Blog Tour: Endless Silent Scream (DI Bliss #6) by Tony J. Forder

March 13, 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.

50256734. SY475 - Blog Tour: Endless Silent Scream (DI Bliss #6) by Tony J. Forder

Endless Silent Scream by Tony J. Forder
Published by Spare Nib Books on March 9th 2020
Genres: Crime, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four stars - Blog Tour: Endless Silent Scream (DI Bliss #6) by Tony J. Forder

four stars - Blog Tour: Endless Silent Scream (DI Bliss #6) by Tony J. Forder

He saved her life once. Can he do it again?

When DI Bliss prevents fifteen-year-old Molly from jumping off the roof of a tall building, he has no idea how deeply she will impact on his life. After learning that the girl is a drugs courier, Bliss realises she is in great danger. As he struggles to have Molly relocated, a local drug dealer and an enforcer sent by the supplier, have other plans for her.

After the remains of a freelance journalist are discovered, an old flame comes back into Bliss’s life. With the clock ticking down, he realises it’s only a matter of time before reports emerge linking the murdered journalist with the police, putting added pressure on the Major Crimes team to find the killer – even if it’s one of their own.

With Bliss torn between the two investigations, he becomes increasingly desperate to move Molly to safety before she can be silenced. But with his focus on saving the girl for a second time, Bliss is blinded to other dangers…

I want to make one thing crystal clear…Endless Silent Scream is the very first book that I have read penned by the incredibly talented Tony J. Forder. Upon finishing this one, I immediately added the other five books to my tbr. This book can easily be read as a standalone and I certainly didn’t feel that I missed huge chunks of backstory. This author has a new fan – his writing is akin to being blindfolded and thrown into an icy lake and being left to tread the icy depths alone. It’s in equal measures terrifying but also thrilling and you best be prepared for the ride of your life.

The synopsis instantly drew me in. it was a difficult topic with that was dealt with the utmost dignity and respect. His characters are edgy and relatable and its most definitely inspiration from everyday life. These are people you would meet on the street, they seep in compassion, the indominable urge to do right and they all seem to have a personal history that makes them carry out the job over and above the call of duty. They say that when you join the police force you become married to it, the characters in Endless Silent Scream are no exception.

A girl on a roof threatening to jump. A thrilling starting point to our novel and the first point of contact with DI Bliss. It sets the scene perfectly. The eeriness of someone having reached the end of their rope, someone feeling so bleak that they see no way out, really struck a chord…an emotional one. The descriptions of the grey buildings and the weather matched the mood of the opening chapter resolutely. Stand back and allow the wind and rain to whip through your hair but beware of the precipice you are standing on – one wrong move could end your existence. Tony J. Forder’s unique narrative style ensured that I would stay rooted to the spot and swallowed into his immersive way of storytelling. DI Bliss treats the girl like the daughter he never had…although quite obviously worried about her mental state he tackles it in the best way possible. The only way. Banter. Still giving her anonymity. Her own will. She isn’t railroaded. This event has affected DI Bliss in more ways than he bargained for and he must see it to completion.

One point about this story I loved was the team. The author injected a realistic sense of camaraderie but also with those sticky prickly colleagues. Everywhere has them! The truth of the matter is, when push comes to shove, they all work together bypassing those office politics that I absolutely hate! DI Bliss is our hero and although he was soft to the suicidal girl, he has a tough outer shell when needed. The perfect characteristics for a police officer. His one liners and banter and had audible giggles escaping and that kept him endearing in through-out. I did however, wonder how he got through some events in his past – my eyes were in sharp focus and searching for my own clues!

The speed and pace of this novel was like a bullet. You had to be careful to dodge those speeding impacts, but you still wanted to race to the finish to determine the secrets from the lies and I can hand on heart say that the ending was super satisfying. The emotion broke free from the pages and grabbed me by the throat. A book so incredibly well written.

Endless Silent Scream took me on a twisty and emotional journey that left me vulnerable and wrought – a rare gem that stands out with its beautiful writing and mesmerising narrative. Compelling and utterly immersive.

Thanks to Sarah @ Books On The Brightside for spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

cropped 1 - Blog Tour: Endless Silent Scream (DI Bliss #6) by Tony J. Forder

Tony J Forder is the author of the bestselling crime thriller series featuring detectives Jimmy Bliss and Penny Chandler. The first four books, Bad to the Bone, The Scent of Guilt, If Fear Wins, and The Reach of Shadows, were joined by The Death of Justice, on 9 September 2019. Book number six, Endless Silent Scream, will be published on 9 March 2020.

