The Cure

Author: Glenn Cooper

Publisher: Aries Fiction / Head of Zeus

Available: in Paperback and eBook

Purchase Links:

Amazon Aries Store: https://amzn.to/304NUvM

The Cure: https://amzn.to/30dkegg

Thank you to Victoria Joss, Aries Blog Tours and Aries Fiction/Head of Zeus for my gifted eBook and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

If you catch it, you forget everything. Your only hope is the cure…

He wanted to cure Alzheimer’s Disease…

Single parent and neurologist Dr Jamie Abbott makes a key contribution to treating Alzheimer’s Disease. But the principal investigator short-circuits the study safeguards, releasing a highly contagious virus that wipes the host’s memories. His daughter is one of the first victims.

As the virus spreads and civil order breaks down, Jamie embarks on a perilous cross-country journey. He needs to reach Dr Mandy Alexander. She has the other half of a potential cure.

If he fails, he’ll leave most of mankind to the oblivion of total amnesia.

My Thoughts:

This is a book about a virus and a global pandemic, sound familiar! There is something exceedingly strange about reading a fictional account of such a series of events, when they are your current reality!

If you thought the conditions of our own Lockdown were bad, rest assured that the content of this book, is far far worse! This is a well-crafted, compelling and clever piece of fiction and Glenn Cooper clearly has the scientific insight to provide serious knowledge and substance to his tale.

The premise of the story is that a project has been launched to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, a disease that destroys a person from the inside out. The process of delivering this new drug involves mixing the therapeutic with a safe virus for delivery because it can’t be administered directly because of what is known as the blood-brain barrier which would stop the drug getting into a person’s system. Trust me you are going to learn a great deal about this subject during this book. The virus is the delivery system and it has no ability to attach itself or mutate within the host. Basically it is the transport and once it makes its delivery, it degrades and vanishes…all good in theory!

However you don’t want any other virus present at the time of administration because they can cause a problem (can you see where this is going?!) So strict isolation protocols are put in place to mitigate this risk!

The book opens with a patient being given the trial drug, all seems to be going well until she gets a sneaky visit from her grandson who lies to the nurse in charge and pretends that his name is on the permitted visitors list (he and his father have nearly identical names). Well of course he is carrying a virus of his own and proceeds to cough on his grandmother and as a result, all hell breaks loose!

Dr Jamie Abbott is our leading protagonist, widower, father of a teenage daughter and he was/is responsible for identifying/creating the cure element for the Alzheimer’s trial but not for creating the virus it was delivered in. He is called to a safety committee after Patient 1 is reported as ‘experiencing a serious and unexpected adverse event’, starting with fever, coughing and the coma. He requests that there be some serious investigation into how Patient 1 ended up in this condition much to frustration and annoyance of Dr Steadman (the project leader). But unbeknownst to Jamie, it is too late! Staff who were in contact with this patient have now gone about their daily lives, met up with friends and family, traveled and the virus is already spreading and at an alarming rate.

The symptoms are very clear, fever, cough and confusion followed by full on amnesia, victims are scared and unable to communicate or function. They don’t know who they are, where they are, who anyone else around them is or how to undertake the most basic tasks of life, like feeding themselves nor do victims have any ability to control their impulses!

I did wonder while reading this tale, if it would have had the same fascination and impact on me intellectually, if I wasn’t living through a viral pandemic in real life. The story details of how the virus escapes and the speed of contagion, the theories of conspiracy that leads to the outbreak are sublimely convincing, they are brilliantly constructed and well thought out and I am deeply sceptical usually about conspiracy theories but oh this one is clever and subtle and I suspect based somewhat on elements truth.

So what happens next, a great deal is the short answer….initially Jamie is quarantined in a Baltimore hospital after visiting one of the first victims of the new virus, known as FAS or Febrile Amnesia Syndrome. From the hospital he calls in the cavalry, CDC, every US agency related to such matters, but within hours 80% of the people he is quarantined with have the virus and are living, breathing human shells, with no memory what so ever (I did wonder if this element was influenced by the series The Walking Dead!?) Within days half the world has the virus, the US President, the Vice President, his own daughter and her friend and thousands of others.

Further bad news (total understatement) comes when Jamie discovers that Dr Steadman, the star physician and leader of the Alzheimer’s trial has killed himself and the virus fail safe was removed from the new drug they were testing because it was hampering the project’s progress…and now there is no known way to kill this mutation!

The true genius of how horrifying this virus idea is, starts to enter a reader’s brain. So the virus turns you into an amnesiac, it turns everyone into one; Doctors, Fireman, Soldiers, Plumbers, Engineers, civil servants, Post men, Bank tellers…every element of humanity is infected and nobody can recall how to function never mind undertake their jobs. The ability to main the country’s, social and economic structures starts to crumble, the power goes out, food supplies dwindle, law and order and judicial system fails until all that is left is a vortex of fear, violence and chaos…

The story continues with Jamie Abbott, taking his daughter and her friend both who are infected along with her mother (who is police detective and whose moral compass is now completely broken) on a road trip across the US, in order to meet up with Dr Mandy Alexander (who has her own trials and tribulations to face in this book) she is Jamie’s former colleague, lover and fellow researcher and the woman responsible for finding the benign virus used for the Alzheimer trial and this journey is fraught with stacks of danger, gunfights, confrontation with some villainous characters who are taking full advantage of the situation and the victims of the virus in the most nefarious and morally corrupt ways. Jamie is doggedly determined to find the cure for FAS and will go to any lengths, and fight tooth and nail for the survival for himself and his daughter… I trust by now I have whetted your appetite for this gripping and gruesome novel and as you know I don’t like to spoil your reading experiences, so I will say no more!

It really is a fantastic read, compulsive, compelling and it does makes our own experiences of lock down and a global pandemic, seem like a walk in the park, we have food, power and as far as I know my partner is not, trying bash me over the head with a frying pan because he’s forgotten who I am…then again?! (Joking, I promise).

The plot and the characters are eminently convincing and you do find yourself relating to them. The villains of the plot are suitably malevolent and they deserve everything that is coming to them, so my lovely bookophiles, this book is most definitely a necessary Cure for any stay home blues you may have. Happy Reading…

About the Author

Glenn Cooper is a Harvard-trained infectious diseases physician who became the CEO of a large public biotech company in Massachusetts. He sold his company in 2009, about the time that his first novel, Library of the Dead, was published. He has been a full-time writer ever since, with fourteen top-ten bestselling thrillers published in thirty translations, and seven million copies sold. A TV series based on his first trilogy is in development.

