a crystal weapon. Their powers are extraordinary alone, but together they are unstoppable. Their father promises to return for them when they reach thirteen – combat age. But at twelve, these two are already too powerful to ignore.

Tammy has been raised in an orphan camp, under the thumb of a bitter woman who rules with an iron fist. Now she has been adopted and taken to a new kind of safari park. Here, the scales shift and the animals help her to unlock her gifts with animals and nature. Can Tammy rise above her animal instincts and maintain her humanity?

Mikie, a strong telepath, can control people’s minds and is a martial arts expert like his uncle. Forced to live a lonely, home-schooled life to avoid detection, he often gets into trouble and battles with the responsibility of his powers. Can Mikie overcome his inner conflict? Will his compulsion to protect put those closest to him in even more danger?

This adventure will take them across the world and maybe into the stars beyond. They must reunite their family and decide where their loyalties lie. The seekers are coming…

Review

Going into the story the readers is given part of an origin story, which becomes important over a decade later. The characters move parallel in time, but at all times on a path towards each other.

Tammy, who has caught the interest of a couple after many years of waiting to be adopted, has an affinity for animals. It is more than just liking them – they see her and she sees them. A collective communication appears to take place, one that others aren’t privy to.

Then there is Mikie, a young boy who can read minds and control them. The two of them have something in common, something elemental that is full of possibilities. They are an enhanced version of those around them, which means they are valuable asset or are they a dangerous weapon, depending on the path they choose?

It’s an ambitious series with plenty of potential – a crossover and melding of genres. A futuristic, speculative tale, a dystopian world with elements of sci-fi. The author has drawn a tentative thread of humanity throughout, and only time will tell if they will be able to sustain it in themselves, each other – or whether it will be submerged by natural instincts.

I like the fact it is story that is suitable for younger readers too. What a way to experience creativity and expand horizons, and a multi-genre world. It will be interesting to see where the next part in the series takes the Children of Pisces.

Buy The Children of Pisces: The Two Pendants at Amazon Uk. Publisher ‏: ‎Matador pub date 28 Mar. 2022. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Troubador.

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#BlogTour Red/Black by Rachel Atherton-Charvat

Today it’s my turn and the last day on the BlogTour Red/Black by Rachel Atherton-Charvat.

About the Author

Rachel Atherton-Charvat is originally from Norfolk and later moved to Gloucestershire. 

She is married to a serving Army Officer and is currently accompanying him on an overseas posting in Turkey. She has previously worked as a history teacher and a photographer, exhibiting her work in the UK, USA and Cyprus. Red/Black is her debut novel.

Follow on Goodreads, Buy Red/Black

About the book

Sarah Hughes. Wife, mother, secret gambler. – Her life is one of stability and security. Settled in Cheltenham, married for over twenty years, lovely children but her inner trauma of losing a child in a car accident in which she was driving is reopened when her husband accepts a full-time posting to a military camp in Germany. Upon arriving in Germany, her underlying depression returns and she starts gambling online. The isolated posting and pressures of army life exacerbates her struggle and exposes the frailties of her marriage. The stakes rise as her gambling escalates and she starts to realise her husband is not all she believed…  

Red/ Black is a carefully constructed story that deals with very modern themes of mental health and gambling.

Review

Sarah is a wife, a mother and a woman on the brink of self-destruction. Her grief is like a PTSD that simmers in the background and is awakened now and again. Certain triggers cause flashbacks and a fall into depression. Her husband is less inclined to understand what she is going through, because his attitude is get over it – it was a long time ago.

Can you ever really get over the death of a child though, especially when you are consumed with a misplaced sense of guilt. Sarah sinks slowly into a dark mood, which is only alleviated by a game of luck here and there. Her personal struggles lay the weaknesses in her marriage bare and she discovers that her husband is no longer the man she thought he was.

The author gives an in depth insight into the vicious cycle of gambling. I think people get a certain image in their head when they hear the word gambler. Not necessarily the loving mother, the dutiful housewife or the grieving mother.

The pull of being convinced that the odds are in your favour, despite the fact you know it is merely a game of chance. Seeking a way to still the inner torment, the grief she carries with her every day. Every minute is a distraction from the real distress.

The story lacks depth and emotional draw from character to the reader – nothing that can’t be honed as an author though. Kudos for the epilogue it gives a particularly interesting insight into the draw of gambling.

Buy Red/Black at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Matador; pub date 11 Aug. 2020. At Hive. At Bookshop.org. At Waterstones.

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#BlogTour A Friend in Deed by G.D. Harper

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour A Friend in Deed by G.D. Harper.

Giveaway to Win all 3 paperbacks of GD Harper’s Psychological Fiction Trilogy (Open UK Only) – Prize features all three books, Love’s Long Road, Silent Money and A Friend in Deed

About the Author

I was placed third in the 2015 Lightship Prize for first-time authors, won a 2016 Wishing Shelf Award Red Ribbon, been shortlisted at the UK Festival of Writing for Best First Chapter, longlisted in the 2017 UK Novel Writing Competition.

