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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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Tome by Ross Jeffery | Book Review
Tome – its clarity was never more focused and established from the very first page. Dark and depraved. The story is multi-faceted as it strips the layers back of the human condition. Boy does it show the human condition for what it truly is, hungry for power and destruction. Tome is a story that examines many prejudices rife in not only America’s penial system. Racial abuse, misogyny and homophobia feature strongly, and Jeffery has tackled the sensitive themes with both class and tenderness without skipping on the reality. This novel is a highly intelligent and brutal story on multiple levels. Jeffery has birthed a new sub-genre of horror; he mixes…
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Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie | Book Review
“we should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.” Before they Hanged is another masterpiece in storytelling and exemplary characterization. The first half the book felt like a continuation of the Blade Itself – a set up story…a massive prologue, if you like. Again, Abercrombie sets up the story with the consummate skill of masterful bard. It’s a story of epic proportions, vivid worldbuilding and terrible treachery. You are immediately catapulted into the world once more, carrying on from where The Blade Itself left off. Not a beat dropped, a breath wasted, or a thought discarded. The Blade Itself really was a set up book, introducing us to…
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Deadly Betrayal by OMJ Ryan | Book Review
OMJ Ryan proves that a series can only get better with every installment. Deadly Betrayal was his most addictive outing so far. Travelling these pages is akin to walking along a tightrope. The fab four are back, they are more human than ever, with the fragility of the human condition pulsing at the forefront, demanding attention. Ryan tore up the rulebook and catapulted his readers into the deep underbelly of Hong Kong and how the two countries intermingle in a frenzy before a finale that is likely to have you on edge. The DI Jane Phillips series always feels like a homecoming, its became my favourite crime series by far.…
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The Whispers by Heidi Perks | Book Review
Whispers is a poignant but brutal slashing to chest kind of read. A tale of manipulation, jealousy and control. In order to fully fall for a book, you to need to find something that really speaks to you. A book that draws out connections, a book that aches to be heard. It’s a book that knows how you as a reader, ticks. The ease and rawness that flows from out with the pages is like liquid gold – rare and stunning. Whispers has an addictive pull that ties you down and won’t let go until the last sentence has seeped into your pores…chores be damned! This story excels in taking…
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The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie | Review
Well, isn’t The Blade Itself as deadly as a hushed-up autopsy? Grimdark? I swallowed it up and asked for another portion just like little Oliver begging for more. With its deadly plot and guillotine sharp character arcs, this is going to be a novel that I will take comfort in rereading time and time again. It’s a story that feels like a homecoming. Its cozy and deadly in equal measure (well as cozy as a dagger threatening to spill every drop of blood.) imagine wandering in the mountains and finally making your way home – a fire inviting you in, you can’t help but be enveloped by it…this is The…
