October 6

Many Rivers to Cross – Peter Robinson

Monday 7 October is the First Monday of the month and readers who can easily get to London will have the chance to hear Peter Robinson join a fabulous panel of authors at

Peter will (I assume) be discussing his latest DCI Banks novel: Many Rivers to Cross

You can see Peter along with Nicci French (both of them) and the terrific Marnie Riches (there’s only one Marnie Riches) if you follow this link: https://www.firstmondaycrime.com/

Want to know a little more about Many Rivers to Cross?  Read on…

Many Rivers to Cross

A skinny young boy is found dead – his body carelessly stuffed into wheelie bin.

Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called to investigate. Who is the boy, and where did he come from? Was he discarded as rubbish, or left as a warning to someone? He looks Middle Eastern, but no one on the East Side Estate has seen him before.

As the local press seize upon an illegal immigrant angle, and the national media the story of another stabbing, the police are called to investigate a less newsworthy death: a middle-aged heroin addict found dead of an overdose in another estate, scheduled for redevelopment.

Banks finds the threads of each case seem to be connected to the other, and to the dark side of organised crime in Eastvale. Does another thread link to his friend Zelda, who is facing her own dark side?

The truth may be more complex – or much simpler – than it seems . . .

 

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy.

 

Many Rivers To Cross is the 26th volume in the hugely successful DCI Banks series.  26th!!! I have been reading this series for more years than I can keep track of and it is always a treat to return to characters I feel I know well.

In this outing Banks and his colleagues are investigating the murder of a young boy who has been found stuffed into a bin.  The callous dumping of this child’s body adds further frustration for Banks and team who are struggling to identify their victim.  He appears to be of Middle Eastern origin and, as is pointed out in the story, should be more likely to be noticed in Yorkshire.  Yet despite this the police will struggle to trace him to a family.

Running alongside this investigation is a story about Banks’s friend Zelda.  She is helping authorities identify criminals from old CCTV footage as she has the rare ability (or curse) of never forgetting a face.  Zelda has previously been forced to work as a prostitute and knows more than she would ever want about the abuse of vulnerable children and women by gangs of traffickers and organised criminals.

Zelda arrives at her workplace and is shocked to be met by the police who are investigating the sudden death of her boss in what appears to be an unfortunate household accident. Zelda is not convinced and starts to ask questions – a dangerous path to take as she will potentially put herself into harms way in order to uncover the truth.

In a novel which reflects ongoing social issues and real-life issues it is inevitable that the UK’s political turmoil will also get a few mentions.  The author makes a few pointed comments about the current political travails which are sure to upset readers who take an opposing viewpoint.  I agreed with the comments made and am encouraged that authors are not shirking away and ignoring an issue which has dominated discussion in this country for the last 3 years (and more).

Fans of the series will enjoy this latest Banks adventure. Peter Robinson can tell a good story and keep the readers guessing.  Many Rivers To Cross was slightly slower paced than some of my recent reads but perhaps that reflects my own reading choices.  More Banks will be very welcome, I do love these characters.

 

Many Rivers To Cross is published by Hodder and Stoughton and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Rivers-Cross-Peter-Robinson/dp/1444787047/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=peter+robinson&qid=1570312301&sr=8-2

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October 3

One By One – D. W. Gillespie

The Easton family has just moved into their new fixer-upper, a beautiful old house that they bought at a steal, and Alice, the youngest of the family, is excited to explore the strange, new place. Her excitement turns to growing dread as she discovers a picture hidden under the old wallpaper, a child’s drawing of a family just like hers.

Soon after, members of the family begin to disappear, each victim marked on the child’s drawing with a dark black X. It’s up to her to unlock the grim mystery of the house before she becomes the next victim.

 

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the chance to close out the One By One blog tour.  I received a review copy from publishers, Flame Tree Press – my thanks to them too.

 

October does bring out my craving to read creepy books so huge thanks to Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read DW Gillespie’s latest release – One By One.  As you will have picked up from the blurb (above) this one sounded a proper chiller…new family move into big old house.  Haunted?  Unusual for sure and the child’s stick drawing of a family and their pet dog (uncovered by 10 year old Alice when she peeled away a strip of wallpaper) has a sinister element rather than the cute cheery image the picture *could* have had.

Alice is the main focus for One By One, indeed it is her story we share for the most part.  Though for reasons which partly fall into the “spoiler” category there are some necessary parts of the story which are told through the eyes of another.

