Review: Snakes and Ladders by Victoria Selman

April 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.

snakes and ladders by victoria selman - Review: Snakes and Ladders by Victoria Selman

Snakes and Ladders by Victoria Selman
Published by THOMAS & MERCER on December 17, 2019
ISBN: 9781542008792
Genres: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Thrillers, Crime, Psychological
Pages: 384
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

five stars - Review: Snakes and Ladders by Victoria Selman

Psycho meets The Silence of the Lambs
One killer on the loose. Another setting the rules. A profiler caught in the middle.
A serial killer is terrorising London, removing a body part from each victim and leaving in its place a single pink rose.
Dr Vernon Sange, a multiple murderer awaiting extradition, seems to know the culprit's identity--but he'll only talk to profiler Ziba MacKenzie, the woman responsible for putting him away. Though there's something he wants in return from her. And time is running out.
With one killer whispering in her ear and another running rings around the police, Ziba must play a game in which only her opponent knows the rules, and the forfeit is death.

Wow…Snakes and Ladders was the dog’s testicles for sure! Billed as psycho meets Silence of the lambs, never was I going to refuse a match up like that! Although this book is one that you should go completely blind into. It was very Silence of the lambs, but it far exceeded my expectations. Do you want a book that will give you blunt force trauma by its sheer brilliant narrative and its impending threat that just constantly lurks around every corner. If you only read one crime series this year, make it this one!

Victoria Selman translates such equivocal storytelling onto the page with such ease. She gives the reader a snapshot of her powerful imagination. Snakes and Ladders is essentially a power to be reckoned with. She pushes us to our emotional limits, squeezes us to accept humanities flaws and highlights society’s cracks.

Snakes and Ladders will hook you immediately. The setting, the storytelling and the characterisation will do a blinder on you! I do love a good crime fiction novel but very few have been able to suck me into the storyline quite like this. Add in the intensity of two serial killers and the flawed character of a highly successful criminal profiler and it eagerly ticks all the boxes for a hugely addictive crime novel. All it takes is one taste of the story buried underneath and you will be gone.

Snakes and Ladders is one of those books that are so incredibly difficult to review. The story is so intelligent and compelling, but I don’t want to give anything away that may spoil the story. Ziba Mackenzie is an extremely strong protagonist. I think ultimately this is the reason I loved the story so much. The flowed around her, she strengthened it, but she had her flaws and for that, she was relatable – we can all see parts of ourselves within her character. Her personality felt like an echo resonating out with the pages. Her role within the investigation was as a freelance criminal profiler. I enjoyed this angle and it made an intriguing change from the usual detective or police viewpoint. She delved into the investigation with vigour and I was intrigued about the personal connection she seemed to have with one of the serial killers, Vernon Sange. He’s still behind bars but somehow, he’s still able to pull the shots. He’s intimidating and creepily intelligent. He’s for sure a dead ringer for Hannibal Lector. He gave me chills!

Our other serial killer, The Pink Rose Killer is the focus of this investigation, but it is no less devastating. How does Vernon Sange know so much about him? Are they in contact? Will he give a name? can they stop him before he claims his next victim? We get insight into the killers past with flashback chapters and it really nails home just how much the past can have a firm grip on our present and future.

Snakes and Ladders has cemented Victoria Selman as an exciting crime writer to watch. Twist follows twist at such a breakneck speed. Cancel all your plans. Turn your phone off, lock the doors and get comfy…you won’t be going anywhere until the final page is closed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

victoria selman picture 3 - Review: Snakes and Ladders by Victoria Selman

Victoria’s first novel, BLOOD FOR BLOOD, was shortlisted for the 2017 Debut Dagger Award and is a Kindle #1 bestseller. Her second novel, NOTHING TO LOSE went straight to #22 on the Kindle Movers & Shakers chart when it was published in March.

She has written for The Daily Express, Ham & High and Independent newspapers and in 2013 she won the Full Stop Short Story Prize.

She also co-hosts the true crime podcast, CRIME GIRL GANG in which three crime writers examine real life cold cases then solve them from a fictional perspective: itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/crime-girl-gang/id1447814645?mt=2 …

If you’d like to get in touch please use Twitter @VictoriaSelman

Blog Tour: I am Dust by Louise Beech

April 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.

i am dust by louise beech - Blog Tour: I am Dust by Louise Beech

I Am Dust by Louise Beech
Published by Orenda Books on February 16, 2020
ISBN: 9781913193225
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Crime
Pages: 300
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

five stars - Blog Tour: I am Dust by Louise Beech

The Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer. Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after 20 years. But who will be brave enough to take on the role of ghostly goddess Esme Black, last played by Morgan Miller, who was murdered in her dressing room? Theatre usher Chloe Dee is caught up in the spectacle. As the new actors arrive, including an unexpected face from her past, everything changes. Are the eerie sounds and sightings backstage real or just her imagination? Is someone playing games? Is the role of Esme Black cursed? Could witchcraft be at the heart of the tragedy? And are dark deeds from Chloe's past about to catch up with her? Not all the drama takes place onstage. Sometimes murder, magic, obsession and the biggest of betrayals are real life. When you're in the theatre shadows, you see everything. And Chloe has been watching.

You know you are in trouble when your first thought after finishing an epic book is how on earth are you going to review it? How on earth can I do it justice? Never has dust been so visible. I am Dust is outstandingly perfect!

