October 27

State of Terror – Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Take a ringside seat in the high-stakes world of international politics . . .

After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in. Secretary of State, Ellen Adams, is determined to do her duty for her country. But she is about to face a horrifying international threat . . .

A young foreign service officer has received a baffling text from an anonymous source. Too late, she realizes it was a hastily coded warning. Then a series of bus bombs devastate Europe, heralding the rise of a new rogue terrorist organization who will stop at nothing in their efforts to develop their own nuclear arsenal.

As Ellen unravels the damaging effects of the former presidency on international politics, she must also contemplate the unthinkable: that the last president of the United States was more than just an ineffectual leader. Was he also a traitor to his country?

State of Terror is a compelling and critically acclaimed international political thriller co-written by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th secretary of state, and Louise Penny, a multiple award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling novelist.

 

I recieved a review copy of State of Terror from the publishers. My thanks also to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the tour.

 

Before I say anything else I will cut to the chase…State of Terror is easily one of the most enjoyable reads I have covered on the blog this year. I started reading and I just did not want to stop. It’s the kind of story I love – political dramas, global terror threat, panic on the streets and in the corridors of power in Washington DC the politicians and their staff are trying to keep everyone safe.

On the cover of State of Terror there is an anecdote from Louise Penny which said she asked Hillary about her time as Secretary of State and what had been her worst nightmare. “State of Terror is the answer to that question”.  Before I had even opened the book I was desperate to read it.

Terrorists have detonated bombs in London, Paris and Frankfurt. US Secretary of State, Ellen Adams, is responsible for co-ordinating the American response and keeping in touch with her colleagues around the world. Knowledge needs to be shared and each country is looking out for their own interests while also ensuring no further innocent civilians are harmed but there is also a blame game taking place and America and Adams are front and centre here.

An anonymous and coded message was sent to the American state office. It was picked up by a junior communications handler who was not immediately aware of its significance. She showed it to her boss and was told to bin it as junk. But the message gave her hope as she wondered if it may have been sent by a friend so she took a copy before destroying the original.  That decision turns out to be hugely significant as, after two bombs have detonated, she understands the message and gets it in front of Adams. Her actions saves lives and a survivor from the third bomb may just hold the answer to the biggest question: Who Did This?

State of Terror is a thriller which plays out on a global scale. The pace is frenetic and the risk of failure too great to contemplate. Ellen Adams is Secretary of State and she was a brilliant lead character. Her position is a surprise to many as she opposed the new President during the elections. The administration is taking over from a disastrous Presidency where America was weakened and lost face on the global stage. It’s political intrigue and backstabbing and had me completely hooked.

State of Terror was a reading State of Bliss for me. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny have penned a cracking thriller and I could read books like this all day long. Top stuff – go get it!

 

State of Terror is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08X7GL8TG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

 

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October 27

Betrayal – Lilja Sigurdardóttir

When aid worker Úrsula returns to Iceland for a new job, she’s drawn into the dangerous worlds of politics, corruption and misogyny … a powerful, relevant, fast-paced standalone thriller.

Burned out and traumatised by her horrifying experiences around the world, aid worker Úrsula has returned to Iceland. Unable to settle, she accepts a high-profile government role in which she hopes to make a difference again.

But on her first day in the post, Úrsula promises to help a mother seeking justice for her daughter, who had been raped by a policeman, and life in high office soon becomes much more harrowing than Úrsula could ever have imagined. A homeless man is stalking her – but is he hounding her, or warning her of some danger? And why has the death of her father in police custody so many years earlier reared its head again?

As Úrsula is drawn into dirty politics, facing increasingly deadly threats, the lives of her stalker, her bodyguard and even a witch-like cleaning lady intertwine. Small betrayals become large ones, and the stakes are raised ever higher…

 

My thanks to Orenda Books for a review copy of Betrayal and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Betrayal blog tour.

 

When I first started this blog I had no expectation around where it may lead.  I used to read quite a lot of books each week but would stick to familiar authors and got caught up in too many ongoing series but I didn’t really push myself into trying titles I would not normally have considered.  To keep my blog fun for myself, I promised myself that I would try to bring myself out of my reading comfort zone and try new authors or consider reading books I would never likely have been aware of.

