The Snakes by Sadie Jones

February 23, 2020

The Snakes by Sadie Jones
Published by Penguin on June 25, 2019
ISBN: 9780062897046
Genres: Fiction, Literary, Thrillers, Suspense, Horror
Pages: 448
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
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two stars - The Snakes by Sadie Jones

“The Snakes is many things—a parable and an ancient drama where a father’s greed devours his children, a police procedural, an avid take on tabloid venality, and a bitter comedy, superbly observed, where behind a woman’s eyes she is ‘all movement inside herself, like a wasp in a glass.’ I admit that I’m still shaken by parts of this novel. Sadie Jones writes with pitiless aplomb and corrosive intelligence.”—Louise Erdrich
A chilling page-turner and impossible to put down, THE SNAKES is Sadie Jones at her best: breathtakingly powerful, brilliantly incisive, and utterly devastating.
The new novel by Sadie Jones tells the tense and violent story of the Adamsons, a dysfunctional English family, with exceptional wealth, whose darkest secrets come back to bite them. Set mostly in rural France during contemporary times, THE SNAKES is an all-consuming read and a devastating portrait of how money corrupts, and how chance can deal a deadly hand.
THE SNAKES exposes the damage wreaked by parents on children as observed by a new member of the family, Dan, a mixed-race man from Peckham who marries Bea, the daughter who refuses to take any of her father’s filthy money. But when Bea’s brother Alex (who runs a shabby hotel in Paligny, France) dies suddenly in unexplained circumstances, the confusion and suspicion which arise bring other dark family secrets—and violence—to the surface. And none of the family, even the good members, go untouched.

This book turned into a real disappointment. It wasn’t like I struggled to get through the book. From page one I was loving the journey, loving the complexity of every character. Appreciating their role, their intricacies, their pain and the road that each decided to take. The book for me, was a five-star read right up until the last two chapters. The writing was engaging, and it had my attention so rapturously, I felt like I was contained within a vice. It was intense and emotional, and I craved to know what the ending would deliver. It was flat and completely separate from what was building. I was disappointed.

The majority of the book was exceptional. The Snakes is a story about the complexity of money and the power that corrupts within. Families can either be destroyed by it or brought together. This story is unfortunately the former. We get a glimpse of how money and the type of wealth that is astronomical can borne a childhood of at worst abuse and at best indifference.

The Snakes allows us a fly on the wall view of a personal family tragedy. A death that is not completely unexpected but raw and grievous all the same. The family is dysfunctional. Abuse always creeping at the edges of our vision, shocked by the behaviour and the actions of those that are meant to be there to protect no matter what. The language and the tone in which the father, Griff addresses his children is standoffish and brutal like they are mere business transactions. The death is the catalyst to the band aid being truly ripped off. Secrets will finally come to the fore.

The book has a very depressing and melancholy dissonance resonating throughout its pages. It’s thought provoking and makes you think about the fragility of life and the glue that keeps families together. This story really highlights the old adage that money is the root of all evil. This is where Sadie Jones comes into her own. Her characters are so impeccably constructed from the conflict to the love and security. The atmospheric world building was so bang on the nail for creepy, threatening shadow that threatened to engulf them all. The Snakes in the attic seemed like the perfect symbol for dread that the hotel had opened up. Money and secrets a dreadful cocktail to sip from.

And then the impressive build up seemed to evaporate in front of the readers eyes. It took an unsuspected and strange turn. I don’t mean in the form of a shocking twist. I mean that the ending didn’t make any sense. It felt like the author rushed the ending and didn’t listen to her character’s personalities, their inner voices. It was a mess.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sadie Jones is a novelist and screenwriter. Her first novel, The Outcast (‘Devastatingly good’, Daily Mail) won the Costa First Novel Award in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It was also a Richard and Judy Summer Reads number one bestseller and adapted for BBC Television. Her second novel, Small Wars (‘Outstanding’, The Times; ‘One of the best books about the English at war ever’, Joel Morris), was published in 2009, and longlisted for the Orange Prize. Her third, in 2012, was The Uninvited Guests (‘A shimmering comedy of manners and disturbing commentary on class… a brilliant novel’, Ann Patchett) followed by Fallout in 2014 (‘Intoxicating and immersive’, The Sunday Times).