Alice, her parents and her elder brother, Dean, have moved into their new home.  It has very unusual design features, quirky and peculiar interior planning and it really needs a lot of work done. A “fixer-upper” and a bargain…but bargains usually come with a story which Alice’s father seems happy to ignore.  Soon after the family move into the house things begin to change and tempers become frayed.

Alice, as the youngest, is scared by the new house not helped by the “face” she saw at her window on the first night. Her imagination runs wild but as a natural daydreamer her parents are not listening to her worries.  But they cannot ignore the reality of a death in the household and a large black cross painted over the corresponding figure from the child’s drawing of the family.

I don’t want to share too much more detail about events in One By One but for Alice the danger is very real.  Her family are disappearing and more crosses are appearing on the picture – can Alice save herself?

Small cast of characters, isolated location and a child terrified and unsure who to trust. A tense chiller which I zipped through in two fully captivated sittings.

 

One By One is published by Flame Tree Press and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-ebook/dp/B07X3Q89JS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3ETV6WWVV5DDU&keywords=one+by+one+dw+gillespie&qid=1570124437&s=digital-text&sprefix=one+by+one+%2Cdigital-text%2C759&sr=1-1

 

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October 1

A House of Ghosts – W.C. Ryan

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.

At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.

For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . .

An unrelentingly gripping mystery packed with twists and turns, A House of Ghosts is the perfect chilling read this winter.

 

My thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the chance to join the blog tour. I received a review copy of the book from the publishers.

 

A House of Ghosts is exactly that…Blackwater Abbey has many spitits roaming its halls and one or two of the guests during the course of events in the book can see them. However (important info incoming) the ghosts are not malevolent spirits intent on destroying the characters in the tale, they are passive characters.  Do not pick up A House of Ghosts and expect it to be the next Amytiville Horror – it’s not that type of read.

What A House of Ghosts can offer is (I felt) closer to an espionage adventure or a puzzle in a  old stately home set during the latter period of The Great War.

There are some supernatural elements to the tale, a seance to contact Lord Highmount’s sons who died in the conflict. A mirror which reflects more than the viewer but there are also undercover agents working for British security and a houseguest with murder and menace on their mind.

The characters residing at Blackwater Abbey seem to have secrets they are to keep. The house is remote and cut-off from help as a storm rages outside. The finger of suspicion points at different people throught the book and the author keeps the mystery element twisting nicely through the chapters.

I have worked my way through a few stories this year with unlikeable lead characters and they haven’t been to my liking. I found I enjoyed A House of Ghosts much more I as I became engaged with the events in Blackwater Abbey and wanted to read more about the characters in the book. More importantly I wanted to keep reading as I enjoyed the world W.C. Ryan was spinning for me. I much prefer when a story entertains rather than has to be endured.

Not the ghost story I had anticipated from the title but a great period mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

A House of Ghosts is published by Zaffre and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Ghosts-gripping-mystery-haunted-ebook/dp/B07DDL8KKQ/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1569880277&refinements=p_27%3AW.+C.+Ryan&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=W.+C.+Ryan

 

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September 21

Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life and Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd – Daniel Hardcastle

As Daniel Hardcastle careers towards thirty, he looks back on what has really made him happy in life: the friends, the romances… the video games. Told through encounters with the most remarkable and the most mind-boggling games of the last thirty-odd years, Fuck Yeah, Video Games is also a love letter to the greatest hobby in the world.

From God of War to Tomb Raider, Pokémon to The Sims, Daniel relives each game with countless in-jokes, obscure references and his signature wit, as well as intricate, original illustrations by Rebecca Maughan. Alongside this march of merriment are chapters dedicated to the hardware behind the games: a veritable history of Sony, Nintendo, Sega and Atari consoles.

Joyous, absurd, personal and at times sweary, Daniel’s memoir is a celebration of the sheer brilliance of video games.

 

My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours who invited me to join the blog tour – also to the publishers, Unbound, for my review copy.

 

First things first…the title. Now I am no prude and, as a person of Scottish persuasion, I throw out expletives like punctuation. But I feel the F-Bomb in the title isn’t really needed and may put some folk off picking up what is actually a good wee book.  I hope I am wrong as Hardcastle’s love letter to around 30 years of gaming is well worth your attention.  Also when I think about my interactions with gamers on platforms such as Twitter and Mixer – they swear like fuck too so perhaps the swearyness will draw them in.