Twitter: @GlennCooper

Website: www.glenncooperbooks.com

Aries Fiction

Twitter: @AriesFiction

Facebook: Aries Fiction

Website: http://www.headofzeus.com

Road Kill: The Duchess of Frisian Tun (DaDa Detective Agency – Book 1)

#RoadKill ##RoadKill #TheDaDaDetectiveAgency @Peteadams8 @NextChapterPB

Welcome my lovely bookophiles to my first ever spotlight post for Damp Pebbles Blog Tours, thank you to Emma Welton for all her help.@damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Please find below all the lovely book information for this exciting read. Being as its payday can you resist adding this book to your to buy list?

Publishing Information:

Published in paperback and digital formats by Next Chapter Publishing on 19^th August 2020

Purchase links:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2XDyNrp

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3kslSTh

Book Details

Cataclysmic events have occurred in the decorous upper middle class enclave within Southsea, Portsmouth, on the south coast of England.

But what were the circumstances that contributed to this violent clash involving a Sherman tank and a bazooka? The strange occurrence is Investigated by Lord Everard Pimple, a naive, upper class twit who not only inadvertently opens a can of worms, but has an introduction into the world of womanly wiles.

Everard’s life is about to blow up like an atom bomb… he just doesn’t know it yet. But after the dust settles, will he still be standing?

About the Author

Pete Adams is an architect with a practice in Portsmouth, UK, and from there he has, over forty years, designed and built buildings across England and Wales. Pete took up writing after listening to a radio interview of the writer Michael Connolly whilst driving home from Leeds. A passionate reader, the notion of writing his own novel was compelling, but he had always been told you must have a mind map for the book; Jeez, he could never get that.

Et Voila, Connolly responding to a question, said he never can plan a book, and starts with an idea for chapter one and looks forward to seeing where it would lead. Job done, and that evening Pete started writing and the series, Kind Hearts and Martinets, was on the starting blocks. That was some eight years ago, and hardly a day has passed where Pete has not worked on his writing, and currently, is halfway through his tenth book, has a growing number of short stories, one, critically acclaimed and published by Bloodhound, and has written and illustrated a series of historical nonsense stories called, Whopping Tales.

Pete describes himself as an inveterate daydreamer, and escapes into those dreams by writing crime thrillers with a thoughtful dash of social commentary. He has a writing style shaped by his formative years on an estate that re-housed London families after WWII, and his books have been likened to the writing of Tom Sharpe; his most cherished review, “made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think”.

Pete lives in Southsea with his partner, and Charlie the star-struck Border terrier, the children having flown the coop, and has 3 beautiful granddaughters who will play with him so long as he promises not to be silly.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Peteadams8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pete.adams.9256

The Hit List

Author: Holly Seddon

Publisher: Trapeze

Available: eBook/Audiobook – 28^th August 2020

Narration: Perdita Weeks, Tuppence weeks, Chris Riley, Stephanie Racine, Damien Lynch

Thank you to Alex Layt and Trapeze for my gifted audio copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

What would you do if you found your name on a hit list? And your late husband put it there?

When Marianne’s husband Greg is knocked off his bike and killed on the way to work, she must unpick the life he left behind. Numb with grief, Marianne consoles herself by scouring Greg’s laptop, finding comfort in reading his old emails and tracing his footsteps across the web. Until one day, she discovers that he had been accessing the dark web. Why was Greg, a principled charity worker and dedicated husband, logging on to a website that showcases the worst of humanity’s cruel impulses and where anything is available for a price? Marianne steels herself and logs on. After tentative searching, she discovers her name on a hit list.

In this fast-paced, powerful and exceptionally plotted novel, Marianne must figure out whether Greg was trying to protect her or whether he was complicit in the conspiracy for her murder. As she is pulled deeper into the depths of the underworld that Greg was seemingly hostage to, she gets closer and closer to coming face to face with Sam – the assassin hired to kill her. The dark truths that Marianne uncovers speak volumes about the dark underbelly of our society and forces us to question how far we would go to protect those we care most about.

Praise for THE HIT LIST

‘This had me gripped from start to finish. Smart, twisty and totally compelling.’ Jane Fallon

‘Holly Seddon’s new novel, The Hit List, is a compulsive read. Unsettling subject matter deftly handled, this book is ingeniously plotted and full of suspense.’ Lisa Ballantyne

‘The twists were relentless, the pacing superb and I actually wasn’t ready for it to end.’ John Marrs

My Thoughts

Holly Seddon has the magnificent talent at creating captivating stories about what is really behind, the facades of ordinary life and relationships. She orchestrates the strands of these lives in to a maelstrom of plot twists and turns, a truly terrifying experience that delves in society’s transgressing recesses.  On listening to Holly’s new book my main observation is; do you really know the people you love & trust the most…consider that, maybe you don’t and maybe you shouldn’t trust them! The phrase, appearances can be deceiving is the biggest understatement ever, when it comes to this story of retribution, desperation, deception and dark dark secrets.

I have had the pleasure of revelling in the audiobook for The Hit List and for me, the joy of a truly excellent listening experience, is being able to actually hear the individual character’s voices and with this book each character has been given their own narrator making their voices and stories come vividly alive. If you’ve never tried an audiobook, this would definitely be an amazing first experience, try it and see.

Marianne is a widow, her husband Greg was killed in an accident a year ago, she is still in a fugue of grief but trying to restart her life by embarking on a new relationship with Noah who has also experienced loss of his own!

Marianne while going through the remnants of her life with Greg, alongside the photos, gifts, clothes, note pads, she dips into the digital items, emails from the beginning of their relationship on both her and his laptops, she uncovers an archived email from Greg to his previous girlfriend Jenna, sent in the last days of his life, the tone of which suggests that maybe their relationship had been re-kindled in someway but the exact details are elusive.

There is a hint that Marianne and Greg’s relationship was clearly suffering issues at the time of his death! Marianne keeps searching Greg’s laptop, when she spots an icon, a name, a browser which turns out to be wormhole to the dark web on the internet, where anything available for a price! From this point on the shocks start coming and as a reader it is rather like being Alice as she falls down a very shadowy rabbit hole!

And just as you are becoming immersed in Marianne’s story, the tale jumps to that of another character, in this case; Sam. Sam who is watching, ‘creeping silently in the shadows, planning wicked things’. Sam is clearly an assassin but that isn’t all she is, not by a long, long, long shot.  Her backstory and how she end up as she is today,  is juicily disquieting and enthralling and I think she might be my favorite character in this tale and if you are waiting for me to spill the beans, about her…not a chance! The story jumps on to other just as fascinating character, Greg…and why and how he ends up dead, was it an accident really or something else…and so the book continues in this fashion, jumping between characters and their narratives.

The book is structured actions and behaviors that impact the individual characters and influence their predicaments, plans and a wide variety of delicious deviousness and oh what a complicate web it is and Holly is masterful in creating her scheming plots as she is in creating these incredible characters, clues and glorious detail to engulf us. Now you may have noticed I am saying nothing about the scope or details of the plot itself, because to reveal one single clue, would just be wrong. This is a book you need to experience without my review suggesting what might occur, you need to sit listening or reading it and be in awe of its audaciousness and in case you hadn’t guessed through my enthusiastic use of adjectives, I absolutely loved this book, it has the complete psychological wow factor.