This was an amazing read. This is a book that you don’t want to review straight away. You need to take a breather and relish in the absolute mastery that is I am Dust. It is a story that envelops your soul, becomes at one with your psyche and knows at your senses. This book flows so beautifully that it speaks to you on a raw and deeper level. It reads easily, and you end up being so absorbed in the plot. You are absorbed by the pages until you are living and breathing the story. There isn’t enough stars that I could possibly rate this book at realistically.

The Dean Wilson Theatre has newly opened. The year is 1999, and the first show being shown is Dust. Morgan Miller plays the character Esme Black. The unfortunate event that occurred on the fourth showing as the murder of Morgan Miller. The inevitable action being that the show was cancelled. There was no successful encore, no new roles, just a wasted potential. It has been rumoured that Miller haunts the theatre, in her full Esme Black get up. The case was never solved, and her murderer is still on the loose. The threatening shadows keep you on your toes. You can feel the threat. Louise Beech’s writing is magnificent. My senses were on red alert. I could see the mystery, sense the fear. The story was seeped in coldness. The characters are balancing a sheet of thin ice – one movement could immerse us all.

We are now twenty years in the future and Dust is returning for a comeback show. It splits its audience – some are anticipating great things, and some believe that it should be left well alone. The theatre ultimately hope that this revival will bring a necessary injection of renewed customers. Bringing it back to where it all began could either cure or kill the theatre’s survival. I was enamoured with the plot and couldn’t see the impending threats that slowly began to reveal themselves.

We meet some new characters. Chloe being the one that touched me on a raw and gritty level. For me she is easily led with a resounding need to just fit in. she is a broken character and the emptiness that screams at us from behind her eyes is enough to crack the readers hearts into a thousand pieces. The story has an undercurrent of melancholy and it is very easy to fall into a saddened state while experiencing the characters life. Louise Beech has managed to intertwine two lives that were connected through the ages.

I am Dust is gritty and compelling. It is dead set to be a book that gets everyone talking in 2020. It’s visceral, addictive and Louise Beech’s storytelling is so mind-blowing that she takes it an elusive quality.

Thanks to Anne @ Random Things Tours for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. Her second book, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Both of her previous books Maria in the Moon and The Lion Tamer Who Lost were widely reviewed, critically acclaimed and number-one bestsellers on Kindle. The Lion Tamer Who Lost was shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award in 2019. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull, and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.

Louise Beech

Review: The Argument by Victoria Jenkins

March 31, 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 argument by victoria jenkins - Review: The Argument by Victoria Jenkins

The Argument by Victoria Jenkins
Published by Bookouture on December 10, 2019
ISBN: 9781838880897
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, Psychological, General
Pages: 247
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Review: The Argument by Victoria Jenkins

‘OMG!!!!! This book is in my top 10 for 2019.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘I raced through it, often with my heart in my throat!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Wow! So not what I was expecting. But in the best way possible!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It happens to every mother. One day, the daughter whose whole world you once were, becomes someone you barely know. And you don’t know the secrets she’s hiding…

One night, 15-year-old Olivia comes home late from a party she was strictly forbidden from going to, and she and her mother, Hannah, start arguing. Soon Olivia speaks the words that every parent has heard from their teenage child:

‘I hate you. You’ve ruined my life. And I’m never speaking to you again.’

Olivia has never been an easy child, a sharp contrast to her easy-going, happy-go-lucky little sister. But Hannah thinks Olivia’s outburst is the end of a normal family argument. In fact, it’s only the beginning of a nightmare…

After one day of silence, Hannah thinks Olivia is taking a teenage sulk too far. After two days, she starts to feel anxious that something more serious could be going on. After a week, when her daughter still hasn’t spoken, Hannah knows that Olivia is hiding a bigger darkness – something that could threaten to tear their precious family apart…

The Argument is an unputdownable psychological thriller that asks how far we can push our families before they finally break. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, The Woman in the Window, and The Silent Patient.

Readers are loving The Argument

‘It got me from page one and I couldn't stop reading ‘til I found out how it would end.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars

‘I got so totally engrossed… I read it in under a day... A brilliant psychological thriller.’ NetGalley Reviewer

‘The TWIST (and I write that in caps that incredible of a twist it was) made my jaw hit the floor when it happened... I couldn't put it down...’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘Fantastic… so well written and emotional... I would highly, highly recommend this book.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars

‘From the first page, I was swept right in… I read late into the night. So many twists that I never saw coming… highly recommend.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars

‘Am still in shock after reading this… brilliant… a must read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars

‘Usually I can see twists coming… But this book. Oh man. I had no idea this was going to happen, I did not see it coming.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘Never saw that twist coming.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘A devastatingly good book… if this doesn’t leave you shuddering nothing will. Brilliantly well done.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars

I absolutely adore stories focussed on relationships between teenage children and their parents. I love the nature of how both in the real world and in fiction they can turn into big sticky messes. There is no guidebook on how to navigate the murky waters of parenthood, but I would live in hope that we would all fare better than the events that take place in The Argument. The mother/daughter relationship is one that often falls foul to the trappings of clashing personalities and this story is no different. Be prepared to hear the painful ticking of the clock in the silence of everything that is left unsaid.

In a quiet cul-de-sac a mother and daughter are engaged in the battle of hormones. The daughter thinking, she knows best and the mother enforcing her will with drastic consequences. Olivia sneaks out to a party that she has been emphatically banned from. Her parents, Hannah and Michael do not want her there under any circumstances. Olivia is fifteen and looking through an objective microscope, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what could happen…a teenager going missing. Rape. Drug misuse. Alcohol abuse. The list is endless. Olivia finally arrives home and an argument ensues. Hannah is angry, and Olivia professes that she has ruined her life and refuses to speak to her again. Seems very like teenage behaviour, right? However, it is at this point my eyes and my brain cant compute. Something doesn’t add up with Hannah, my senses are on red alert.

