Blog Tour: We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk

January 25, 2020

We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk
Published by Flame Tree Press on January 30th 2020
ISBN: 9781787583771
Genres: Fiction, Horror
Pages: 336
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk

Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.
"A stark and frightening novel. Horror fans should definitely seek this one out." - Booklist
Some doctors are sicker than their patients.
When a troubled psychiatrist loses funding to perform clinical trials on an experimental cure for schizophrenia, he begins testing it on his asylum s criminally insane, triggering a series of side effects that opens the mind of his hospital s most dangerous patient, setting his inner demons free.
FLAME TREE PRESSis the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

We Are Monsters is Brian Kirk’s debut novel and what a debut it is. The walk of sanity is a knife-edge. One slip and you can tumble to your death via a savage tumbling that cracks you open. Coping mechanisms may not be healthy and realities shift. One day you are a fully functioning individual, the next you are embarking on a divine mission to rid the world of demonic evil. Is sanity truly sane? Why were people committed to insane asylums for teenage pregnancy, infidelity and mild depression…are the realms of diagnosing insanity moral/accurate? When the real apocalypse arrives and if it’s anything close to this, dig a hole and throw yourself in because that is your only chance at survival.

Brian Kirk tackles some real hard-hitting themes – mental health, radical research which has immoral connotations and psychiatric treatments. The book is primarily told in the perspectives of Alex (Psychiatrist), Eli (Chief Medical Director) and Alison (Social Worker). Dr Eli Alpert has built his stellar reputation at Sugar Hill Hospital for his humanistic approach to mental health treatment. He believes that compassion and drug free methods has a higher success and relapse rate rather than purely medicinal treatments. He has a dark and troubling past which comes back to haunt him.

Dr Alex Drexler has constantly pissing against the wind. You really got to feel for the guy. He is at the top of his game, waiting in the wings for Eli to retire and capture the end goal of Chief Medical Director Position. Both Alex and Eli have different ethos. Alex having formulated a medicine that could potentially cure Schizophrenia. If only it wasn’t for that pesky issue of testing on humans without backing. His marriage, his career and his financial stability is riding upon this being regulated. The scenes with Dr Drexler testing his medicine gave me major anxiety. My eyes watered, my heart wanted to escape, and my stomach felt like it was on the super spin cycle.

Sugar Hill is seriously creepy. Chills down your spine, skulking along the corridors awaiting an axe murderer to end you. It restricts your breathing, engages your fight or flight response. Fear is an icy sweat. Fear is imagination losing all semblance of sanity. Fear is a broken psyche. This book gave me serious Gothika and Shutter Island feels. Brian Kirk is nerve-splittingly brilliant at examining the human condition. He has pulled back the layers of life to highlight how mental health is shoestring – pull too hard and it’ll break.

The second half of the book really goes into top gear. It’s on steroids. Just when you think that you know the remits of sanity, you are smacked across the face with a 2×4. It’s not the monsters that we should be fearful of…It’s insanity. It’s raw and excruciating, but at the end of it all it is indescribably human. It gains traction, it’s unique and terrifying.

Brian Kirk has created a true skin crawler. We Are Monsters has disguised itself as the most unapologetic trojan horse. If you enjoy deep, psyche breaking horror, this should hit the spot.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian Kirk Author Pic - Blog Tour: We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk

Hi. My name is Brian Kirk, and I write strange, often scary stories.

My debut novel, We are Monsters, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award in the first novel category. And my short fiction has been published in several notable magazines and anthologies, such as Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories and Behold! Oddities, Curiosities, and Undefinable Wonders, which won a Bram Stoker Award.

My latest novel is a work of surreal horror titled Will Haunt You. I wrote the prequel as a creepy-pasta story, titled OBSIDEO, which you can read here.

Feel free to connect with me through one of the following channels. Don’t worry, I only kill my characters.

Book Review: Single by K.L. Slater

January 19, 2020

Single by K.L. Slater
Published by Bookouture on October 25th 2019
ISBN: 9781786819277
Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thrillers, Suspense, Psychological, General
Pages: 362
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher, NetGalley
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

three stars - Book Review: Single by K.L. Slater

‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched – dropping the boys off at school, choosing wine at the supermarket – but when I turn around there’s nobody there…’

When single mother Darcy’s son falls from a rope bridge at a local playground, life stands still. She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life.

George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate.

But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter.

Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger …

From the million-copy-bestselling author K.L. Slater this utterly gripping psychological thriller will make you gasp out loud as you race towards the unforgettable twist. If you loved The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you.