In 2017, I was one of twelve authors selected for Authors in the Spotlight at the Bloody Scotland book festival in Stirling, showcasing who they considered to be the best emerging talent in crime fiction, and was the only self-published author to be chosen. I have spoken at numerous other book events, including Blackwells’ Writers at the Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; a stand-alone slot at the Byres Road Book Festival in Glasgow, and the Aye Write! Book Festival, also in Glasgow.

I worked in Russia and Ukraine for ten years, which gave me the ideas for the plot and setting that I used in A Friend in Deed.

Follow @harper_author on Twitter, on Facebook, on Goodreads, on Amazon,Visit gdharper.com,

About the book

Britain: a few years from now. A new populist political party has won the recent general election.

Duncan Jones, freelance political journalist and blogger, loses his weekly column at a national newspaper and turns to investigative reporting. The chance remark of a friend leads him to suspect that the Russians are directing the new British government’s policies and decisions. As he visits Moscow and Ukraine to discover more, scandal follows intrigue, dark forces attempt to silence him by whatever means possible and he turns to an unlikely ally for help.

A Friend in Deed is a fast-paced psychological thriller set in an all-too-believable near future. It is also the story of how one man confronts the traumas in his past and works out how to resolve them.

Review

A Friend in Deed is part of series of books that can be read as standalone novels. All three books are linked when it comes to the characters and the environment. This book is the story of Duncan, Silent Money is about Michael Mitchell and Love’s Long Road is the story of Michael’s lover Roberta.

This story is set in the near future of Britain and is unfortunately all too accurate. When you take the facts as we know them at this moment in time, which is that Russia has and is influencing the outcomes of foreign elections to suit their own agenda, then this story is on point. Russia interfered and influenced the 2016 US elections. Russia interfered and influenced the EU referendum. Russian funds are undeniably linked to interference in British politics, which will become important in the upcoming elections in December 2019. Russia divides us to conquer – unfortunately quite successfully.

Harper also addresses another important aspect of our time, which has come under fire during Trump’s term of office – the freedom and legitimacy of the press. Catch-phrases like fake news have become synonymous with media in the last few years. Independent bloggers and media outlets have become a thorn in big medias side, because they don’t have to bow down to their corporate bosses.

Is there a media bias? Yes. Why? Because the top of the food chain ensures that the narrative they want to unfold is supported by the media outlets they own and run. Social media moguls are more interested in money than fact checking political ads, thereby helping to spread lies and form opinions. Unfortunately that leaves the common man in the position of having a lack of trust towards those outlets. Thanks to phones and cameras on the frontline we can see when the media reports favour one party for instance and neglects the other.

All of the above is probably why many people go looking for an independent voice, a blogger like Duncan, but then who says he isn’t being used by others to further some nefarious narrative.

It’s a political psychological thriller with a spy vibe. What I take away from this fictional read, is how the UK and US, and indeed the world, is being influenced by third parties who don’t have our best interests at heart. It’s a fast-paced read and simultaneously also a warning to be more diligent. Always fact check.

Buy A Friend in Deed at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Troubador Publishing; Paperback pub date 18 Oct. 2018. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my review of Love’s Long Road and Silent Money by G.D. Harper.

Giveaway to Win all 3 paperbacks of GD Harper’s Psychological Fiction Trilogy (Open UK Only) – Prize features all three books, Love’s Long Road, Silent Money and A Friend in Deed

Click here to Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.*

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#BlogTour Silent Money by G.D. Harper

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour Silent Money by G.D. Harper.

About the Author

I was placed third in the 2015 Lightship Prize for first-time authors, won a 2016 Wishing Shelf Award Red Ribbon, been shortlisted at the UK Festival of Writing for Best First Chapter, longlisted in the 2017 UK Novel Writing Competition.

In 2017, I was one of twelve authors selected for Authors in the Spotlight at the Bloody Scotland book festival in Stirling, showcasing who they considered to be the best emerging talent in crime fiction, and was the only self-published author to be chosen. I have spoken at numerous other book events, including Blackwells’ Writers at the Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; a stand-alone slot at the Byres Road Book Festival in Glasgow, and the Aye Write! Book Festival, also in Glasgow.

I went to Glasgow University in 1975 and lived in the city’s West End, the time and place for the setting of the majority of Silent Money.

About the book

Glasgow, 1972. Michael Mitchell is ambitious, talented and determined to succeed. But he learns the hard way that he will never achieve his goals in life – unless he plays by a different set of rules.

He partners with a small-time crook to help the Glasgow underworld launder the proceeds of their crimes. As the operation grows, Michael is forced to become more and more ruthless to protect what he has built.

Shocked by who he has become, he vows to leave the criminal world behind and start a new life. But the past has a way of catching up. Finally, he gambles everything on one last desperate attempt to break free.

