#BlogTour Inborn by Thomas Enger

At last it’s my turn on the BlogTour Inborn by Thomas Enger. It’s an engrossing layered crime that invites the reader in for a criminal illusionists game of sleight of hand.

About the Author

Thomas Enger is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication, and marked the first in the bestselling Henning Juul series. Rights to the series have been sold to 28 countries to date. In 2013 Thomas published his first  book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the UPRISEN (the prize for best YA novel). His next YA thriller Killer Instinct, upon which Inborn is based, was published in Norway in 2017 and won the same prestigious prize. Most recently, Thomas has co-written a thriller with Jørn Lier Horst. He also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.

Follow @EngerThomas @OrendaBooks on Twitter, Visit thomasenger.net

Buy Inborn

About the book

What turns a boy into a killer?

When teenagers Mari Lindgren and Johannes Eklund are brutally murdered at their high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even, Mari’s ex-boyfriend. As the investigation closes in, social media is ablaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself in the dock – both online. and in reality.

As Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously … and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community. Events from the past play tag with the present, and Even is forced to question everything he thought he knew.

Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Did his relationship with Mari stir up something that someone was prepared to kill to protect? There seems to be no one that Even can trust. And can we even trust him?

Review

I make a point of not reading reviews of a book I want to read or am interested in, because I don’t want my experience to be tainted by the thoughts and reading experiences of others. This book has been all over my timeline on social media and I have been avoiding any discussions or comments, in order to be able to enjoy it. You know, just like I wouldn’t want anyone dipping a finger in my glass of wine or nibbling a bit off my bar of chocolate.

Was it worth the one-eyed slanted interactions on social media to be able to do that? Absolutely. In my opinion this is the best I have read by Enger so far. The pace, the plot, the thought-process, the characters and the writing. It just all came together to make the perfect read.

When the body of a teenage girl is found brutally murdered in the local high school of a small Norwegian village, the suspicion falls on the ex-boyfriend, Even. He has a motive and perhaps even the opportunity. He was enraged by the fact Mari had broken their relationship off without an explanation. The question is whether he was angry enough to hurt her.

Enger focuses on the reactions of the community and the impact of social media on the way Even reacts and relates to the events. The author shows the reader how important the opinion of the online voices are to such a young person. Positive confirmation via likes and supporting comments, and a the opposite impact on his emotional well-being when the comments are negative. Much like many other young men and women his behaviour and reactions are governed by third parties on the internet, often by anonymous voices.

It’s a complex web of intrigue and family secrets. Is evil inherent in those exposed to a certain degree of neglect, criminal acts and violence, especially when exposed from a very young age? Does one rotten fruit on the tree mean the rest of the apples are tainted in some way?

I really enjoyed the combo of genres, and the plot itself speaks to the increase in violence and inclination to commit heinous acts in fits of rage. Feelings of anger and rage propel otherwise seemingly innocent people towards the brink of destruction. The lack of impulse control seems to be the plague of the 21st century in regards to young people, perhaps even people in general.

It’s a unstable structure of lies and misconceptions that moves subtly with the surreptitious nature of the usually controlled emotional beast, which lays dormant within us all. The key to awakening it is different for each one of us. It’s an engrossing and layered crime that invites the reader in for a criminal illusionists game of sleight of hand. 

Buy Inborn at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Orenda Books; pub date 21 Feb. 2019, Buy at Amazon com

Read my review of Killed by Thomas Enger,Read my review of Cursed by Thomas Enger

#BlogTour Fade to Grey by John Lincoln

Today it’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Fade to Grey by John Lincoln. It’s a legal and crime thriller with a mystery thrown in to boot, which is complicated by the personal issues that seem to follow Gethin around like a bad smell.

About the Author

John Lincoln is the transparent pseudonym of John Williams, the novelist, biographer and crime fiction reviewer for the Mail on Sunday. In his twenties John Williams wrote a book called Into The Badlands, about American crime fiction (‘John Williams’ Into the Badlands opened up the world of American crime fiction for me and a generation’ – David Peace).

His true crime account of a notorious miscarriage of justice, Bloody Valentine, is a cult classic, described by Benjamin Zephaniah as his favourite book. Since then he’s written eight more books including the Cardiff Trilogy of novels and biographies of Michael X, Eartha Kitt and Dame Shirley Bassey.

