Who’s There? by Kerena Swan @BOTBSPublicity

December 14, 2019

Who’s There?

Author: Kerena Swan

Publication Date: December 13th 2019

Publisher: Kerena Swan

Genre: Thriller

Format: ARC e-copy

Amazon UK| Amazon US

synopsis coycaterpillar - Who's There? by Kerena Swan @BOTBSPublicity

Arnold Eastwood is thrilled when social services allocate him a flat all of his own. Independence hasn’t come easily to a young man with Downs Syndrome but now he has the chance to live free from his mum’s nagging, find a girlfriend, watch endless movies and make new friends.

Meanwhile a London drug gang is setting up a supply line in Arnold’s town. They’re looking for someone to deliver drugs for them and somewhere to set up a base of operations.

Soon Arnold and his flat are in the drug gang’s sights. Drawn into the dark underworld of crack cocaine and modern slavery, Arnold soon discovers that friends can in fact be deadly enemies.

The question is: can he break free?

review coy caterpillar - Who's There? by Kerena Swan @BOTBSPublicity

Thank you to Sarah for my spot on the blog tour. All thoughts are my own and unbiased.

How many times did our parents tell us never to talk to strangers? If your parents were anything like mine, it was too many times to count. This is the main theme at play in Who’s There? This is just easier said and done for a character like Arnold Eastwood, a naturally trusting young man with Downs Syndrome. He dreams of having his own independence after years living and relying on his mother. He knows he can do it. He wants to do it. The time has come, he has been offered his first flat. How hard can it be, right?

Just how dangerous can trusting anyone be? The author expertly weaves Arnold’s trusting nature with the worst vestiges of human behaviour. Manipulation, lies and deceit has the reader feeling heart wrenching emotion for Arnold. He doesn’t deserve the treatment he receives. He is a kind-hearted young man that doesn’t have the need to deceive people. What you see is what you get. I only wish that more people were like him. He truly wears his heart on his sleeve. I really enjoyed Arnold’s interaction with his boss and family. A true gentle soul.

Drug running and a young man with Down’s Syndrome…the two are just not compatible. Arnold lives next door to local drug addict, Saskia. She is a troubled soul with immense amounts of baggage. Something happened to her daughter that inevitably triggered her destructive relationship with heroin. As expected Arnold is naïve and has designs on her being his girlfriend. He’s adorably sweet to her but she’s just looking for her next fix. I feel for her, I really do. We meet Chip a runner for a much bigger and deadlier dealer called Poker. Chip is branching out and starting his own drug business under Poker. It doesn’t all go to plan. The waters getting muddier and Arnold is sandwiched in-between with no immediate way out due to his amazing character.

It isn’t straightforward, and everything isn’t as it seems. Arthur’s own family is dripping in flaws. His mother seems outrageously overprotective of him. This is to the detriment of her own physical health. I can understand fully what she thinks and feels as I am also a mother of a child of a rare genetic condition. My son was born with a segment of gene data missing from chromosome 15. This book really struck a chord with me and the author did a stellar job of pinpointing the mannerisms, the speech, the need to love and please and it made my heart warm that the author brought some much-needed awareness.

A horribly accurate telling of how naivety and manipulation come hand in hand. Terrifying and chilling. A slow burn of imminent disaster.

about the author coycaterpillar - Who's There? by Kerena Swan @BOTBSPublicity

51qjovx5fpl. sy600 1 - Who's There? by Kerena Swan @BOTBSPublicity

Kerena Swan trained as a Social Worker and worked for Social Services for over 25 years. For the past 14 years she has owned and managed an ‘outstanding’ rated agency for children with disabilities. Following serious illnesses she decided to fulfil her long-held ambition of writing a book and getting it published. ‘Dying to See You’, published by Bloodhound Books, was her debut novel.
After many years of writing professionally in the course of her work, Kerena has discovered the exhilaration and deep joy of writing fiction and can be found at all hours in front of her computer. Her second novel ‘Scared to Breathe’ is now available and her third book, ‘Who’s There?’, will be released on December 13th 2019.
Kerena lives with her family in a small village in Bedfordshire, UK and her books are set in the surrounding areas.
Drawing on her extensive knowledge and experience of the problematic world of social work and social studies, Kerena adds a unique angle to the domestic noir and crime genre.
If you would like to hear more about new releases, read Kerena’s blogs and download a free short-story – the prequel to Dying to See You – then visit kerenaswan.co.uk and join her mailing list.

Blog Tour: Bad Magic by A.M. Stirling @damppebbles @AMStirling1

December 12, 2019

Bad Magic

Author: A.M. Stirling

Publication Date: October 1st 2019

Publisher: Wombach Press

Format: e-copy

Genre: Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amazon UK

synopsis coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Bad Magic by A.M. Stirling @damppebbles @AMStirling1

When Richard meets his cousin Amanda for the first time in twenty years, he’s still afraid of her; she bullied him throughout his childhood and sexually abused him when they were teenagers.
He owns a struggling art gallery that only survives because his wealthy grandmother pays for it. But now Amanda’s back in his life, things look set to change. She’s out to make trouble, drugging Richard with Rohypnol, faking a burglary and trying to persuade their grandmother to change her will.
Richard’s heard a rumour she murdered her mother. Fearing for his grandmother’s life and his inheritance, he decides to give Amanda a dose of her own medicine.

review coy caterpillar - Blog Tour: Bad Magic by A.M. Stirling @damppebbles @AMStirling1

Thank you to Emma @Damppebbles for my spot on the blog tour. My review is honest and unbiased.