Sadie Jones

Audio Blog Tour: The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley

February 20, 2020

The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley
on February 6, 2020
ISBN: 9781409194187
Genres: Family & Relationships, Abuse, Domestic Partner Abuse, Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Psychological, Family Life, Marriage & Divorce
Pages: 304
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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five stars - Audio Blog Tour: The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley

One fatal crash. Two colliding worlds. Three wrecked lives.
Ben is driving on the motorway, on his usual commute to the school where he works.
A day like any other...
Except for one man who, in a final despairing act, jumps in front of Ben's car, turning the teacher's world upside down in a single horrifying instant...
Wracked with guilt and desperate to clear his conscience, he develops a friendship with Alice, the dead man's wife, and her 7-year-old son Max.
But as he tries to escape the trauma of the wreckage, could he go too far in trying to make amends?
How would you cope, knowing you'd caused someone's death? And are the dynamics of this friendship exactly what they seem?

The Wreckage– it’s clear from the offset the tone this story is going to take. A car wreck. Speeding towards an end goal that destroys lives. Whiplash that leaves you feeling pained and distraught. It’s a real play on the title and the deeper meaning behind it is poetic brilliance. This book hits you in the feels like a ten-tonne truck to the chest. You need to escape from the wrecked car, you’re injured, your disorientated and you have to drag yourself to safety. It’s pitch black and your senses have left you. You need to stumble from one event to the other – this book is the direct correlation to this.

As a debut I didn’t know what to expect. Let me tell you this – rarely have I read such a fully immersive, compelling and eye popping read such as The Wreckage. Robin Morgan-Bentley knows just how to lead his readers down a maze, blindfolded and panicky. A Suicide. A Grieving family. A driver left with an incredible responsibility. A mysterious note.

In mere hours Alice’s world is turned upside down. A stay at home mother to her cherished son, Max. she loves a wine or two but tell me what mother doesn’t? Was she expecting the news on that fateful day? What would drive someone to make the decision to throw themselves in front of a moving car on the motorway? I was in my element reading the alternating POV’s in The Wreckage – both Alice’s and Ben’s narrative was emotive and heart-wrenching. It left me with an extreme sense of urgency and it was compelling to have the POV of someone that had been driving the car as opposed to the usual fallout from the victim’s family.

Both Alice and Ben were victims. It was as clear as the nose on your face. Ben really struggled with the feelings of guilt and seemed to only want to do right for his perceived wrong. Alice was left to raise an eight-year-old boy who had his father and her husband wrenched from their lives. There was secrets, lies and a sense of foreboding that kept creeping into my peripheral vision. They are both trying to navigate their own versions of the highway to hell.

I found Ben to be the more interesting character. The Inspectorates proclaimed country’s best school teacher. He has a solid routine that he sticks to, doesn’t drive recklessly, the patience of a saint – the accident hits him very hard. It is also the catalyst that sends him down a destructive and obsessive path. Imagine dominoes – once that first one gets sent on its way, there is no stopping the wave of destruction. This book gave me such an addictive need to find out what happens next – I raced to the finish. The author gave me such a need to work out why Ben, Alice and Adam behaved in the way they did.

In all honesty, I really struggled with Alice. Yes, she was struggling with the death of her husband, but she presented as a bit reckless and irresponsible. She seemed to be so focussed and lost in her own grief that she seemed to lose sight of the most important person – Max. she drank too much and couldn’t acknowledge help when offered. You can tell that her world has turned grey, but she has to be strong for her son. I think the author wrote the character in such a way that you feel conflicted in how she behaves and her motives. Is wrong vs. right so obvious in this story?

The Wreckage is a tightly weaved plot that could cut your oxygen. The story left me guessing right until the end. I doubted every character and felt conflicted around every corner. Be prepared to be catapulted onto a lake of ice, you will need to navigate the thin ice without falling into the cold depths below.

The audio was beautiful. It packed a powerful punch. It heightened the alarming amount of anticipation I was experiencing. It resonated with the fear, the grief, the panic. The Multiple authors hit that sweet spot. We were living the extremes of two forever changed characters and the loss the narrators catapulted into the story made it, in my opinion. The audiobook was inhaled in a matter of hours. It became a living, breathing entity.

Thanks to Alex @ Orion Books for a copy of the Audiobook for review purposes.

Review|The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

February 10, 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.

48408361. SY475 - Review|The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith
Published by titan Books on October 1, 2019
ISBN: 9781984806383
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Contemporary, Humorous
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
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four stars - Review|The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.
Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing-- a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.
But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell….and Earth.