Olivia sticks to her guns. She indeed doesn’t speak to her parents for several days. You know there isn’t something quite right about the dynamics between Olivia and her parents and conversely between Rosie, her sister and her parents. It’s clear as day that she gets treated differently and a knot forms in the pit of my stomach. The untold narrative between Hannah and Michael, the silent looks passed between them. What aren’t they saying? Why are they so quick to pass the blame to their eldest daughter when things start to go disastrously wrong?

My tongue was itching to scream the answers into Olivia’s ear. She was on the right track she just had to hunt harder and take decisive action before it was too late. Could a diary give her all the answers she has ever needed? Could it explain why she has always felt different…never quite fitting in. As a mother of three (boys I might add) this was a narrative that was difficult to both digest and understand. Being a mother of teenagers is a difficult road to travel but ultimately, we have to give them the freedom to make their own mistakes. We need to be their beacon of trust and love. The one constant that will have them returning to you. I count myself lucky that I seem to have found a workable balance.

Just when you think you have the story worked out in The Argument, along comes a bomb to blow your thoughts into space. So many details unravelled to turn my brain into soup. I was confused by the actions of certain characters. I revelled in the confusion, I was completely here for it. Trust in the author she will deliver you safely to the final page but not without a rollercoaster ride of emotions. We are engulfed in a fog of toxicity, but it will clear and bring us the light once more. Everything we learn leads in multiple different directions but it all has a purpose. Victoria Jenkins is the spider spinning her web and the reader is the unwitting fly tempted by the thread.

The Argument is a book that the term edge of your seat was invented for. The edge of my seat is worn out – I spent most of the novel on it! Victoria Jenkins grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go until the final page had been put to rest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

1053000 - Review: The Argument by Victoria Jenkins

Victoria Jenkins is a Welsh author who has made a name for herself writing the highly popular Detective King and Lane series of novels. The first novel in the series was “The Girls In The Water” that Jenkins first published in 2017, to much critical acclaim and popularity among crime fiction fans.
The series of novels features Detective Constable Chloe Lane and Detective Inspector Alex King, who are the lead investigative characters that solve some mysterious murders in their hometown.

Jenkins lives with her husband and daughter in South Wales, where her series of crime novels featuring Detectives King and Lane is based.

Victoria Jenkins

Blog Tour: Mine by Clare Empson

March 31, 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.

mine by clare empson - Blog Tour: Mine by Clare Empson

Mine by Clare Empson
Published by Orion Publishing Group on August 22, 2019
ISBN: 9781409177777
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Crime, Psychological
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: Mine by Clare Empson

'A beautifully told stroy about the raw pain and ecstasy of motherhood. I loved it.' Jane Corry
'I adored this powerful, emotive and sensitively written story about love and loss/' Louise Jensen
'Haunting and heart-rending ... a beautifully told story' Victoria Selman

'Who am I? Why am I here? Why did my mother give me away?'
On the surface, Luke and his girlfriend Hannah seem to have a perfect life. He's an A&R man, she's an arts correspondent and they are devoted to their new-born son Samuel.
But beneath the gloss Luke has always felt like an outsider. So when he finds his birth mother Alice, the instant connection with her is a little like falling in love.
When Hannah goes back to work, Luke asks Alice to look after their son. But Alice - fuelled with grief from when her baby was taken from her 27 years ago - starts to fall in love with Samuel. And Luke won't settle for his mother pushing him aside once again...
* * * * *
Why real readers love this emotionally gripping story by the author of HIM:

'Read it, read it, read it. One of my books of the year, without a doubt.' Goodreads reviewer
'Beautiful, haunting, emotional, and totally addictive.' Goodreads reviewer
'A realistic, character driven, highly-emotional and addictive read.' Goodreads reviewer
'Be warned: this novel will take over your life while you are reading it.' Goodreads reviewer

Mine deals with sensitive issues and really breathes life into the saying that your past is never really in your past. We are all a result of our upbringings. Memories. The laughter. Endless tears. It is all an echo that rings in the lost memories of our childhood. It is useless to try and outrun the fears that revisiting the past can open back up. You can lace up those trainers and try to get ahead of it, but it’s going to catch up with you eventually.

Mine is the story of Luke and his wife, Hannah. Together they have a son, Samuel. The novel examines the reawakening that occurs in Luke. The birth of his son has brought old scars back into the Frey. His past ghosts now inhabit his consciousness. He believed that he had moved on but now he is wrecked with thoughts about his birth mother. Every shadow and corner brings him back full circle – wondering about where he came from. It makes you wonder about the other side of the coin – how does the parent, especially the mother, move on from such an action? He meets his mother, Alice, now aged 47. A very attractive woman by all means who gave Luke up when he was only a few weeks old. She was an aspiring artist and now paints portraits of pets. Was it really worth it? Luke doesn’t gain much of a reason for why he was given up for adoption.

Mine certainly has a raw undercurrent of a melancholy tune. It is sadness for years lost. For an emptiness. The writing was magnetic. I was pulled towards it from the very first page. It was addictive and squeezed at my heart, especially as a mother. I don’t think I would have every fully moved on from that.

Alice was a deeply frustrating character for me. She was given the opportunity that doesn’t always come knocking for birth parents. He she has her baby boy back in front of her and she doesn’t grasp on to him with both hands. He represents a new life. A renewed future. A second chance. Instead he is greeted with this cold, standoffish persona. She never lets him in and I just want to grab her and shake her, make her realise just what an opportunity she has. As the story progresses we are afforded the details of why and you slowly come around to the idea that yes maybe she had her reasons, maybe even sympathise with her.