What everyone is saying about Single:

‘I would liken reading 'Single' to being strapped into a car with a broken axle on the Tilt-A-Whirl carnival ride. You're gonna get tossed around until you don't know which way is up. Yet, in the end, you can't deny that it was one helluva ride. All superlatives aside, this book stands out in its cleverness and execution. K.L. Slater knocked it out of the park. 5+ stars.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Another stunning novel from KL Slater. .Loved every twist and turn. The only negative is what to read next as it won’t live up to KL Slater, fingers crossed her next novel won’t take long!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow, I LOVED this book!!! 5 stars easy!! This is my first novel by K.L. Slater and most certainly will not be my last. …This is the kind of book you cannot put down or stop thinking about. I often had chills and felt like I experiencing this story as the main character. There is no way you will be able to guess the ending.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WOW WOW WOW!!! What a fantastic book!! I couldn't put this one down. Just when i thought i knew what was going on , I changed my mind, and yet again. Twists twists and more twists. i love this author but this book blew me away best yet from her!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Well a great big enormous WOW this was such a brilliant read, totally compulsive and everything you want in a psychological thriller !! ‘ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘This book kept me awake until the early hours, promising myself time and again that I would only read one more chapter until I was too far into the story to stop. All in all it's a really great read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘K L Slater is a master of the psychological thriller genre and Single is yet another example of this. I read this book in just a few hours, not ready to put it down and determined to work out how it would end. Every scenario I came up with was wrong, and to me that is a sign of a great story. This one was so twisty and believable - fantastic. If you have not read anything by Slater before what are you waiting for? Seriously, you will not regret it.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What would you do if everything you knew was essentially a lie? We all have different ways of dealing and coping but it isn’t out of the realms of possibility to believe that some people would sink into depression. That’s what Darcy’s situation in Single has been like for the past four years. Her husband is dead, a fight with an illness took him quickly. But, whilst navigating the heavy, murky waters of grief, she discovers that her husband had been unfaithful. He hadn’t just had an affair, but he essentially was living a double life. He spent half the week with another woman. Her psyche broke and all that while trying to support her two sons who obviously no longer had their dad.

The story is principally told in the perspectives of Darcy and that of handsome, personable Urology Consultant, George Mortimer. He is also a single dad to Romy. Her mum also having passed away. They have so much in common. Two lives that seem ready to move forward, together, after having being dealt a really rubbish set of cards in life. As they become closer you can see that George has more than one skeleton in his closet. The story develops, and it becomes more twisty.

The secondary characters in Single were extremely unlikeable. I know that was the author’s intention but at times I felt like they should have been genuine and caring and they would have got a lot further in their needs and wants. Take Darcy’s sister-in-law for example, she professed to being her best friend and having her best interests at heart, but her actions are in complete conflict with that. Who on earth tells their friend that considering dating again after four years is too soon? It’s just manipulative and controlling to the highest extremes.

Darcy had so much on her plate. When the five of them went to Yorkshire to stay in a lodge at Christmas it really started gaining traction. Odd occurrences, the feeling of being watched, letters, flowers being delivered, photos obviously being taken. George talks about a past girlfriend and Darcy wonders if it could be someone from her past? George’s explanation has the warning bells thumping a deathening beat. What is he hiding?

I did struggle to fully be taken in with the twists in Single and I really wanted to be. I wanted it to be more menacing, more shocking, a complete gasp moment when all was revealed. One incident happened, and I couldn’t help but think if it happened to me, I probably wouldn’t have given it two thoughts. I really wanted more tension, a feeling of balancing on a knifes edge that I just didn’t experience with this story. I enjoyed the story and wouldn’t hesitate on giving K.L. Slaters other books a try.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

kl slater 1024x511 1 - Book Review: Single by K.L. Slater

After years of trying to get published and never getting further than the slush pile, I went back to university at the age of 40 where I gained a first-class honours degree in English & Creative Writing and an MA in Creative Writing with distinction.

Although I also had a day job during the five years I studied at university, the courses gave me the time and space to try different writing and increased my confidence and belief in my writing. Before I graduated from my MA, I had secured representation at the Darley Anderson Literacy, TV and Film Agency who got me my first book deal. My literary agent is Camilla Bolton.

My first adult psychological thriller for Bookouture, ‘Safe with Me’, actually started life as my dissertation on my English & Creative Writing degree in 2010.

The creepy voice of Anna came to me strong and insistent . . . she wanted to be written, she wouldn’t go away. I’m so glad I listened!

Please take a look at my ‘Books’ page for the full list of my titles.

I first became published writing Young Adult fiction for Macmillan Children’s Books under the name Kim Slater. My award-winning YA debut, SMART, started life as a short story for my MA in Creative Writing in 2012.

I am now a full-time writer. I have a daughter and two stepsons and live with my husband in Nottingham and Yorkshire.

Website

Book Review: Pine by Francine Toon

January 18, 2020

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.

pine by francine toon - Book Review: Pine by Francine Toon

Pine by Francine Toon
Published by Transworld on January 23 2020
ISBN: 9781473569232
Genres: Fiction, Ghost, Horror, General
Pages: 336
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
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four stars - Book Review: Pine by Francine Toon

They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone. In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago. Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust. In spare, haunting prose, Francine Toon creates an unshakeable atmosphere of desolation and dread. In a place that feels like the end of the world, she unites the gloom of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.

Just where do I start? Francine Toon has spun a beautifully unsettling story. Her imagination for novel writing is what Einstein was to science. The book cover is completely apt – it visualises everything the story promises to be. It’s desolate, it’s eerie and it’s intensely unnerving. If you have followed this blog tour and you haven’t added this to your TBR – well, there is something wrong with you! This book and it’s captivating writing has been building in hushed tones upto a deafening crescendo that refuses to quiet. This is a book that just won’t stop. Be prepared to get sucked into its pages and become one with the story.

