Category: Book Reviews

#InHerWake Blog Tour: CTG reviews In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings

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Today I’m delighted to be hosting a stop on Amanda Jennings’ blog tour for the stunning psychological thriller In Her Wake.

What the blurb says: “A perfect life … until she discovered it wasn’t her own: A tragic family event reveals devastating news that rips apart Bella’s comfortable existence. Embarking on a personal journey to uncover the truth, she faces a series of traumatic discoveries that take her to the ruggedly beautiful Cornish coast, where hidden truths, past betrayals and a 25-year-old mystery threaten not just her identity, but also her life.”

This is a remarkable book. Part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age story, it entices you in with a gloriously rich web of secrets and mystery, and holds you spell bound right through to the final heart-wrenching revelation.

Bella is an intriguing character. Shy and subdued, she seems to have let others dictate how things will be her whole life. But when her mother dies, a chain of events are set in motion that will rock the foundations her life has been built on, and cause her to question who she is and what she wants. Determined to find out the truth, she leaves her husband and her job and travels to Cornwall in search of the only people who can help. As she adjusts to life outside of her sheltered existence she starts to uncover not only the devastating lies and secrets that have kept her prisoner since she was a child, but also something inside her that she has never felt before – independence.

Beautifully written, In Her Wake is a story of toxic relationships, family betrayals and self-discovery. It’s both gritty and tragic, and achingly emotive and heart-warming. In short, it’s a stunning must-read of a novel.

To find out more about Amanda Jennings hop over to her website here and follow her on Twitter @MandaJJennings

In Her Wake is out now. You can buy it from Waterstones here; Goldsboro Books (Hardback Limited Edition) here; or Amazon here

And be sure to check out all the other fabulous stops on the In Her Wake Blog Tour:

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CTG Reviews: The Girl Who Walked In The Shadows by Marnie Riches

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Today, I’m delighted to be hosting a stop on the fabulous Marnie Riches blog tour.

Marnie’s latest book – The Girl Who Walked In The Shadows – is the third book in her George McKenzie series. Here’s what the blurb says: “Europe is in the grip of an extreme Arctic blast and at the mercy of a killer who leaves no trace. His weapons of choice are razor-sharp icicles. This is Jack Frost.

Now a fully qualified criminologist, Georgina McKenzie is called upon by the Dutch police to profile this cunning and brutal murderer. Are they looking for a hit man or a frenzied serial-killer? Could there be a link to a cold missing persons’ case that George had worked with Chief Inspector Paul van den Bergen – two abducted toddlers he could never quite give up on?

The hunt for Jack Frost sparks a dangerous, heart-rending journey through the toughest neighbourhoods in Europe, where refugees and Roma gypsies scratch a living on the edge of society. Walking into the dark, violent world of a trans-national trafficking ring, can George outrun death to shed light on two terrible mysteries?”

Dr George McKenzie is a real kick-ass character. She’s tough in a street-smart, non-nonsense kind of a way, as well as clever and inquisitive. Her rather fiery brand of investigating complements the calmer Dutch detective Van den Bergen, and together they make for a formidable team. But the team is under pressure, both to connect the strange and gruesome Jack Frost murders that are taking place with seemingly unconnected victims, and to work out what the link might be to the disappearance of two children abducted from their own garden two years previously. The situation isn’t made any easier for George by her and Van den Bergen’s on-off love affair hovering in a tricky no mans land between on and off.

The sense of place, as ever in the series, is captured brilliantly. Set in the grip of a bitter snow covered winter, the story has an ice-cold atmosphere that will have you turning up the heating and wrapping yourself in an extra blanket as you read.

The Girl Who Walked In The Shadows is a fast paced thrill of a read, with a bucket-load of twists and turns, and some emotive and thought provoking issues at its core.

It’s an excellent addition to this very popular series and, although written as the third instalment, I think it would work well as a standalone for those new to the George McKenzie books.

Perfect for thriller fans.

To find out more about Marnie Riches pop over to her website and follow her on Twitter @Marnie_Riches

THE GIRL WHO WALKED IN THE SHADOWS is out now. You can buy it from Amazon here

And be sure to check out all the other fabulous stops on the tour …

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CTG Reviews: #TheDarkInside by Rod Reynolds

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UnknownToday is paperback publication day of the brilliant THE DARK INSIDE by the uber talented Rod Reynolds. To celebrate, I’m re-running my review of this truly fantastic book …

What the blurb says: “In this town, no one is innocent. 1946, Texarkana: a town on the border of Texas and Arkansas. Disgraced New York reporter Charlie Yates has been sent to cover the story of a spate of brutal murders – young couples who’ve been slaughtered at a local date spot. Charlie finds himself drawn into the case by the beautiful and fiery Lizzie, sister to one of the victims, Alice – the only person to have survived the attacks and seen the killer up close.