The story moves forward with Hannah returning to work. Try as they might, they cannot find a suitable Au Pair to look after their son. After seeing Alice bond with Samuel, it is suggested that this could be a perfect solution. Luke watches and becomes jealous of the relationship between his son and his mother. Can he really trust her with his son? Just how much does he know about her? It is clear to the eye that his issues with abandonment run very deep, he is unsettled but just can’t shake off the feeling.

Mine is successfully layered this novel with the coldness and fear of what abandonment can result in. Clare Empson has created a menacing atmosphere with darkly compelling characters that take up space in your head.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

clare4 - Blog Tour: Mine by Clare Empson

Clare Empson worked as a staff writer on national newspapers covering everything from collapsing merchant banks to tea with the late Barbara Cartland (everything pink including the cakes). Eight years ago, she moved to the West Country and founded the arts and lifestyle blog countrycalling.co.uk.

The idyllic setting inspired her first novel, which reveals the darker side of paradise. Clare lives on the Wiltshire/Dorset border with her husband and three children.

Clare Empson

Review: The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

March 26, 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 unspoken name by a k larkwood - Review: The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood
Published by Tor Publishing on February 11, 2020
ISBN: 9781250238917
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Epic, Action & Adventure
Pages: 480
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about a young priestess sentenced to die, who at the last minute escapes her fate; only to become an assassin for the wizard who saved her.
What if you knew how and when you will die?
Csorwe does—she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.
But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard's loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.
But Csorwe will soon learn—gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.
“In the vein of Le Guin's magnificent Tombs of Atuan—if Arha the Eaten One got to grow up to be a swordswoman mercenary in thrall to her dubious wizard mentor. I love this book so much."—Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire
"I cannot recommend it enough." -- Tamsyn Muir, author of Gideon the Ninth
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Unspoken Name

Didn’t they teach you how to steal a ship at wizarding school?

A.K. Larkwood has created an ethereal vision of female badassery that I had completely laced up my feminist ass kicking boots by the end of chapter one. The formula that the author concocted in order to produce the masterpiece that my eyes and brain conversely lapped up was unique and special. She knew the compounds that go into writing a fantasy – they work, but the author decided to tear that rule book up and rewrite them completely! She drew me in with her hypnotic narrative and the familiar territory that I have become used to suddenly turned into a snake infested pit…but I was loving it!

The Unspoken Name was literally an experience. The author held me captive and threw me into the boot of her car and wouldn’t let go until the end. It was magnetism and I just couldn’t let go.

If you want a fresh take on fantasy, then The Unspoken Name should be right at the top of your TBR. Go in with no inhibitions, no preconceived ideas, forget genres, forget the rules. It will bend the confines of sub genres, it will blend societal themes and leave you feeling empowered and wrought with emotions. This book will blow your mind.

My immediate thought process after closing that last page was YES YES YES. It hit every button and I knew I would sell my soul to the devil himself to get book two. I need it right now, I NEED it. This is certainly a series that would translate well to a Netflix series and would rock my socks.

Page one set the tone imperceptibly. The protagonist, Csorwe, examines the predominate theme in the novel, that of choice. Life is one big choice, whether that is a deemed choice or a given one based upon expectations and a road that needs to be walked. When we meet her, she is very unremarkable, but she has a fate…she must die. A sacrifice to the gods. She must become a dead bride effectively. She has lived her entire life to get to this point. Her choices have been limited and not out with her remit of the cult she has been brought up in. what should happen if she was faced with a real choice? A choice that will change everything.

A.K Larkwood has evolved a narrative that takes the entire spectrum of colours and invents a universe that is a sparking ball of frenetic energy. It’s a close parallel to our own reality and it’s so vivid that it has taken on a life of its own.

If your only choice is death where do you go? When Csorwe is approached by the extremely charismatic wizard, Sethannai he bestows upon her a pretty obvious choice in my book, serve me and live or accept your fate and die. Well if I had been Csorwe I would have been crashing into him like the cool aid guy. I would have snapped his hand off. Sethannai has serious plans for Csorwe. He needs her in order to take back his kingdom of Tiaanthothe. The journey of her training and tribulations along the way made my giddy little heart happy. Watching her strength and confidence grow was everything I love in a protagonist. My brain felt numb from the onslaught of action and each chapter blended into the next. The words on each page felt like they became embedded in my brain, it became a part of me. I forgot I was reading, and this felt more like VR. It was a completely immersive experience.

The Unspoken Name is a beguiling and dark tale with mind blowing narrative that makes you forget your own name. it explores the darkest of emotions and translates into a magical joyride.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

AKLarwood creditVickiBaileyofVHBPhotography - Review: The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

A. K. Larkwood studied English at St John’s College, Cambridge. Since then, she has worked in higher education & media relations, and is now studying law. She lives in Oxford, England, with her wife and a cat. Her debut novel, The Unspoken Name, will be published by Tor in 2020.

(Also, my favourite things to write about are:

loyalty ‘n’ betrayal
human sacrifice
immortals behaving badly
fraught banquets where someone gets murdered
fantasy archaeology
people bleeding a single aesthetic drop of blood as they die in the snow

… but in real life my main excitement day-to-day is when I get to cook a new kind of lentil.)