Insanely captivating. Pine has the same effect as a rollercoaster. You are fully prepared for it to leave you spinning and delirious, but you can’t be expected to prepare for the break neck speed of the narrative. This was an unputdownable novel, it’s an overused description but the term was absolutely coined for this story. I felt haunted and deeply uncomfortable. Always the sign of an exquisite read. One chapter is all it took to pull me down into the murky depths of it’s narrative. It felt like icy tendrils determined to pull me under to my death. It is chillingly fantastic.

Our main character, Lauren (10) stay with her dad, Neil in a very small Scottish town. Immediately you can feel the eeriness creeping in like a thick fog. Suffocating. Blinding. Panicky. Who is the young woman that keeps appearing? Random occurrences, sometimes just brief but other times she stays that bit longer. Lauren however, has the ability to retain memory of her interactions with the spectre. What connection does this have? There is something truly unnerving about the interactions with Lauren, a child. The parallels between a child grieving for her absent mother and you can see the cogs turning in her mind about the possibility of her imagining these happenings. Lauren comes to you in an almost ethereal state herself. She’s dreamlike. The entire plot captures the thin line between childhood innocence and adulthood. That time in-between is hazy and grey and difficult to navigate.

I don’t want to spoil any of the plot because it is exquisite. It deserved to be enjoyed first hand and experienced in rapture. The author is a master and she abducts you, throws you in the boot of her car and drives you into the night. Its futile to fight. She dumps you into the unknown and leaves you to navigate the inky darkness alone. The author blew me away in a way that I didn’t think was possible. She’s created characters that are so endearing they spoke to soul. I closed the book feeling overwhelmed and edgy. She ticked all the boxes in the formulaic equation to a psychological thriller that I look for.

Pine is deliciously dark and creepy. It rejects originality and pushes forward and forges its own way. It’s claustrophobic and dreamlike and utterly captivating.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Francine Toon grew up in Sutherland and Fife, Scotland. Her poetry, written as Francine Elena, has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Best British Poetry 2013 and 2015 anthologies (Salt) and Poetry London, among other places. Pine was longlisted for the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. She lives in London and works in publishing. Follow her on Twitter @FrancineElena

Francine Toon

Book Review: The Home by Sarah Stovell

January 17, 2020

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.

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

the home by sarah stovell - Book Review: The Home by Sarah Stovell

The Home by Sarah Stovell
Published by Orenda Books on 22 January 2020
ISBN: 9781912374731
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Domestic
Pages: 278
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
five stars - Book Review: The Home by Sarah Stovell

five stars - Book Review: The Home by Sarah Stovell

A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller centring around three troubled girls in a children's home, by the bestselling author of Exquisite
'I was immediately ensnared into the devastating and dark world of The Home and devoured it in one day ... A triumph' Holly Seddon
'Gripping, sinister and utterly heartbreaking ... I absolutely loved it' Lisa Hall
_________________
One more little secret ... one more little lie...
When the body of a pregnant fifteen-year-old is discovered in a churchyard on Christmas morning, the community is shocked, but unsurprised. For Hope lived in The Home, the residence of three young girls, whose violent and disturbing pasts have seen them cloistered away...
As a police investigation gets underway, the lives of Hope, Lara and Annie are examined, and the staff who work at the home are interviewed, leading to shocking and distressing revelations ... and clear evidence that someone is seeking revenge.
A gritty, dark and devastating psychological thriller, The Home is also an emotive drama and a piercing look at the underbelly of society, where children learn what they live ... if they are allowed to live at all.
________________
'So beautiful and haunting and ghostly and addictive and intense and sad and shocking. Just wow' Louise Beech
'A vividly disturbing, eloquent and enthralling tale ... striking, thought-provoking, compulsive storytelling' LoveReading

A poignant and a slash to the chest kind of read. In order to love a book, you need to find something that speaks to you. It needs to draw out connections. It simply knows how you tick. The Home had this in spades. The talent coming to life in these pages are like liquid gold – valuable and rare. It has the addictive pull that ties you down and stops you doing your chores. The only thing The Home does is take you hostage and holds you to ransom until you have read the final word of the final page.

This book has everything you need to hold your attention in a futile struggle. The stable Children’s Home. A forbidden love. Terrible parenting. Terrible decisions. Toxic relationships. A death. The death of a potential future. Layered betrayals. Deceit. And all the heartbreak you can take.

Sarah Stovell is an author that obviously lives and breathes her writing. The book has taken on an entity all its own. It’s like she has the secret formula that can break a heart. Mine blew straight out of my chest. Her narrative then leaves you searching for the missing pieces for the entirety of the novel. The tears pricked my eyes, my heart physically hurt but left me with an overwhelmingly urge to hug my babies tightly. I needed to show them the love I felt.

This definitely a hard book to read. The content is overwhelming. It’s a story that is meant to unseat you and make you uncomfortable. It’s hard and harrowing and makes you take a long hard look at your comfy existence. You might have experienced hard ship yourself but just how bad have you had it? It pulls and extracts such an intense level of empathy from your body…I had an all-encompassing feeling of just wanting to mother these girls. If I had the space, I would have taken them in in an instant.

