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The Santa Killer (DI Barton #6) by Ross Greenwood
The Santa Killer is a complex case fraught with angst. A blistering piece of crime fiction. I love police procedurals, crime novels, and books with an air of mystery. The only thing that takes that fascination to the next level is stories with a propulsive background story. It’s all very well and good to have a killer storyline, but it needs to be believable. There needs to have a tinge of realism at its core. Otherwise, it doesn’t work. The Santa Killer does that impeccably. It features real-life characters flawed by real-world problems. It doesn’t follow the typical trajectory but instead follows its own path, abides by its rules, and…
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The Nanny by Ruth Heald – REVIEW
The Nanny is an immersive page-turner. It’s provocative and shocking and hurtles along at breakneck speed. The past forges the present; that’s a fact that’s well known. How long can we keep running before it catches up with us? We can lace up those Nikes and get a head start, but the funny thing about our past is that it’ll always know where we are, where we reside; its GPS is continually trained on you. Some people are lucky in the knowledge that their past harbours no secrets, no skeletons in the closet – but for some, as is the case of the protagonist, Hayley, her past is something she’s…
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The Night Watch (DS Max Craigie #3) by Neil Lancaster
The Night Watch is a killer concept, an unflinching look at generational trauma and the mind’s reaction. Suffused with menace…it’s bloody brilliant. To follow a series with a sense of abandonment there have to be certain elements that scream to them. The X factor – something that keeps them coming back for more, the DS Max Craigie series is no exception. Travelling the pages is like walking a tightrope, danger threatens to knock the characters askew. There are so many elements that just make this series work – flawed characters. The realism of human nature. Betrayal. Raw storytelling. Neil Lancaster’s storytelling is like no one else. The police procedural should…
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Stay Awake by Megan Goldin – REVIEW
Stay Awake is a masterclass in visceral levels of tension. This is perfect for TV adaptation. A blistering page turner. What can I say about Stay Awake that will do it the justice it deserves? Never has sleep had such dangerous connotations? It is an intricate game of minds. Wake up, forget everything that has happened in the last two years, spend all day trying to connect the dots and discover what happened in those missing gaps, fall asleep, wake up and repeat. It would be a horrible way to live. You quickly get lost in the plot and you become so immersed in helping Liv discover what happened to…
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Dead Daughters by Tim Meyer – REVIEW
Dead Daughters blew my motherfucking mind! It’s twisted and horrifying, and I couldn’t wait to turn the next page. You can feel Meyer laughing at your shock. Dead Daughters is a story to remind me to be grateful for the boring, mundane, and uneventful life I lead. It’s definitely not something that you want your life to resemble – uncertainty, unimaginable stress, and a worry that your daughter will be taken and end up dead. The story examines the dynamics of relationships through a microscope. A Couple. A cherished daughter. A photograph that depicts the death of your child. Friends. Strangers. The premise of the story had me immediately hooked.…
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The Ex Between Us by Nicola Marsh – REVIEW
The Ex Between Us has a killer premise. The story was impactful with a deep plot that evokes emotion on every page. Marsh constantly stokes the flames of mystery. The story had me instantly with the book cover. Mysterious, the colours remind me of the feeling of sorrow. I had the feeling that the book would be chilling and atmospheric. The story focuses on two main characters, Abi, and Jo. Abi is struggling after her only child, Rob leaves to go to college. Empty nest syndrome is real, she has focussed her entire life on bringing him up to be the young, confident man he has become. Getting pregnant at…