Fuck Yeah turned out to be a tricky book to review. Not because it is hard to follow or because it is poorly written. It is neither of those things.  There are many short sections and bite-sized discussions which make it perfect to pick up and put down.  It is well written with many laugh out loud moments. Clearly Hardcastle and I have experienced similar frustrations and enjoyed the same big moments in several games so the personal nostalgia his observations brought ticked all the right boxes for me.

No the problem I had with reviewing Fuck Yeah was that my son decided he wanted to read it too and my book vanished to places unknown whenever I set it down. Sometimes tracking it down was easy. Son would be heard guffawing with laughter and I could trace him that way.  Other times he would wander through the house, book in hand, reading sections out loud to me (an audiobook experience that Audible are yet to fully master). The failsafe way of recovering my review copy was to wait for the child to fall asleep and then liberate the book from beside his bed. We got there in the end!

So two generations in the one family have enjoyed (or are still enjoying) Fuck Yeah.  Definitely a good sign and reflects well that the selection of games Hardcastle discusses is appreciated by a teenager and a man in his mid 40’s.

Before the book arrived I did wonder how the selection of games the author selected to focus on may fare. Pretty well as it turns out. The games I have played which are discussed are very well covered. My kid has not played most of the games but is currently contemplating picking up one or two of the titles still available on current platforms.  Even if I hadn’t played some of the games under discussion Hardcastle’s observations on the titles in question were still enjoyable so my biggest concern over how much I may get from the book were quickly quashed.

In between discussions on particular games are some additional chat points about life in games in general. These were fascinating too.  I particularly enjoyed learning how badly Nintendo seemed to have botched the launch of the Wii. Trivia and gaming gems which I have missed over the years made the pages fly by.

When I first heard about Fuck Yeah I thought that’s a book I am definitely going to enjoy.  Reader – I was right.

 

Fuck Yeah, Video Games: The Life and Extra Lives of a Professional Nerd is available in hardback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fuck-Yeah-Video-Games-Professional/dp/1783527870/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1569011760&refinements=p_27%3ADaniel+Hardcastle&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Daniel+Hardcastle

 

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September 5

Sleep – M K Boers

A marriage made in heaven, a murder made in hell.

Why kill the man you love?

Lizzy was struggling, everyone knew that.

He shouldn’t have done those things.

He shouldn’t have pushed her so hard.

And now, her children, her marriage, her hope – gone.

It was all her fault, she knew that, but was there a chance of redemption?

Lizzy Dyson’s on trial for her life. She knows she must pay for what she did, even if it wasn’t planned, but will the jury believe her?

 

Sleep is a domestic thriller but through the story there are many courtroom scenes giving it a nice cross genre feel.  While I am not normally a huge fan of domestic noir (where a story follows a troubled relationship) Sleep takes a more unusual approach in telling Lizzy’s story which really caught my attention.

Lizzy, returning home from work early one afternoon, finds her husband in her bed with his lover.  She kills them both. The book opens at the point between the crime and the subsequent discovery by the authorities…the opening chapter is deliciously dark in that regard.

Once the reader becomes aware of Lizzy’s crime they are then taken through how she came to this point in her life and M K Boers slowly unpicks layers of trouble and upset which Lizzy has endured prior to that fateful day. I found myself constantly reviewing my opinion of Lizzy with each new “layer” we uncover – while you can’t condone the action she took, the reasons behind her decision become clearer.

In the courtroom scenes Lizzy is confronted with figures from her life who are initially introduced by the prosecution to build the case against her.  As she hears a distortion of past events she starts to find an inner strength to push back and get the correct version of events into the open.

M K Boers spins this story brilliantly and the balance between human drama and courtroom interrogations hit the spot for me.

 

 

Sleep is published in both paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-M-K-Boers-ebook/dp/B07TRGHHQ2/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1567631231&refinements=p_27%3AM+K+Boers&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=M+K+Boers

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August 27

The Alphabet Murders – Lars Schutz

FOR THIS KILLER, IT’S A GAME OF A B C

When the body of a man is found brutally murdered in a wildlife park and tattooed with a letter A, criminal profilers Jan Grall and Rabea Wyler are thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Later, two more mutilated bodies are found, again with tattoos on their skin – B and C – and it becomes clear that Grall and Wyler are dealing with a brutal serial killer. One who won’t stop until his set is complete.