This is the first book I have read by Sarah Stovell but by all means and purposes she is hitting legendary status. I will rectify that as soon as I possibly can. The characters she creates are broken, with a story to tell, dark and deep histories, but they have such a capacity for love. It’s amazing that after everything they have been through they can show love towards one another. Hope and Annie have such dogged determination. Neither of them want to be in this situation. It was never a conscious choice. They were dealt the worst betrayal from parents that should have given their lives for their kids.

The Home is a children’s Home that is a safe Haven to Hope (15) and Annie (15) and Lara (12). There have the good fortune of being surrounded by the Lake District. Despite the circumstances it could, indeed, be a lot worse. The setting, the opening chapter, the creeping shadow of desolation and despair had me hook, line and sinker. I was done for – I ended up racing to the finish.

Why you ask?

Well, Sarah Stovell has created a perfect cadence of a highly addictive plot that seeps in its intensity but try as you might to slow the reading, to savour each delicious page…it is impossible. The characters, although they have been broken down by life, they display the most amazing strength and dare I even say it a hunger to still continue living. Hope toys with the idea of ending it all but I genuinely put that down to not having any direction. These girls are the epitome of the word survival.

The story kicks off on Christmas day. Two girls are missing – Hope and Annie and Lara is in The Home, silent and unyielding. Choices come full circle and that message is being shouted loud and clear. It’s audible, deafening and terrifyingly deep. A girl is found beside the water, dead and the other is hysterical with her grief. It is bone deep. After the story starts to unfold you wonder just how much one person can take?

Annie’s metamorphosis from victim to survivor is poignantly beautiful – she’s scarred and with flaws, but she stands tall. The author has wrote about a superhero in my eyes and her characterisation spoke to me so clearly. It was impossible not to love her.

The Home is a chillingly, deeply disturbing take on the unreliable narrator. It unseats you. The narrative is razor sharp and unlike anything you have ever read before.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE HOME

Sarah Author Picture - Book Review: The Home by Sarah Stovell

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart. She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University. Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, was called ‘the book of the summer’ by Sunday Times.

Sarah Stovell

Review: Firewatching by Russ Thomas

January 13, 2020

Firewatching by Russ Thomas
on 20th February 2020
Genres: Thriller, Police Procedural, Cold Case
Pages: 418
Format: ARC, Paperback
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four half stars - Review: Firewatching by Russ Thomas

four half stars - Review: Firewatching by Russ Thomas

ONE WRONG MOVE
A body is found bricked into the walls of a house. From the state of the hands, it’s clear they were buried alive and had tried to claw their way out before they died. Soon, the victim is linked to a missing person’s case and DS Adam Tyler is called.
WILL IGNITE
As the sole representative of South Yorkshire's Cold Case Review Unit, Tyler recognises his role for what it is – a means of keeping him out of the way following an ‘incident’. When this case falls in his lap, he grabs the opportunity to fix his stagnating career.
THE CITY
When he discovers he has a connection to the case that hopelessly compromises him, he makes the snap decision not to tell his superiors. With such a brutal and sadistic murder to unpick, Tyler must move carefully to find out the truth, without destroying the case or himself.

Meanwhile, someone in the city knows exactly what happened to the body. Someone who is watching Adam closely. Someone with an unhealthy affinity with fire . . .

Firewatching is Russ Thomas’ debut. That in itself is crazy. The authors work…his words, his research, his narrative, where born from flames. It is red hot. It flows so effortlessly from the pages and dives straight into your head. Of course, the moment you pick this book up, you will forget about the tasks you had planned for the rest of the day. Nothing is as important as finding out the secrets this book contains. Toilet breaks, food none of it even registered in my head. Be prepared to race to the finish. Lace up those Nikes and….run!

This was deliciously dark and complex, Firewatching gives us an introduction to DS Adam Tyler. A man with a broken past. Confident but quietly vulnerable. He’s got something to prove but at what cost? He has flaws just like the rest of us, but he does want to do good. He’s the sole representative of South Yorkshire’s Cold Case Unit and he is not scared to ruffle a few feathers with the murder squad. Also, he’s been known to make mistakes and allowed his temper to get the best of him, but he is dealing with idiotic instances of homophobia. consequently, he’s got the scars to remind him of his mistake, but DS Adam Tyler is human.

The book opened, and you knew the tone had been set. We meet the firewatcher and their communication comes in the form of blog posts. They are telling and give the insight into a very dangerous individual. The author likes to wind us up and keep us on the literal edge. We knew the antagonist was more than the eye could see. There was a history there. A deep-seated evil born from flames. What was the motive?

I can’t fully describe this authors writing style, but it blew me away. He was precise, constantly hitting the mark, like a marksman never missing his target. It became very personal with DS Tyler and before long he was tangled up in the mess of solving a murder that occurred six year ago. I enjoyed how Tyler navigated working with his superiors through instances of yet more homophobia, asserting the fact that it was a cold case but yet, trying not alienate himself from the entire team. Tyler was a curious character but one I felt an instant connection to. He’s had a hard life and could quite easily have gone off the rails spectacularly, but his career is what keeps him on the straight and narrow. You can tell that he wants to relate to people and socialise, but he finds it difficult. He really doesn’t want to let anyone in.

Finally crap hit the fan. You really don’t want to mess about when fire and murders are especially concerned.