Well my lovely bookophiles for many of you it will be payday weekend, so add this to your shopping list, your to buy list, your to read list any list you like but make sure you get your hands on The Hit List…right now or at least first thing tomorrow when it is available!

About the Author:

Holly Seddon is the international bestselling author of TRY NOT TO BREATHE, DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES and LOVE WILL TEAR US APART. THE HIT LIST will be published in August 2020 in eBooks, and April 2021 in paperback.

After growing up in the English countryside obsessed with music and books, Holly worked in London as a journalist and editor. She now lives in Amsterdam with her family and writes full time.

Alongside fellow author Gillian McAllister, Holly co-hosts the popular Honest Authors Podcast.

You can find her on Twitter @hollyseddon, Instagram and Facebook @hollyseddonauthor.

The Beast and the Bethany

Author: Jack Meggitt-Phillips

Illustrator: Isabelle Follath

Publisher: Egmont Books

Available: In Hardback from 01 October 2020

Thank you to the delightful Dave of The Write Reads blog tour for my gifted proof copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

The Beast and the Bethany has all the classic macabre humour of Roald Dhal, the charm of Despicable Me, and a gleeful bite of Little Shop of Horrors!

It is a riotously funny, dreadfully Dahl-esque tale of greed, vanity and a girl who doesn’t know she’s about to be eaten. It’s a book that will have readers delighting in the gruesomeness, laughing on every page and staying up late with a touch under the covers to finish it – but lurking under the beastly exterior is a big beating heart

My Thoughts:

This book is almost, far too deviantly funny and monstrously fabulous for the mini-peeps and the hugely immature part of me, certainly doesn’t really want to share it with them but if you are a parent who reads to/ with your offspring, you will love, love, love this book and you can buy it partly for your own enjoyment! Also, I’m a book blogger, so not sharing how epically fantastic it is, is probably against the rules…

The story and its characters have the comically audacious creepiness of Lemony Snickett, married with the dark charm of Dahl and there is absolutely nothing like it out in the world. It was impossible not to devour it in one sitting, which given the nature of the beast in this tale, is clearly the appropriate reading technique for this tantalising tale. I also want to draw your attention, to the sumptuous and stunningly detailed illustrations that are contained within its currently un chewed pages, which I believe, surpasses any in Dahl’s books and brings these amazing characters to life, especially if you are sharing the story with your mini-persons.

Ebenezer Tweezer is the Dorian Grey-esque character of the book, who has survived to the ripe old age of 511 by feeding the malevolent, voracious and insatiable beast in his attic, who requires a wide variety of weird and wonderful things to snack upon. In return he gives Ebenezer anything he asks for, money, paintings, pianos but most importantly an elixir of youth (which is why Ebenezer only looks 30 years old) and we adults are all wishing we had such a create in our attics!

The beast’s most recently behested snack is a child and even Ebenezer balks at this request, “It’s wrong, you can’t go around eating children, there is something so very impolite about it” but the beast is adamant, no child to snack on means no elixir and that means Ebenezer will start to age rapidly and the wrinkles are already appearing and he simply can’t have that.

So he sets about trying to firstly steal a child (from a nearby Zoo but is unsuccessful because the parents seem violently against him put their child in a sack) I dare you not to laugh out loud at this (however inappropriate such real life actions would seem). He moves on to trying to purchase one from his local bird selling shop, again without success…but he discovers that you can get children for free from the Orphanage down the road.

Off to the Orphanage he goes and meets the dreadful Miss Fizzlewick proprietor of said institution, she confirms that yes the children are free and he can certainly pick one to take home today! But he finds that choosing a child to be eaten is not an easy task, the children are far too nice. Ebenezer realises he needs to pick a horrid child as this will ease his conscience (yes dear bookophiles, it seems he does indeed have one, even if it is vastly skewed)

Enter Bethany, she obstreperous and perfectly unpleasant, just what is required for beast snacking purposes. Although between you and me, there is a lot more to her than being the right amuse bouche but that is for you to discover!

What occurs next, well Ebenezer is getting older by the second and he realises that he enjoys having Bethany around, she brighten up his life despite all its luxury and he really doesn’t want to feed her to the beast (who is getting hungrier and more demanding by the minute). It is Bethany who hatches a cunning and glorious plan that may just save her from being a snack and save Ebenezer from wrinkly decay and death!

Now I have told you more than enough and hopefully whetted your appetite for the book and nothing else, like pearl necklaces, antique bureaus, parrots, pet cats or children…I hope!

This is a story you will guzzle and gobble in one huge bite and it will certainly have you smacking your lips in glee. This is an exceptional tale, beautifully atypical and diabolically comic with subtle entreaties about the values of being good and kind at its core. Every child in the land should be gifted a copy immediately because it will change their reading experiences forever and what more could you want from a book.

So my lovely bookophiles, you need to buy piles and piles of this book for every child and childish adult you know, it would make a much better gift than sweeties at Halloween and of course Christmas is also just around the corner (or at least it will be when this book is published) and this will be the perfect gift and my glorious goddaughter Neve will certainly be receiving a copy.

About the Author:

Jack Meggitt-Phillips is an incredibly exciting new talent. He is an author, scriptwriter and playwright whose work has been performed at The Roundhouse and featured on Radio 4. He is scriptwriter and presenter of The History of Advertising podcast. In his mind, Jack is an enormously talented ballroom dancer, however his enthusiasm far surpasses his actual talent. Jack lives in north London where he spends most of his time drinking peculiar teas and reading PG Wodehouse novels.

About the Illustrator:

Isabelle Follath is an illustrator who has worked in advertising, fashion magazines and book publishing, but her true passion lies in illustrating children’s books. She also loves drinking an alarming amount of coffee, learning new crafts and looking for the perfect greenish-gold colour. Isabelle lives in Zurich, Switzerland.

I am the Night

Author: Ethan Cross

Publisher: Aries Fiction / Head of Zeus

Available: Paperback & eBook

Amazon Aries Store: https://amzn.to/304NUvM

I Am The Night: https://amzn.to/3gdoMbV

Thank you to Victoria Joss, Aries Blog Tours and Aries Fiction/Head of Zeus for my gifted eBook and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Twitter: @AriesFiction

Facebook: Aries Fiction

Website: http://www.headofzeus.com

Book Details:

The Ackerman Thrillers, 1

The night is dark. My soul is darker.

Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. are both killers.

But while Williams is tortured by the deaths he has caused, Ackerman takes pleasure in his murders.

Williams is a former New York City homicide detective.

Ackerman is a serial killer.