What is it about dark books that really bring out the inquisitive nature of humans? The darkness of human emotion, the behaviours and motivations that lay behind that darkness triggers our need to know what makes them, them. It leaves me speechless, but it leaves me wanting more! It switches on that part of my brain which hungers for more, maybe that’s why I love reading psychological thrillers and crime novels to the extent I do. There is nothing better than being plunged into a dark story and witnessing the broken and depraved nature that claw out of a person, it’s like something straight out of a horror movie.

Bad Magic immediately appealed to me. The deep nature of abusive sexual relationship between cousins Amanda and Richard although shocking the imaginative reach propelled me to race through the pages. I did appreciate the sense of gender roles reversed and bringing much needed awareness to the capability and culpability of the female sexually abusing the male victim. This was carried out in the guise of “sex lessons.” It was eye opening and it was deeply uncomfortable. This was a book that was created to unseat you in shock.

I just want to make it abundantly clear that this book could be a significant trigger to those that have suffered abuse of this nature. It’s a book that I feel needed to be told but I must be responsible in making these issues known to potential readers.

The story continues on with Amanda taking on the responsibility of looking after their grandmother. So, I guess at this point you are thinking has she changed? No, is the short, sharp and perfunctory answer. Nothing at all has changed. She is just as cold, calculating and abusive as before. Things take a nosedive and history repeats itself. The sex. The alcohol. The drugs. It’s obsessive, a compulsion and infinite circle of abuse with long-lasting effects. Neither character appealed to me. Their characterisation was that of damaged and chilling psyche’s, which I believe was intentional by the author.

The narrative was spellbindingly clever. I was hand delivered a ticket and jet propelled into a world of hate, abuse, obsession, it’s plausible and frightening. It was a terrible and ugly existence and yet I couldn’t get enough. It makes you incredibly grateful that you aren’t living this life. It reminded me of looking into a scene you really shouldn’t…witnessing the ghosts of the past, a past that leaves a troubling, time defying echo in your head. Never quite escaping the visions.

Bad Magic creates a palpable dread that you can’t escape. Equal measure of clever and creepy. Intoxicating complexity of the human fragility of life. Uncomfortable and entirely unputdownable.

about the author coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Bad Magic by A.M. Stirling @damppebbles @AMStirling1

amstirlingpebblessized - Blog Tour: Bad Magic by A.M. Stirling @damppebbles @AMStirling1

A. M. Stirling has had a varied career as a freelance photographer, an artist with several national and international exhibitions to his name, and an academic. After harbouring an ambition to write fiction for far too long, he completed an MA in Creative Writing at Newcastle University in 2012.

Bad Magic is his first published novel. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMStirling1
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/A-M-
Stirling/e/B07XQJGMHJ/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

bad magic banner - Blog Tour: Bad Magic by A.M. Stirling @damppebbles @AMStirling1

Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

December 2, 2019

Who Did You Tell?

Author: Lesley Kara

Publication Date: January 9th 2020

Publisher: Transworld

Genre: Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

BUY A COPY

synopsis coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rumour

It’s been 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes since her last drink. Now Astrid is trying to turn her life around.

Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and painful memories of her life before, Astrid is focusing on her recovery. She’s going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she’s wronged.

But someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won’t stop until she learns that some mistakes can’t be corrected.

Some mistakes, you have to pay for…

review coy caterpillar - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

Thanks to Anne Cater@ Random Things Book Tours and the publisher for my spot on the blog tour. All thoughts are my own.

What would you do if being an alcoholic was the only thing you knew? It provided sanctuary from a cruel and uncaring world. It was your safe place. You could crawl into yourself when it all became too much. It gave you confidence, and it brushed away your tears. How on earth could you navigate the unchartered waters of becoming sober, recalling lost memories and engaging with your problems in a healthy and conducive manner? How easy would it be to slip back into old habits? You can’t just have one drink because that would be a slippery slope, if you do it, you need to do it all the way.

Astrid hasn’t had it easy. She’s plagued by tragedy. Her old alcoholic self is like a ghost that roams the passageways of her brain. She’ll remember past experience whilst under the influence. She’s had a messy breakup with her ex. He has treated her appallingly and she was too trashed to tell that it was wrong. She has lost years of her life and the regret of that continues to eat away at her. Will this be enough for her to keep strong and move forward or will it have a negative effect and allow her easy pickings into relapse. The story is basically Astrid’s heart wrenching journey to sobriety. The writing was so cathartic from Astrid’s point of view. She was a strong character that was doing everything to get her life back on the right tracks, but it often felt like she was trying to run through a swamp. You would move forward but the weight of the swamp would make you weary. How long could you keep on fighting to move forward before the swamp consumed you so completely. The writing was captivating. I was enthralled from the first page.

Astrid moves back home to stay with her mum. At this point it is her only option. Her mum demands it, she needs to make sure that this time she does it. If not, she probably would have cut all ties. A sleepy seaside town, surely this is the perfect place to move to to heal? To recuperate. To just rediscover who she is. It has been so long since she knew who she was and what she enjoyed…other than drinking. Is the events that seem to be happening since she arrived there nothing or is someone watching her? Is it her imagination gone crazy?

Whilst being back home Astrid forms a relationship with Josh. If I’m completely honest I think Astrid really needed to be focussing on herself. She’s been through and ordeal and she has abused herself for much too long. She needed to show herself a bit more love and affection than she had been doing. Was she trying to find it in someone else to retract from what was going on in her head? Maybe. He introduces her to his dad, he employs her to paint a window scene on a wall in a room in his grand house. It’s magnificent to see Astrid rediscover her love of painting once more. You can see it brings her peace and she just loses herself in her art. I’m glad the drink hadn’t taken that away from her.