When Grall’s hotel room is marked with a Z and his girlfriend kidnapped, the race is on to find out who the killer is.

Before it’s too late . .

 

My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me to join the blog tour and to the publishers who provided my review copy.

 

A serial killer tale from Germany which had a distinctly claustrophobic feel despite the action unfolding thick and fast.

The story opens with the reader witnessing the attack on a woman who is being held prisoner by an unknown assailant.  He is tattooing something onto her skin and the violence of the “branding” lets us know this book falls firmly into the gritty classification.

Readers are then spun away from this horrific attack to a murder scene – a badly mutilated body has been found in a field of bison.  The beasts are unsettled but not as much as the attending officers who cannot fail to notice a large letter A marked on the victim’s body.

Criminal profilers Jan Grall and Rabea Wyler are on the scene to assist with the inevitable investigation. The pair, despite being partners, appear mis-matched. Grall is the key figure in The Alphabet Murders and most of the story will be focused on Grall and his involvement in the case.  However, this is a difficult assignment for Grall as he is returning to his home town after a number of years absence and he has to face memories he would rather forget.  Events from long ago have shaped the man he became but now he has to share too much information with his partner so the pair can work to apprehend a killer.  The stakes are raised even higher for Grall when it appears the murderer has targeted Grall himself as a future victim.

I referred to The Alphabet Murders as being claustrophobic, I feel this was partly down to the dark wintry setting.  It gave off a distinctly Se7en vibes at times.  Yet some scenes were unfolding at a rapid pace which seemed at odds with the claustrophobia so the action pinged along and the body count quickly increased.

Pacing issues aside (a minor niggle) I am a sucker for a serial killer story and this one has a good few twists which I certainly enjoyed. Definitely a story for the reader who doesn’t want their crime fiction to be sugar-coated…well worth looking out for if “nasty” floats your boat.

 

The Alphabet Murders is published by Zaffre in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alphabet-Murders-Lars-Schutz/dp/1785768638/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1566929609&refinements=p_27%3ALars+Schutz&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Lars+Schutz

 

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August 17

The Warehouse – Rob Hart

Gun violence, climate change and unemployment have ravaged the United States beyond recognition.

Amidst the wreckage, an online retail giant named Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront, but as a global saviour. Yet, beneath the sunny exterior, lurks something far more sinister.

Paxton never thought he’d be working Security for the company that ruined his life, much less that he’d be moving into one of their sprawling live-work facilities. But compared to what’s left outside, perhaps Cloud isn’t so bad. Better still, through his work he meets Zinnia, who fills him with hope for their shared future.

Except that Zinnia is not what she seems. And Paxton, with his all-access security credentials, might just be her meal ticket.

As Paxton and Zinnia’s agendas place them on a collision course, they’re about to learn just how far the Cloud will go to make the world a better place.

To beat the system, you have to be inside it.

 

My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things for the chance to join the blog tour.  I received a copy of the book from the publishers through Netgalley.

I read and reviewed The Warehouse back in May and at the time I flagged it as a book which was one to watch out for.  I loved the cleverness of the writing and the chilling look at a possible future society.

Now, for the blog tour, I am re-sharing my original review and urging everyone to pick up The Warehouse without further delay – it’s a corker!

 

We are in a future where society is coping with a harsh reality, society’s tolerance has all but vanished and people are reliant upon the global retail giant: Cloud. Cloud provides hundreds of thousands around with world with jobs, residential places at their vast warehouses, consumers can want for nothing as Cloud offer it all.

Stepping into the Cloud Warehouse in Rob Hart’s novel is Paxton. He ran his own business, a firm with a product which people found useful and which allowed him to be moderately successful. When Cloud noticed his small success they approached Paxton to work with him, a deal was reached but margins were squeezed and trading got tougher and tougher. Eventually Cloud forced Paxton’s firm out of business and we meet him as he approaches Cloud with a view to getting a job with them.

During the selection process Paxton meets Zinnia. Zinnia is not keen to strike up a conversation with Paxton as she is applying for a job with Cloud for a very different reason. Security and employment is not Zinnia’s primary motivation – she is working undercover to infiltrate the Cloud building with a view to uncovering some of the secrets of the firm’s operation.