But Charlie has his own demons to fight, and as he starts to dig into the murders he discovers that the people of Texarkana have secrets that they want kept hidden at all costs. Before long, Charlie discovers that powerful forces might be protecting the killer, and as he investigates further his pursuit of the truth could cost him more than his job …”

This debut novel serves up a perfect slice of American noir.

New York reporter Charlie Yates is a damaged man. Haunted by career problems and a failing marriage, he’s alienated many of the people close to him. With his employers desperate to be free of him for a while, he’s sent to cover a spate of double murders in Texarkana. He’s angry and isolated in an unfamiliar and unwelcoming place, but as he starts to make acquaintances with the locals and gets up to speed with the facts of the murders, he realises that the town, and the people in it, are hiding many more secrets than they’re willing to share.

Charlie digs deeper, but as he gets closer to the truth, he’s also getting closer to Lizzie – the charismatic sister of one of the victims – making them both a target. As the story hurtles towards its high-stakes, adrenalin-fuelled climax, Charlie will have to risk everything he holds dear if he is to succeed in bringing the murderer to justice.

Like a lovechild of Raymond Chandler and John D. MacDonald, with a smidgeon of Jim Thompson on the side, this is a relentless, dark and gritty tale about a man who cannot let go until he’s uncovered the truth of what is really going on inside the close knit community of Texarkana.

Inspired by the true story of the unsolved Texarkana Moonlight Murders, with deeply drawn characters and a vividly claustrophobic atmosphere, THE DARK INSIDE is an utterly engrossing debut and was one of my top reads of 2015 and one of my all time favourite books – it’s an absolute must-read for all thriller fans.

Do yourself a favour and go buy this book – believe me, you’re not going to want to miss it!

THE DARK INSIDE is out in paperback today. You can buy it here from Waterstones and here from Amazon.

To find out more about Rod Reynolds, follow him on Twitter @Rod_WR

CTG Reviews: MAKE ME by Lee Child

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What the blurb says: “Jack Reacher has no place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, so a remote railroad stop on the prairie with the curious name of Mother’s Rest seems perfect for an aimless one-day stopover. He expects to find a lonely pioneer tombstone in a sea of nearly-ripe wheat … but instead there is a woman waiting for a missing colleague, a cryptic note about two hundred deaths, and a small town full of silent, watchful people. Reacher’s one-day stopover becomes an open-ended quest … into the heart of darkness.”

As you’ll know if you’re a regular follower of the CTG blog, I’m a big Jack Reacher fan. Make Me is the twentieth book in this iconic series and so what can fans of the series (and readers new to it) expect from this latest book …

Well, it’s classic Reacher, as you’d expect. He’s picked Mother’s Rest as a place to visit because he’s curious about the name of the town and in finding out the history behind it. But Mother’s Rest has far greater secrets hidden within it, as Reacher is soon to discover.

On the railroad platform he meets Ex-FBI Special Agent, Michelle Chang. She’s looking for her colleague – a fellow investigator who’s gone missing while looking into a hobby case. Her data has led her to Mother’s Rest, but the trail has gone cold.

While the residents of Mother’s Rest seem initially friendly, Reacher starts to suspect that he’s being followed and checked up on. When he tests his theory he’s proved right. Suspicious, he decides to help Michelle Chang find her colleague.

With little more to go on than a scrap of paper with a phone number and a reference to two hundred deaths, Reacher and Chang dig deeper to try to find Chang’s colleague and the client that got him interested in the case. And as they get closer to the truth, and the people that want it to stay hidden, the stakes and the danger ramps up higher and higher.

As ever, this latest book in the series is a thrilling read; rapid-paced and packed with action it follows Chang and Reacher’s investigation as they hunt for the truth and overcome the (many) challenges in their way.

Fans of the series will, I think, find the Chang and Reacher relationship an interesting one. Reacher, ever the loner, seems to develop a stronger bond with Chang than with some of the other women who’ve come into (and out of) his life in the past. It’s a physical thing, sure, but he seems to be having thoughts about a future for their relationship after the immediate puzzle is solved and the danger past. Is Reacher ready to settle down? It’s an interesting question – but you’ll have to read the book to see how things turn out [no spoilers here – sorry!].

MAKE ME is out in paperback today. It’s an absolute must-read for Jack Reacher fans, and for fans of the thriller genre, from a writer at the very top of their game.

