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The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin
The Dark Remains is undeniably authentic and a true testament to everything Glasgow was in the ’70s and ’80s. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the Laidlaw series by the late and great William McIlvanney but I will be rectifying that as soon as possible. Gangland Glasgow and its brutal violence and its territorial wars, the tone was set and it was addictive as it was horrifying. Ian Rankin had massive shoes to fill but he laced them up, took pen to paper, and paid homage to Scotland’s father of Tartan Noir. The Dark Remains is just that, dark. It doesn’t pull any punches, it doesn’t pretty anything up,…
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Review: The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen
The Shape of Night is a story about guilt and loss. It tells the story of Ava Collette, a woman that is running from her past. She distances herself from her family, her work, and predominately her memories. I don’t think you can outrun your past, you can just maybe stall it for a while. A food writer that has become hooked on alcohol to deal with her emotions. It all gets too much and she decides to rent a house, Brodie’s Watch, a large stately home overlooking the sea in a remote coastal peninsula of Maine. Will it provide Ava with the distance to get her head straight and…
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Review: Let Me Out I’ve Had Enough by Mark Matthews
Let Me Out I’ve Had Enough is another stellar testament to just how much Mark Matthews understands the power of the human mind. This collection displays the emotions and pain at play when considering suicide, coping with the effects of suicide, and the disastrous aftermath. If you want a collection of stories to touch you deeply whilst wrenching gasps and shock from you then this is a collection that needs to be devoured. Intricate, painful, and overwhelming is how Let Me Out I’ve Had Enough should be described. It leaves scars on the soul, it is that powerful. Mastectomy Scars – is designed to shock and hook you straight away. …
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Review : Mummy’s Little Secret by M. A. Hunter
Mummy’s Little Secret was an explosive and fraught story with past traumas around every corner. This story broke me a little inside, call it the powerful narrative, the secrets that we try to keep locked away or the maternal instinct within me, wanting to protect those that are vulnerable. I’m going to try and do this review justice and explain exactly why this book altered me emotionally. The prose was flawless, the teasing of the plot was carried out like a highly trained string musician. Mummy’s Little Secret is told over two timelines, two families, two main characters. Before and now. Jess’s family and Morag’s. Two completely different women, from…
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Review: Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham
Sometimes there is just a powerhouse name in the thriller genre but somehow their work has just evaded you for one reason or another. Rabbit Hole was my first taste of the talented Mark Billingham’s work. I’m neither surprised nor shocked that I fell down the Rabbit Hole. The mind of Billingham is devious and twisted, he will take a common misconception in mental health and twist and turn it until it no longer resembles what it once was. The author did the groundwork, and the reader took one step and we fell into the dark and depraved mind of Alice Armitage. She is an ex-police officer who has been…
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Review: The Doll by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
The Doll is the fifth story in the Icelandic Freyja and Huldar series. The cover instantly had me at hello. I am a huge fan of the creepy and intriguing and that cover came from the horror gods. The Doll is discovered after being trawled by a fishing net in Faxafloi Bay by Rosa Thrastdottir. Five years later bones have been discovered in the same place as the Doll, is it a coincidence or is this more to this story than meets the eye? Also, serious sex abuse allegations have been made against Bergur Alvarsson. Three different stories and timelines but just how do they knit together? The premise of…