Follow @JohnelWilliams @noexitpress on Twitter, Visit johnlwilliams.co.uk

Buy Fade to Grey

About the book

Gethin Grey is the man you call when there’s nowhere else to turn. His Last Resort Legals team investigates miscarriages of justice. But Gethin is running out of options himself: his gambling is out of control, his marriage is falling apart and there’s no money left to pay the wages…

Izma M was sent down years ago for the brutal murder of a young woman. In jail he’s written a bestseller and become a cult hero, and now the charismatic fading-film-star Amelia Laverne wants to bankroll Gethin to prove Izma’s innocence. For Gethin – low on luck and cash – the job is heaven sent.

But is Izma M really as blameless as his fans believe? This seemingly cold case is about to turn very hot indeed…

Review

The Last Resort Legals team has become the team to call when it comes to miscarriages of justice. They are a direct line from the prisoners to the possible door to freedom via a legal defence team. Of course nearly everyone behind bars protests their innocence even when the evidence points directly at them.

Gethin Grey is an odd mixture of a man who wants to be known for his noble endeavours, and yet simultaneously he is driven at heart by his gambling addiction and inner demons. Perhaps he thinks he can use his so-called saintly actions to rescue innocent people from the prison system to cleanse his guilty conscience.

Aside from the gratuitous one-time use of an offensive term referencing a certain sexuality it’s an easygoing crime read. Lincoln keeps the violence to a minimum, despite the story being a fast-moving complex plot of red herrings and false identities. All of which becomes doubly complicated by the client who wants Gethin to prove Ismaz is doing the time, but didn’t commit the crime.

I have to admit I wasn’t feeling Gethin’s wife and her justifications or her reactions, possibly because Gethin manages to come off as a sympathetic character. Not sure how, because he has a thirst for lady luck and the propensity to fall into the arms of accommodating women.

It’s the type of crime thriller that keeps an authentic feel throughout because a lot of the scenarios border on realism. Gethin has to put his own problems aside to deal with the mystery of whether Izma is guilty or not. Lincoln shows how easily someone can be stereotyped and fall into the clutches of the legal and prison system, despite the lack of any substantial evidence.

It’s a legal and crime thriller with a mystery thrown in to boot, which is complicated by the personal issues that seem to follow Gethin around like a bad smell. Oh, and just as a small side note – I was fascinated by the upside down house. I think it might have messed with my head a little.

Buy Fade to Grey at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 21 Feb 2019, Buy at No Exit Press

#BlogTour The Horseman’s Song by Ben Pastor

Today it’s a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Horseman’s Song by Ben Pastor. It’s crime, war, conflict and yet at the same time it’s also a statement of human inadequacies during times of great upheaval.

About the Author

Ben Pastor, pseudonym Maria Verbena Volpi, was born in Italy and worked as a university professor in Vermont. She lived for thirty years in the United States, working as a university professor, before returning to Italy to write historical thrillers. She has published five novels in the Martin Bora series in English so far and a number of prize-winning novels including The Water Thief and The Fire Waker (published to high acclaim in the US by St. Martin’s Press), and is considered one of the most talented writers in the field of historical fiction. In 2008 she won the prestigious Premio Zaragoza for best historical fiction. She writes in English.

Visit benpastor.com

Buy The Horseman’s Song

About the book

Spain, July 1937. The tragic prelude to World War II is played out in the civil war between Spanish nationalists and republicans. Among Franco’s volunteers is Martin Bora, the twenty-something German officer and detective. Presently assigned to the Spanish Foreign Legion, Bora lives the tragedy around him as an epic, between idealism and youthful recklessness.

Doubts about his mission in Spain arise when Bora happens on the body of Federico García Lorca, a brilliant poet, progressive and homosexual. Who murdered him? Why? The official version does not convince Bora, who, intoxicated by the mystery, begins a perilous investigation. His inquiry paradoxically proceeds alongside that of Walton, his opposite number with the International Brigades. Soon the German and the New Englander join forces, and their cooperation will not only culminate in a thrilling chase after a murderer, but also in an existential face-to-face between two adversaries forever changed by their encounter.