Tony’s dark, psychological crime thriller, Degrees of Darkness, featuring ex-detective Frank Rogers, was also published by Bloodhound Books. This is a stand-alone serial-killer novel. Scream Blue Murder, an action-adventure thriller, was published in November 2017, and received praise from many, including fellow authors Mason Cross, Matt Hilton and Anita Waller. The sequel, Cold Winter Sun, was published in November 2018.

Tony lives with his wife in Peterborough, UK, and is now a full-time author. He is currently editing a new novel, and has also started on Bliss #7, Slow Slicing.

Links

Website: https://www.tonyjforder.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyjforder/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonyJForder @TonyJForder

Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B01N4BPT65

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16166122.Tony_J_Forder

Fantastic Fiction: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/tony-j-forder/

Tony can also be found on Instagram.

Blog Tour: The Holdout by Graham Moore

March 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.

50090862. SY475 - Blog Tour: The Holdout by Graham Moore

The Holdout by Graham Moore
on February 18, 2020
ISBN: 9780399591785
Genres: Fiction, Thrillers, Legal, Crime, Psychological
Pages: 336
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: The Holdout by Graham Moore

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? From the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and bestselling author of The Last Days of Night. . . . “Exhilarating . . . a fiendishly slippery game of cat-and-mouse suspense and a provocative, urgent inquiry into American justice (and injustice) in the twenty-first century.”—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
It’s the most sensational case of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Jessica Silver, heiress to a billion-dollar real estate fortune, vanishes on her way home from school, and her teacher, Bobby Nock, a twenty-five-year-old African American man, is the prime suspect. The subsequent trial taps straight into America’s most pressing preoccupations: race, class, sex, law enforcement, and the lurid sins of the rich and famous. It’s an open-and-shut case for the prosecution, and a quick conviction seems all but guaranteed—until Maya Seale, a young woman on the jury, convinced of Nock’s innocence, persuades the rest of the jurors to return the verdict of not guilty, a controversial decision that will change all their lives forever.
Flash forward ten years. A true-crime docuseries reassembles the jury, with particular focus on Maya, now a defense attorney herself. When one of the jurors is found dead in Maya’s hotel room, all evidence points to her as the killer. Now, she must prove her own innocence—by getting to the bottom of a case that is far from closed.
As the present-day murder investigation weaves together with the story of what really happened during their deliberation, told by each of the jurors in turn, the secrets they have all been keeping threaten to come out—with drastic consequences for all involved.

Wow. The Holdout is a serious examination of the politics of law, social impact of race and gut instinct. The first chapter was a sucker punch to the gut. The imagery was gruesome but tantalising to the highest degree. I found myself holding my breath waiting for that bomb to drop. I was gripped from its anxiety inducing start to the finale like ending. This was a premise that definitely had me hooked – just how persuasion and obsession can collide.

Ten years ago, Maya Searle was a member of the jury on the case of missing Jessica Silver, daughter of extremely wealthy Lou Silver. Immediately the cogs begin to turn, and you wonder if money talks in this case. Her teacher, Bobby Nock is in the dock charged with her disappearance and possible murder?? The evidence is presented but a lot of it could be deemed as circumstantial…does his race have a bigger picture to play and needing to be seen to prosecuting someone? It’s a picture painted to be one of a moral conundrum. The trial is a complete farce and truly deserved to be thrown out.

The Holdout – Maya Searle is convinced that Bobby Nock is not guilty. She reasons with the other jury members and somehow convinces them all to return a verdict of not guilty. The immediate future having consequences for them all. Was it the right decision? The acquittal of Bobby Nock was highly controversial none the less because of Lou Silver’s standing.

Fast forward ten years…Maya Searle is at the top of her game. A world class criminal lawyer. Her notoriety of being a jury member on the Bobby Nock trial brings her clients swooping in. You might think that this is a case of lessons learned but The Holdout is far more complex than that. An old jury member comes crashing back into her life, albeit it unwanted, that is a chapter of her life that she never wanted to revisit again. He has clung to the hope that his gut instinct was right all along – that Bobby Nock was guilty. He obsessively researched every bit of evidence and now apparently has no evidence to uncover. He will share it with Maya so long as she agrees to take part in a docuseries. I enjoyed the interactions between these two characters…Graham Moore led us down a series of mazes and laid the foundations for the reader deciding just how grey each character was.

Graham Moore has created this story whilst balancing on a knife’s edge. He allows the seeds of doubt to creep into the readers mind. It starts off as an echo, one that you aren’t too sure you heard until it reaches a crescendo, an ear splitting one. He sets a trap and it beautifully captures the reader with no obvious way out. How much of what Maya believed was seen through distorted glasses? Was she right in convincing the other jury members or was she young and naive?

The Holdout makes you rethink what you thought you knew. Compelling characters with a creepy and threatening narrative.