And both men are about to become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of US government. They will be plunged deep into a hellish underworld of murderers and killers. They will find that there is more that connects them than divides them… and that their lives depend on it

My Thoughts:

“The worst kind of fear had always been one without a name” and if you are easily afraid, you will need to read this book with someone else in the house and all the lights on. The book opens with some vicious, brutal and bloody murders and there are bodies dropping in a variety of ghastly and gruesome ways throughout its pages, so be warned! And fear is a major theme of this book…

Francis Ackerman Jr is our serial killer, highly intelligent, without emotion or empathy and exceedingly fond of playing sick little games with his victims, where the inevitable outcome is death but whether their end is swift or after hours of torture, there is no escape and he revels in the event. Ackerman of course has also been a victim in his past.

Suffering at the hands of his own father Francis Ackerman Snr who by all accounts was a second rate psychologist, who’s academic and expert career was less than remarkable. In order to gain critical acclaim, he turned his own son in to a guinepig, in order to prove his hypothesis that serial killers could be made and were products of their environments and they were not just born that way, dispelling the belief that serial killers own natural instincts held the key to their psychotic behaviours! Nurture over Nature if you will. Francis Ackerman Snr conducted real-life experiments on his own child in order to create a psychopath, subjecting him to abuse both physical and psychological, torture and death and he filmed the results…the concept of these actions is beyond horrifying  and the content of this story is not for the faint hearted but be brave and read on because it is worth it.

Ackerman jr is on a rampage in rural Texas when his path crosses with Marcus Williams, retired NYC homicide detective, who has just inherited a ranch in the area from his aunt. Like Ackerman his childhood also contained less than stella experiences, his parents were murdered. His own police career also ended in suspicious circumstances (but that is for you to discover for yourselves).

Their first encounter is pure coincidence, Marcus is on a date with the Sheriffs’ daughter, a real estate agent, who offers to introduce to Marcus to his neighbour. Where they discover instead her mutilated corpse, Marcus is only a witness to this event as he is no longer in law enforcement. Returning later to the scene of the crime with the Sheriff a series of shocking and surprising events occur…namely the Sheriff has captured Ackerman but Marcus gather’s the usual course of action, like arresting him isn’t going to happen.

From this point on the pace of the story ratchets up, there’s a fight and Ackerman Jr escapes and Marcus ends up on the run too! So now we have a lethal serial killer on the loose, a former NYC detective on the run being chased by local law enforcement and in the frame for multiple murders, a seemly corrupt Sheriff with a battery of armed cops at his beck and call, more violent and bloody deaths all over the place and then comes the most epic twist, a conspiracy that reaches the highest level of US Government and has major ramifications for our cast of characters! Let me say as a reader you can assume nothing, when you think you understand the plot or believe you know what’s going to happen next, you won’t have a clue. The exciting plot twists and turns and keeps you completely engaged and somewhat open mouthed!

This novel develops in to a vortex of shocking revelation, fear and death and absolutely nothing is what it seems and I wish I could explain more but if I do, I will just have to write spoiler alert every few lines in this review. This is addictive and gruesome reading and although there is resolution to some elements of the story others are left open for what comes next (which I hope is Book 2)

Definitely a series to watch out for and certainly one crime/thriller fans will love. So Bookophiles, add this one to your must read list.

About the Author

Ethan Cross’s Shepherd thrillers are international bestsellers. Before becoming a full time writer, he was a computer programmer, a Chief Technology Officer and a Marketing Director for a New York publisher. He lives in Illinois with his wife, three kids,and two Shih Tzus

Twitter: @EthanCrossBooks

Website: www.ethancross.com

The Quickening

Author: Rhiannon Ward

Publisher: Trapeze

Publication Date: 20th August 2020

Available: Hardback, eBook and Audio

Thank you to Alex Layt at Orion Books and Trapeze for my gifted finished copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

An exquisitely crafted and compelling mystery that invites the reader into the crumbling Clewer Hall to help unlock its secrets alongside the unforgettable Louisa Drew.

Feminist gothic fiction set between the late 19th century and the early 20th century – an era of burgeoning spiritualism and the suffragette movement – that couldn’t be more relevant today.

England 1925 Louisa Drew lost her husband in the First World War and her six year old twin sons in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Newly re-married to a war-traumatised husband and seven months pregnant, Louisa is asked by her employer to travel to Clewer Hall in Sussex where she is to photograph the contents of the house for auction.

She learns that Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance in 1896, and that the lady of the house has asked those who gathered back then to come together once more to recreate the evening. When a mysterious child appears on the grounds, Louisa finds herself compelled to investigate and becomes embroiled in the strange happenings of the house. Gradually, she unravels the long-held secrets of the inhabitants and what really happened thirty years before…and discovers her own fate is entwined with that of Clewer Hall’s.

My Thoughts:

Can I firstly say how beautiful the finished copy of this book is, the cover is stunning and I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and I’m not but I am admiring it and creative skill that designed it and swirling nature only emphases the mysterious nature of this story for me.

Before the story begins there is a quote from Arthur Conan Doyle – The History of Spiritualism (1926).

“The deaths occurring in almost every family in the land brought a sudden and concentrated interest in the life after death. People not only asked the question, ‘If a man dies shall he live again?’ but they eagerly sought to know if communication was possible with the dear ones they had lost. They sought for ‘the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still’

I mention this quote because, the standout themes of this story are for me the three G’s; Gothic, Ghostly and Grief. I found this quote explained the historical context and prevailing mood of the book. The story is set post World War I and the resulting death toll removed a generation, if not two generations of men from this world. Our protagonist Louisa Drew has suffered such monstrous grief because of the war; the loss of her beloved husband, her father, her brother and if that wasn’t enough, the loss of her children. To this reader the idea of losing so many family members in so short a period of time is almost beyond comprehension, and yet this volume of death within a family was not unusual for this period! As is illustrated by the losses of the family at Clewer Hall whose 3 sons perished during the war as well.

England was a country wracked by grief and it spawned a resurgence in interest in the concepts of Spiritualism.  The practices of which had been a popular entertainment in decades past. Spiritualism is a belief that the spirits of the dead exist and possess the ability and inclination to communicate with the living via mediums and séances. But to sceptics of such practices, it is possible to see that such events could easily fall prey to the unscrupulous, who could see the trend as opportunity to make money. There is also, the fact Spiritualism was considered by those with a more conservative belief system, that the idea of communing with spirits was a form of devilry or spiritual debauchery and a fall into moral decay (as Louisa’s mother -in – law expresses it) and as a result any such involvement with séances should be avoided.

When we meet Louisa for the first time, she is heavily pregnant, stagnating and stifled by her uninspiring marriage and the life she has misguidedly chosen! A final opportunity to pursue her photographic career is offered by her employer and she jumps at the chance. There is almost an unseemly haste at which she rushes home to pack and head to Clewer Hall located outside Brighton. The description of Louisa’s arrival at Clewer Hall gave me chills as it reminded me of Daphne Du Maurier’s description of Mandalay in Rebecca and throughout this story I firmly believe Rhiannon Ward is channelling essence of DdM, especially with the story’s constant tempo of malevolence and foreboding.