Historical accounts tell us that Lorca was arrested and executed by Franco’s troops under circumstances that remain largely unknown. To this day his body has not been found.

Review

Can one be lyrical during times of war and have time to enjoy moments of poignant prose? The answer to that is yes and perhaps even more so considering who the victim is in this historical crime story. Pastor has gone back in time to use the disputed and controversial murder of the famous Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.

His body was never found and there are plenty of books and debates about the why or indeed the culprits. The only thing everyone agrees on is that he was assassinated. The reasons seem to wander between his political affiliations and  the fact he was homosexual. The truth will be somewhere in between, killed as part of mass execution protocols to extinguish supporters of the Marxist Popular Front and perhaps insulted before his death for his sexuality.

The author has taken that mystery and created a fascinating search for answers between two opposing sides in the midst of the Spanish civil war. Instead of focusing on strategy, front-lines and battle, this is about the men and women in the middle of brutal political machinations.

In, what I believe is, more of an ironic nod towards the search for the remains of Lorcas since his death, the plot revolves around finding the corpse. In fact there is less of a focus on the culprits than on the whole we need to find the body to give him a burial and honour him. To this day thousands have been spent on locating the remains of this honoured and revered poet.

Pastor has a very distinctive literary style, old school reflective and taking in all the sights and senses. In combination with the brash, brutal reality of wartime conflict it can be a little confusing. A bit like watching a black and white silent movie through a periscope with one eye, whilst the other eye is being battered with vivid, colourful and noisy images at the same time.

It’s crime, war, conflict and yet at the same time it’s also a statement of human inadequacies during times of great upheaval.

Buy The Horseman’s Song at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press; pub date Paperback 14 Feb 2019, Kindle pub date 20 Feb 2019,

Buy at Bitter Lemon Press. Follow @bitterlemonpub on Twitter

#BlogTour Apple Island Wife by Fiona Stocker

It’s my turn on the BlogTour Apple Island Wife by Fiona Stocker. It’s a loving and warm-hearted memoir of a family willing to change their entire lives in an attempt to find their best life.

About the Author

Fiona Stocker is the author of travel memoir Apple Island Wife – Slow Living in Tasmania, published by Unbound in 2018.

Raised in England, Fiona Stocker now lives in Tasmania where she writes freelance for magazines, newspapers and online publications, and runs a niche farm, food and tourism business in partnership with her husband.

She occasionally works as a ghost writer and editor, and was a judge in the Tasmanian Short Story Competition in 2016. Her first book, A Place in the Stockyard, a history of Tasmanian Women in Agriculture featuring its members, was published in 2016.

Read more and subscribe for a quarterly newsletter at http://www.fionastocker.com/ or read Fiona Stocker’s blog at http://www.appleislandwife.com/

Fiona Stocker lives in the Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania, with her husband, two children and around forty-five pigs. Apple Island Wife is her first travel memoir.

Follow @FionaCStocker @Unbound_Digital on Twitter, Visit appleislandwife and fionastocker

Buy Apple Island Wife: Slow Living in Tasmania

About the book

What happens when you leave city life and move to five acres on a hunch, with a husband who s an aspiring alpaca-whisperer, and a feral cockerel for company? Can you eat the cockerel for dinner? Or has it got rigor mortis?

In search of a good life and a slower pace, Fiona Stocker upped-sticks and moved to Tasmania, a land of promise, wilderness, and family homes of uncertain build quality. It was the lifestyle change that many dream of and most are too sensible to attempt.

Wife, mother and now reluctant alpaca owner, Fiona jumped in at the deep end. Gradually Tasmania got under her skin as she learned to stack wood, round up the kids with a retired lady sheepdog, and stand on a scorpion without getting stung.

This charming tale captures the tussles and euphoria of living on the land in a place of untrammelled beauty, raising your family where you want to and seeing your husband in a whole new light. Not just a memoir but an every woman’s story, and a paean to a new, slower age.

Review

The author has a knack for telling a yarn, no pun intended. There are some people, I think we will all know at least one person this applies to, who can make even the most mundane of tasks become an entertaining story. This is what Stocker does with the stories of her family and her anecdotes. In fact she is probably a written advertisement for upping roots and moving to New Zealand.