Thanks to Tracy @ Compulsive Readers for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Graham Moore is a New York Times bestselling novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter. His screenplay for THE IMITATION GAME won the Academy Award and WGA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2015 and was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. The film, directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, received 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Graham’s first novel, THE SHERLOCKIAN (2010), was published in 16 countries and translated into 13 languages. It was called “sublime” and “clever” and “delightful” by the New York Times, “savvy” and “entertaining” by the Los Angeles Times, and lots of other nice things as well. Graham’s second novel, THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT will be published in fall 2016 by Random House.

Graham lives in Los Angeles.

Graham Moore

Blog Tour: Degrees of Guilt by H.S. Chandler

September 2, 2019

Degrees of Guilt by H. S. ChandlerHelen Fields
Published by Orion Publishing Group on May 14, 2019
ISBN: 9781409184683
Genres: Abuse, Crime, Legal, Mystery & Detective
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

four stars - Blog Tour: Degrees of Guilt by H.S. Chandler

When you read this book, you will think you know every twist in the tale.
Maria is on trial for attempted murder.
She has confessed to the crime and wanted her husband dead.
Lottie is on the jury, trying to decide her fate.
She embarks on an illicit affair with a stranger, and her husband can never find out.
You will think you know who is guilty and who is innocent.
You will be wrong.
A gripping, sexy and twisty novel for readers who devoured ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL, APPLE TREE YARD and HE SAID/SHE SAID.

Holy crap…What an opening chapter! Such violence and degradation. What would break a woman down so much that she cracks her husband’s skull open and calmly phones the police whilst her his brains trickle out onto the immaculately polished floor. Are things as they seem or is Maria a cold-blooded killer? Is it pre-meditated and what’s the reason behind wanting him dead?

Can you honestly say you couldn’t imagine yourself killing another human being, no matter the reasons or motive? If you say absolutely not, I would challenge that thought, any human has the innate ability to carry such basal actions out. Chandler takes us there – straight out of our comfort zone and bang into the front line. She drip feeds us information, keeps us on edge and drooling for more. She exposes the cruelty of human nature and lays bare the catalyst from fear and anger.

Abuse is the core theme surrounding the masterpiece that is Degrees of Guilt. There is different degrees of abuse. This is something Maria has been living for the best part of twenty years. Abuse takes many forms – Maria appears strong, competent and most of all unperturbed by the enormity of the crime she’s committed. The most charming of suitors can be harbouring toxic impulses and Maria has learned that lessons albeit too late. Maria is a murderer, Maria is a victim.

I enjoy Psychological Thrillers immensely. I loved the flipping of the coin of Maria being both the good guy and the bad. It was extremely clever to witness the brokenness of a woman categorically controlled of all choices in her life to the point where she fights back. A person can only take so much before they snap and lose control – but essentially taking back every fragment control she has lost throughout the years. Maria in hindsight was perceptible to the coercive control that Edward cleverly subjected her to. He isolated her from her friend, Andrea that tried to warn her about Edward. She could see the maliciousness within him, she knew things weren’t right. When they got married he convinced her that her mental health was affecting her job, so she quit. He took the car away after claiming it wouldn’t get through its MOT, she wasn’t working anymore so didn’t need a bank account and she wasn’t a signatory on any of Edwards accounts, so she suffered financial abuse also. She wasn’t allowed to watch TV or have access to a phone. She was truly alone. Can you honestly for one moment imagine how that feels? Wouldn’t you do anything to get out of that situation?

The book has all the angst. Everything is pre-judged, everyone has an opinion. No-one believes she could have possibly acted out of self-defence. She hated her husband. That was as plain as the nose on your face. The jurors aren’t to judge until the final bell tolls but all the same they have their pre-conceived ideas. It’s human nature – broken and shameful. The very essence of human nature is to cover up not to confess. No one knows what to do with that knowledge. Is she callous and cold or is she a woman with nothing left to lose?

The secondary characters are also flawed and are not immune to the complexity of the human mind. Who are they to judge? Are they qualified, No. They are aggressive, meek, and all the little things in between. We meet Lottie, a housewife and mother who is desperate for something more. The parallel between Lottie and Maria are certainly not lost on me. They seem to be struggling with similar things in their home life. Lottie’s husband also doesn’t appreciate everything she does for him. Yes, he works hard so that his family can live a comfortable life, but Lottie does too – with no thanks. The jury service is just what she’s been aching for. Stimulation and a purpose beyond being a mother and a wife. Just what will her role be in the trial of Maria. What will be the connection between Lottie and another Juror, Cameron?