I love a thriller that explores the fragility of the human existence. Life isn’t easy and too often people turn to substances that just make situations more difficult. Alcohol is the big one for me. It really has more of a depressive countenance for me and for the reason I mostly stay well clear of it. It made me think a lot about how bad things must be to lose yourself and your problems in the bottom of a bottle. How bleak the existence must be?

We soon realise that everything isn’t as it seems. Events occur that make Astrid think someone’s out to get her. Is it revenge? Does someone blame her for something? She feels like its connected to her ex, Simon. Is her recovery just turning into a horror story? Why does she feel like someone is watching her? She swears she can smell his aftershave, she spots a rare, limited edition t-shirt in a charity shop. Is this just paranoia or does she have someone or something to fear? Is Astrid an unreliable narrator or are things about to go spectacularly sideways? I was rooting for Astrid though, I wanted her to have a settled and calm life after the turbulent alcoholic lifestyle she has subjected herself to. Who did you tell was atmospheric and suffocating pleasing?

Lesley Kara has created a multi-faceted thriller with the cold complexity of being watched. The twists spun my head like a spinning top. She took us down a path that was dark and depraved but there was no looking back. She led us to the edge of the cliff and pushed us off when we were least expecting it.

Who Did You Tell? Was a punch to the jugular. This was a quick read, I had to find out what was going to happen next. The author pulled the rug out on more than one occasion. She grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until the very last word. A must read!

about the author coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

lesley kara author pic - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

Lesley Kara is an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course. She completed an English degree and PGCE at Greenwich University, having previously worked as a nurse and a secretary, and then became a lecturer and manager in Further Education. She lives on the North Essex coast.

Her debut novel The Rumour is a Sunday Times hardback and paperback bestseller and 2019’s bestselling print crime and thriller debut.

Her second novel, Who Did you Tell? is coming soon.

Blog Tour: Fairy Rock by Stephen Watt @StephenWattSpit @RedSquirrelPres @LoveBooksGroup

November 30, 2019

Fairy Rock

Author: Stephen Watt

Publication Date: September 24th 2019

Publisher: Red Squirrel Press

Genre: Crime

⭐⭐⭐⭐

BUY A COPY

synopsis coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Fairy Rock by Stephen Watt @StephenWattSpit @RedSquirrelPres @LoveBooksGroup

In 2017 Andrew Smith, then Director, now Chair of the Scottish Writers’ Centre, came up with a dynamic idea to run a Twitter campaign inviting poets to pitch an idea and the winner would have a poetry pamphlet published by the SWC’s publisher partner, Red Squirrel Press. Poet, critic, essayist, editor, designer and typesetter Gerry Cambridge, poet Sheila Templeton, writer, musician and Editor of both Postbox Press (the literary fiction imprint of Red Squirrel Press) and Postbox International Short Story Magazine, Colin Will, and myself took part in a panel at the SWC, ‘How to get published’ in October 2017. Andrew received many entries, a shortlist was drawn up, Stephen Watt subsequently won and persuaded me to publish a full-length collection

review coy caterpillar - Blog Tour: Fairy Rock by Stephen Watt @StephenWattSpit @RedSquirrelPres @LoveBooksGroup

I have to be honest I felt like I was taking a giant leap of faith when I signed up for this blog tour. I really love my crime novels, so this is what drew me to this book, it was the element of it being written in verse that had me undecided. However, this only added to its rugged rawness and I ended up enjoying it immensely. This book has led me onto reading another book in verse and I am becoming attached to different art forms in novels. This was an awesome crime novel that definitely was a unicorn in disguise.

The novel was set in Scotland and it was definitely the dark underbelly of society. The darkness of the book was unsettling. Fearful. Manipulating. Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows…it gives us a taste of realism like a baseball to the face. It’s painful, and it’s in your face. The author examines the nature of human existence. What makes a person commit such heinous crimes? Murder? Sexual assault? Brutality?

The author has an amazing talent for making the reader stop and think. What makes this happen? Is its social circumstances? Or is it Nature Vs Nurture? The verses flow beautifully with such stabbing brutality to nail home just how complex life can be. His writing was impeccable, and he managed to settle a constant fear running down my spine. Its survival of the fittest.

Fairy Rock will blow your mind. Its dripping with authentic originality.

Review: The Other Gloria by L.A Villafane

November 28, 2019

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

the other gloria by l a villafane - Review: The Other Gloria by L.A Villafane

The Other Gloria by L. A. Villafane
Published by Empire Publishing on July 15, 2019
ISBN: 9780998949673
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 316
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Review: The Other Gloria by L.A Villafane

The truth lies in what she can't remember.
There is another who harbors her unspeakable secrets.
Meeting her is where the danger lies.
On a dark January night in 2019, Gloria finds herself behind the wheel of a car, beaten and covered in blood. She has no idea where she's coming from, or where she might be headed. After pulling to the side of the road, she begins to fade out of consciousness.
The next thing she experiences is waking in bed next to a man who should be her beloved fianc , Rick. However, she soon discovers it is her dangerous ex-husband, Charles, whom she thought she had escaped two years earlier, in 2017. She eventually finds that the year she was woken to is 2003, and she is living her life with this abusive man all over again.
Due to the abuse she endured, Gloria suffers from dissociative disorder, which has stolen the memories of her two young daughters growing up. There is another who holds these memories; the Other Gloria. She thinks maybe God has given her a do-over, and she might be able to do better, stay present, and recover the lost memories of their childhood. She knows, to do this, she must escape Charles once again.
Gloria's plan for escaping this time around includes finding Rick, who doesn't know she exists in 2003, but she soon comes to the realization that meeting Rick will not be enough. She knows she must do the one thing she never wanted to do - meet the Other Gloria and finally discover the unspeakable secrets she holds.