To find out more about Lee Child and the Jack Reacher series hop over to www.leechild.com and follow Team Reacher on Twitter @LeeChildReacher

You can buy MAKE ME from Waterstones here or from Amazon here

 

CTG Reviews: MAESTRA by L. S. Hilton

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What the blurb says: “Judith Rashleigh works as an assistant in a prestigious London auction house but her dreams of breaking into the art world have been gradually dulled by the blunt forces of snobbery and corruption. To make ends meet she moonlights as a hostess in one of the West End’s less salubrious bars – although her work there pales against her activities on nights off.

When she stumbles across a conspiracy at her auction house, she ends up in a battle for her life. Alone and in danger, from the French Riviera, to Rome and Paris, all Judith has to rely on is her consummate ability to fake it amongst the rich and famous …”

This book has been compared to The Talented Mr Ripley and Gone Girl, and although I can see echoes of these books in the style of MAESTRA it doesn’t follow an established path, but rather beats its own rather original way into the genre.

Judith is not an especially likable character, but she certainly is interesting. When she discovers some shady practices going on in the auction house she works at, and gets fired for refusing to overlook them, she sees her carefully constructed life on the edge of the wealthiest social circles start to crumble. But when a client at the hostess bar she moonlights at offers her a weekend away, she starts to see potential for clawing her way back in. Things don’t go as planned though, and a chain of events are set in motion that transform Judith from a scheming social climber to a cold blooded murderer who will do whatever it takes, to whomever it takes, to get what she wants.

What I liked about this story is the unpredictable nature of the main character. She’s ruthless and cold bloodied, yet loyal and fiercely attached to any true friends she has. She’s also driven and smart – a flawless chameleon with a flair for reinvention – and takes risks so big and dramatic that it has you holding your breath.

Well written and fast paced, and with a scandalous peep into the world of art dealing and a liberal amount of sex, MAESTRA is a fun and enjoyable read.

 

MAESTRA is out now. To buy the book from Waterstones click here, or to buy it from Amazon click here

CTG Reviews: THE TURNING TIDE by Brooke Magnanti

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What the blurb says: “Erykah Macdonald has a nice life – the kind of life you’re meant to want. But on her twentieth wedding anniversary, she’s about to cross a line. Several hundred miles away in the shallow waters of a Hebridean island, a body is found. It’s been in the water long enough to make identification tricky but it’s clear this is no accidental death. Erykah knows she’s about to make a choice you can’t reverse – but she’s lived with secrets most of her life – she thinks she’s ready. The trouble is, there are far worse secrets than her own about to emerge. From the gurney of a morgue in the Highlands, to the media circus of the national press, and from the seemingly calm suburbs of London to the powerplays in Westminster, a net is tightening. And those that find themselves caught are willing to kill to get out with reputations intact. Erykah must work out what she’s capable of if she’s going to keep her head above water – she must leave behind her comfortable life and start breaking rules. She knows she should be scared … but sometimes, stepping over the line is the first step to freedom …”

Erykah Macdonald has spent over twenty years hiding from her past. She wears the right clothes, says the right things, and moves in the right social circles to hide in plain sight; but it isn’t enough. Her outwardly perfect life, and outwardly perfect husband, are not at all what they seem. Erykah feels trapped and has plans to break free, but on the day she decides to put her plan into action something unexpected happens, plunging her into a dangerous world of fraud, politics and murder.

What’s great about Erykah is that whereas a lot of people would have given up in the terrifying situation she finds herself in, she decides to use it as an opportunity. Smart and determined, she sets out to discover exactly what her husband has got them caught up in. As she digs further, she finds connections between her situation, the dead body washed up on a Hebridean island, and a wider political agenda.

Erykah is a great female anti-hero – she’s resourceful, determined and dynamic, and I couldn’t help but root for her.

Fast paced, with some fabulously witty observations, this is a gripping first thriller from Brooke Magnanti. Gritty and well researched, it touches on the 24 hour news culture, the trend around hounding and ‘outing’ people on social media and, through a vibrant cast of characters, explores just how far people will go to get what they want.

Packed with conspiracy, intrigue and political shenanigans THE TURNING TIDE is a cracking read and perfect for thriller fans.

 

THE TURNING TIDE is out now. You can buy it from Waterstones here and from Amazon here

To find out more about Brooke Magnanti hop on over to her website at www.brookemagnanti.com and follow her on Twitter @belledejour_uk 

 

CTG Reviews: VIRAL by Helen Fitzgerald

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What the blurb says: “Leah and her adopted sister Su are almost the same age – but have always been opposites. Leah is wild and often angry, whereas Su is successful and swotty. When they go on holiday together to Magaluf to celebrate their exam results, it is Leah that their mother worries about – but it’s Su who doesn’t come home.