Both Paxton and Zinnia enter The Warehouse with very different agenda but both are trying to keep a secret. Over the course of the story we see how they will become indoctrinated to the way of life of Cloud. Compliant to the unique rules which Cloud operate. Conscious of the need to fit in and to meet the expectation of their employer or face the consequence of being Cut.

Rob Hart has created a fascinating micro-world in which to set his story. The clever use of chapters where mundane tasks are completed show just how hard Zinnia has to work to keep her cover in place and shows the routine Cloud expect from their employees. I loved the idea of a corporate giant taking over our lives (but it is also rather chilling as you ponder if this could actually become prophetic).

Great book – grab it now!

 

The Warehouse is published by Bantam and is available to buy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HBTSLC1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

 

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August 15

The Darkest Lullaby – Jonathan Janz

The old house waited. For years there had been rumors that the owner, Lilith Martin, had been part of an unholy cult. People spoke of blasphemous rituals, black rites filled with blood, sex…and sacrifices. Then Lilith died and the house sat empty. Until now.

Lilith’s nephew, Chris, and his wife, Ellie, are moving in. Ellie isn’t happy about living in such a dark, foreboding place, but she wants to get pregnant and this house has a lot more room to raise a baby than their apartment. Unfortunately, she and Chris will soon learn that Lilith has other plans.

 

My thanks to Flame Tree Press for my review copy and to Anne Cater at Random Things for the chance to join the blog tour.

 

I think there must come a point in every horror book or film where the viewer/reader asks “why don’t they just leave this place?”  In The Darkest Lullaby I think I reached this point around the time my Kindle told me I had read 40% of the story.

Clearly Jonathan Janz also appreciated his characters should have been getting the Hell out of Dodge as he worked in a couple of nice twists to ensure Chris and Ellie (our couple in peril) have to remain in their creepy house in the woods. No escape for Ellie from her husband’s odd and threatening behaviour. No escape for Chris from the strange woman he is compelled to follow into the woods. No escape from the strange things in the old run down house.  Uh oh.

I have read a few of Jonathan Janz’s books and he is great at building up the tension, has no qualms about bumping off characters in grizzly and disturbing ways and you cannot be sure if the good guys will survive (or if they even are the good guys).  For fans of a good-old horror tale you can’t go far wrong with Janz’s books.

In The Darkest Lullaby we have an entity who wants to use her nephew to find a way to return from the grave…if she even made it to her grave! Chris and Ellie move into Chris’s aunt’s old home in the hope of finding peace and a nice place to start a family.  However soon after they arrive Chris starts to behave oddly and Ellie becomes increasingly alarmed by strange goings on in the house.

As the story unfolds we learn that Lillith, Chris’s aunt, had an unhealthy obsession with her nephew and a really strong dislike of Ellie. That really can’t be a good combination!

The Darkest Lullaby is one for the horror fans. Bloody, unsettling and with strong adult themes. A late night page turner which kept me reading…mainly so I could find out which characters survived!

 

The Darkest Lullaby is published by Flame Tree Press and is available in digital and paperback format here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkest-Lullaby-Fiction-Without-Frontiers/dp/178758271X/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=jonathan+janz&qid=1565820624&s=gateway&sr=8-16

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July 2

One Way Out – A. A. Dhand

A bomb detonates in Bradford’s City Park.

When the alert sounds, DCI Harry Virdee has just enough time to get his son and his mother to safety before the bomb blows. But this is merely a stunt.

The worst is yet to come.

A new and aggressive nationalist group, the Patriots, have hidden a second device under one of the city’s mosques. In exchange for the safe release of those at Friday prayers, the Patriots want custody of the leaders of radical Islamist group Almukhtaroon – the chosen ones.

The government does not negotiate with terrorists. Even when thousands of lives are at risk.

There is only one way out.

But Harry’s wife is in one of those mosques. Left with no choice, Harry must find the Almukhtaroon, to offer the Patriots his own deal.

Because sometimes the only way to save lives, is to take them.

 

I received a review copy from the publisher. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the chance to host this leg of the One Way Out Blog Tour.

 

Book four in the Harry Virdee series and the stakes are raised to the highest level.

Bradford is under attack, a devastating bomb blast causes carnage in a city park. Harry, his mother and his young son managed to flee the park and get to safety just moments before the explosion. Had it not been for the warning delivered by the terrorists this may have been a very short Harry Virdee story!