In true gothic style, the history of the house, its inhabitants and an infamous séance of 30 years ago, all colour the events of the present. Louisa begins her task of photographing the eclectic contents of the hall and all the while, strange and unexplained occurrences start to happen, strange music that only she can hear, odd light patches on her photographic plates, her hostess’s unnatural fascination with her pregnancy and the eerie observations of the mysterious medium Ada Watkins.

And oh how the glorious sinister tension builds and it provokes in the reader all sort of questions but chiefly what did happen that night all those years ago? I promise you will not be disappointed in the answer but nor am I going to reveal it here.

This story is truly magnificent, it is laden with glorious details from the descriptions of decaying grandeur, to its reticent and secretive cast. The plot is sublimely sinister, and more shocking turns of events are yet to occur.

I promise, you will not be able to stop reading this book until you find resolution to all your questions. I know this because I couldn’t either.  There is so much happening in this novel, that all I can do now to avoid waffling on for hours, is to offer you some deliciously tasty clues to whet your reading appetite further; a curse, a distressed reaction, bitter tea, old Jessops cottage, a forbidden love, a child’s foot prints in snow, memento mori, memories of a maid, the cost of grief…see, I defy you to resist wanting this book!

The end of this tale is as remarkable as its beginning, Louisa’s week at Clewer Hall changes her destiny forever and only by reading the book will you be able to discover what I mean…

I believe there is quote out in the world, that recommends, that authors should write about what they know about and/or what they love because without this knowledge and inspiration their creations will be a hollow shell. In the case of the exceedingly talented and knowledgeable Rhiannon Ward, she has clearly adhered to such advice with spectacular, gripping and irresistible results.

My lovely bookophiles, I have only one last thing to say… you cannot miss out on this book…place an order with your nearest bookseller now… and happy reading.

About the Author

Rhiannon Ward is the pseudonym for Sarah Ward, the bestselling and critically acclaimed crime author. Sarah has a masters degree in Religious History and has long been fascinated by the long tradition of spiritualism in England and is a member of the Institute of Psychical Research. Sarah is also a crime reviewer and book blogger at Crime Pieces.

The Second Mrs Thistlewood

Author: Dionne Haynes

Available: Now in Paperback and eBook

Purchase links:

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Mrs-Thistlewood-Dionne-Haynes-ebook/dp/B08BCSQ7B7

US – https://www.amazon.com/Second-Mrs-Thistlewood-Dionne-Haynes-ebook/dp/B08BCSQ7B7

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for my gifted eBook and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

Regency England. A land of oppression and social discontent.

Arthur Thistlewood is fighting for a revolution.

Susan Thistlewood is fighting for freedom. From Arthur.

Battered and bruised by her violent husband, Susan finds comfort in food and books. As Arthur’s legal property, leaving the marriage seems an impossible dream — until a chance encounter with a charismatic Bow Street Runner. In the sanctuary of an inconspicuous London bookshop, the Runner’s easy manner and unexpected generosity compel Susan to pursue a life without her husband.

But will the Bow Street officer provide a key to Susan’s freedom? Or will he place her in the greatest danger of all?

Inspired by true events from the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820, this is a tale of courage, determination, and love.

My Thoughts:

“I deserve a better life than this. No matter how long it takes, I’ll find a way to set myself free.” This determined and courageous promise is made by our heroine Mrs Susan Thistlewood, she does not say these words to anyone but herself and for me, freedom is the prevailing tone of this captivating story.

Set in the Regency from 1814 to 1820, where freedom of any kind for women, was an alien concept. Imagine if you can being unable to have any control over your own destiny or daily decisions, from what you wear to who you love. Can you even comprehend (I know I can’t) that you have no right to choose, whether or not to be intimate with your partner/husband. That he has the legal right to own/control all your property, your money, your children and your body. He has the right to do with you what so ever he likes! The very idea of this relentless oppression is incomprehensible and unutterably hideous to us as independent women.

Yet it is a familiar position the majority women have faced over centuries, from Anne Boleyn to Queen Elizabeth II and even now, today there are women in the world who have no say in the direction their lives will take. Now you may think, why I have started my review of this fictional historical novel with a seemly feminist viewpoint. Well because, it is necessary for our understanding of the context of this story and the tyrannical environment our heroine faces, daily, weekly, yearly without much hope of escape!

This is not a story for the faint-hearted and although a work of fiction, its pages are beautifully crafted from historical fact. Specifically the Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820 which came about due to the social and economic upheaval at the end of 18th century and continued for three decades of 19th century. British society moved from a predominately rural and agricultural environment to one of industrialization and urbanism. The Napoleonic war had dragged on for 20 years and was finally at an end but the surviving soldiers/sailors from this brutal conflict flooded the labour market. Inflation was high, food was short and these pressures led to widespread discontent, radicalism and riots. The Cato street conspirators planned to over throw government by murdering its cabinet members and seizing control needless to say their actions failed!

A leading figure of this attempted coup was a Mr Arthur Thistlewood but via the vivid imaginings of Dionne Hayes, she has fictionalised his character, into the brutal, violent and oppressive villain of our story, he is the husband of our aforementioned maligned heroine Susan Thistlewood. Who has the dubious honour of being his second wife!

The story is told from Susan’s perspective, her desperation, her grief, her fears, her anger, her repression and is organised in a yearly progression of time. We are drawn into the Thistlewoods’ lives described in fine detail through the constant flux of their social and economic status. Susan’s life is a fragile balancing act between keeping herself sane after the loss of several pregnancies, struggling to keep the household clothed and fed while navigating the whims of her malevolent, condescending and increasingly violent husband, whose entire focus is in his obsessive cause and radical politics. He cares not at all what ramifications his treasonous and terrorist actions will have on the lives of his wife or son. Though all Arthur’s choices could all be seen in the negative,  when his ill-conceived actions lead him to be arrested and incarcerated it provides Susan with temporary respite and a life and independence she has only dreamed of.

The cadence and scope of this book reminded me very much of The Familiars by Stacy Hall and it has enjoyable similarities in its narrational tone to Margaret Atwood’s book ‘Alias Grace’ . This story is a masterful blend of fact and fiction and my enjoyment of it was not fully realised until I had a chance to sit back and consider the contents prior to writing my review. There is an unrelenting darkness to this story, which could make it very heavy weather emotionally,  however Dionne has been clever to balance this tenebrosity with slices of joy and hope via Susan’s friendships with two remarkable women, Becky and Anne whose sisterly solidarity provide practical and emotional solace from her seemingly inescapable marriage. Hope and optimism is also to be gleaned from unexpected romantic sub plot, the details of which add strength to this wonderful story, the romantic element also puts Susan in the greatest danger and increases the readers expectation of what might happen next.