This is my review of the incredibly beautiful novel, The Other Gloria by L.A. Villafane. Following on from a very chilling first chapter, being introduced to Gloria was reminiscent of an out of body experience. She enimates the aura of a ghost trying to find her way into the afterlife. Its chilling, eerie and claustrophobic. It set the tone for the entirety of the novel, there was an undercurrent of fear and worry, it was addictive, and it left me with palpitations. The things Gloria had to endure broke me. It felt akin to reading about the pain a close friend was going through. It kept me on my toes and chilled me to the bone.

The Other Gloria was the haunting realisation that trauma can kick the brain into self-preservation mode. Its own way of protecting the body and mind from more harm, it’s the only way to keep on surviving and its harrowing. The book was beautiful and ugly at the same time, I felt like I was looking down onto the situation. The authors use of language really added a realism element that was natural, not forced. It hurt to see just how much pain Gloria was in, it felt like a fist to the heart.

Gloria and Charles their relationship was toxic. Gloria was walking on literal eggshells trying to keep that man happy. Trying to diffuse the impending explosion daily. Trying to protect her daughters from psychological harm. At the end of the day though, nothing she could do would change him. They were different people, with different idealisations of what love was and they were on different paths. Gloria had my full support, but Charles was a character I loathed from the start. He had no sympathy from me and I was hoping he was going to meet a deserving end.

The storyline was one that did nothing to keep my eyes dry. With every turn of the page, my eyes threatened to leak, my heart hammered harder and I gripped my kindle with all my strength. Why would you treat another human being in such a way? Your significant other isn’t there just for your amusement. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. There is nothing more precious than love, don’t abuse it. Just how much had Gloria endured to the extent that she had lost good and bad memories? What on earth happened? The journey we travelled on to find out was bumpy, but well worth the ride.

Her journey of self-discovery is full of suspicion, a redo of the bad times and discovering what true love means warmed my heart. Too many times I wanted to punch Charles myself, I was enraged and frustrated. He needed a good takedown and I was more than happy to offer myself for the service.

The author tackled the theme of domestic abuse very tactfully and in a realistic fashion. People often ask, “why don’t you just leave them?” Well this book highlights just why, whether it be coupled with financial abuse, using children as a pawn or just pure fear. This is why people get stuck. The author has brought necessary awareness to the problem.

Cancel everything and read The Other Gloria. This book just pulsates with originality. Fast paced and intelligent. A masterful, twisty novel.

Blog Tour: Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

November 26, 2019

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

woman on the edge by samantha m bailey - Blog Tour: Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey
Published by Headline on November 26, 2019
ISBN: 9781982126759
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Psychological, Domestic
Pages: 272
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

A moment on the subway platform changes two women’s lives forever—a debut thriller that will take your breath away.
A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.”
She places her child in your arms. She says your name.
Then she jumps...
In a split second, Morgan Kincaid’s life changes forever. She’s on her way home from work when a mother begs her to take her baby, then places the infant in her arms. Before Morgan can stop her, the distraught mother jumps in front of an oncoming train.
Morgan has never seen this woman before, and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give away her child and take her own life. She also can’t understand how this woman knew her name.
The police take Morgan in for questioning. She soon learns that the woman who jumped was Nicole Markham, prominent CEO of the athletic brand Breathe. She also learns that no witness can corroborate her version of events, which means she’s just become a murder suspect.
To prove her innocence, Morgan frantically retraces the last days of Nicole’s life. Was Nicole a new mother struggling with paranoia or was she in danger? When strange things start happening to Morgan, she suddenly realizes she might be in danger, too.
Woman on the Edge is a pulse-pounding, propulsive thriller about the lengths to which a woman will go to protect her baby—even if that means sacrificing her own life.

Today I’m hosting the blog tour for Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey. Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things tours and the publisher for having me and providing me with a copy of the book. Headline Publishing are really knocking it out of the park recently with their edge of the seat thrillers.

A woman with a past, trauma, fear and suffering. She’s now strong and independent, married to a husband that supports her, pregnant with a surprise but much wanted baby and a thriving company that she’s built from the bottom up. She gives birth to a sweet baby girl, Quinn and then the problems begin. Paranoia and obsession lurk in the shadows becoming a dominant presence in the recesses of her mind.

My heart broke whilst reading the novel. As a fellow sufferer of Post Natal Depression, it was close to my heart. Unfortunately becoming a mother isn’t the beautiful, sunshine and rainbows experience for everyone. Its evil and disturbing but the story is utterly compelling. Little Quinn warmed my heart and the interactions between mother and child brought a genuine tear to my eye. I could picture her bubbly little laughs, her twinkling big eyes and her infectious aura. She brought light to an otherwise dark existence. From the start you know that Nicole has suffered hurt, to see her fall from grace, from high powered business woman to struggling mother. The theme is both moving and heartfelt but with a core of pure tension.