The secondary characters just increased the strength of this novel tenfold. They all flowed together. They had everything that real life displays – differing personalities, temperaments and dreams. As a result, Tyler was surrounded in a grey cloud of parent’s actions, his boss being a bit of ass. Nevertheless, Tyler had to navigate the muddy waters of a cold case that needed drawing to a conclusion quickly.

Firewatching is quite literally too hot to handle. The pages sear into your brain leaving you aching for the next clue. My hands flew through the pages. I was aching for more. Firewatching cements Russ Thomas’ place in the most exciting crime writer to watch!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Russ Thomas Author Pic - Review: Firewatching by Russ Thomas

Russ Thomas was born in Essex, raised in Berkshire and now lives in Sheffield. He grew up in the 80s reading anything he could get from the library, writing stories, watching large amounts of television, playing videogames, and largely avoiding the great outdoors. He spent five years trying to master playing the electronic organ and another five trying to learn Spanish. It didn’t take him too long to realise that he’d be better off sticking to the writing

After a few ‘proper’ jobs (among them: pot-washer, optician’s receptionist, supermarket warehouse operative, call-centre telephonist and storage salesman) he discovered the joys of bookselling, where he could talk to people about books all day.

His debut novel Firewatching is the first book in the DS Adam Tyler series.

Russ Thomas Website

Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

January 8, 2020

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 haunting of strawberry water by tara gould - Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould
Published by Myriad Editions on January 29th 2020
Genres: Fiction, Short Stories (single author), Suspense, Thrillers, Women
Pages: 64
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
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four stars - Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

four stars - Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

‘This dazzling series shows that if the barriers can be vaulted there is true beauty to be had from the lesser-walked streets of literature. These works are both nourishing and inspiring, and a gift to any reader.’ —Kerry Hudson
A gripping tale of post-natal depression, this short story reads like a modern retelling of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and has much in common with Sarah Water' The Little Stranger in its realisation of psychological distress as a supernatural phenomenon.A new mother, traumatised by an arduous labour, tries to come to terms with being abandoned as a baby by Olivia, the mother she never knew. Set in the eponymous ‘Strawberry Water’, a mysterious 1920s country bungalow which overlooks a fast-flowing river, the story begins with a faded photograph of the woman our narrator assumes to be her mother.
Spotlight Books is a collaboration between Creative Future, New Writing South and Myriad Editions to discover, guide and support writers who are under-represented due to mental or physical health issues, disability, race, class, gender identity or social circumstance.

The Haunting of Strawberry Water catapults you into an ethereal memory of an important figure. A Mother. An extension of yourself, connected by genes and love. Someone that will stand by you until their last breath. They can protect you or they can destroy that link forever. Tara Gould depicts an elegant but deeply heart-breaking tome that displays the links between motherhood and mental health. It’s disturbing but so very perfect. Gould is an artist of trauma, she knows exactly how to inject a longing and flaw to her character. Is our outcome in life more of an inevitability due to our childhoods or can it be altered?

An extremely toxic relationship between a girl and her forgotten mother. It’s the kind of novel that will capture your attention and have you examining your own relationship with your mother. It’s deeply claustrophobic. The regimes that the abandoned daughter goes through to keep that one link to the forgotten one. The narrative voice is strong, with a sense of melancholy that seems to escalate as the character ages. It was interesting to see a child grow right before our eyes. Her mannerisms, her growth, her constant longing for answers to a broken link in a chain. Her own change into a mother herself.

It really is a story of growth and change. A coming of age story. However, I felt the story was directed more towards Olivia, the mother. Why she left, who she was, where did she go? She was the ever-present ghost in the life of a girl that shaped how she lived her own life. Becoming a mother is a massive event, it changes you in ways you never knew were even possible. You suddenly have this little bundle that you are completely responsible for and it can weigh heavily on you. Your previous life is never going to be the same again. You must change and adapt. It was a highly emotional study of relationships and hardship. Regret and longing.

The Haunting of Strawberry Water is a totally original, emotionally charged short story of incredible loss of potential. The potential of love. It’s dark and layered.

20190808 195823 768x772 1 - Review: The Haunting of Strawberry Water by Tara Gould

Tara Gould studied visual arts at Brighton University and an MA at Sussex University. Her short stories have been published in anthologies including the Asham Anthology for Women Writers, and her plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In 2016 she was Writer in Residence at Creative Futures. She lives in East Sussex.

https://twitter.com/taragouldy?lang=en

Book Review: The Good Mother by Cathryn Grant

January 5, 2020

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.

49086309 - Book Review: The Good Mother by Cathryn Grant

The Good Mother Published by Inkubator Books on January 8th 2020
ISBN: 4470993568303
Genres: Domestic Thriller
Pages: 333
Source: Publisher
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four stars - Book Review: The Good Mother by Cathryn Grant

Amy’s life is picture perfect. Mess with that picture – you’re going to pay.

Amy’s life is close to perfect – two lovely daughters, a wonderful husband and she’s queen bee in her circle of soccer moms. She feels content, like she’s finally put some distance between herself and the terrible events of long ago.

The only fly in the ointment is Charlotte, a recent arrival to this affluent suburban community. The shameless way she dresses, the way the men look at her… it’s not right, she’s just not the kind of person they want around here.

Amy spearheads a drive to exclude Charlotte, to make it clear to her that she’s not welcome here. Infuriatingly, Charlotte doesn’t seem to care… And when her daughter joins the soccer team there’s just no getting away from her.