Ending – well I certainly didn’t expect that shit your pants twist at the end! Chandler gives you one reality whilst catapulting you into another dimension without any pre-warning and giving you the motherload of whiplash!

This read will have your brain spinning, your heart hammering and your ass on the edge of the chair. Solid storytelling. Flawed heroes and a lifetime of pain put right by the worst act of violence.

Many thanks to Tracey at compulsive readers for my spot on the blog tour. I received my copy through netgalley and my thoughts are my own.

Review: Don’t Ever Tell by Lucy Dawson

June 18, 2019

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

dont ever tell by lucy dawson - Review: Don't Ever Tell by Lucy Dawson

Don't Ever Tell by Lucy Dawson
Published by Bookouture on June 25, 2019
ISBN: 9781786819642
Genres: Fiction, Psychological, Thrillers, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, General, Crime, Legal, Women, Family Life
Pages: 278
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

five stars - Review: Don't Ever Tell by Lucy Dawson

Never make a promise you can’t afford to keep…
This is a story about Charlotte – a mother and a wife with the perfect job, the perfect life… at least, that’s how it looks from the outside.
But behind closed doors, the marriage is breaking, and Charlotte’s husband Tris doesn’t even know how much. He has no idea what Charlotte has planned for him, who she has found. But he doesn’t have long to wait to find out…

Don’t Ever Tell will keep you gripped from the very first page and have you guessing until the very last. From the bestselling author of The Daughter and White Lies comes an unputdownable psychological thriller unlike anything you’ve read before!

Readers are obsessed with Lucy Dawson:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, what a book!… grabs you from the very beginning and doesn't let you go until the very last page… An absolutely fabulous, nail-biting thriller!!' Stardust Book Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘WOW.... I LOVED IT, best book this year, if you read one book this decade read this!!’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I read this in a series of gulps, unable to stop turning the pages… Stunning.’ Cass Green
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gut-wrenchingly brilliant and addictive.’ Roz Watkins
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Absolutely BRILLIANT. Twisty and compelling, guaranteed to make the reader question who is telling the truth. I devoured it in one sitting.’ Lisa Hall, author of Between You and Me

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Omg this book was soooo good. I couldn't put it down… It was such a shocking twist at the end. All the revelations that came to light at the end were fantastic. This book had everything. Great characters, content and a shocking ending. What more do you want from a book?’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A tense, emotional read with brilliant twists. I absolutely loved it.' Susi Holliday

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘There were so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming at all... just when you thought you had it figured out... you didn’t!!’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A scary psychological novel with an exceptionally well-written plot… the end was completely unexpected and left me open-mouthed.’ Goodreads reviewer

My goodness this was scarily real and relatable I just Couldn’t stop reading. If you seriously only read one book the rest of the year, do yourself and favour and make it this one! It really is a story of you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. Charlotte appears to have the perfect life, a loving husband, two gorgeous children, a job that she loves albeit struggling with the balance of it, the nice house and car. Life couldn’t be better, or could it? Under the surface, Charlotte and Tris’ marriage is struggling , it’s just a rough patch, isn’t it?

Charlotte – under pressure but rational??

Charlotte truly loves working from home. She’s a good writer but struggling juggling family life and her professional life – squeezing in time to write in between cooking teas, school runs and illness. Tris, is often working away from home, could he do more to ease her strain? Does he do more to cause strain? Absolutely.

One day at a book signing in Edinburgh, Charlotte is a approached by a young fan who hauntingly looks like a younger Charlotte. It is so striking that it stops Charlotte in her tracks…Apparently it hasn’t gone unnoticed by her husband either. The young fan called Mia is a struggling actress , struggling to make ends meet and has a disturbed past. She’s vulnerable and haunted.

The two women’s paths cross again when Charlotte’s sister, Flo reveals a secret about her husband, she really didn’t see coming. Charlotte turns up at a performance Mia is starring in and gives her a proposition she really can’t turn down. This reveals Charlotte’s darker side and her tenacity for her end game.

Mia is caught in the crossfire

Mia is the character I felt more empathy for. She had come out the other side after some extremely dark moments in her life. She worked to get herself into a healthy place and yet, the events that transpired in this book could have quite easily unravelled all her hard work. She was definitively a vulnerable character that in the end got played by them both.

Nothing breaks like a heart.

Plot – blown out the park

I haven’t read anything by Lucy Dawson before but by god this won’t be the last book I pick up from her. Outstanding, Psychological thriller at it’s best! This was by far the best take on the revenge thriller that I have come across so far. The plot is dark and twisted and executed oh so amazingly well! The main character was unreliable and darkly motivated herself and although you could surmise the way the plot was developing the ending was a surprise and it blew me away. Bravo Lucy Dawson, Bravo.