For me, this book is a triumph of historical fiction, it is subtly tense and atmospheric, vivid in its depiction of Regency life, with a female protagonist who is brave and resolute in the face of her life’s trials and a villain whose political vanity and emotional corruption will be his down fall. I cannot stress enough my lovely bookophiles how much enthusiasm I have for this book and I fervently hope you read it for yourselves.

About the Author

Dionne is a retired doctor, living in Plymouth with her husband. She has a passion for history, the great outdoors, good food and life in general. With her medical career now well behind her, she is enjoying a second career as an author.

In 2015, Dionne finished writing her first novel The Provenance of Lilly, but after careful reflection and consideration of some harsh criticism, she decided not to put it into print. Instead, she worked hard at honing her writing skills, and published her debut novel, Running With The Wind, in 2019. She is currently working on a sequel which will form Book One of The Trelawney Wives series.

Dionne graduated from St George’s Hospital Medical School in 1992, and started her medical career in the Royal Air Force. In 1998, she left the military to have her son, and worked in General Practice and Occupational Medicine. The opportunity to retire came in 2014 and Dionne did not hesitate to take it, relishing the opportunity to delve into history books and begin her writing career. Although no longer practising medicine, her medical background has some influence in the plotting of her stories.

While keen to maintain historical accuracy in her writing, Dionne creates stories from real events with sparse recorded details, allowing her imagination to take over and tell a tale of what may have occurred.

Social Media Links –

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dionne-Haynes/e/B0813VDWN9

Facebook: https://facebook.com/DionneHaynesUK

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DionneHaynes_UK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dionnehaynes.author

Nowhere to be Found

Author: Louisa De Lange

Publisher: Orion Fiction

Publication Date: 20th August 2020

Available: Paperback

Thank you to Kate Morton & Alainna Hadjigeorgiou and Orion Fiction for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

LUCY IS MISSING

Her husband Scott claims to have no idea where she is. But his behaviour suggests otherwise, and rumours begin to swirl about the seemingly perfect couple…

A BODY IS FOUND

DS Kate Munro is already investigating another murder, when she learns that it was Lucy who first reported the body of the victim floating in a lake.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT

But with Lucy still missing and both investigations leading Kate into dangerous waters, she must quickly piece together the link between the two crimes. Before it’s too late…

‘An assured and skilfully written crime thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat or keeping the bedside light on just long enough for one more chapter…’ ALISON BELSHAM, author of The Tattoo Thief

‘Smart, dark, with a show-stopping finale! A satisfyingly juicy mystery with a great heroine in the down-to-earth DS Kate Munro’ EMMA ROWLEY, author of Where The Missing Go

‘A compelling thriller with SO many twists I was constantly left guessing about where the story would go and I really enjoyed the romance threaded through’ CARYS JONES, author of The List

My Thoughts

This is the second DS Kate Munro book but my first experience of reading Louisa De Lange’s work and what an enjoyable interlude it was, definitely one to watch,  the storylines of this book are intelligent, topical and compelling.

The story opens with the early morning serenity of a wild swim, it is calm and beautiful, until the swimmer gets entangled with a floating corpse and I cannot stress with sufficient adjectives how revolting this concept is, so I will say this… EWWWWWW! Bodies immersed in water do not fare well (and this the understatement of the decade)! It is certainly an attention grabbing and intriguing way to start to the book!

The book is divided into three parts and the first part is mainly concerned with the disappearance of the unremarkable Lucy Barker, who has completely vanished from her home, taking nothing with her! It is as if she has vanished into thin air. Scott her husband, is both confused, vaguely concerned and overall rather irritated by her disappearance but eventually reports her missing. The search is underway, the signs are not positive…in fact the signs reminded me of the 1991 film ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’ and if you’ve seen it, you will know how subtly sinister it is! Scott is clearly hiding something but is it his wife’s body or just a litany of secrets and PC Max Cooper, first on the scene and senses all is not right and is determined to find out why!

Meanwhile DS Kate Munro is investigating the body in the lake, at the same time she is also trying very hard to keep her flailing marriage afloat (personally I hope she kicks her husband to the curb, talk about a whiny passive/aggressive attention seeker!) I do admire Louisa’s characterisations, they are incredibly skilful and born of her understanding of psychology!

Back to the plot, a timely discovery links to the two cases, Lucy Barker was the swimmer who ‘found’ the body! The plot thickens as they say…! Husband Scott Barker is looking suspiciously like the culprit for his wife’s disappearance; a disastrous press conference and his lies uncovered (an affair and deleting the contents of Lucy’s phone)put him firmly in the frame!…Yet Lucy isn’t the quiet, eco-friendly housewife she seems, for starters her regular book club attendance is a complete fabrication, instead she has been off to the shooting range and has 2 fire arms licences and an old air raid shelter kitted out for an apocalypse, typically these aren’t the actions of a housewife who likes gardening! An intriguing premise indeed, isn’t it and there is a very nice juicy twist at the end of this section of the book, that resolves some of the drama that has been unfolding but leads the reader to have approach the rest of the story from a very different angle.

Part two focuses on links between the body in the lake, Lucy Barker and The Borderland Family, which isn’t a family at all but a doomsday/survivalist style cult organised by the elderly but charismatic Graham Swift and his surly and secretive son Oliver.

On the face of it the Borderland family, merely seem like an odd commune of individuals who share the same fractious belief that the world as we know it, is coming to an end or dissolving. They refer to this end of the world as ‘The Dissolution’ and it is coming soon!

I have to say, that there is a scary foresight and irony about reading a book for entertainment, that refers to the failing of societal and economic infrastructures and a global virus that kills people. Especially when we are currently living that very reality!

The Borderland cult differs from its American brethren as it does not indoctrinate via the paths of religion and their attitudes/ beliefs are not in becoming a special community who are chosen by god to be saved. The Borderland creed focuses on attracting to its ranks only those who can bring financial support along with a practical skill that can benefit the group in the days of the dissolution, such as being a mechanic, a doctor, a hunter. In fact they actively discourage comradeship, preferring to maintain the idea of self-survival & independence! The idea of intimacy is only required for breeding…trust me if you really consider their ideas/manifesto the absolute rejection of the norm is minacious and ominous!

This segment of the book sees DS Kate Munro and PC Max Cooper, discover the family’s links to both Lucy Barker and Douglas Brewer (the body in the lake) but obviously if I go into details on these discoveries and revelations (which includes another body and the role tree surgeon, Alex Sherwood has to play) I shall have to write spoiler alert with every sentence for the rest of my review.