As a mother myself I could totally relate to the feelings Nicole had as a new mother, especially of a first born. The feelings are new, you love this little bundle with such a fierce intensity and a maternal instinct that would propel you forward to do anything for your baby. Nicole developed such a strong bond with her daughter that she didn’t want to put her down, have others care for her or sleep in case something terrible happened to her. How many mothers can associate that strong feeling in the early weeks? It’s such a relatable topic and so terrifyingly real.

Nicole’s plight had such an intense emotional reaction in me. Going through the story knowing what happened to Nicole, her presence had the haunting ambiance of a ghost. You knew how it was going to transcend but the lead up was cruel, but the narrative was glorious. It was dangerously addictive until the final truth will out.

The story is told in dual prospective, Nicole and Morgan. Both women were extremely relatable, and you were ready to follow them straight to hell. Their experiences were similar, and Morgan made forthright decisions to take back control of her life. They were needed to bring her to a point when all was right with the world again. The author has an extremely talented knack for writing characters that connect with the reader in the most mesmerising fashion.

“Take My Baby.”

Woman on the Edge is a throat punch. I cried, I was angry, and I just couldn’t stop turning the pages. A landslide to the heart. Tragedy but with a large helping of healing. Complex and suspenseful. Sharp edged and claustrophobic. A perfect read for those cosy winter nights.

I’m a Toronto-based journalist and freelance editor who’s written extensively for Now Magazine, Oxford University Press, and several other publications. I’m also the co-founder of “BookBuzz,” a promotional and interactive author-reader event held in New York City and Toronto that has attracted the attention of prominent publicists, influential media, and bestselling authors. I hold a Master of Education in Applied Linguistics and credit that degree with my writing career because I wrote my first novel while taking a course on imagination. Now my imagination leads me to create dark and twisty stories, and my debut psychological thriller, WOMAN ON THE EDGE, will be published in nine countries world-wide, including with Garzanti in Italy, Roca Editorial in Spain, Heyne in Germany, General Press in Hungary, Euromedia in the Czech Republic, Ikar in Slovakia, Znak in Poland, and in North America with Simon and Schuster Canada, and the UK with Headline.

I love reading as much as I love writing so if I’m not tapping away at my computer, I’m probably curled up on my couch with a book.

Blog Tour: Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist

November 25, 2019

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

stay mad sweetheart by heleen kist - Blog Tour: Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist

Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist
Published by RED DOG Press on February 21, 2020
ISBN: 9781913331351
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Technological, Women
Pages: 296
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

five stars - Blog Tour: Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist

THERE'S A FINE LINE BETWEEN INNOCENCE AND GUILT. AN EVEN FINER LINE BETWEEN JUSTICE AND REVENGE.
Data scientist Laura prefers the company of her books to the real world - let alone that cesspit online. But when her best friend Emily becomes the victim of horrific cyberbullying, she makes it her all-engulfing mission to track down the worst culprits.
Petite corporate financier Suki is about to outshine the stupid boys at her firm: she's leading the acquisition of Edinburgh's most exciting start-up. If only she could get its brilliant, but distracted, co-founder Laura to engage.
Event planner Claire is left to salvage the start-up's annual conference after her colleague Emily fails to return to work. She's determined to get a promotion out of it, but her boss isn't playing ball.
As the women's paths intertwine, the insidious discrimination they each face comes to light. Emboldened by Emily's tragic experience, they join forces to plot the downfall of all those who've wronged them.
But with emotions running high, will the punishments fit the crimes?
A pacy suspense fiction novel with its feet firmly in the #MeToo era.
9 to 5 meets Suits with a dash of Black Mirror.

Happy new week to everyone! Well I am extremely excited to bring to you my review for Stay Mad, Sweetheart by the awesome Heleen Kist. In order for a reader to truly enjoy a book they need to connect with it on some level, be that a previous experience, a love for the story or a topic that you have wanted someone accurately depict for some time. This is the book that we all didn’t know we needed. This book ticks all the boxes. The writing is plain addictive with kaleidoscopic complexity. Now I know that the term – favourite book of the year is thrown around a lot, but this book truly deserves that title, it deserves the awards, hell its importance makes it essential reading.

So, what is there to reel you in, if I haven’t already convinced you to pick this book up now? A locked room of human emotion

Everyday sexism

Online bullying and trolling

A compulsively heart-breaking mystery

Sexual Abuse

Sizzling girl power

Strong female characters

I’m not sure that I give this book the justice it so rightly deserves. Heleen Kist has created a Literary sensation, it’s the book of our time. This book was created to move- it propels forward and doesn’t look back. This book was so in your face and garners your attention immediately from the very first page. The book was almost too hot to touch. You will not be able to put this book down until its done…

Data Scientist, Laura is one hell of a character. She’s the hero we didn’t know we needed. She’s cleverer than the average, she’s a good friend and daughter but she also has her insecurities and she damn near relatable to every woman I know. She’s had the knowledge, the know-how and the balls to build her company from nothing with her partner, Justin. He’s the face, she’s the brains. I wish I had her strength…she may not know it but boy is she the epitome of strength. her dad has died, and her mum is remarrying, and her partner is headed in a different direction. She feels she can’t control any of these things…but she takes derisive action in finding out what happened to her best friend. She has the knowledge and drive to nail whoever is to blame.