But Amy knows from bitter experience the kind of trouble a woman like Charlotte can bring. And there is no way on earth that her girls are ever going to be exposed to anything like that. The solution is clear - Charlotte has to go. No matter what it takes.

The gripping domestic thriller for fans of Liane Moriarty, T. M. Logan, and Sally Hepworth.

Welcome to the blog and I have a real treat for you – It’s my blog tour spot and I’m happy to be bringing my book review of this brilliant domestic thriller, The Good Mother.

The Good Mother is a stark warning that we can all become products of our past. The past can haunt us, and it can keep tiptoeing back into our lives. Is it ever possible to bury the past? This premise is one that sends chills down my spine. Can darkness seep its way into Pleasantville? The characters seem to have the perfect life, the perfect husbands and children but what darkness threatens to tip the scales…is the catalyst a new neighbour? This sets the tone for the entire story. Violence has the capability of ruining the victim, fracturing communities and creating a lifetime of suffering for witnesses- especially child. Mental illness can become an inevitable conclusion.

The opening chapter is a hellish nightmare. No-one wants to live through that experience, especially a child in their informative years…the long-standing effects are cataclysmic. This event was earth-shattering, therefore, this chapter really sets you up for the pace and the concerning tone of the novel.

Fast forward in time. A different location. Worlds away from the past. Amy has forged a completely new existence from the one she had experienced as a child. Therefore, she is determined nothing will be the same. She has the perfect husband, beautiful twin daughters, an immaculate home, affluent neighbourhood and friends that care deeply about her. She has fought from the bottom up, tooth and nail, to create this worlds away from her childhood, life. She has been born again from the ashes. Nothing will stand in her way. Nothing.

Life is sweet, she has absolutely nothing to worry about, that is, until Charlotte moves into her neighbourhood. She somehow transports Amy back to her past…back to darker times. A place that she never wanted to revisit again, as a result the author has captured expertly the fear and the paranoia of past events coming back to haunt her. She begins to feel that scar re-emerge, torn open. It has never fully disappeared. Moving hasn’t altered it, she is living with her very own Pandora’s box.

I don’t particularly think that any of the characters were that likeable. However, Just like in a town you get different spectrums of personalities; this book also examines that. Amy and her friends have moments of kindness, cruelty and deviousness. The author used this to her strength – she developed depth and clarity to the characterisation. Each character pulls a reaction from you, for whatever the situation is. All the topics was handled with respect but brought to life with realism. This was the perfect foundation for this taut domestic thriller.

The Good Mother is smart and ridiculously suspenseful. A story of family, broken pasts with a meticulously laced plot. The perfect thriller. The perfect start to a new year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cathryn Grant - Book Review: The Good Mother by Cathryn Grant

About Cathryn Grant:

Cathryn is the author of the Alexandra Mallory Psychological Suspense series, Psychological Thrillers, Suburban Noir novels, The Haunted Ship Trilogy, and the Madison Keith Ghost Story series. THE GOOD MOTHER will be her second novel published with Inkubator Books.

Cathryn’s fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines, The Shroud Quarterly Journal, and The Best of Every Day Fiction. When she’s not writing, Cathryn reads fiction, eavesdrops, and tries to play golf without hitting her ball into the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California coast with her husband and two cats.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CathrynGrant

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CathrynGrant.Writer/

Website: https://www.cathryngrant.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathryngrant_fiction/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cathryn-Grant/e/B004G1I484?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1566901527&sr=8-3

Book Review: Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton.

January 3, 2020

Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton
on 9th January 2020
ISBN: 9780241374504
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 320
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publisher
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five stars - Book Review: Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton.

In a rural English village in the middle of a snowstorm, the unthinkable happens- the school is under siege.
From the wounded headmaster barricaded in the library, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the terrified 8-year-old Syrian refugee, to the kids sheltering in the school theatre still rehearsing Macbeth, all must find the courage to stand up to evil and try to save the people they love . . .

Thanks to the publisher for my ARC copy of Three Hours. This book review is completely unbiased.

This is genuinely one of the hardest reviews I have ever had to pen…not because it’s bad, but because this book was all kinds of awesome. but also shocking. Awesomely heart-breaking, awesomely nerve-shattering and awesomely guts tearing out. This is a story of the present being forged by the past. Are we all a product of our upbringing? Just what parts of our past deems what we will become in the future? How much to we cling onto the past? Is it subjective? Is it a case of mere psychology or individual personalities? I’d like to hope that no matter what our childhoods threw at us, we would know what was right and wrong. I would hope that our mere humanity would bring us out on the right side.

This book is not for the light- hearted. Three Hours is a book that is heavy in its content. Its heavy in the emotional stakes and if you are anything like me – it will break you down, rip you open and leaving you with one tiny needle to try and stitch yourself back up with. It is the kind of book that will inject cold hard fear into your spine.

I don’t live too far away from the Dunblane school that was the victim of the UK’s only shooting massacre, and I can remember vividly how much devastation that caused to the families and the community as a whole. It makes you question everything – your friends, your family, the thin line between reality and fantasy. There won’t be a dry eye in the house – I completely soaked my ARC copy. The author has an amazing talent for completely ruining her reader.