It’s amusing, albeit probably unintentionally so. In a way the author downplays the difficulty of adjusting to such a different way of life, climate and culture, with her entertaining stories. What is lost in the midst of it all is the strength and endurance it must have cost them to deal with every situation and new challenge.

What does come through quite strongly is the support people in remote areas need from their neighbours and friends. The advice, the many years of experience and of course the oddities that come with being a person of the land.

I can’t decide which part I enjoyed the most, but there were a fair few laughs along the read. The temperamental alpacas, the cockerel named Vlad or the snake pretending to be a long tailed rat. The neighbour with an affinity to sniff out dead trees, the child-herding dog and the subtle art of wood stacking. Just a small taste of the light-hearted tales within the book.

I enjoyed the way Stocker had no problems taking the mickey out of herself, her husband and their friends. It’s done in a playful and respectful manner, but it doesn’t make it any less funny. It’s a loving and warm-hearted memoir of a family willing to change their entire lives in an attempt to find their best life.

Buy Apple Island Wife: Sow Living in Tasmania at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Unbound Digital; pub date 4 Dec. 2018

#BlogTour It’s No Secret: Thriving after Surviving by Danielle Downey

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour It’s No Secret by Danielle Downey. It’s a personal account of emotional and physical survival.

About the Author

Danielle lives in Devon with her children and husband. Her own experiences in overcoming adversity allow her to be a positive role model, inspiring others that thriving after surviving is truly possible.

Follow Danielle aka @crazykids48 on Twitter, Visit danielledowney.co.uk

Buy It’s No Secret:Thriving after Surviving

About the book

Danielle knew early on that she was not like most children at her school.With a chaotic home life riddled with violence, neglect, abuse and poverty she learned early on how to survive and adapt. Every challenge taught her a valuable lesson about resilience and self-motivation allowing her to develop an unshakable positive mindset, along with a sense of humour.

This book takes the reader on a journey detailing the life-changing events which tested Danielle’s resilience and willpower. She bravely shares the difficult choices she was forced to make in order to safeguard her precious family as long-forgotten secrets are revealed.This uplifting, shocking and empowering book chronicles Danielle’s story and her determination to never let her past define her future.It promises to inspire the reader that change and choice are absolutely possible and that nothing is ever insurmountable.

Review

For me this book is written closure, it’s packed in the guise of helping others, but it is closure. Putting the thoughts, pain, fractured memories in black and white for everyone to read is a way of making it real. A way of making it something you can physically touch and see, instead of a dark cloud of thoughts sitting on your shoulder like a heavy invisible burden.

See my pain, read my pain, feel my pain. Now look at me and see the woman I have become, despite all the pain, abuse, disappointment and lack of support. That is the message that comes through on every single page.

The most important thing to note is that this story doesn’t belong to any other person other than Danielle. Let’s be absolutely one hundred percent clear on that. This is her truth. This is what she felt and feels. 

There is one element of the story I need to address, because giving advice and showing people a way forward is admirable, however some of it verges into the medical parameters, which is a whole different matter.

If you are on anti-depressants please do not come off them cold turkey or reduce your tablet dosage without consulting your doctor. This is incredibly important. If you are being treated for depression or a condition which necessitates anti-depressants, reducing the dosage or coming off them alone without medical advice can have serious repercussions, especially from a physical perspective.

Danielle chose to do so, but this isn’t something a medical professional would ever suggest and certainly not without a treatment plan or supervision. It is also equally important to note that anti-depressants do not work like aspirin, it takes weeks for the body to adjust and for the medication to work. Also not every combo of meds works for every person and condition or mental health issue, and they don’t make every person feel like a zombie. 

The author says herself that the most important aspect, for her, of writing and publishing this book is trying to help others in similar situations. To give them support and show them that there is a way forward, through and a life beyond abuse. 

It’s a personal account of emotional and physical survival. How a woman has come to terms with her difficult childhood and come out on the other side to live her best life. Books and messages like this are important. Sometimes society is so full of negative and painful stories, so it is important to hear from someone who has survived and has managed to face the demons in her head and in her life.