Why am I telling you this?  Today’s review is the 800th post on Grab This Book – it is for an Icelandic political thriller and I am quite confident this is not a book which would have been on my radar had I not spent the last six years on the fringes of crime fiction’s blogging community. I would have missed out on this (and many other) great thrillers and it would mean I would not be encouraging more people to read Betrayal and enter the seemingly dark world of Icelandic politics.

Thanks for keeping me company over the last 800 blog posts.  Regular readers will know that I have featured many books by the newly annointed winner of the Best Crime/Thriller Publisher Dagger Award – Orenda Books.  When I am looking for stories which take me into new reading territories then the Orenda library is easily the best place to begin looking.  “Mama Orenda”, Karen Sullivan has a phenomonal ability to find the most powerful authors and get incredible stories into the hands of readers.

To Betrayal: the story begins with Úrsula, who is being lined up to take a ministerial post in the Icelandic government.  She is not affiliated with any party but both sides of the political divide agree she is a great neutral candidate to step into post. Always up for a challenge the former aid worker is putting warzones behind her to return home but is she stepping into a new type of conflict?

Úrsula has to find her feet quickly but her department seems well run and she can rely upon the support of her staff. On her first day a distressed mother appeals to Úrsula to assist with a rape case – her daughter was attacked by a police officer but her attempts for justice and a fair hearing for her daughter has gone nowhere.

Outside her office and without her knowledge a streetsleeper has recognised Úrsula and is determined to ensure she understands she has allied with “the Devil”.  He will stalk her and find ways to leave messages for Úrsula and her initial decision to decline a ministerial car and bodyguard appear to be serious mistakes.

We also get to spend chapters in the company of some other interesting characters.  First there is Úrsula’s bodyguard who is dealing with online attacks against his new boss and a jealous girlfriend at home.  Then we have Úrsula’s smoking buddy; a cleaner at the ministry who may also be a witch but is certainly a party goer who winds up matchmaking for a TV newsreader.  There is also Úrsula’s family, her colleagues and a journalist who is paying her lots of attention.

With so many plates spinning for Úrsula and story threads woven by Lilja Sigurdardóttir to keep her readers hooked you will find Betrayal spins along at a cracking pace.  There’s always something to keep you wanting to read more and I was somewhat bereft when I reached the end of the book and realised my time with these engaging characters was over.

 

Betrayal is published by Orenda Books and is available in digital and paperback.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Betrayal-Lilja-Sigurdard%C3%B3ttir-ebook/dp/B088671XP2/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&qid=1603730427&refinements=p_27%3ALilja+Sigurdard%C3%B3ttir&s=digital-text&sr=1-5&text=Lilja+Sigurdard%C3%B3ttir

 

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October 25

Five Ingredients That Make Up Rosewater: Politics

This week five bloggers are hosting Nommo Award winning author, Tade Thompson, as we look at the Five Ingredients which make up Rosewater.  What is Rosewater I hear you ask?  Good Question! Here is the publishers blurb:

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless—people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumoured healing powers.

Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again—but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realization about a horrifying future.

 

Sounds good!

The first of the five ingredients can be read at Liz Loves Books: here

That post was all about Aliens!

Next up is Vicki who brings you Technology: here

Yesterday Dave introduced characters: here

 

Today you get POLITICS – yup they trusted the “Cybernat*” with the politics post

* Cybernat = Politically Informed Scottish Voter with an internet connection.

 

Over to Tade Thompson

Politics:

That ROSEWATER is political allegory is easy to see. A city that grows around an alien dome, from scratch, starting from no local government and yet trying to understand its own destiny can be nothing but political. It starts from dirt roads and mud to asphalt and skyscrapers, forced development over a single decade, bound to be under pressure.

The dome is a resource, of healing and energy, and the control of those resources, the means of production as it were, is a steady undercurrent in the entire Wormwood Trilogy. Even the mind-reading Kaaro and his ilk are resources, used by the government to interrogate suspected insurgents, controlled by the aliens for their own purpose.