A.K. Larkwood

Review: The Girls in the Lake (Beth Adams #2) by Helen Phifer

March 23, 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 girls in the lake by helen phifer - Review: The Girls in the Lake (Beth Adams #2) by Helen Phifer

The Girls in the Lake by Helen Phifer
Published by Bookouture on December 9, 2019
ISBN: 9781786819253
Genres: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, General, Thrillers, Medical, Crime, Suspense, Traditional, Women Sleuths, Romance, Psychological, Small Town & Rural, Private Investigators, Hard-Boiled, Noir, Amateur Sleuth
Pages: 291
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

three stars - Review: The Girls in the Lake (Beth Adams #2) by Helen Phifer

Peering over the side of the boat, the glare of early morning sun catches on something pale in the inky water. The boy’s curious fingertips break the surface, pulling up a tangle of long blonde hair from the reeds below…

The discovery of a girl floating face down in Lake Windermere, her naked skin almost translucent in the freezing water, looks like yet another tragic teen suicide. But the victim’s lack of clothes make Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams want to investigate further. Anything to distract her from the arrival of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s body on the mortuary table that morning.

With witnesses keeping tight-lipped and any clues washed away by the tides, it’s up to Beth to find the evidence her team needs. But then another girl is found in the lake, this time still clinging to life. She tells them she was at a party on a boat, and that she was pushed…

As more bodies surface, tiny traces of boat paint lead Beth to a tragic accident involving a group of school children years ago, and the feeling that the killer might be closer than anyone could ever have imaged. But with her personal life spinning out of control, can she persuade her team before another life is lost?

An absolutely unputdownable serial killer thriller that will have you sleeping with the lights on. Fans of Patricia Gibney, LJ Ross and Angela Marsons will have to hold on tight for this nail-biting rollercoaster ride!

Readers love The Girls in the Lake:
‘Brilliant… keeps you on the edge of your seat right until the last chapter...loving this series and the characters in it.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Plenty of twists… I didn’t want to put it down… suspenseful and riveting, you will want time to read it in one sitting.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Hooked from the beginning and it kept me engaged until the very last page.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Full of twists… full of tension… several times I caught myself holding my breath.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Another thrilling, tightly plotted addition to this already fabulous series...I loved this book…fast paced, realistic… plenty of action, mystery and suspects. Definitely comes highly recommended and deserves all of 5 stars.’ Netgalley reviewer, 5 stars

‘I thoroughly enjoyed… an engrossing tale… I don’t know where the time went, one minute I started to read and a few hours later I was finishing.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘A humdinger of a crime thriller that grabs you and draws you in from the brilliantly written and powerful opening scene to the nail-biting, butt-clenching finale.’ Netgalley reviewer, 5 stars

The water is beautiful. The water will also pull you under into its murky depths without a care or a thought about race, gender or social standing. If you don’t grant it the respect it so deserves it will unleash its power and it isn’t a battle you are going to win. The Girls in the Lake is a steady paced police procedural which picks up a few weeks after book 1. I felt that the first half of the novel was slower paced but it took off like a rocket in the second half.

The story is centred around the main character, Dr Beth Adams, a forensic pathologist. She has had an extremely tough life, having been subjected to a traumatic abusive relationship for the past seven years. Fast forward and she has marginally moved forward happy in the knowledge that her ex is in prison but still frozen in the past and being haunted by the effects that relationship has instilled in her. She is now living with DS Josh Walker. Life is good but usually when its that good something comes along and has a habit of turning it on its end. Cue, two dead bodies turning up in lake Windemere and the onslaught of the impending investigation.

Things get even more personal with a third girl being pushed into the water from a troublesome party boat…are the three women connected or was its mere accidents?

I really liked the character of Beth. Although she often participated in the sport of self-depreciation, she was an extremely strong character. She knew her worth and knew what she needed to do to move forward and boy did she go out and do it. She is one hell of a woman! I think to a certain extent she is struggling with the possibility of suffering from PTSD and seeks solace in the bottle more than she should but again we all have our crutches to bear. She navigates the murky waters of following her gut instinct and at points I thought that she was more on the ball as a detective than the actual police were.

The girls in the lake was a haven for geeks like me. I really enjoyed reading about the science behind the pathology of Beth’s work and the other forensic anomalies that popped in her freelance investigating. Call me a weirdo but I love what killed someone and the science that backs it all up even more.

I was mildly frustrated with the avoidable spat that occurred between Beth and Josh. In any relationship, trust and communication is paramount and their issue just seemed like a non-issue. Beth seemed to go a little off the deep end without having any proof and it did feel a little at odds with the character that I had been becoming acquainted to previously. But, overall, The Girls in the Lake was an enjoyable reading experience and I would like to give the first book a go.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

download - Review: The Girls in the Lake (Beth Adams #2) by Helen Phifer

Helen Phifer is the #1 Bestselling crime and horror novelist of the Annie Graham and Lucy Harwin series. Helen lives in a small town called Barrow-in-Furness with her husband and five children. She has lived in the same town since she was born. Surrounded by miles of coastline and not too far away from the beautiful Lake District. She has always loved writing and reading since the days she learnt how to in infant school. loves reading books that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and make her afraid to go to the toilet, alone in the middle of the night. is eternally grateful to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert and Graham Masterton for scaring her senseless in her teenage years. Unable to find enough of the scary stories she loves to read, she decided to write her own.

Her debut novel The Ghost House was released October 2013 and introduced readers to police officer Annie Graham. It went on to be an Amazon #1 bestseller in Canada. It reached #1 on the Amazon Contemporary Horror Charts in both the UK and the US, pushing her idol Stephen King off his #1 spot many times.