It sometimes reads very factual and disconnected, which is quite common for abuse victims, but the most important thing is that this gives Danielle the closure she needs.

Buy It’s No Secret: Thriving After Surviving at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Independently published; pub date 15 Nov. 2018, Buy at Amazon com

#BlogTour The Hourglass by Liz Heron

It truly is an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Hourglass by Liz Heron. It’s a beautiful, atmospheric story about time, history, and about being afraid to love, die and most importantly to live.

About the Author

Liz Heron grew up in Scotland and studied at Glasgow University. After living in Paris, Madrid and Venice, she embarked on freelance life in London, contributing arts and literary journalism to Spare Rib, The New Statesman, The Listener, The Village Voice, New Society, The Guardian and many other publications.

Her literary translations from French and Italian range from Georges Bataille and Giorgio Agamben to the novels of Paola Capriolo. Her own books include Truth, Dare or Promise, a compilation of essays on childhood, and Streets of Desire, an anthology of women’s 20th-century writing on the world’s great cities, both published by Virago, as was her short-story collection, A Red River (1996).

Liz began researching her novel, The Hourglass, during her second spell of life in Venice.

Visit lizheron.co.uk and lizheron.wordpress.com

Buy The Hourglass

About the book

Spring 2000. Paul Geddes visits Venice to research the fin-de-siècle opera singer, Esme Maguire, seeking out a cache of papers held by Eva Forrest, the widow of a collector. What he reads begins in the 1680s, moving through the city s later history of Enlightenment and Revolution, describing a life stretched beyond human possibilities.

She travels across Europe to sing in Regency London and Edinburgh, then Belle Epoque Paris, always returning to Venice, its shadows and its luminosity, its changes and its permanence.

What would it be like to live for nearly 300 years, as an exceptional being who must renew herself time after time, as those she has loved age and die? Could this story be grounded in reality or be merely the product of an ageing woman s delusion, as Paul suspects.

Warily, Eva and Paul fall in love, their tentative emotions bringing them closer until, on a trip to the Dolomites, Eva s past catches up with her.

Review

When Paul meets Eva it seems like a moment in time that what was meant to be. He is researching a forgotten fin-de-siècle (end or turn of the century) singer called Esme Maguire and has been led to believe that a certain Eva Forrest has inherited an archive of material, which includes information on Esme.

From the very first second Eva appears to be both reluctant to part with the memorabilia and yet simultaneously wants Paul to be privy to the secrets it holds. And so begins a seductive game of unwanted desire, fascination and exploration. Eva wants Paul to start at the beginning of a story that begins many centuries ago and Paul, quite rightly so, wonders what exactly it is that Eva does or doesn’t want him to discover.

Is it about the archive or is this all some kind of strange game that a lonely woman with commitment issues wants to play in an attempt to lure Paul in? She melds into the Venetian surroundings as if she belongs there, as if she is part of the magic.

It has an essence of The Age of Adaline, but with a strong historical element to it. The author succeeds in bringing Venice and the history of Venice to the feet of her readers. All of which isn’t as simple as my prior sentence may imply. Venice has always been a city surrounded by mystique and secrets, only compounded by the fact its pathways are paved with liquid cobblestones. The majority of buildings are standing proof, albeit often crumbling, flaky and in need of restoration, of the turmoil the city and its people have been through in the previous centuries.

I loved the tale, and although it’s an often criticised phrase in reviews, it is the kind of story that should be on the big screen. Someone just needs to recognise the potential and the magic within the covers of this book.

Heron writes with intent, very well researched and thought out intent. She wants the reader to experience the magic of the Venice of old, the disparities between the internal conflicts within the city and how the city bonds to fight off external threats, and the essence of magic the masses flock to find there every year.

It’s a beautiful, atmospheric story about time, history, and about being afraid to love, die and most importantly to live. In fact perhaps in a way it’s telling us not to be afraid to live while we have the chance and grab each fleeting moment before it passes by and becomes a faded dusty memory in an old leather trunk behind a locked attic door.

Buy The Hourglass at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Unbound Digital; pub date 25 Oct. 2018. Buy at Unbound, Amazon com,

#BlogTour East of England by Eamonn Griffin

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour East of England by Eamonn Griffin. It’s a clever tongue in cheek nod to the old gangster regimes, but with a small countryside flair to it.

