Psychological Thriller
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The Dinner Party by Richard Jay Parker
The Dinner Party is a dish best served cold. Mr. Parker, what on earth have you created? The opening chapter ensures that the reader isn’t going anywhere. Make sure you have cleared your schedule because you won’t do anything else whilst you are reading this book. No hoovering, no baking, no husbands asking where clean socks are lurking…this is a story to be consumed whole, with no breaks but plenty of tea and biscuits. So THAT first chapter – it sets up the story immediately, it has that hook that embeds in your mouth like a prized salmon. You may try and look away but one word, one yank of…
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REVIEW: The Search Party by Simon Lelic
The Search Party is a story that aims to entangle the reader into the web Simon Lelic has so expertly weaved. It incorporates the fear and danger of the forest – personally, there’s nothing more frightening than the open forest in the dead of the night. The branches reaching out and enveloping you in a death hug, the eerie noises that can empale you with terror, and the dark longs to crush you with its inky blackness. A group of friends is one member down, a disappearance, and the remainder of the group decides to lead a search party to locate her. However, what are their motives, and are they…
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REVIEW: What His Wife Knew by Jo Jakeman
What would you do if everything you knew, everything you lived for was suddenly snatched away at the drop of a hat? What His Wife Knew is a novel portraying a Wife’s denial and grief at being told her husband has died by Suicide. The remnants of her and her children’s lives are now a scattered ruin. She doesn’t know how to parent them in a way that they need, she can’t face doing the things that gave her pleasure…she is left in a wasteland of pain. With all, why does her husband committing suicide feel so wrong? The situation in What His Wife Knew is one of my worst…
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REVIEW: Remember my Name by Sam Blake
I have a soft spot for Irish psychological thrillers. The atmosphere, threat, and gothic feel of its landscape has me like a moth to the flame. Remember my Name is no different. It quickly becomes clear that the reader is dealing with a giant sticky spider web of emotions and deceit. Just how much do we know the person we willingly give our hearts and souls to? Sam Blake weaves a web so delicate, so precise that the plots and subplots expertly fall into place in the exact moment they should. Trust in her craft, the clock Is ticking, and you can feel the wrought anxiety in the character’s reactions.…
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REVIEW: Hide by Nell Pattison
Hide was a difficult book for me to rate. It didn’t work all that well for me. The cover is extremely enticing, and the plot sounded like one of my favourite thriller tropes – whiteout conditions. A lot of people think that the snow is this beautiful phenomenon that reminds them of Christmas time and sitting around an open fire. I, however, have always found it just a bit too scary. Imagine being caught in whiteout conditions, you can’t see anything, and someone or something could easily sneak up on you without your knowledge. Scary stuff! However, the plot was a bit flat for me. Imagine spending Christmas with those…
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REVIEW: The Woman on the Pier by B.P. Walter
The Woman on the Pier…going, to be honest here, I felt like the title was the biggest spoiler. It’s not until you finish the book just how big a spoiler you have been dealt. The story dealt with difficult content and if you are triggered by child death and terrorist attacks, I would advise you to stay clear of this one. A mother and father grieving for their teenage daughter’s lost life and potential, Jessica. A marriage crumbling from the very seams. Secrets that could destroy everything. Jessica planned to visit her friend in Somerset so why on earth was she killed in a terrorist attack at Stratford train station?…