What do you get when you have a sassy librarian, a muse, a hero, Arcanist and a demon walk into Valhalla? Well a whole heap of action, hilarity and a story that just wont quit. The story is literally on fire. The pages sear your fingers and your eyes, it’s too hot to handle. With the first chapter you just know you are going to fall in love with the sublime writing style and the characterisation that literally smacks you in the genitals – it is that vivid in its fantastical realism. The story dances in front of your vision threatening to consume itself into your very soul.

I was very excited to discover that this is the first book in a brand-new series. Oh, my giddy aunt, this book is was beyond every expectation. My mind was conjuring up an evil darkness that hell threatens but so absolutely delivers. I could almost feel the heat within the library, getting me hot under the collar, my blood boiling, the sweat dripping down my spine. It’s a heady mix somewhere between the realms of fear and anticipation. This book gave me chills! It was fully immersive, and I loved team HELL!

The library of the Unwritten is immersed in the pits of hell. It contains the unwritten books, the characters of which trapped in their unfinished works. They are desperate to become reconnected with their authors, to the point that they have often tried to escape. In charge of this wing of the library is Claire. The non-stereotypical sexy, prim and proper type. What we have instead is a badass, no bowing down to Lucifer and she is tough as old boots! She has a tragic backstory which made me fall in love with her even more. The POV’s were split into Claire, Leto our friendly demon and Ramiel the fallen angel. Each one offered more emotion, more insight and blasted me with such an extreme sense of urgency that I kept willing myself to read more…I was never fast enough, and my appetite was well and truly whetted.

Now the book of hell is on the loose and it is a race against time to recover it before the fallen angel Ramiel catches up with it and takes it to his divine leader. Will the book take the highway to hell or the stairway to heaven? Only time will tell. The sense of foreboding is magnificent and the trials and tribulations that the team encounter is out of this world. This story was quite simply addictive, I found myself reading the pages faster and faster, nothing was stopping me finding out the ending to this story.

I loved the compassion, the ruthlessness, the take no prisoners aspect of some characters. It all just moulded into a titanium structured plot. I await with baited breath for the next instalment. Ah Angels Vs. Demons the oldest battle of all time. It couldn’t have been sweeter.

The Library of the Unwritten will hook you in with its atmospheric storytelling. The author ratchets up the tension with its palpable heat. A.J. Hackwith writes with great power and the book pumps with a great power force that draws you in, time and time again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image asset - Review|The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

Amanda is a magpie of plots, bad ideas, and spite. She is a queer speculative fiction writer who writes contemporary fantasy as A. J. Hackwith and sci-fi romance as Ada Harper. Her writing has appeared in Uncanny Magazine and various anthologies, and she’s an alumni of Viable Paradise workshop. She’s represented by Caitlin McDonald of Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Amanda lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and her ghosts. She’s a Slytherin girl, a Ravenclaw nerd, and she always takes the renegade interrupts. And really, isn’t that the important things to know?

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A.J. Hackwith Website

Review: All The Best Lies by Joanna Schaffhausen

February 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.

IMG 20200209 082443 - Review: All The Best Lies by Joanna Schaffhausen

All the Best Lies by Joanna Schaffhausen
Published by titan Books on February 11, 2020
ISBN: 9781250297396
Genres: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Thrillers, Crime, Women Sleuths
Pages: 320
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publisher
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four stars - Review: All The Best Lies by Joanna Schaffhausen

The highly anticipated third novel in the award-winning Ellery Hathaway mystery series.FBI agent Reed Markham is haunted by one painful unsolved mystery: who murdered his mother? Camilla was brutally stabbed to death more than forty years ago while baby Reed lay in his crib mere steps away. The trail went so cold that the Las Vegas Police Department has given up hope of solving the case. But then a shattering family secret changes everything Reed knows about his origins, his murdered mother, and his powerful adoptive father, state senator Angus Markham. Now Reed has to wonder if his mother's killer is uncomfortably close to home.
Unable to trust his family with the details of his personal investigation, Reed enlists his friend, suspended cop Ellery Hathaway, to join his quest in Vegas. Ellery has experience with both troubled families and diabolical murderers, having narrowly escaped from each of them. She's eager to skip town, too, because her own father, who abandoned her years ago, is suddenly desperate to get back in contact. He also has a secret that could change her life forever, if Ellery will let him close enough to hear it.
Far from home and relying only on each other, Reed and Ellery discover young Camilla had snared the attention of dangerous men, any of whom might have wanted to shut her up for good. They start tracing his twisted family history, knowing the path leads back to a vicious killer—one who has been hiding in plain sight for forty years and isn't about to give up now.