“Love is the most powerful thing there is.”

The headmaster in this tale is heroic. He puts himself in the direct firing line, having no regard for his own life, therefore, he treats his students like his extended family, he allows them to just be themselves. No uniform, no head boy/girl, no prefects and most importantly no religion. That being said, this shouldn’t be a school that is targeted in such a violent attack, right? He is the gentlest teacher I have come across. This isn’t the first time he has put his pupils needs first…He has a big heart and his predicament pulls at your heartstrings.

The pupils. The most important characters. The strength of them. The will of them. They have different personalities. They experience fear in different ways. And yet… and yet they are as one in a terrifying situation. They deserve the publicity; their names deserve to be said out loud over and over. The perpetrators deserve nothing. Some little details I didn’t see coming, some surprises. It was harrowing and breaking bit by little bit. I don’t want to give it away so just read the book.

Leave your assumptions at the door. They really don’t belong here. This author…just wow. The narrative blew me away. This is the type of story that we really hope we don’t have to read about again, especially in the newspapers. The author brought us the human impacts of such an act…the victims, the parents, the teachers and the perps. It is an examination of the human condition in which, it displays it’s ability for cruelty.

Rosamund Lupton ticked all of the boxes. She has weaved an intense web of mystery, an upsetting and haunting narrative that just won’t quit and the one thing that glues it altogether? Love. A storyline that is propelled by rocket fuel, hiding in plain sight. This book is setting the bar impossibly high for the start of 2020.

Three Hours is a book to remember. An original work of suspense. Hooked from the very first page. This is an amazing race-to-the-end thriller that you have been craving.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

author - Book Review: Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton.

Rosamund Lupton is the author of four novels.

Rosamund Lupton graduated from Cambridge University in 1986. After reviewing books for the Literary Reviews and being invited to join the Royal Court Theatre, she won a television play competition and subsequently worked as a screen writer. Her debut novel Sister, was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, has been translated into over thirty languages and has international sales of over 1.5 million copies. It was the fastest-selling debut of 2010 by a British author, and was winner of the Richard and Judy Best Debut Novel of 2011 Award and the Strand Magazine Critics First Novel Award. Film rights of Sister are currently under option.

Lupton’s critically acclaimed second novel Afterwards also went straight into the Sunday Times bestseller lists and was the No. 2 Sunday Times fiction bestseller of 2011. The Quality of Silence her third novel was a Sunday Times best seller and a Richard & Judy bookclub pick

Her new novel Three Hours comes out on 9th January 2020.

ARC Book Review: Inside by D.M. Siciliano

December 24, 2019

Inside by D.M. Siciliano
Published by The Parliament House via PublishDrive on October 15, 2019
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Supernatural, Suspense, Psychological
Pages: 350
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
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four stars - ARC Book Review: Inside by D.M. Siciliano

“Inside is a gripping, page-turning novel from a promising new horror writer.” -April A Taylor, award-winning author of The Haunting of Cabin Green and Sinkhole

1987 “Does it burn in the dark?”Reid is a bully, but he’s still Alex’s best friend. When Reid pushes Alex and their friends into invading a historically haunted Massachusetts house, Alex knows it’s a terrible idea, but indulges his friend. What could go wrong?Inside, a mysterious Shadow looms in the darkness. The door to the house vanishes, leaving them trapped. The group flees through the tiny, one-roomed house that defies logic, constantly shifting, presenting them with new doors, hallways, and rooms that seem to be plucked from their memories and fears. One by one, the Shadow hunts them, intent on burning them all from within.Is there any way to escape? Or will they be burned from the inside out?

I hope you are all ready to sit in the corner and rock your way through this review. Inside, looked like the poster for the latest horror movie – this apt title hides the deeper meaning to the story. Huge revelations, relationships pulled so taut that they threaten to snap. This book has you standing on the precipice of hell, the flames threatening to lick at your heels, the heat seducing you within. A house is just bricks and mortar, right? Ha! the house was built with the devils’ hands, each brick more evil than the last. The house embodies a threatening shadow using your fears to destroy and weaken you. Don’t rely on your Nike’ because you can’t outrun hell.

Reid one of our five protagonists has the bright idea of breaking into a haunted house. He bullies his friends into joining him. The whole town know the house is evil, they don’t know what haunts it or why – they just know its hell personified. The premise of the house emitting an extreme heat – like hells own personal gateway. The awful truth of what lies within had me scared right from the start. The reader doesn’t have time to ponder the what’s before it all goes sideways. The evil and the fear instantly make itself known like being thrown into the eye of the storm. Can they weather it?

Not one of the protagonists wants to back out. They want to prove their worth, their courage and Reid uses all the bully-boy tactics in the book. It becomes very clear that they aren’t going to get out of this easily. They are faced with shifting walls and windows and the main exit disappearing. Interesting premise, right? The house becomes a living and breathing entity. Fear and loathing become king. These initial scenes gave me such a palpable sense of dread, the words came to life and threatened to choke the life out of me.

The Protagonists have no clue to what lurks in the dark but boy oh boy does the author know! This made me check my shoulder and windows whilst I was reading. My chest felt like it had been pumped full of icy cold dread and I was completely here for it. The story encapsulates teenager’s innocence and stamping all over it.