She was thrilled when the second book in the series The Secrets of the Shadows managed to push The Ghost House off its #1 spot even if it was a little surreal. This was followed by The Forgotten Cottage, The Lake House, The Girls in the Woods and The Face Behind the Mask.

The Good Sisters is a standalone old, fashioned horror story which Helen admits scared her so much when she was writing it that she couldn’t write once it got dark. Set in an abandoned convent it will definitely give you the chills.

March 2017 saw the publication of Dark House, a gripping psychological thriller which introduced readers to the dangerous world of Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin. Dying Breath and Last Light are books two and three in that series.

The Haunting on West 10th Street is a supernatural thriller set on the streets of New York.

The Girl in the Grave featuring Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams is released 16th July 2019.

Helen Phifer

Review: I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

March 20, 2020

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
Published by Simon and Schuster on June 14, 2016
ISBN: 9781501126963
Genres: Fiction, Literary, Thrillers, Psychological, Suspense
Pages: 224
Format: eBook
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five stars - Review: I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

SOON TO BE A NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM DIRECTED BY CHARLIE KAUFMAN AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read. Iain Reid has crafted a tight, ferocious little book, with a persistent tenor of suspense that tightens and mounts toward its visionary, harrowing final pages” (Scott Heim, award-winning author of Mysterious Skin and We Disappear).
I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.
Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”
And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.
In this “dark and compelling…unputdownable” (Booklist, starred review) literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel “packs a big psychological punch with a twisty story line and an ending that will leave readers breathless” (Library Journal, starred review).

How many times do we witness in the media about the importance of good mental health? How many people think – I’m thinking of ending things? It’s everywhere, except when its not. How long does checking on those family and friends that need us most last? Probably for the duration of mental health month…sad fact but true. Iain Reid has the insane ability to leave you feeling listless, inherently scared but not fully knowing why – initially. The opening has an almost poetic eeriness seeping into your psyche – you can imagine the scene…quietness, the darkness of night and you have the creeping feeling that you need to run, but you can’t – you have to keep reading.

“Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”

I’m thinking of ending things – the focus of the novel. A nameless narrator, a woman, is in a new relationship with Jake. He is an eccentric and quiet man who has a job as a lab technician. The first half of the novel delves into a drive to Jake’s parents farm. The back and forth interactions between them just sparked to me as mightily haunting. In our nameless narrators’ points of view, everything is marred by the seed of doubt that has sprouted in her mind – She is thinking of ending things. The author brilliantly sowed philosophical ruminations – it gave the novel a unique angle that I didn’t know I was ravenous for.

“The meaning of my existence is that life has addressed a question to me. Or, conversely, I myself am a question which is addressed to the world, and I must communicate my answer, for otherwise I am dependant upon the worlds answer.”

The genius in my opinion lies in the conversations between strangers. They don’t make a lot of sense at first, but the ending makes it all entirely clear and I read the story backwards it has an even more eerily threatening tone. Whilst reading it you don’t why you feel so scared, you just know you are. The twist was like a bomb to the chest – for some reason I didn’t expect it, but it quite literally took the breath from me. I felt like I was drowning in muddy waters – just when I made headway, it pulled me back under once again. Nothing is straightforward in this book. I personally love a book that can make me feel this way, I relished the discomfort. It made me think and had me looking over my shoulder. I am looking forward to my next Iain Reid read.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Iain Reid is the author of two critically acclaimed, award-winning books of nonfiction. His internationally bestselling debut novel, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, has been published in more than twenty countries. Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman is writing and directing a film based on the novel, which Reid will co-produce. His second novel, Foe, was an instant bestseller and feature film rights have been acquired by Anonymous Content, with Reid set to executive produce. Follow him on Twitter @Reid_Iain.

Iain Reid

Review: Docile by K.M. Szpara

March 16, 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.

docile by k m szpara - Review: Docile by K.M. Szpara

Docile by K.M. Szpara
Published by Tor Publishing on March 3, 2020
ISBN: 9781250216144
Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Hard Science Fiction, LGBT, Gay
Pages: 480
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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four stars - Review: Docile by K.M. Szpara

K. M. Szpara's Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles.
There is no consent under capitalism.
To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents' debts and buy your children's future.
Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him.
Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.
Content warning: Docile contains forthright depictions and discussions of rape and sexual abuse.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Wow, if Docile has afforded me one thing – its that I am eternally grateful for how my life is (even with the current health crisis.) Docile has nailed it home just how easily the world and humanity can sink into the depths of depravity and self-indulgent when capitalism rules with an iron fist. It is a stark reminder of just what I don’t want life to be like. If you’ve ever wondered what life would be like if you were able to do as you wished, then read Docile – it’s a shocking portrayal of the rich getting richer and the poor becoming more objectified and more desperate.

The novel tackles many themes through many different objective angles. A dystopian Maryland. Bankruptcy. Generational debt. Social gaps becoming colossal. Contractual partnerships. Questionable medication. Beware a medication that turns you into a docile quite literally. It might all seem like a comfortable life so long as you can get on board with the idea that you are allowing your partner (more like an owner) to do with you as you wish. Everything is controlled from your diet to your exercise regime to the way you wear your hair. With wealth beguiles power and with poverty relents every freedom you ever had.

Elisha Wilder’s family have crippling debt – think in the millions. There is no tangible way out…but one. Elisha volunteers to enrol in the docile programme to protect his sister from that fate. He knows that his life as he knew it was over but never in his wildest imagination did, he think that Alex Bishop III of Bishop Laboratories would choose him as a partner. The very same family that developed the Dociline formula. The formula that makes a wilful and independent individual into a compliant docile – one that will happily do as they are told without complaint or hesitation. Just as Elisha didn’t expect being partnered with Alex, Alex also didn’t expect what he got in meek Elisha.