All The Best Lies really injects truth into that old saying – Las Vegas is the city that never sleeps! Its seeped in sin, a place where we can forget our old selves, our realities are locked in the back of our minds and we can invent a new identity, a new truth. Well, eventually that truth will rear its ugly head and bite you on your behind. The characters are complex and brought to life in multi-dimensional 4k reality. A crime novel should unseat you, leave you questioning the fragility of the human existence but also be blasted with the fear of how easily psyches can break and commit the most atrocious crimes known to man.

What would you do if you were given the opportunity to reopen a cold case that had such a personal connection? What if it was your mother? This case was truly baffling. Reed Markham is tasked with this exact scenario. He has an outstanding reputation of getting the bad guy and he is determined this is will be like every other case he handles. He doesn’t anticipate the scene of the crime photos showing his mother carved up like a Christmas turkey, however. The further he digs, the more he’s conflicted by family loyalty and unmasking the killer.

Joanna Schaffhausen epitomises the inner turmoil that Reed Markham feels. He’s desperate to find out the who and the why. He needs to feel a sense of closure and putting that chapter in his life to rest but are external forces going to allow him that? The pace of All The Best Lies is akin to rocket force. You feel that countdown and with that your heart, your stomach and your brain begin to go into meltdown. You know when it finally takes off – you will have to hold on for dear life. The descriptions allow us to placed straight into Reeds shoes – we feel every part of his desperation, his pain but also dogged determination to unearth the truth.

With every great detective you need an equally awesome sidekick and there is literally no better than, Ellery Hathaway. A suspended cop that he has known since she was an abused and frightened teen. They are inextricably linked to each other and each has the others back through thick and thin. She’s happy to go along for the tumultuous ride to Las Vegas and is prepared to unearth trouble. I loved these two together – the electricity between them was palpable. The sexual tension in All The Best Lies threatened to burn a hole through me.

Plenty of potential suspects with not one of them being pearly white. We all have a history, and everyone goes through the wringer with Hathaway and Markham. No stone is left unturned. I loved the direction the author took us on. It was unexpected and so very thrilling. As they dig deeper and deeper they find that they could potentially be in danger, do they back off or do they continue with renewed vigour? Everyone is a suspect.

All The Best Lies catapults you into an evocative setting with a sinister undertone simmering about power, politics and family. A plot so tautly constructed you feel the need to hold on for dear life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanna Schaffhausen wields a mean scalpel, skills she developed in her years studying neuroscience. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain―how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked as a scientific editor in the field of drug development. Prior to that, she was an editorial producer for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter

Joanna Schaffhausen

Blog Tour: Little White Lies by Philippa East

February 4, 2020

Little White Lies by Philippa East
Published by HarperCollins UK on February 4, 2020
ISBN: 9780008365400
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Psychological, Coming of Age, Domestic, Friendship, General
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: Little White Lies by Philippa East

‘Breathtaking suspense. A phenomenal talent’ HOLLY SEDDON ‘Terrifically engaging’ JO SPAIN ‘Addictive. I couldn’t put it down’ PHOEBE MORGAN ‘A heart-thumping, racing thriller’ CHRISTINA McDONALD
She only looked away for a second...
Anne White only looked away for a second, but that’s all it took to lose sight of her young daughter.
But seven years later, Abigail is found.
And as Anne struggles to connect with her teenage daughter, she begins to question how much Abigail remembers about the day she disappeared...
Addictive, edge-of-your-seat dark women’s fiction perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, BCC drama Thirteen, and Emma Donoghue’s Room.

It’s a known fact that I love Crime Fiction and I have found myself searching for an added element, something that speaks to me, is a calling card left in a deserted room. It leaves clues for me to discover, to strip layer after layer back until I have been exposed to the dark secrets. This is what you can expect from Little White Lies. The writing style, the thrilling voice – this book gives me the Psychological Thriller Fuzies!

Little White Lies will creep up on you, catch you off guard and kick your heart into a galloping crescendo. You know when an opening chapter lays the foundations to be a rollercoaster ride that your attention will be focusing in rapturous enchantment. My attention didn’t wander, it didn’t ebb, instead it transported into the pages and became one with the story.

So, what had my attention so captured, you ask? Multiple layers of deceit. Child abduction that wasn’t as it appeared. An overbearing aunt. A long-buried family secret. A police Officer that sees more than they want.

The narrative blew me away. The research that brought this story to life was skilfully presented to us in the most realistic form. The feeling of a threatening shadow just creeping into the corners of your vision was palpable. What would be revealed? Would it be a bad thing for their daughter to turn up? What would she say, how would she behave? Is ignorance truly bliss?