Su is on the run, humiliated and afraid: there is an online video of her, drunkenly performing multiple sex acts in a nightclub. And everyone has seen it.

Their mother Ruth, a successful court judge, is furious. How could this have happened? What role has Leah played in all this? How can she bring justice to these men who took advantage of her daughter? And can Ruth bring Su back home when Su doesn’t want to be found?”

This book has one hell of an opening line. It demands the reader’s attention, and once it has it, it keeps it, as the revelations just keep on coming throughout this fabulously twisty-turny thriller.

What I especially enjoyed about this book was the complex relationships between the characters. Leah and Su used to be close when they were little, but as they’ve grown into teenagers they’ve grown apart, with Leah becoming increasingly more hostile towards her adopted sister. At the same time, Ruth’s relationship with Leah has disintegrated and she feels a stronger bond with Su. When Su disappears, all these emotions reach boiling point, threatening to rip the family apart. Ruth is determined to get Su back at any cost – whether it’s to her job, her family or both.

Ruth devises a plan to find Su. She pulls strings, uses her police and court contacts to find out what she can, and tasks family members with tracking Su both online and in Magaluf. But as things go from bad to worse, and Ruth’s plan doesn’t play out the way she’d intended, and it appears that Su may have ideas of her own about what she wants to happen next.

This is a story where good people take bad decisions and where all actions have consequences, some of which reach much wider and are far more devastating than they could ever have imagined.

It’s a story about love, loss, simmering resentment and grief. It’s about needing to find who you are, what’s important to you, and carving out your own place in the world.

It’s also one hell of a rollercoaster ride thriller!

 

 

[With thanks to Faber for my copy of VIRAL]

CTG Reviews: Time of Death by Mark Billingham

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To celebrate TIME OF DEATH being published in paperback today I thought I’d re-run my review …

What the blurb says: “The Missing: Two schoolgirls are abducted in the small, dying Warwickshire town of Polesford, driving a knife into the heart of the community where police officer Helen Weeks grew up, and from which she long escaped. But this is a place full of secrets, where dangerous truths lie buried.

The Accused: When it’s splashed all over the press that family man Stephen Bates has been arrested, Helen and her partner Tom Thorne head to the flooded town to support Bates’ wife – an old school friend of Helen’s – who is living under siege with two teenage children and convinced of her husband’s innocence.

The Dead: As residents and media bay for Bates’ blood, a decomposing body is found. The police believe that they have their murderer in custody, but one man believes otherwise. With a girl still missing, Thorne sets himself on a collision course with local police, townsfolk – and a merciless killer.”

So, declarations first, I have to confess that I’m a huge fan of Mark Billingham’s Tom Thorne series and so I couldn’t wait to read this book when it came out in hardback.

This story takes Tom out of his usual city surroundings on a visit to the countryside for a romantic break with his partner Helen Weeks. But it doesn’t stay a relaxing holiday for long. When Helen recognises the wife of the man accused of the abduction of two schoolgirls from a small Warwickshire community, their holiday is cut short as they head to Polesford for Helen to support her old school friend who is in the grips of a suffocating media presence, and whose community, and social media, is vilifying her and her family.

With Helen preoccupied with her friend and acting increasing distant, Tom does what fans of the series might anticipate – he starts to look at the facts of the case, at first piquing the interest of the local police, and then (as he spots the holes in their evidence and theories) becoming an irritant. Once he realises the investigation isn’t as thorough, and the case as well proven, as the locals are saying, he’d determined to find out the truth behind the abductions and get to the remaining missing girl before it’s too late.

Taking Thorne out of his London comfort zone is genius move. He hates the countryside, especially the thought of antiquing and walking, but through the course of his (unofficial) investigation he has to embrace everything the area has to throw at him – floods, pigs, a lot of characterful locals, and the kind of claustrophobic environment where everyone knows each other’s business.

Being the outsider, and not officially involved in the case, he’s able to follow his instincts unchecked, and starts to find he’s actually rather enjoying his holiday. He even manages to entice his friend, and talented Pathologist, Phil Hendricks, out from the city to help him. They still haven’t really spoken about what happened on Bardsey Island (in the previous book The Bones Beneath) and the personal cost to Phil (and Thorne) that resulted, but their friendship is a strong as ever and their banter is, as always, a joy to read.

TIME OF DEATH is filled with mystery and intrigue from the abduction case Tom is investigating, it also layers on a growing sense of unease that coming back to the place she grew up has unearthed some deeply buried secrets that Helen has kept well hidden. The consequences of both will have ramifications for Helen and Tom.