Docile is seriously creepy and darker than a black hole. K.M. Szpara has erected a winding staircase of deceit. Just when we think we have gotten to grips with the events that take place, the stairs change shape and we collapse. It trips us up, leaves us postrate and pleading for help. He seems to take pleasure in blindfolding the reader and leading them down a winding maze – our senses are on high alert. Our sensibilities for knowing what is morally reprehensible in a modern society left me deeply unseated and I was very uncomfortable reading certain scenes. Let’s make it clear – you are MEANT to be uncomfortable – this isn’t a lovely visit with your grandmother this is akin to be smacked around the head until you forget which way is up and, in this case,, who knows?

There is a serious rape scene that is disturbing but paramount to the story. It could trigger certain emotions in some readers so just to be wary of it. The book is very hot is one of the best representations of LGBTQ+ that I have had the pleasure of reading. It has achieved more in this book than I have experienced in all the LGBTQ+ books I’ve read. It doesn’t fade into the background, it is strikingly brilliant, I have never read anything like it, and I think I might be hard pushed to find anything again like it.

Docile brings to the table a new formula for dystopian fiction. An immersive storyline takes the old and makes it new. K.M. Szpara takes character development and uses it to enrich the worldbuilding. A breath of fresh air in a well-worn genre!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K.M. Szpara is a queer and trans author who lives in Baltimore, MD, with a tiny dog. Kellan always has a good manicure, likes whiskey cocktails, and thinks pants are overrated. His debut alt-/near-future novel, DOCILE (March 3, 2020; Tor.com Publishing), explores the snowballing debt crisis, consent, and privilege, and can be described as “really gay”.

His novelette, “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards and Long-Listed for the Tiptree. Like Kellan, the protagonist is a gay trans man. Unlike Kellan, he’s bitten by a Daddy vampire with an Ikea fetish. More of Kellan’s fiction can be found in venues such as Uncanny, Lightspeed, and Shimmer. So far, all of it contains sex, which he insists is both about feelings, characters and social dynamics, but also, definitely, butts.

Kellan has a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, which he totally uses at his day job as a paralegal. He is a graduate of the Viable Paradise workshop and the editor of Transcendent: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculate Fiction (Lethe Press), which received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. You can find him socializing into the night at literary conventions, chatting in two hundred eighty characters or fewer on Twitter at @KMSzpara, or in print as K.M. Szpara.

K.M. Szpara

Blog Tour: Mexico Street (Chas Riley #8) by Simone Buchholz

March 11, 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.

mexico street by simone buchholz - Blog Tour: Mexico Street (Chas Riley #8) by Simone Buchholz

Mexico Street by Simone Buchholz
Published by Orenda Books on March 5, 2020
ISBN: 9781913193157
Genres: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, International Mystery & Crime
Pages: 276
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
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four stars - Blog Tour: Mexico Street (Chas Riley #8) by Simone Buchholz

Night after night, cars are set alight across the German city of Hamburg, with no obvious pattern, no explanation and no suspect. Until, one night, on Mexico Street, a ghetto of high-rise blocks in the north of the city, a Fiat is torched. Only this car isn't empty. The body of Nouri Saroukhan--prodigal son of the Bremen clan--is soon discovered, and the case becomes a homicide. Public prosecutor Chastity Riley is handed the investigation, which takes her deep into a criminal underground that snakes beneath the whole of Germany. And as details of Nouri's background, including an illicit relationship with the mysterious Aliza, emerge, it becomes clear that these are not random attacks, and there are more on the cards.

Mexico Street, where the atmosphere is buzzing and the air is smoking, quite literally! It reminds me of a slogan that should be on the city’s signs. The title hides the depravity and the greed that is Hamburg’s underbelly. It’s a novel that packs a seriously kilter throwing punch. Gangster families. Strong women. Forbidden love. it investigates the complexities of whether good truly dominates over evil or whether that is just a fabricated construct to give us hope. Be prepared to freshen up those pearly whites because this is a novel with bite!

We open with a bang or more accurately a scorch. There’s a car on fire in Mexico Street. There’s a man still in it, threatening to be burned alive. The fire brigade arrives, the man is taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. It said he comes from the crime family, Saroukhan from Bremen. His death is neither a shock nor does it unsettle them, he has been dead to them for several years. Just how bad does it need to be for an entire family to disown their son? Their reaction and the lives this family leads had me entirely curious about the sanctity of family in their eyes. We are immediately catapulted into the brutality and the mistreatment of the woman. If we can say a woman is the nurturer in a family, then the men of this story are the destructors.

The ones trying to decode this crime are an elite team. We have our unlikely heroine, Chastity Riley, the state prosecutor. She can throw punches like the big boys and break barriers with her iron will. She’s flawed just like the rest of us. Cracking complicated crimes seem like a piece of cake to her but relationships seem unattainable, shrouded in smoke, not quite trusting herself to let go and be herself. She was a galaxy away from what I expected going into this book, but she was so imperfectly perfect she was a character I was straight behind, ready to take any insight she felt confident giving out. Somethings don’t add up in her initial estimations. Who was the redhead woman they saw running away from the scene of the crime, an innocent bystander or the culprit? *Enter twilight show theme music*

Simone Buchholz is an entirely new author for me and wow I was equal parts amazed and perplexed not only by her ability to weave a raw and gritty crime narrative but her writing is tack sharp with large doses of tension thrown into the mix with a threatening shadow that creeps into every aspect of the investigation. It’s dark, it’s dangerous and it will delight all crime fans. This is a complicated story of family and the saying especially rings true in this tale – “you can’t pick your family.”