Your daughter has been missing for seven years. You’ve pretty much lost all hope of her coming home, alive, right? What happens when you receive a phone call saying she had walked into the police station with another little girl…but, not once has she asked to come to you. That fateful day she went missing. The fact that you were meant to protect her against harm. Just what has she seen and experienced? The story is poignant, heart-breaking and I spent periods during reading just imagining how I would feel if it was one of my own boys. It’s really not worth imagining.

Events really take a turn when Abigail finally comes home. Nothing’s the same. No amount of telling her she is safe, family dinners, shopping trips and decorating bedrooms is going to erase the trauma that this girl has suffered. It is at this point that the brain fog lifts and I’m left feeling bereft like Abigail. The pain is apparent, and she truly doesn’t know which way is up.

This book is an uncomfortable read. I struggled to prise it from the death grip I had upon the book. Philippa East knows just how to punch you in the jugular and wreak havoc with your emotions. This book is akin to being dropped into quicksand with an anchor strapped to your ankle – it forces you to swim between one raw emotion to another. Little White Lies deals with difficult themes, but they are handled with extreme delicacy and tact. It was invigorating to read about a child that did finally return home. It dealt with how the parents would have to navigate extremely murky waters. It was a tale of hope and new beginnings but one of immense patience.

Little White Lies was a devastatingly emotional read. The narrative is like a death grip- unyielding and heartfelt. I read it with my heart in my mouth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hello, I am a fiction writer living in Lincolnshire.

I have written short stories for a several years, a number of which have been published in literary magazines including Brittle Star, Fictive Dream, and Shooter Magazine. I’ve also had a few successes in competitions such as The Fiction Desk and Retreat West.

In 2017, I was long listed in Mslexia First Novel award. This year, I secured a publishing deal with HQ/HarperCollins for my debut ‘Little White Lies’. This Book Club read tells the story of a family whose missing child is found alive seven years after her disappearance; it is a book that begins where other stories end.

In the beginning, I graduated with a degree in Psychology and Philosophy from Oxford University. I subsequently trained as a Clinical Psychologist and worked for 12 years in the NHS before establishing my own psychology practice. This background in philosophy and psychology serves as the inspiration for many of my stories.

I now divide my time between clinical work and writing, and I share my love of writing with my members of the Lincolnshire-based writers’ group The Lindum Scribes.

‘Little White Lies’ will be out in early 2020.

Philippa East

Blog Tour: Death Deserved by Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

February 3, 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.

death deserved by thomas engerjorn lier horst - Blog Tour: Death Deserved by Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

Death Deserved by Thomas EngerJorn Lier Horst
Published by Orenda Books Limited on January 31, 2020
ISBN: 9781913193010
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Romance, Mystery & Detective, Hard-Boiled, Action & Adventure, Noir, City Life, Crime, International Mystery & Crime, Police & Law Enforcement, Women Sleuths, Political, Police Procedural, General
Pages: 276
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

five stars - Blog Tour: Death Deserved by Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

Police officer Alexander Blix and celebrity blogger Emma Ramm join forces to track down a serial killer with a thirst for attention and high-profile murders, in the first episode of a gripping new Nordic Noir series...
Oslo, 2018. Former long-distance runner Sonja Nordstrøm never shows at the launch of her controversial autobiography, Always Number One. When celebrity blogger Emma Ramm visits Nordstrøm’s home later that day, she finds the door unlocked and signs of a struggle inside. A bib with the number ‘one’ has been pinned to the TV.
Police officer Alexander Blix is appointed to head up the missing-persons investigation, but he still bears the emotional scars of a hostage situation nineteen years earlier, when he killed the father of a five-year-old girl. Traces of Nordstrøm soon show up at different locations, but the appearance of the clues appear to be carefully calculated ... evidence of a bigger picture that he’s just not seeing...
Blix and Ramm soon join forces, determined to find and stop a merciless killer with a flare for the dramatic, and thirst for attention.Trouble is, he’s just got his first taste of it...

Some publishers are just complete go-to. Crime fiction and Nordic Noir are phrases that are somonis with Orenda Books. This blog tour invitation for Death Deserved was an automatic YES YES YES. Nordic Noir is a relatively new genre for me, but I am quickly falling head over heels. It has restarted my heart and gave me a passion for crime fiction once more. I couldn’t wait to get my grubby little hands on this exciting and riveting read.