Masterfully written, this is another fabulous instalment in what I think is the best police procedural series around today.

This was one of my top reads of 2015, and is an absolute must read for crime fiction fans.

 

You can find out more about Mark Billingham by hopping over to his website at www.markbillingham.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @MarkBillingham

TIME OF DEATH is out now in paperback. You can buy it from Waterstones here, or from Amazon here

 

[with thanks to Sphere for my copy of Time of Death]

CTG Reviews: JONATHAN DARK OR THE EVIDENCE OF GHOSTS by A.K. Benedict

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What the blurb says: “Maria King knows a secret London. Born blind, she knows the city by sound and touch and smell. But surgery has restored her sight – only for her to find she doesn’t want it. Jonathan Dark sees the shadowy side of the city. A DI with the Metropolitan Police, he is haunted by his failure to save a woman from the hands of a stalker. Now it seems the killer has set his sights on Maria, and is leaving her messages in the most gruesome of ways. Tracing the source of these messages leads Maria and Jonathan to a London they never know. To find the truth they’ll have to listen to the whispers on the streets.”

Every once in a while you read a book that enthrals you, wrapping you up tight inside its world and holding you spellbound throughout the entirety of the story. For me, this is that book.

Set against the backdrop of an atmospheric and familiar, yet at the same time unfamiliar, London, the story is both a gritty police procedure and the story of two people discovering, and learning to accept, who they really are.

DI Jonathan Dark is a unique and fascinating detective, committed and undeniably great at his job, he’s reeling from the break-up of his marriage, the loss of his home, and is struggling with self-acceptance. As the story progresses, and he is offered help on his case from some unexpected sources – ghosts – the world he lives in continues to shift and change, causing him to question all that he believed he knew.

Maria King is an assured young woman who knows a secret London. To her the lack of sight is a gift, and the world without it a rich and sensual place that she knows through sounds and smells and touch. Now that her sight has been restored she wears a blindfold in order to remain in the world that so enchants her. But when she becomes the stalker’s target her sightlessness makes her increasingly vulnerable. Refusing to give in to the stalker’s threat, she works with DI Jonathan Dark and his team to try to discover the stalker’s identity. As her and Jonathan become closer, the stalker gets angry, and those around Maria start to pay the price.

Beautifully written, one of the many things that stand out about this book is the lightness of touch and originality in the prose, and the use of acute observations that gives the everyday a supernatural twist.

Quirkily original, with deeply drawn unique characters and a brutally magical London setting, this story has you traversing all the emotions from darkness to delight with a gut wrenching honesty – rather as if you’ve been kissed and sucker punched all at the same time, but in a good way.

A stunning read. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is, quite simply, marvellous.

 

JONATHAN DARK OR THE EVIDENCE OF GHOSTS is out today. You can buy it here from Waterstones and here from Amazon.

To find out more about AK Benedict visit her website at www.akbenedict.com and be sure to follow her on Twitter @ak_benedict

 

CTG Reviews: THE DEFENCE by Steve Cavanagh

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To celebrate the paperback release of THE DEFENCE I’m re-running my review of this fabulous thriller …

What the blurb says: “Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren’t that different.

It’s been over a year since Eddie Flynn vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn’t have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie’s back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter, Amy. Eddie only has forty-eight hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial – and win – if he wants to save his daughter.

Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his ‘client’ and ensure Amy’s safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible? Lose this case and he loses everything.”

The Defence is hands down one of the best legal thrillers I’ve read in years. Eddie Flynn – con artist turned lawyer – is haunted by the last case he took to trial. He’s turned his back on the legal profession, taken up drinking and become estranged from his wife and child. Things seem pretty bad, but as the reader discovers from the very start of The Defence, things are about to get much, much worse for Eddie Flynn.

With his daughter abducted, and a bomb strapped to his own body, Eddie is forced to represent Olek Volchek – a man he has no doubt is guilty of murder. In order to buy enough time to figure a way out of the terrifying situation he’s in, Eddie has to draw on all his skills – both legal and criminal – and his friends on both sides of the law, as he gambles against increasingly higher risks in his attempt to get his daughter safe. Smart, courageous and driven by the need to protect his young daughter, Eddie makes for a compelling character – someone you can really root for.

This rapid-paced, page turner has bucket-loads of action and piles of sky-soaring tension.

A fabulous must-read – highly recommended for all thriller fans.

To find out more about Steve Cavanagh and his books hop on over to his website at stevecavanaghbooks.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @SSCav

And to buy THE DEFENCE from Amazon click here or buy it from Waterstones via the link here