Now the main theme within the book is equality or lack thereof. She becomes acutely aware that she has been manipulated by a male colleague. This is all going on during the company’s acquisition. She’s shocked, hurt and betrayed. How in this day and age can such equality be allowed to breed and fester? Luckily her acquaintance with two other wronged woman leaves her feeling empowered and ready to kick some ass! I love the spunk the trio of women have and their desire to change things for the better. Laura is special, it’s the choices she makes, the morals she has instilled within herself and the decision not to take it anymore. Her strength of character is inspiring, and you just can’t help flying through the pages. She has gone from the victim to an independent ass kicking woman. She doesn’t let anything stand in her way, justice will be done, and she will come out on top. Heleen Kist weaves this multi-faceted web, and yet during all this Laura doesn’t lose her humanity, the need for revenge doesn’t change who she is, she just won’t stand for everyday sexism/equality to be lurking in the corners threatening to engulf them whole. The Me-too movement needs someone like Laura and her friends. Those guys are the true superhero’s in our messed-up world.

I just adored the nerdy element to Laura’s character. It just brought her to life all the more. This made her the perfect one to do some technological take downs. I related to her from the very start and loved that she was introverted, was in love with her books. Laura is definitely the character you would want as your best friend. She has built a software programme that can run data through it so that it can detect if an employee is suffering with discontent, depression/anxiety but it can also highlight who are true influencers and who is bad guys. It is truly radical. Their journey to revenge and justice is a harrowing one but it is so worthwhile.

Stay Mad, Sweetheart is as sharp as a knife. An expert at crafting thought provoking content and leaving you feeling empowered. This novel is so patently heartfelt, a necessary read for everyone. Important with imagery that leaves you in the centre of the storm, you feel anguish. Just please go and read this now…it’s that good.

Thank you to Dylan @Red Dog Press for my spot on the blog tour and a copy of the book. All thoughts are unbiased.

I’m Heleen and I love writing novels.

If this sounds like an addiction, that’s because it probably has become one.

I’m Dutch and I live in Glasgow with Scottish husband and our two kids.

My debut crime novel IN SERVITUDE came out in 2018. I’m very proud of its success in various awards + reviews.

STAY MAD, SWEETHEART is my latest novel: a dark yet empowering feminist thriller that’s getting rave reviews already.

Have a look around and stay in touch through Twitter, Facebook or my newsletter.

Blog Tour: Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

November 20, 2019

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

nothing important happened today by will carver - Blog Tour: Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver
Published by Orenda Books on September 14, 2019
ISBN: 9781912374847
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Crime
Pages: 300
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

five stars - Blog Tour: Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

When strangers take part in a series of group suicides, everything suggests that a cult is to blame. How do you stop a cult when nobody knows they are a member? A shocking, mesmerisingly original and pitch-black thriller from the critically acclaimed author of Good Samaritans..&‘Thrilling and completely original, Nothing Important Happened Today deserves to become an instant classic'Kevin Wignall, author of The Names of the Dead.Nine suicidesOne CultNo leaderNine people arrive one night on Chelsea Bridge. They've never met. But at the same time, they run, and leap to their deaths. Each of them received a letter in the post that morning, a pre-written suicide note, and a page containing only four words: Nothing important happened today. That is how they knew they had been chosen to become a part of the People Of Choice: A mysterious suicide cult whose members have no knowledge of one another. Thirty-two people on that train witness the event. Two of them will be next. By the morning, People Of Choice are appearing around the globe; it becomes a movement. A social media page that has lain dormant for four years suddenly has thousands of followers. The police are under pressure to find a link between the cult members, to locate a leader that does not seem to exist.How do you stop a cult when nobody knows they are a member?A shocking, mesmerisingly original and pitch-black thriller, Nothing Important Happened Today confirms Will Carver as one of the most extraordinary, exciting authors in crime fiction.

I’m in a complete state of book hangover inebriation. I’m overwhelmed, I’m mesmerised and I’m at a complete loss at Will Carvers incomparable skills. If you’re a music lover you can be completely in awe of a well-executed riff, this authors penmanship is the same. I am staring into space wondering how on earth I can pen this review. As far as I’m concerned Will Carver has earned his Godly status as The Crime/Thriller author. If you want a novel to touch you deeply whilst wrenching all the WTF’s you could possibly conjure within you, then Nothing Important Happened Today is the novel for you. Absolutely 100% my novel of the year.

Nothing Important Happened Today.

And yet everything that is important happened today. That is the irony that Will Carver bends to his will. It is an incredibly dark novel of our time. The clock ticks our time away and Will Carver makes that time run all the faster. He makes it lace up our Nikes and run for the horizon. He is the fear in the darkness always creeping around every corner reminding you that comfort isn’t exciting, he wants you at the edge, willing to throw yourself off, willing to do any damn thing he tells you. The waters are rising, threatening to take us all away.

You will not read anything else that will fry your mind like Nothing Important Happened Today. Nothing. Nothing can touch the level of genius this just has. It is in a ball of frenetic energy, crackling, hypnotising you to touch it. You know if you do you’re in trouble, but you just can’t resist the pull it has over you. Its taut with uncompromising tendrils of tension. Even after finishing this book over a week ago I still can’t stop thinking about it, it is like nothing I have ever read before, or likely will again.

Personally, I love a book that can take me off my guard, leading me straight into an impact that leaves me with whiplash. I felt bruised and battered in more ways than one. The one thought after closing the final page…”what the hell did I just read?” That was in no way a criticism it was the biggest praise I could give. The topic was frightening and so scarily real. We now live in a society where Mental Health conditions are much more prevalent, and he brought attention to it in glorious technicolour. If only we could stop the world spinning, stop it moving so fast, stop rushing around, pay more attention and treat everyone with grace and kindness. No-one knows what pain others are hiding, the world would be a kinder place to be if we just cared.