I was expecting huge things from this superstar double act. The anticipation was melting my brain. The prologue created that taut tension that I crave and live for. My eyes couldn’t stop the uncontrollable speed that they took in the lines of the book. The words took on a life of its own. They grew legs and marched straight up to my face and smacked me silly…it had my full attention.

Deserved Death was an interesting title choice but one that seeped in a rightness as soon as the final page was put to rest. Is any untimely death deserved? What events in a person’s life would make it a given that they deserve to die. I’m sure at some point in our lives we have done something that was immoral or bad, does it necessarily mean that our deaths would be deserved? The authors captured everything that I anticipate in Nordic Noir. They led you down a deserted road, one that had the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention, military style. The possibilities were endless, and my stomach churned like it was on the super spin cycle. Nausea and crime is my favourite combination.

This book sets the tone. The dark and dangerous tone. Just sit and imagine taking in the words and the ominous theme tune to the exorcist playing in the background. You know it isn’t going to be like visiting your sweet aunt for the afternoon. It’s going to be a rollercoaster ride over the Grand Canyon except that half of the track is missing. Heart in mouth. Senses threatening to leave your body. It truly challenges the control you have over your own emotions.

Two narrators. Two broken characters. Connections intertwined. We meet Alexander Blix, a quiet police officer who has gone through the emotional wringer both professionally and personally. He acts from the heart frequently and is more an action man than a procedure man. It causes him difficulties in his job, but he is respected and admired by his close- nit team. He instantly spoke to me on a deep level. He is relatable and is living a life in the shadows not fully grasping it by the balls. A victim of his past. He threatens to become a victim of his future too.

We also meet Emma Ramm, celebrity blogger. She also has her own skeletons in the cupboard. She can appear cold but progressively you uncover the real her, layer by complex layer. At times she seemed like a rubix cube. Frustrating and complex to fathom out.

Set in Oslo, ex-former long-distance runner, Sonja Nordstrøm has recently released her scathing autobiography. Emma Ramm discovers her lack of contact for a TV interview and visits her home. There appears to have been a struggle. There is, however, no sign of her. The police launch an official investigation. An intriguing Number One has been attached to the TV. The scene is unsettling, and you can feel a lingering shadow threatening to creep beyond the edges.

There is a bigger picture emerging. The police investigation is stretched taut to its very limits. Blix is still haunted by the tragedy that saw him kill a 5-year-old girl’s father. Guns still make him nervous, but his persona belies the man he portrays to the world. The cracks threaten to split. Can he keep it together until the end of the investigation?

The main theme running through this book is the human condition and it’s need and pure want of fame and the culture of celebrity. What drives people to want these things with such a hunger? We know from history that money doesn’t make you happy. More often than not it attracts ill mental health like a calling card. In this story the burden of celebrity attracts the dark. It has created a festering wound seeping in dysfunctionality and pain. It certainly made me think about the important things in life. I am quite happy being a nobody.

Death Deserved is a tautly woven, intricately written tale of suspense and layer upon layers visceral action. The authors nail the exact art of Nordic Noir and make you hunger for more.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jorn Lier Horst Author pic - Blog Tour: Death Deserved by Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

Thomas Author Pic 1024x687 - Blog Tour: Death Deserved by Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively. Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his No. 1 internationally bestselling William Wisting series. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the internationally acclaimed and bestselling Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer. Death Deserved is Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller.

Orenda Books

Review: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

February 1, 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.

a memory called empire by arkady martine - Review: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
Published by Tor Publishing on March 26, 2019
ISBN: 9781250186454
Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Action & Adventure
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
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five stars - Review: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

A Library Journal Best Book of 2019A Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2019 and “Not the Booker Prize” NomineeAn NPR Favorite Book of 2019A Polygon Best Book of 2019A Den of Geek Best Book of 2019A Goodreads Biggest SFF Book of 2019 and Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee"A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it."—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary JusticeAmbassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.
A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure."The most thrilling ride ever. This book has everything I love."—Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Memory Called Empire is by far the cleverest and poignant debut I have had the pleasure of reading. It’s the type of read that leaves you trying to find the remnants of your scrambled brain. Your senses are scattered, the books only made it through by the skin of its teeth – you gripped it so hard, it’s in danger of being strangled! In order to love a book, you need something that speaks straight to your heart, it drew out unbreakable connections, the electricity snapping between us. The book feels like a breathing entity, it knows how you tick, how you operate and moulds itself into everything you want, right when you need it.

This is not the kind of book that you can read a few chapters of here and there. Your attention will be rapt and to fight against it is a futile struggle. Space. A murder mystery. Awesome brain modifications. Political action. Galactic relationships. Prose that was like liquid gold, smooth and valuable.