Once he ensured his mother and son would be safe Harry is immediately drawn back into the action. However not all his family are safe as Harry’s wife is trapped inside one of the city mosques. The terrorists have placed bombs inside a mosque but won’t reveal which one – if any of the visitors to any of the city mosques try to leave then the mosque with the bomb will be destroyed – hundreds will die.

The dilemma for the authorities is straightforward…turn over the leaders of a radical Islamist group to a Nationalist group or face the consequences of the mosque being destroyed. Four lives for a thousand. With the world watching who can make that decision?

It would be crass to use the phrase “blown away” when discussing One Way Out, however, this book delivers high drama and is a gripping read. I have raced through One Way Out over the last couple of days.

Harry’s family relationships have caused him significant conflict over the first three books. Matters take interesting turns in book four. This is great for returning readers and new readers will understand what is happening – but having books 1-3 under your belt will mean you get more punch from certain scenes.

As ever A. A. Dhand puts his characters through the wringer. Harry will rush in and place himself in danger as he battles to save his wife and the city he loves. The action comes thick and fast and the ticking clock which counts down on the fate of the trapped worshippers in the mosques means I kept reading to see how the predicaments could be resolved.

The Harry Virdee books should be on your reading wishlists. A. A. Dhand is not just putting Bradford on the crime fiction map, he is ripping up your old maps and crafting new landscapes with Bradford at the heart of everything. Don’t miss this one.

 

One Way Out is published by Bantam Press and is available in Hardback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PLNK6KY/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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June 17

The Desire Card – Lee Matthew Goldberg

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That’s the promise the organization behind The Desire Card gives to its elite clients – but sometimes the price may be more menacing than anyone could ever imagine.

Harrison Stockton has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street fuels his fondness for alcohol and pills at the expense of a family he has no time for. Quite suddenly all of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his job and at the same time discovers he almost certainly has only months left to live.

Desperate, and with seemingly nowhere else left to turn, Harrison activates his Desire Card. What follows is a gritty and gripping quest that takes him from New York City to the slums of Mumbai and forces him to take chances, and make decisions, he never thought he’d ever have to face. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what’s right and break his bargain with the mysterious group behind The Desire Card.

The Desire Card is a taut, fast-based thriller, from internationally acclaimed author Lee Matthew Goldberg, that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn’t always enough to get everything he desires.

 

My thanks to Emma at Damppebbles for the chance to join the blog tour.  I received a copy of The Desire Card from the publishers, Fahrenheit Press, so I could participate in the tour.

 

Harrison Stockton has given everything he has to his employer.  His family hardly see him, he works long unforgiving days, skips his medicals and lives life to an excess which has led to a deterioration in his physical appearance and his health is suffering.  But that is coming to an end as Harrison is about to be fired.  He hasn’t made the grade and his ruthless employer has decided he doesn’t get any more chances.

Naturally Harrison is devastated and tries to persuade his employers they should keep him. But the damage is done and Harrison is gone. However in a small chink of humanity there is a special addition to his severance – a card which offers the bearer the chance to have their desire fulfilled. Naturally there is a price to pay.

Harrison struggles to get his family to accept him now that he is jobless. They are so used to his absence they cannot adjust to him being around – naturally Harrison has no idea what his family do from day to day.

Harrison’s employment woes are not his only concern. A terminal liver condition leaves him facing an early death and rhe chance of finding a donor is slim.

Reaching out to an old friend in India Harrison travels to Mumbai. His friend has located a liver donor and can operate at his private clinic if Harrison can pay his way. The trip will change Harrison’s life but perhaps not how he expected.

When facing impossible choices can Harrison resist the lure of The Desire Card? One call to the mysterious people who operate the card and his problems could be solved. However the costs are high – how desperate does a man have to be?

The Desire Card is a terrific thriller – consequences and dilemmas, truth and many, many lies made this an engrossing read. Harrison is not the most likeable of characters but there is a compulsion to keep reading about him. Master of his own downfall or a weak man who will do what he can to survive?  Pages flew by as I followed his story and I have no doubt you would experience the same pull to this tale.

 

The Desire Card is published by Fahrenheit Press and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_the_desire_card.html

If you order a paperback copy of the novel, Fahrenheit Press also give you a digital copy – cool stuff!

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