Don’t think this book is going to be sunshine and rainbows…oh hell no! Will Carver has so expertly captured a darkness, a cold reverence to the narrative. He has introduced to us just how the world is. How we view it, how uncaring it has become, how utterly broken and emotionless the world is. The author is a freaking genius. The one thing I really took from this novel was – Darkness doesn’t just come at night.

Really, what has happened to our humanity?

The storyline is deep. A tragic event happens, people stare, they take photos, videos, they post it online. It’s in the newspapers and just like that people move onto the next tragedy. We have become desensitised from death. We see it all around us, movies are more graphic. We have the instant gratification of the internet and being able to find anything. I could imagine the sombre scene, the loneliness, the utter melancholy of it all.

Nothing Important Happened Today wasn’t an enjoyable read. It’s not meant to be. You are supposed to be deeply disturbed. I kept thinking the perfect soundtrack to this novel would be anything by Radiohead. They both have the same unsettling theme. I felt sad. Human nature isn’t supposed to be this way. Why on earth is this the only choice? I cuddled my babies; never do I want any of them feeling this way. Being human is meant to be about showing empathy, love and kindness to others. The questions hurtling around my brain hurt. I couldn’t switch off, I couldn’t stop. Life was going on around me, but I felt MIA, I was lost in my thoughts. I still am. I have struggled to move onto another novel since.

Nothing Important Happened Today is a nuclear take on the thriller genre. It taps into your humanity and makes you check on your loved ones. Unsettling, a scary look into our future as a society. It affected me in ways I’m struggling to verbalise. The brutality of it will knock you for six, bring you to your knees and leave you fighting for every breath. Will Carver you are a king amongst mere men. Bravo.

Thank you to Anne Cater @ Random Things Book Tours and the publisher for my spot on the blog tour and a copy of the book.

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Good Samaritans was book of the year in Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express, and hit number one on the ebook charts.

Blog Tour: Into the Dark by Karen Rose

November 17, 2019

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

into the dark by karen rose - Blog Tour: Into the Dark by Karen Rose

Into the Dark by Karen Rose
Published by Headline on November 26, 2019
ISBN: 9781984805294
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Romance, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural
Pages: 624
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: Into the Dark by Karen Rose

New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose returns with a new thriller in her chilling Cincinnati series.
Michael Rowland is not your typical teenager. Deaf from birth, he’s always looked out for his five-year-old brother, Joshua. When his stepfather comes after Joshua, Michael takes the child and runs. He’s determined to protect his brother at all costs, even if that means making himself vulnerable to a danger he can’t hear coming. And the danger intensifies when Michael witnesses a stranger kill his stepfather.
Desperate and afraid, the boys have nowhere else to go but to Joshua’s soccer coach, journalist and ex-Army ranger Diesel Kennedy. When Diesel sees that Michael is injured, he takes them to see Dr. Dani Novak—not only because she’s fluent in American Sign Language, but because he’s drawn to her and everything she stands for. She never refuses Diesel’s requests—because she, too, feels their connection—but she resists him for reasons she doesn’t want to confess.
When Dani and Diesel learn that Michael saw the face of his stepfather’s killer, they fear for his safety. But they quickly discover that it’s even worse than they feared: They may have a serial killer on their hands—and all signs point to Michael as the next target.
“[A] pedal-to-the-metal thriller with plenty of developed charactersand converging mysteries. . . . To call this book a page-turneris an understatement.”—USA Today on Say You're Sorry
“Rose writes blistering, high-octane suspense that never lets up.”—New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards

Happy Sunday! On the blog today, we have a very special treat. I bring to you my spot on the blog tour for Into the Dark by Karen Rose. Thank you to Anne Cater and the publisher for my spot on the tour and a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own and completely unbiased.

I absolutely adore everything Karen Rose writes. She always encapsulates me into a bubble of frenetic energy and doesn’t let go until the very last page. Shivers ran down my spine with her dark and compelling narrative. If you haven’t read the rest of the books in the series then have no fear it is easy to read this on its own, Karen gives more than enough information to fill in the gaps.

The opening scene is typical Karen Rose, I was gripped, and I was loving it. Karen has built a wonderful collection of loveable characters in this series, including Police Officers, Counsellors, FBI etc. The characters are strong and captivating, and I have loved them all. She truly displays what is good and right with human nature and restores my faith in humanity time and time again. She’s juggling a complex universe with a core of taut tension. I cared deeply for all the characters, the true sign of an author with immense talent.

Enter Diesel and Dani, this is a book that has been long awaited and boy did it not disappoint. The love and affection that is obvious from Diesel is so utter endearing. He doesn’t need many words to make that obvious, his actions are everything. Their relationship is heart wrenching and I ached for them. They have been through the proverbial wringer. Life can be perfect and then it can be turned upside down. Dani has struggled through a dark and painful past so much, so she now pushes away the best thing that has happened to her in a long time. The author has captured the melancholic essence of the character so perfectly, nothing is forced or put on. It is exactly as it should be. She is such a genuine and caring soul. Never one to put herself first, she is always concerned and worried about the wellbeing of others. She runs a free clinic for people that otherwise couldn’t afford her help. She’s a gem in the rough.

Dani has her reasons for trying to push Diesel away. In a lot of ways, she’s going through a period of immense grief. She is grieving for the life that she had pictured for herself that now won’t happen. It won’t get better in time. Her HIV positive status is going to stay with her. She doesn’t want to stop Diesel having the life that he deserves. But, she also deserves to have a good life. Diesel loves her more than anything and would do anything to make her happy if only she would let him. So much is going on with her that she is struggling to see what is in front of her face.