About the Author

Eamonn Griffin was born and raised in Lincolnshire, though these days he lives in north-east Wales.

He’s worked as a stonemason, a strawberry picker, in plastics factories (everything from packing those little bags for loose change you get from banks to production planning via transport manager via fork-lift driving), in agricultural and industrial laboratories, in a computer games shop, and latterly in further and higher education.

He’s taught and lectured in subjects as diverse as leisure and tourism, uniformed public services, English Studies, creative writing, film studies, TV and film production, and media theory. He doesn’t do any of that anymore. Instead he writes fulltime, either as a freelancer, or else on fiction. Eamonn has a PhD in creative writing with the University of Lancaster, specialising in historical fiction, having previously completed both an MA in popular film and a BSc in sociology and politics via the Open University. He really likes biltong, and has recently returned to learning to play piano, something he abandoned when he was about seven and has regretted since.

Follow @eamonngriffin @Unbound_Digital, Visit campsite.bio/eamonngriffin or eamonngriffinwriting.com

Buy East of England

About the book

Dan Matlock is out of jail. He’s got a choice. Stay or leave. Go back to where it all went wrong, or just get out of the county. Disappear. Start again as someone else. But it’s not as simple as that.

There’s the matter of the man he killed. It wasn’t murder, but even so. You tell that to the family. Especially when that family is the Mintons, who own half of what’s profitable and two thirds of what’s crooked between the Wolds and the coast. Who could have got to Matlock as easy as you like in prison, but who haven’t touched him. Not yet.

Like Matlock found out in prison, there’s no getting away from yourself. So what’s the point in not facing up to other people? It’s time to go home.

Review

I had no idea it was this dangerous on the other side of the Humber. The next time I use the Humber bridge I will make sure to venture into the den of iniquity braced with my hardman persona and a cosh.

I’ll admit that the title in no way prepares the reader for the well written plot. It’s as if the author wants the reader to make assumptions based on the bland almost blasé words used to describe such an nondescript part of England. In comparison to other parts of the country it’s become a little bit like the forgotten land in between the hard-nosed North and the laid-back South. The first being not far from Scotland and the latter close to London, and keeper of the gates to the mainland.

I digress.

Dan Matlock has just been released from prison after being convicted for manslaughter. To be completely fair he wasn’t trying to kill anyone and even if he might have thought about it for a minute, well he ended up taking out the wrong man instead. He knows exactly what he is going do, as he heads straight back into the lions den to face the consequences for killing one of their lion cubs.

For some strange reason he never expected the Minton’s to have been planning their own version of the Hunger Games to get revenge. Well, perhaps more tea break than hunger and fight club rather than games, and uhh definitely a tad more English ruffy-tuffy- style. It’s up to Matlock to outsmart them, save his loved ones and somehow equal the score between the two families.

Griffin takes the London gangster feel of the 60s and infuses the Lincolnshire area with the old eye for an eye justice system. It’s my word is my bond, and you have to pay off your debt, kind of mentality in this crime thriller with a noirish feel to it.

I enjoyed it, in fact I think Griffin has a talent for spinning a yarn. It’s a clever tongue in cheek nod to the old gangster regimes, but with a small countryside flair to it.

Buy East of England at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Unbound Digital; pub date 24 Jan. 2019

Buy at Books Ect, at Foyles, Google Play, Hive, Waterstones,

#BlogTour Beton Rouge by Simone Buchholz

Today it’s my turn on the BlogTour Beton Rouge by Simone Buchholz. (Translated by Rachel Ward) It’s criminal noir with characters who are bigger than the plot, which makes them the story. This is the second book in the Chastity Riley series and hopefully not the last.

About the Author

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, and second place 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.

Follow @ohneKlippo @OrendaBooks on Twitter, Visit simonebuchholz.com

Buy Beton Rouge

About the book

The second book in the critically acclaimed Chastity Riley series.

On a warm September morning, a man is found unconscious and tortured in a cage at the entrance to the offices of one of Germany’s biggest magazines. He’s soon identified as a manager of the company. Three days later, another manager appears in a similar way.