How long can five friends stay strong for one another? The evil picks apart their psyche, taps into their biggest fears and it plays them off against each other. Its creeping presence hunts the characters one by one and breaks them down so that their mind is broken, but also with the intention of breaking their physical form too. Would anyone survive the ordeal?

The narrative was explosive. The book, from the very first page was pulse pounding – to the point I thought my skin was going to tear and blood spurting from within. Childhood was forever destroyed but the author also brought to the forefront the dark and deep nature of traumatised upbringings. The storytelling was irresistible to the horror lovers. The author has brought together two frightening narratives spanning the evil within the house and deep nature of childhood. This is a book that runs parallel with the essence of childhood – some don’t make it out alive.

The moment I closed this book it has been haunting me…it reminds so much of Stephen King’s earlier work. It was so gripping; the tension was ratcheted up with a cold dread that had me questioning whether I needed to turn the heating up. If this is a debut…well the author is going to have a very successful career ahead of her.

Review: This Little Dark Place by A.S. Hatch

August 19, 2019

This Little Dark Place by A. S. HATCH
Published by Serpent's Tail Limited on April 2, 2020
ISBN: 9781788162043
Genres: Psychological Thriller, Horror
Pages: 288
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Review: This Little Dark Place by A.S. Hatch

How well do you know your girlfriend?How well do you know your lover? How well do you know yourself?Daniel and Victoria are together. They're trying for a baby. Ruby is in prison, convicted of assault on an abusive partner.But when Daniel joins a pen pal program for prisoners, he and Ruby make contact. At first the messages are polite, neutral - but soon they find themselves revealing more and more about themselves. Their deepest fears, their darkest desires. And then, one day, Ruby comes to find Daniel. And now he must decide who to choose - and who to trust.

I’m very excited to be reviewing This Little Dark Place by A.S. Hatch. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review – all thoughts are my own. My initial summary of this book for you all is – buckle up bitches, you’re in for a ride. I had so many emotions while reading it – this usually consisted of worry, hate and not without a sprinkling of angst. So, if you’re sitting comfortably I’ll just delve straight in – band aid clean off.

Straight off we are getting the impression that Daniel has done something terrible. He’s writing a story to a girl named Lucy, who wants to get his side of the story. Intriguing. He tells the story of Victoria, his girlfriend and Ruby his pen pal. Ruby interestingly is in prison for assaulting her ex-partner, Lee. The first chapter packs a punch and sets up the premise of the story perfectly. My initial thoughts on Daniel starting up a friendship with Ruby was quite frankly NO WAY. Okay so that person could be completely innocent, but I’d constantly have that niggle in the back of my mind that they could cause me harm if they were ever to be released and wanted to find me.

A.S. Hatch has is goal in mind but sets up little Easter eggs within each character’s arcs. Daniel’s childhood was referred to multiple times and the author refers to violence and hatred in childhood. Can a childhood experience alter and defect a brain? Is rationality at home or is it a stranger? Daniel is a reasonable human being and Ruby ever so slightly crazy, yeah? His characterisations are complex and highlights the effect of isolation and trauma on the human mind. Dan’s childhood tainted by a vulnerable mother, an abusive religious fanatic who displays behaviours regarding sex that is deeply disturbing and with no doubt affected Dan’s perceptions of relationships and sex. I felt for Dan – he had it hard, but he also frustrated me at different points too. I wanted to find out why this trio were interconnected together, what was going to be the tipping point? I’m not ashamed to say that I couldn’t focus on anything else while reading their story.

Victoria is clearly a woman with issues herself. She seems deeply insecure and unsure what she should be doing with her life. Victoria is a character a lot of women can relate to whether we want to admit it or not. A lot happens between Daniel and Vic- failed pregnancy attempts, IVF, fears of infidelity, the death of their baby boy and the death of Daniel’s mother, the final nail in the proverbial coffin. Their relationship is doomed. Too much has happened, too much to forget.

The author has managed to balance the fine thread of strong characterisation with an absolutely insane plot with head spinning twists along the way. The strongest dynamics come between Ruby and Dan. They share secrets, fears, hopes but underlying is mistrust, anger and a realisation that – do you ever know someone? Can life in a virtual world be replicated in the real world? Ruby on paper has had it hard. A bad relationship with her father, she only has her twin to guide her through life, gets too attached to her clients and then she met Lee. An abusive partner who broke and grinded her down, enough was enough, her sister was going to help her escape. However, things go wrong and Lee ends up critically injured. Ruby is convicted which brings us full circle to her being in prison communicating with Dan. She’s quite obviously innocent, Isn’t she? I immensely enjoyed the way the author added complex layers to his characters to deepen and enrich the storyline, it was mesmerising.

Dan and Vic move further apart. Things from this point get cray cray. The last quarter of the book is most definitely my favourite. Things sky rocket out of control. Ruby’s character has seriously questionable issues. Who can you trust? Are things as they appear? The characterisation-sublime, the plot – out of control, the atmosphere – tangible. Even the house seems to be adding to the sense of mistrust and fear. Be prepared to go through a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s a good un.

This Little Dark Place is a story of epic proportions. Fear, deniability, and desire make a potent mix. The author has nailed the psychological thriller. Hold on to the edge of your seat, it’s brutal.