The thriller part of this story completes the magnificence of this novel. I hope you enjoy a good helping of murder and gore galore. Buckle in your in for a hellish ride. This novel in my opinion is one of her best yet. Karen Rose is back in a complete white-knuckle ride and I’m happy to be here experiencing it. I didn’t want this book to end but at the same time I couldn’t stop reading, it was 3am before I knew it. A dark and dangerously addictive read.

Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”

Her debut suspense novel, DON’T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published more than fifteen novels and two novellas. Her twenty-third novel, INTO THE DARK, will be released in 2019.

Karen’s books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London’s Sunday Times, and Germany’s der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa(#1) and Australia!

Her novels, I’M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America’s RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into more than twenty languages.

A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than thirty years and her dog, Loki.

Blog Tour: 17 Church Row by James Carol

November 12, 2019

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

17 church row by james carol - Blog Tour: 17 Church Row by James Carol

17 Church Row by James Carol
Published by Bonnier Publishing Fiction on August 15, 2019
ISBN: 9781785768415
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Suspense, Psychological, General, Mystery & Detective, Traditional, Family Life, Family & Relationships
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: 17 Church Row by James Carol

For fans of J. P. Delaney's The Girl Before comes a thriller that makes us question the lengths we would go to, to keep our family safe.
Three years ago, Nikki and Ethan Rhodes suffered a devastating loss when their four-year-old daughter Grace was tragically killed in a road accident. Ethan, a radio personality, escapes into work, leaving Nikki to care for their remaining child, Bella, who hasn't spoken since that day.
Seeking a fresh start, the family moves into a revolutionary new house designed by renowned architect, Catriona Fisher. The house features a state-of-the-art security system, along with every amenity you could dream of.
For the Rhodes' this is a chance to finally pick up the pieces and get on with their lives in a place where they feel totally safe.
But what if 17 Church Row isn't the safe haven that they think it is?
Praise for James Carol:
'Chilling, scary and magnificent' Lee Child
'Will hook you from the very first page' Rachel Abbott
'Carol carves out his own menacing canvas with real panache' Independent
'Leaves you desperate for more' Daily Mail

Many Thanks to Tracy @ Compulsive Readers and the publisher for my spot on the blog tour and a copy of the book. My review is honest and unbiased.

Wow…this novel blew my tiny mind. The thriller genre is my favourite and sometimes they can get a little bit samey, but this renewed my love for the genre tenfold! The topic was scarily relevant to the times we now find ourselves living in and makes you think about just how easy it is to put things out there on the internet. It made me think and ponder just how much myself and my peers live our lives on the stage that is the internet. James Carol’s writing style was invigorating, and his narrative was just thrilling. I was hook, line and sinker from the first gripping page to very last. I was addicted, and the storyline portrayed the internet as a silent, insidious being. Always watching, note taking, a photographic memory. It never forgets.

I knew this book was going to deliver for me but at the same time it completely caught me off guard. I love a premise that is new and exciting. You knew it was going to be a ride, but the suspense narrative was proper edge of your seat stuff. The story had my attention, it never wavered for a moment. The suspense game was so strong, I held the book so tightly it’s a wonder it wasn’t damaged. Just how much information do we put online? Online banking, date of births, how many children we have, our mother’s maiden name, the first street/school we went to. The list goes on. The premise is simple and harrowing. How far would a parent be willing to go to protect their child? My advice to you is to get everything you need to be cosy – blanket, cuppa tea, biscuits. This book will chill you, bone deep. James Carol nailed this…it just WORKED. The narrative firmly placed me in the parent’s shoes, and it was haunting. I would do anything to protect my children but it’s all well and good until the device you rely on turns into the danger. Turns into everything you fear. The horror near stopped my heart.

17 church rows is a new start for Ethan and Nikki and their daughter, Bella. Nikki really broke my heart. Her ongoing struggle and grief would even melt an ice queens’ heart. I just wanted to reach into the book and give her a great big hug. Bellas twin sister, Grace died after being struck by a car. Her grief is strong and unyielding, she needs this new start. Bella has her own grief and it is manifesting in being mute. She won’t talk about the accident. She won’t talk at all. So, that leads us to the house. Its revolutionary. The security system is complex and unbreakable. Its teamed up with an A.I called Alice. She’s friendly…

This story was like sinking into the darkness, the pain and rawness made it hard to swim through it. The story held me captive until the very end. It was terrifying but as a thriller it satisfied my bookworm desires. It was a taut plotline that could snap at any time. It’s a compelling read that tells us all we need to know about human nature – their flaws, fears and a realness that strikes a chord.

James Carol was born in Scotland, where he spent his early years. He moved to England in the eighties and has lived there ever since. At various times he has worked as a guitarist, sound engineer, guitar tutor, journalist, and a horse riding instructor.

Broken Dolls, the first Jefferson Winter thriller, was published in 2014 and has sold a third of a million copies and been translated into twelve languages. This was followed by three other Jefferson Winter thrillers and a trilogy of novellas set during Winter’s FBI days.

James has also written three standalone thrillers. The first of these, The Killing Game was shortlisted for a CWA Ian Fleming Dagger award.

When he’s not writing, James can usually be found in his recording studio where he is currently writing and recording the first Dream Nation album.

James lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, two children, a dog and a horse.