This section also expands the growing resurgence of a romance between, Kate and Max who have had a previous dalliance (when Kate was separated from her husband Sam) and clearly there is unfinished business…which is rather tantalising! Especially as Max is going undercover and infiltrating the Borderland Family

Part three,  brings us revelation after revelation, all the bodies are identified and all the pieces of this nifty twisty crime puzzle come together. As much as I wish to explain more about the details; I can’t and I won’t because  I hate spoilers in reviews. For me they ruin a readers excitement in discovering the secrets of the book for themselves. And as this is indeed, a cleverly wrought tale, it needs to be savoured! However I confess I can’t resist saying how much I loved the resolution of this book,  perfect example of karma!

At the beginning of my review I said this is my first experience of reading a book by Louisa de Lange but it certainly won’t be my last. Her protagonist DS Kate Munro is diligent, smart and ballsy and combined with a loyal, amusing supporting cast and some seriously intelligent plotting, all these elements make for a potentially tremendous crime series. I look forward to what Kate does next…

So my lovely bookophiles, you really ought to put this one on your wish lists alongside ‘Ask Me No Questions’ which is the first book in the series, happy book buying and even happier reading.

About the Author

Louisa de Lange studied Psychology at the University of Southampton and has lived in and around the city ever since. She works as a freelance copywriter and editor, and when she’s not writing, she can be found pounding the streets in running shoes or swimming in muddy lakes. Nowhere to be Found is her third novel, and the second in the Kate Munro crime series. To find out more you can follow her on Twitter @paperclipgirl

Say No More

Author: Karen Rose

Publisher: Headline

Publication Date: 6th August 2020

Available: Hardback, eBook and audio

Thank you to Emma Welton of Damp Pebbles Blog Tours and Headline for my gifted finished copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

Perfect for fans of James Patterson and Karin Slaughter, this is the second gripping instalment of the Sacramento series from Sunday Times bestseller Karen Rose. An explosive crime thriller, Say No More will keep you gripped until the final page.

If they ever catch you, say nothing. Admit nothing. Never tell.

Mercy Callahan never thought she’d be able to talk about her past. When she arrives in Sacramento to make peace with her brother Gideon, and to help find the brutal cult that took away her childhood, she is finally ready to talk. But when Ephraim Burton – the man who made her life a living hell – follows her there, she realises she might never be safe.

Rafe Sokolov would do anything to have Mercy back in his life and would go to any length to protect her. But when it becomes apparent that Ephraim is more determined than ever to get Mercy back, even Rafe might not be able to stop the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. As Ephraim draws near, it’s clear it’s not just Mercy who is in danger; those closest to her are firmly in his sights.

Will Mercy sacrifice herself to help bring Ephraim down? Or will he finally get what he’s always wanted…

My Thoughts:

It has been a decade since I last read a Karen Rose novel and more fool me! I gorged myself on her earlier Chicago series and this was before I had my kindle and Karen writes big books in every way (this one is nearly 600 pages). I had forgotten how glorious a read they are but I will be correcting that error of judgement very soon.

This is the second instalment of The Sacramento Series and I do wish I had read book one ‘ Say Your Sorry’ first but it is on my purchase list for next week. Despite not having the advantage of being introduced to our cast of characters at the start of the series, it didn’t detract from my full and joyful immersion in this story.

The book opens with a violent and traumatic sequence, where Mercy Callahan (our heroine) and her mother are trying to escape from a cult called Eden with tragic consequences and a lifetime of disturbing memories.

Moving forward to the present day, Mercy’s life hasn’t gotten any easier, having survived being kidnapped by a serial killer and discovering that the brother she believed dead is in fact alive and an FBI agent. In this book, she is trying to put the distressing experiences of the past firmly behind her and reconnect with her brother. But life is never simple, Mercy and her best friend Farrah are returning to Sacramento but they are unaware that they are being hunted by evil deviant Ephraim Burton who will stop at nothing to retrieve his former child bride! Starting with trying to snatch her the moment she lands at airport!

The attempt is foiled by Rafe Sokolov who was injured rescuing Mercy in the previous book and will do anything to protect her now. Ahhh Rafe, he’s a modern day white knight, everything a girl could want in a man and trust me he’s my latest book boy crush and Karen Rose has a real talent for creating handsome, heroic, humorous alpha male characters, who it is nearly impossible for you not to want for yourself and there is never just one such man in her books, so you will be spoilt for choice…

Which brings me nicely to the characters in this instalment, as I said it has been a while since I read a Karen Rose book and I had forgotten her fantastic ability to create characters that as a reader, you want to be or fall in love with or in the case of her villians kill. She clearly defines members of her cast as good or evil. The good ones you are cheering on regardless of what joyous or grievous events they face and the evil ones are rotten to the core and deserve no mercy and you quite literally want to boo them every time the appear.

Although each story has its primary characters the secondary ones are equally engaging and you know at some point in time, Karen will tell you their story and I can’t wait for that (Farrah & Andre perhaps). I think part of the reason I enjoy her books so much is that there is only one other writer for me, whose plots and characters weave their way through a series of books in such an addictive and compelling way and that is those of the legendry Jilly Cooper. Who like Karen is a master story teller and whose characters come alive to the reader and I am a huge fan of both writers (forgive me if I am gushing).

Anyway I digress….back to Sacramento, after Ephraim’s failed attempt to snatch Mercy, she is safely ensconced in the bosom of the Sokolov family. She and Rafe attempt to discover why Ephraim is hunting her and Mercy starts to reveal her hideous experiences within the Eden cult, tentatively explore rebuilding her relationship with Gideon her brother and see whether she is brave enough to follow her feelings and begin the first romantic journey of her life and these are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of storyline.

The plotting of this tale is a work of art, multi-layered, enthralling and utterly compelling you will find yourself breathless while reading it (I did). Ephraim Burton’s brutal, murderous, avaricious, relentless pursuit of Mercy has you on your toes at all times. Why after all this time does he want her back? What part do the malevolent elders of the Eden cult have to play in this tale? Will Rafe and Gideon be able to protect Mercy, will she let them! Mercy is no doormat, despite everything she has faced she has immense grit and gumption and she won’t let the boys in this book lead the charge or have it all their own way. For her own sanity, she wants to put the fear, hurt and tragedy of her past behind her and this time she won’t let Ephraim win! And these are only some various delicious plot strands you have to explore in this book. There is so much going on and it is a journey you as a reader deserve to have without any spoilers from me.

This novel is packed full of every element a crime fan wants in a book, high octane tension, a blistering tempo, a sprinkling of steamy romance, engaging protagonists, nefarious villains and there is more than one of those! As a reader you are pulled into an addictive vortex of drama, deception and death. You will find yourself driven by a need to find out what happens next.

As the book rockets to its end, I shall give you a few tantalising clues; Amos & Abigail appear, Who is the Pastor, Prison Records uncovered, a safety deposit box key revealed, a kidnapping, a stand off, a family reunion, who will survive, whose lives will change forever…and that is all I am saying!