If it existed, Rosewater would be a haven for the sick, the desperate, the dying, and the pilot fish that follow these around, the loan sharks, the religious charlatans, the criminals, the peddlers of false hope.

It’s not a city I’d like to visit on my travels, but I can’t wait to see what you think of it.

Rosewater is published by Orbit Books and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosewater-Winner-Nommo-Wormwood-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B076H5V3Q6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540395783&sr=8-1&keywords=rose+water+tade+thompson

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September 8

Raising Steam – Terry Pratchett (Audiobook)

To the consternation of the patrician, Lord Vetinari, a new invention has arrived in Ankh-Morpork – a great clanging monster of a machine that harnesses the power of all of the elements: earth, air, fire and water. This being Ankh-Morpork, it’s soon drawing astonished crowds, some of whom caught the zeitgeist early and arrive armed with notepads and very sensible rainwear.

Moist von Lipwig is not a man who enjoys hard work – as master of the Post Office, the Mint and the Royal Bank his input is, of course, vital…but largely dependent on words, which are fortunately not very heavy and don’t always need greasing. However, he does enjoy being alive, which makes a new job offer from Vetinari hard to refuse….

Steam is rising over Discworld, driven by Mister Simnel, the man wi’ t’flat cap and sliding rule who has an interesting arrangement with the sine and cosine. Moist will have to grapple with gallons of grease, goblins, a fat controller with a history of throwing employees down the stairs and some very angry dwarfs if he’s going to stop it all going off the rails….

 

Still doing the very long daily commute so it was time to bring some Terry Pratchett into my journey. I have been a fan of the Discworld books since the late 1980’s, I have read and re-read each title multiple times – mostly.

Even my favourite authors (and Sir Terry has been my favourite for many a long year) do not always hit the mark with their books.  Although Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Nightwatch are virtually imprinted onto my brain – I am less fond of Pyramids, Eric and Monstrous Regiment.  Raising Steam had fallen into the latter category, I bought the book on first release but never really got into it and it remained unfinished (a state previously unheard of for a Discworld novel). So when I wanted a Discworld book for my car journey – Raising Steam was getting a second chance.

Happy I am to report that I got much more involved with the story this time around and I enjoyed it a lot more as an audio experience than I had when I tried to read it.

Raising Steam sees the return of Moist von Lipwig, saviour of the Post Office and Vice-Chairman of the bank (with a small snuffly dog as the actual Chairman). I have loved both the previous Moist novels and this time around we see him coming to the fore as an industrial revolution blooms and the railways spring up.

Once again Pratchett has perfectly captured the best bits of our history and lampooned it perfectly.  We have the luddites (represented by Deep Down Dwarves) and the innovators – an engineer who gets a cracking Yorkshire accent from the narrator, the Patrician oversees the development using Moist as his conduit.  But Raising Steam is much more than an industrial revolution as there is a Political Revolution going on too. Dwarf’s are revolting (as in rising against their King) but stability and progress is the more desirable outcome for The Patrician, the King, The City Watch and also the Trolls (long time enemy of all Dwarf people). Tensions will rise and it will take a cast of many of our favourite characters to sort this mess out.

Raising Steam highlights again that there are few that can hold a torch to Terry Pratchett – his work is the stuff of legend and I sorely miss having the opportunity to enjoy new adventures with characters I have loved for all my adult life.

As for the audio – well Stephen Briggs does an admirable job and brings life to the whole cast. He gives accents to all the races (and characters) and Yorkshire, Wales, South-West and Cockney all shine through.  My only quibble is that the bad dwarf was Scottish and so was one of my most loved characters – “Spike”.  My mental image of Ms Dearheart were slightly tarnished by Mr Briggs making her sound like Supergran.

All in it was a great few hours of listening – with minor quibbles over Scottish accents – but only a Scot would pick up on that I feel!

 

Raising Steam is available in paperback, digital and audiobook. Terry Pratchett remains a legend.

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