Arkady Martine is an author that is at one with her story. She has brought it to life with such a glorious 4k dimension to it. She has found the secret formula for crafting the perfect Science Fiction and then improving it beyond the realms that anyone thought was possible. My brain wanted to explode- I felt my brain trying to find the smallest crack in my skull. It was expanding, my imagination expanding like the universe. The sublime prose brought the world-building to life. I was living it. I was loving it!

Mahit Dzmare is the newly appointed Ambassador within the Teixcalaanli Empire. Her arrival has ensconced her in intrigue and layer upon layer of deceit. It should have been a straight forward take over, however, her implant should have made everything plain sailing. It should have gave her all the political and cultural insight she needed but Yksander didn’t acclimatise to Mahit’s system correctly. One small problem, the technology has been hidden and developed away from the Teixalaanli prying eyes. Without it, just how will she be able to navigate the extremely murky waters of the political unrest that is on the cusp of blowing.

So much of who we are is what we remember and retell.

Our protagonist has to find ways push forward and deal with the implications and the unrest of civil war and rebellion. The discourse between military, communities and empirical governance play a dramatic role in this space opera. The setting, the opening chapter, the creeping shadow of desolation and me invested immediately. Forget toilet, rest and food breaks…I couldn’t attend to these basic needs until I closed the final page. This is wholeheartedly a race-to-the-finish Sci-Fi masterpiece.

The author has created a perfect cadence of a highly addictive plot that has a plot that punches in you in the throat and leaves you gasping for air. The characters show unbreakable strength and resilience with a hunger to change.

A Memory Called Empire is something entirely new and exciting. The prose deals in laser precision and hits the target every time. It just completely rolls off the pages. This book has irrevocably strengthened the science fiction genre.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Arkady Martine is a speculative fiction writer and, as Dr. AnnaLinden Weller, a historian of the Byzantine Empire and a city planner. She is currently a policy advisor for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, where she works on climate change mitigation, energy grid modernization, and resiliency planning. Under both her names she writes about border politics, rhetoric, propaganda, and the edges of the world. Arkady grew up in New York City and, after some time in Turkey, Canada, Sweden, and Baltimore, lives in Santa Fe with her wife, the author Vivian Shaw. Find her online at arkadymartine.net or on Twitter as @ArkadyMartine.

Arkady Martine

Blog Tour: Snowball by Gregory Bastialnelli

January 29, 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.

snowball by gregory bastianelli - Blog Tour: Snowball by Gregory Bastialnelli

Snowball by Gregory Bastianelli
Published by Flame Tree Press on January 30, 2020
ISBN: 9781787583481
Genres: Fiction, Horror
Pages: 256
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Publisher
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five stars - Blog Tour: Snowball by Gregory Bastialnelli

A group of motorists become stranded on a lonely stretch of highway during a Christmas Eve blizzard and fight for survival against an unnatural force in the storm. The gathered survivors realize a tenuous connection among them means it may not be a coincidence that they all ended up on this highway. An attempt to seek help leads a few of the travelers to a house in the woods where a twisted toymaker with a mystical snow globe is hell bent on playing deadly games with a group of people just trying to get home for the holidays.
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.

Flame Tree Press are quickly becoming my go-to purveyor of horror. Snowball is seeping in a creeping dread with amazingly strong characterisation. The snow provides the perfect backdrop in this heart attack inducing horror story. It limits your vision, your senses intensified and on red alert. The eerie quiet closes in around you, impacts your psyche and delusions start to take precedence in your mind. They take a seat and makes itself comfy, you aren’t going to make it to the end without being unscathed. Prepare to feel as broken as the characters by the closing of the last page.

It’s Christmas Eve in New Hampshire. A terrifying, blizzard creating snow is starting to fall. Travellers are unaware of the disastrous effects this will cause to their travel plans. We are also introduced to the snow plough driver and we see first-hand just how the snow can play tricks with your vision and your mind. Was that a deer in the road or just a figure conjured up by an overactive imagination? He took a snap decision. He came to a stop and got stuck in the snow, right up to the plough blade. The cold is going to seep into the driver’s pores, rip them open and reveal a fear most palpable. It is this scene building that makes Snowball such a winner.

The cold is seeping into his bones, but he doesn’t fail to notice the figure in the snow. A Snowman. A completely benign figure that represents no threat to anyone, right? Well, when did you last see a snowman with rows of razor-sharp teeth. The malice is evident, like an omen that will end your days here on earth. The scene had my stomach churning, my heart thumping at a staccato beat and my vision blurry with the nightmarish images that were flashing before my eyes.