The magazine staff were facing significant layoffs, so sympathy for the two men is in short supply. Chastity Riley and her new colleague Ivo Stepanovic are tasked with uncovering the truth behind the attacks, an investigation that goes far beyond the revenge they first suspect, to the dubious past shared by both victims. Travelling to the south of Germany, they step into the hothouse world of boarding schools, where secrets are currency, and monsters are bred…monsters who will stop at nothing to protect themselves.

Review

I think what I enjoy most about the particular style Buchholz brings to the table, is the ‘I don’t care what is going on around me – my grasp on reality and life in general is more important’ attitude of the main character. This is what gives the Chastity Riley series a distinctive noir touch, and of course the more brusque character interaction and dialogue.

She always seems, and interestingly enough she says it herself, completely distanced from everything and everyone, including the cases she works on. Imagine the universe of Chastity and all the other characters are fellow planets circling the sun.

When she is roped into an unusual case involving a man being found naked in a small cage in a public area, she is also introduced to the person in charge of the case, Stepanovic. The meeting of the two is one of the most fascinating elements of this book.

A shout-out to the author for Stepanovic and the anti-Delorean theory. Now I finally understand the no man’s land of the mind and consciousness. Combining his baggage and thought process with that of Chastity’s very own brand of dealing with life and her relationships was a stroke of genius.

The two of them try to understand the mind-set of a perpetrator, who wants to scare and humiliate their victim, and at the same time figure out why nobody has any empathy for the victim.

The phrase Schmidt’s Cat is used quite a few times in the book. Schmidt’s Cat (Schmidt’s Katze) is a phrase used in more recent eras to describe something or someone moving at an incredibly fast speed. Historically – Schmidt derives from the German word Schmied (blacksmith). The blacksmiths would often own a cat that was used to chase the mice away, and the cat would scarper as fast it could when the blacksmith banged his hammer, hence as fast as Schmidt’s Cat.

So as it relates to the boy in the story becomes Sebastian Schmidt’s cat. A well thought out sardonic twist that gets lost in translation somewhat. So, once again with the idiomatic expressions.

I have a feeling that Buchholz is just getting started, and not just where the Chastity Riley series is concerned. She has a fresh, brash voice and isn’t afraid to use it. It’s criminal noir with characters who are bigger than the plot, which makes them the story. Definitely an author to watch out for.

Buy Beton Rouge at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Orenda Books; Paperback pub date 21 Feb 2019, Kindle pub date 28 Dec 2018

Read my review of Blue Night (Chastity Riley #1) by Simone Buchholz

#BlogTour The Hunter by Andrew Reid

It’s my turn on the BlogTour The Hunter by Andrew Reid. Reid keeps it popping and the reader on their toes with this gripping crime action novel. It’s a read that captivates from start to finish and never fails to surprise. 

About the Author

Born in Scotland, Andrew Reid worked as a research scientist for almost a decade, on projects including DNA synthesis, forensics, and drug development. His short fiction has featured in several anthologies published by fox spirit books and his fantasy novel serial on Wattpad amassed nearly 175,000 reads. The Hunter is his debut novel.

Follow @mygoditsraining @headlinepg on Twitter, Visit mygoditsraining.co.uk

Buy The Hunter

About the book

In the ring, Cameron King is known as The Hunter. A celebrated champion. A warrior.

But when her brother, science genius Nate, deliberately crashes the car they’re in and vanishes without trace Cameron is left with a career in ruins, a reconstructed body and one burning question: why?

A troubled genius who vanishes in a mysterious car crash. A disillusioned cop sensing conspiracy in the corridors of power. A ruthless team of mercenaries operating in the shadows. A billion-dollar business that wants the world in its grip. One link connects them all. A champion fighter. Betrayed and searching for the truth. Cameron King is The Hunter.

Review

Let me just start by saying that this story is non-stop action from the beginning until the end. Reid has created a strong female lead, who is a force to be reckoned with and an adversary to be feared. Cameron thinks on her feet, fights with a cold brutality that often turns into a burning rage, and is obsessively driven by a need to know why her brother Nate betrayed her.