Mexico Street is highly compelling and brought me straight upright and reminded why I love crime fiction. It brought us a wealth of details and sucked me into a black hole of twisty thriller-ness!!

Thank you to Anne Cater @ Random Things tours for my spot on the blog tour. Big Thanks also to Rachel Ward on the translation without whom, i would never have read this absolute gem!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg. In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award as well as runner-up in the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months. She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son.

Simone Buchholz

Review: Dark Hollows by Steve Frech

March 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.

48414275. SY475 - Review: Dark Hollows by Steve Frech

Dark Hollows by Steve Frech
Published by HarperCollins UK on December 6, 2019
ISBN: 9780008368227
Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thrillers, Psychological, Suspense, Horror, Mystery & Detective, General
Pages: 384
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
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three stars - Review: Dark Hollows by Steve Frech

‘Wowzers, what a read... I absolutely LOVED this book... An unputdownable page turner of a read.’ Ginger Book Geek, 5 stars
Jacob Reese enjoys the quiet life, running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows, Vermont.
But the calm is shattered when a woman who looks eerily similar to his ex-girlfriend Laura turns up to stay in the cottage, and leaves a mysterious note in the guest book.
Now Jacob’s seeing Laura everywhere—a glimpse of her face across the street, her music box left outside his house, a gift he gave her years before hanging from the trees.
But it can’t be Laura. Because Laura’s dead.
Someone knows Jacob’s secret—what really happened the night Laura died—and they’re out for revenge...
A gripping and twisted thriller. Fans of Gillian Flynn, Gregg Olsen and Mark Edwards will love Steve Frech.
Readers LOVE Dark Hollows:
‘Wow!... This book just pulls you right in... I couldn’t put it down!’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘One of the best thrillers I’ve read this year.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Best psychological thriller of 2019.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Couldn’t put it down... Absolutely fantastic nail-biting novel, so gripping I just could not stop reading.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Exciting and thrilling... Like riding a rollercoaster... Should be on everyone’s reading list.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘I burned through this.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Once I started I couldn’t put it down!!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
‘Wow! I absolutely loved this book! I was hooked from page one.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Impossible to put down.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘Great book! I could not put it down. Read the book in one day. Had me guessing until the end.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
‘This one would go down on my list of favorite thrillers this year... I loved this book!’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars

Dark Hollows. The premise of this book instantly grabbed me. A spooky setting, an intriguing backstory, a loveable mutt and shrouded in the cloak of Halloween. The vista was hypnotic. I envisioned myself walking the paths, talking to the characters and being entranced by the quaint little town of The Hollows. Life is finally going the way Jacob Reese wants it to. He’s a respected businessman, a well-liked individual and most importantly he’s put his past to bed. It’s not coming back to haunt him…until of course, he takes that booking from an attractive female. A booking that he decides to forgo his usual booking protocols for.

Jacob Reese inherited money from his parent’s death. They didn’t quite see eye to eye when they were alive but none the less, they left everything to their only child. He put that money to good use and bought his home and a cottage to rent out in The Hollows, Vermont in New England. He topped it off by buying a coffee shop on the main street – life was good. There was an undercurrent of dread palpating through-out Dark Hollows that had my fingers itching ready for the madness that was surely just around the corner.

Things are about to get even better for Jacob, with talks of a company interested in turning his gem of a coffee shop into a franchise he could be looking at a cool couple of million in the bank. He can’t believe his luck! With a hardworking team and a booming business all his dreams could come true – that can happen, right? Can the appearance of a face from his past (or is it?) undo everything he has worked so hard to achieve or is his mind just working overdrive? Red Hair. Those Eyes. That Scar. He’s imagining it, he’s almost sure of it, and yet…

Things kick into overdrive when he wakes up the next morning and finds his house guest gone. The front door is left open, the entire house takes on a creepy edge and he can’t bat away the feeling that something is dreadfully wrong. The dog feels it. He feels it. Has he let something sinister into his house and more importantly, how on earth do they know certain details about his past? Halloween is edging towards them, its meant to be fun but it just adds to the threatening dread that builds in intensity.

At some points I had a hard time connecting with the Jacob we met at the start of the story to the Jacob that we become accustomed to from the middle of the book onwards. We met a kind and generous man with an infinity towards giving back to the community. Whereas we got to meet a man that became consumed by his desire to get to the root of his troubles (not necessarily a bad thing but…) he became, obsessive, taking courses of action that were not only unhinged but could have landed him in even more trouble. Sometimes the character didn’t fully add up.

Dark Hollows is a great read that will give you the creepy feels. It was an immersive examination of how your past is never really in the past. Actions have consequences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Frech lives in Los Angeles. His debut thriller, ‘DARK HOLLOWS’, is available through Harper Collins/HQ Stories. His followup novel, ‘THE NIGHTINGALE HOUSE’, a supernatural thriller, will be available in July of 2020. In addition to writing, his award-nominated podcast, ‘Random Awesomeness’, has been developed for television by the Emmy-winning team at ‘Thank You, Brain! Productions’. He is also the co-creator of ‘Sports? with Jessiemae Peluso’ for Comedy Central. He is a frustrated fan of the Chicago Bears, finds cooking to be very cathartic, and is amazing a pub trivia.

Steve Frech