The book title is perfect. It’s poetic. It made the synapses in my brain fire quicker; my imagination was a fertile breeding ground for imagining what would happen next. As a snowball it starts small and as events take multiple turns it gathers speed, it gets bigger until it takes things out. It’s unstoppable, and it will turn on you if you try. This is an immediate author I will be reading more of. He knows how to cut to the quick and his words inject icy cold fluid into every nerve ending.

Snowball is dark, claustrophobic and full of soul breaking suspense. This book blew my mind to fragments that I struggled to gather afterwards. An altogether triumphant book of original horror.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gregory Bastianelli Author Pic - Blog Tour: Snowball by Gregory Bastialnelli

Gregory Bastianelli is the author of the novels, “Loonies” and “Jokers Club.” His stories have appeared in the magazines Black Ink Horror, Sinister Tales and Beyond Centauri; the anthologies “Night Terrors II”, “Cover of Darkness” and “Encounters”; and the online magazines “Absent Willow Review” and “Down in the Cellar”. Gregory’s novella “The Lair of the Mole People” appeared in the pulp anthology “Men & Women of Mystery Vol. II”.

He graduated from the University of New Hampshire where he studied writing under instructors Mark Smith, Thomas Williams and Theodore Weesner. Gregory worked for nearly two decades at a small daily newspaper, where the highlights of his career were interviewing shock rocker Alice Cooper and B-Movie icon Bruce Campbell.

He became enchanted with the stories of Ray Bradbury as a young child, and his love of horror grew with the likes of Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell.

Gregory lives in Dover, NH, in a Colonial home built in the 1700s. He enjoys kayaking, hiking and bicycling in the summer and snowshoeing and racquetball in the winter. Along with spending time with family, he enjoys traveling … especially to Italy, where he has visited his ancestral home and relatives residing there, also hiking the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast and to the top of Mount Vesuvius.

Gregory Bastianelli is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the New England Horror Writers.

Gregory Bastianelli

Review: Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban

January 26, 2020

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Published by Pottermore Publishing on December 8, 2015
ISBN: 9781781100516
Genres: Fiction, Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Contemporary, Young Adult, General, Fantasy & Magic, Young Adult Fiction, Wizards & Witches, School & Education, Boarding School & Prep School
Pages: 448
Format: Paperback
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five stars - Review: Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban

'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go.'
When the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and screeches to a halt in front of him, it's the start of another far from ordinary year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter. Sirius Black, escaped mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, is on the run - and they say he is coming after Harry. In his first ever Divination class, Professor Trelawney sees an omen of death in Harry's tea leaves... But perhaps most terrifying of all are the Dementors patrolling the school grounds, with their soul-sucking kiss...

I Solemnly swear I am up to no good.

Sirius Black is officially my favourite in the series. Anyone that can exist in Azkaban without having his soul dwindle into an empty pit deserves his happily ever after. Harry Potter is embroiled deeper and deeper into the dark workings of Voldemort. Each year his connection to him is a tangled web of mystery and suffering. Deceit and lies threaten to tear him down- loss of potential, loss of love and a deep ache that just festers. The only two anchors he has is Hogwarts and his best friends, Ron and Hermione.

The summer at the Dursleys has been as terrible as all the rest. The scene with Aunt Marge was particularly satisfying. I’m sure we all wish we could inflate and magic our annoying relatives away at a mere thought. I really wish there had been somewhere else for Harry to go for the summer break…they are beyond abusive and quite frankly I’d love to give one straight into Vernon’s fat mouth.

Harry is back for his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly and boy is this year taking a dark turn. Relationships weaken with the pressures of every day schooling with Hermione taking on too much, losing control and distancing herself from Harry and Ron. It was a great relatable and realistic event…plus, plus, she smacked Malfoy in the gob.

Harry is pretty much on lockdown around the school. A convicted murderer who is known to want to get to Harry due to his servitude to Lord Voldemort is on the run. Sirius Black. He betrayed Harry’s parents and led Voldemort right to his parents. He also killed Peter Pettigrew and killed twelve other people. He has been in Azkaban ever since. Oh, and those Dementors would scare the crap out of anyone. Soul sucking guards…No Thank You!

The Marauders map was my favourite storyline and the connection to his father was just a sigh out loud moment. This was most definitely my favourite book in the series so far. I can’t wait to make memories with my young children and reading these books with them for many years to come.

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
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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.