Simultaneously she struggles with the emotional turmoil of loving her brother and her gut instinct. At least part of her thinks she can trust him to act in her best interest. She believes all of that, despite the fact he is known for thinking only of himself, and of course he is the reason she can no longer enter the ring and continue her career as a celebrated fighter.

What makes this read so captivating to me are the fight scenes, specifically those with the main character. They are extremely well-researched, described and delivered. You can almost feel Cameron flexing her muscles, rolling her shoulders and accessing her opponent. My favourite element is the way she chooses to do the least expected move in the middle of a conflict. Instead of running in the opposite direction she will lunge headfirst into the onslaught.

Reid keeps it popping and the reader on their toes with this gripping crime action novel. Cameron King is the kind of female action protagonist the book world needs. We need more strong characters girls and women can identify with. It’s okay to be emotional, approachable and independent, but it is equally okay to be a strong and physically capable woman too.

I really enjoyed meeting Cameron King and her accidental sidekick Ray. It’s a read that captivates from start to finish and never fails to surprise. The only thing wrong with this incredibly good debut novel is the fact there isn’t a second book I can read straight away, and that I now have this unnatural desire to kick the hell out of people and become a kickboxing cage fighter. 

Buy The Hunter at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Headline; pub date 7 Feb. 2019

#BlogTour Severed by Peter Laws

Today it is an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Severed by Peter Laws. I have no idea why I haven’t come across this author before, but I will be making a point to do so in future. It’s an eclectic mixture of theology, faith, thriller and horror.

About the Author

Peter Laws is an ordained Baptist minister with a taste for the macabre. He regularly speaks and preaches at churches and events. He lives with his family in Bedfordshire.

Follow @revpeterlaws @AllisonandBusby,Visit peterlaws.co.uk

Buy Severed

About the book

During a communion service at a village church, the teenage son of a vicar brutally attacks his father with an axe. The horrified congregation watch the son escape and during a frantic police search rumours arise that the boy was involved in devil worship.

Professor Matt Hunter, an atheist ex-minister and expert on religion, is brought in to advise, yet he quickly suspects the church attack may have a far more complex cause. Meanwhile, a ten-year-old boy called Ever grows up in a small Christian cult. The group believe they are the only true humans left and that the world is filled with demons called Hollows, but they’re working on a bizarre ritual that will bring peace and paradise to the world. Soon, the worlds of Matt and Ever will collide in one awful, terrifying night where Matt is thrown into the frightening and murderous world of religious mania.

Review

I have no idea why I haven’t come across this author before, but I will be making a point to do so in future. 

Matt Hunter is a one-time man of God, who now likes to dabble in atheism instead. Now he spends his time dissecting his own feelings of faith and his knowledge of theology. He is also the go-to man for all things macabre and faintly godly or devilish in any way, which is how he ends up in the middle of an unusual attempted murder in an old church.

A teenage boy attacks the local vicar during a service all whilst mumbling a strange language. At the same time the reader is introduced to a young boy called Ever, who lives in a seemingly idyllic, albeit odd, small community of very religious people. His family. The question is what is their connection to the events in the church?

I think one of the most interesting aspects of Severed is the way the author unfurls the complexity of cult mentality. How is easy it is to be sucked into a theoretical concept, which to the objective outsider may seem completely absurd. I mean how many people, including really intelligent people I might add, do you think would fall for a money making oppressive religion based on the failed sci-fi stories of an ego-maniacal author who envisioned himself as a leader of the ‘enlightened’ members of the human race. Oh wait, yeh, my bad. Loads of people already have and are paying through the nose for the privilege.

A cult environment is bit like creating the perfect growth habitat for delusional thought fungi. They absorb the vulnerable, the rejected and the lost of our society, whilst the sharks at the top feed on their insecurities, fears and traumas.

This eclectic mixture of theology, faith, thriller and horror makes for a spectacular read. It bandies around the concepts of Christianity, religion, cults and atheism in a way that engages the reader in the narrative like a literary novel, despite the fact it is an action-packed horror read. 

When you’ve read this book take a moment to read the author’s note of acknowledgement – emotional and honest words on the thought process behind the story. In a way it says so much more about the story, the author and society, perhaps more than a mere read may.

Buy Severed at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Allison and Busby; pub date 24 Jan. 2019