In the end, some of the sub plots are satisfyingly resolved and obviously I am not going to tell you which are, but some aren’t, leaving us readers, craving the next captivating instalment of this series in order for resolution. I am just hoping I don’t have to wait too long to read it.

At this point, I shall ‘Say No More’ except that you, my fellow bookophiles need to buy this book and its predecessor, cancel all your plans and stay home with frothy coffees and lots of chocolate and prepare to become addicted to Karen Rose’s Sacramento Series.

About the Author:

About Karen Rose:

Karen Rose was introduced to suspense and horror at the tender age of eight when she accidentally read Poe’s The Pit and The Pendulum and was afraid to go to sleep for years. She now enjoys writing books that make other people afraid to go to sleep. Karen lives in Florida with her family, their cat, Bella, and two dogs, Loki and Freya. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, and her new hobby – knitting.

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenRoseBooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenRoseBooks/

Website: http://www.karenrosebooks.com/

Instagram: https://amzn.to/39sS03O

 

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/39sS03O

Waterstones: https://bit.ly/3g2Qs3b

Book Depository: https://bit.ly/2WX26VO

Google Books: https://bit.ly/3f2Akxp

Hive.co.uk: https://bit.ly/3f2Akxp

Paper Dolls

Author: Lisa Bradley

Publisher: Quercus Books

Publication Date: 6th August 2020

Available: Paperback & eBook

Thank you to Katya Ellis and Quercus Books for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details:

YOU HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN. THEY HAVEN’T FORGIVEN.

Leah Wallace has just achieved her dream of becoming editor at a regional paper. On her first day a 15-year-old girl, Hope Hooper-Smith, is reported missing. The police fear that she has been abducted.

Hours later, another teenage girl goes missing. But this girl, Tilly Bowers, is from a troubled background and is a habitual runaway. Leah decides to run the Hope’s abduction on the front page, while Tilly only gets a small mention on page eighteen. The next day, Hope is found unharmed at a train station. But Tilly is never seen or heard from again.

Sixteen years later, a TV documentary questions Leah’s decision not to give Tilly’s case immediate coverage, implying that she could have cost Tilly her life, and Leah starts receiving death threats online.

Then mysterious paper dolls begin appearing, cut from the newspapers Leah used to edit, and she suspects that an intruder has been in the house. Leah becomes convinced that someone wants to punish her for the part she played in Tilly’s disappearance. But just how far will they go to make her pay?

A gripping and chilling psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and C.L. Taylor.

My Thoughts

This is author Lisa Bradley’s debut novel and already I am very much looking forward to what she may write in the future. Paper dolls is an excitingly and exquisitely sinister crime novel a tale about perception,  assumption and mistakes of the past are rarely forgotten or forgiven. Although this book is a work of fiction through the setting and the lives of the characters, it explores our societal attitudes/failures regarding issues of depression, race, gender and class.

The story is told from the perspectives of two time lines, those of our protagonist’s life in 2003 and currently. The 2003 timeline sets the scene for the tale waiting to unfold, while the present timeline carries this story forward in explosive fashion.

In 2003 Leah is a newly appointed newspaper editor, as a female in a toxic machismo laden environment, she is faced with crushing deadlines, a visceral need for an impact story and under extreme pressure Leah is faced with a dilemma. Two missing girls from two very different social backgrounds. The police PR machine indicate their preference for where the media attention should be focused; on the possible abduction of Hope Hooper-Smith, whose pedigree is an easy sell in terms of media attention. Leah wrestles fruitlessly with the dominating patriarchal newspaper hierarch to link the girls and give them equal footing. However, the general assumption is, that the other missing teen Tilly Bowers, has simply run away from home again! A dramatically wrong assumption as it turns out and the ramifications of choosing to marginalise Tilly’s story, will never be forgiven!

Leah present day, she is bored, drifting through the motions of family life since she took voluntary redundancy from her last Editorial role. Leah try’s to fill her days with running and coffee (read margarita’s with Bunty, her spiky, savvy bestie) while looking after her veterinarian husband Chris, a nice solid dependable man and her skate board obsessed teenage son Luke. However past events are about to crash into their lives, starting with a documentary about the missing girl Tilly Bowers. Where her family lays the blame firmly at Leah’s feet citing ‘ Missing White Woman Syndrome’ as the reason Leah chose not to give Tilly’s story equal footing with Hope’s.

I remember when reading this phrase, thinking, is that really a thing??? So naturally I looked it up and it is, the concept that missing white girls/women get more attention in terms of both media and public attention by comparison to missing girls/women of other ethnicity. The idea that this concept is a reality is hideously discomforting; an ethical bankruptcy that as a society we should pay more attention to a tragic situation merely because of the colour of the person’s skin. This expertly woven tale is so much more than simply an entertaining crime novel but has subtle levels of social commentary about some intensely topical issues woven into its plot and that dear bookophiles takes immense skill.

So with Leah firmly in the cross hairs for her decision made well over a decade ago, the tension mounts and strange and sinister occurrences happen at her home. Starting with a lit candle and paper dolls left on her garden table, rearranging of shoes in cupboard, her son’s Xbox games restacked and more lit candles and paper dolls left in the attic. The whole situation is made so much worse because of Leah’s previous episodes of depression, which detrimentally colours her husband view of the situation and he believes that these weird episodes are not the actions of a vengeful intruder trying to punish Leah for her choices years ago. But actions of his mentally unstable wife, who he assumes is doing these things to herself and clearly heading to the dark place that she’s been before!

Leah response to the unrelenting sinister harassment is a dramatic mix of being obsessed, stubborn and amazingly determined to discover who is doing this, but her chaotic attitude combined with utterly foolish decision making ( drinking too much & kissing the hot single dad Sam next door) ramps up the relentless apprehension, suspicion and drama of the book.

There is a great deal more that occurs in this story and one of my tasks in reviewing this book, is not to spoil any of its wonderful surprises for you, so instead as is my habit, I will just give you a few clues, The Moog, sisterhood born out of necessity, an obituary, Luke goes missing, many more paper dolls, obsession is a dangerous playmate and being found can be a lot worse than being missing….and that is quite enough hints for you to digest.

As the book roars to it is sublime climax, the fundamental assumption of why Leah is being persecuted is shockingly overturned and the true reasoning revealed and all the relationship complexities and the subtle interactions of the cast of characters, slot perfectly into place with some sharp twists and yet there is potentially a hint at more still to come…could there be a second book I wonder?

As I said at the beginning of my review, this is a tale about perception and that because a set of circumstances are perceived in only one way, that the outcome can be presupposed by the reader. Trust me bookophiles this summarisation will be proven so gloriously incorrect. My advice would be to assume nothing and explore this fantastic read for yourselves and I highly recommend you get a copy as soon as possible…Happy reading bookophiles.

About the Author:

Lisa Bradley is a former journalist and now Director of Learning and Teaching for Journalism at Sheffield University. Paper Dolls is her first novel.