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REVIEW: Outside by Ragnar Jónasson
Outside piqued my interest for its devastating atmosphere. Iceland has always intrigued me, with its brutal and raw landscape and its beautiful but deadly mountainscapes it’s the perfect backdrop for a survival thriller. It’s a place I have longed to visit to photograph the Northern Lights in all their glory, so I enjoy reading about the country and its heart-breaking imagery. Ragnar Jónasson is a new author to me, and I look forward to discovering more of his stories. Four friends head out to the Icelandic Highlands for a weekend’s hunting trip. It’s a reunion of sorts, with the friends not having been together as a foursome for quite some…
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REVIEW: The Long Weekend by Gilly MacMillan
The Long Weekend is a psychological thriller that likes to live in your head rent-free. The story follows three couples who look to escape the city constraints and rent a converted barn in Northumbria for a long weekend. It’s abundantly clear that the couples all have their problems. Ruth and Toby have recently welcomed their baby boy Toby, but it isn’t the picnic the couple imagined, Ruth is struggling with alcoholism and her marriage is plagued with suspicion and paranoia. Jayne and Mark are ex-forces, and they are hoping to bury trauma from their tours in the Middle East. Emily and Paul are newly married and basking in their newfound…
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Review: The Goners by L. Stephenson
The Goners was a home run for L. Stephenson. The cover was ominous, secretive, and forewarned of the threatening shadows that lurked beneath the surface. It’s the kind of story that will become etched into your mind and you can’t put the book down until that last page has been devoured. Stephenson is a master storyteller that envelops you in atmospheric brilliance and complexity that will literally tie you up in knots. His brilliance is his reader’s weakness, and The Goners did not disappoint. This isn’t just another Horror – it is an experience. Set on the fictional island of Boatmore, we meet a Paramedic Liam and his team, with…
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The Islanders by S.V. Leonard | Blog Tour Review
Damn if a trapped, suspenseful mystery doesn’t just tap into that inner flight or fight response. The Islanders delivers on everything it says it does. Think Love Island with the ultimate twist. A horrifying and bloody twist. The two shows are different but standing up together in proximity, they are created from the same primordial soup that humanity crawled from. A desire to escape from life, a hint of romance distanced from everyday life and some hot hot sun. S.V. Leonard plays with fire and peels back the layers of human emotion and greed. This debut will have you rushing through the pages in a race to the end. The…
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The Cousins by Karen M. McManus | Blog Tour Review
Today I’m happy to be a part of The Write Reads Ultimate blog tour for the highly anticipated, The Cousins by Karen M. McManus. Now, for a reader to be sucked into an author’s writing style, their narrative, they need the X-factor. Something that allows them to keep coming back…book after book. Karen M. McManus is no exception. There are so many reasons why I keep coming back for more with her stories. The air of mystery, the journey and most of all the care that is given to keep loyal readers. The Cousins is a story that is reminiscent of the I know what you did last summer trope. …
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Devoted by Dean Koontz | Review
Devoted was a hard book to read in places. It was mostly successful in the theme of genetic mutation. I really enjoy Dean Koontz books but, in this occasion, it was neither a favourite or one that I disliked. It’s very much a book that gets very strange, very quickly. It’s a case of constantly reminding yourself that this is SCI-FI. I’ve noticed other reviewers likening it to Koontz’ other work – The Watchers, which I haven’t read, not sure if that is to my detriment or not? The book to me, felt like it just moved too slowly, and I did feel myself getting bored. The story in Devoted…