Review

This is the prequel to Love’s Long Road, which tells the story of Michael’s lover Roberta. This story is all about Michael Mitchell, and the third part in the trilogy, A Friend in Deed, features the story of Duncan. Although all three books in the trilogy are intertwined when it comes to the characters and the environment, each one of them can be read as a standalone novel.

There are certain career paths that are made easy and scattered with gold-plated nepotism and class snobbery. Where you come from, which school you went to and which social class you belong to matters more than talent and experience. Imagine being on the short end of the stick regardless of how hard you work and how much you deserve to climb up into the upper echelons of the career ladder.

That’s exactly where Michael finds himself. Passed over again and again for promotions he deserves, and treated as if he were someone inferior and unworthy. The fact he can run rings around the privileged men who are handed the career opportunities that should be coming his way – well it makes him think twice about where he belongs.

The rejection makes him wander off the path of respectability and straight into the path of the criminal world. If his employers aren’t going to embrace his talents then he will find someone who will.

Harper makes some intriguing points in this urban crime series. The way class structure works in a discriminatory way towards everyone below the upper and middle upper class. When there is no realistic option to rise to the top for said lower classes does that equal a valid excuse to take the road into criminal activity, or rather do they think it does?

It’s an urban crime story with determined and driven characters. Harper keeps his characters realistic and down-to-earth, whilst giving the reader a gritty plot.

Buy Silent Money at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Matador; pub date 28 Sept. 2019. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my review of Love’s Long Road by G.D. Harper

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#BlogTour Love’s Long Road by G.D. Harper

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour Love’s Long Road by G.D. Harper. It’s a contemporary read with noirish crime vibe.

About the Author

“I was placed third in the 2015 Lightship Prize for first-time authors, won a 2016 Wishing Shelf Award Red Ribbon, been shortlisted at the UK Festival of Writing for Best First Chapter, longlisted in the 2017 UK Novel Writing Competition.

In 2017, I was one of twelve authors selected for Authors in the Spotlight at the Bloody Scotland book festival in Stirling, showcasing who they considered to be the best emerging talent in crime fiction, and was the only self-published author to be chosen. I have spoken at numerous other book events, including Blackwells’ Writers at the Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; a stand-alone slot at the Byres Road Book Festival in Glasgow, and the Aye Write! Book Festival, also in Glasgow.

I went to Glasgow University in 1975 and lived in the city’s West End, the time and place for the setting of the majority of Love’s Long Road.”

About the book

Glasgow, 1975. How do you cope when your boyfriend kills himself because of you?

When Bobbie Sinclair’s boyfriend commits suicide and blames her, she vows never to love again. Instead she chooses to lead a double existence, kind-hearted by day and promiscuous by night. She increasingly struggles to maintain the balance between light and dark and soon finds herself sucked into the world of a controlling and ruthless crime lord from which she must escape.

Set against a vibrant but seedy 1970s Glasgow backdrop, Love’s Long Road plots Bobbie’s desperate plight. Starting a new life but constantly afraid of her past catching up with her, she battles danger, adversity and drug addiction on the long and perilous road back to love.

Love’s Long Road is about dealing with the guilt of terrible events in your past and the risk of being corrupted by the world around you; it is a story that captures to perfection what it was like to be young and single in the 1970s.

Review

I felt the most poignant moment, and indeed the driving force of the story, is based on the guilt Bobbie feels. Towards the end the event that precedes the downwards spiral of the main character is put into a different light. It changes the perception of everything, which is in fact a learning moment and should be an overall eye-opener.

Suicide is an emotional topic. It destroys families, relationships, mental health and memories. It is a time-bomb that leaves waves of destruction in its wake long after the actual person has chosen to take their life. Those who are left behind often battle with many unanswered questions. Did I miss some sign? Wasn’t I listening properly or paying attention? And the most important question of all..why?

Bobbie’s story starts with the why, which she answers by giving herself the entirety of the blame, despite the fact suicide is a singular decision made by that person. Of course there are exceptions to that scenario – people can also be driven to suicide.

Bobbie embarks on a journey of self-punishment and self-hatred. She has no self-worth and believes she is no longer capable of having a loving relationship. All of these things lead her into a world where boundaries become skewed and wrong decisions have real life consequences.

I’m going to flip the script here and say that it’s also important to view Bobbie from a different point of view. She is self-absorbed, the narrative is always me, me, me and never what about the world or those around me. Let me just put this out there – what if the suicide wasn’t the catalyst and just merely another blip on a path she would have walked along anyway.

It’s a contemporary read with a noirish crime vibe. It’s fair to say that it’s very much a grim read, however it is absolutely in keeping with the urban Glaswegian feeling of the 70’s.

The sequel to this book is A Friend in Deed, which is set around Bobbie’s best friend Duncan and Michael’s story is told in Silent Money.

Buy Love’s Long Road at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Matador; UK ed. edition pub date 28 April 2016. Buy at Amazon com.