Decades: Compilling the Ultimate Library with Imogen Church

The very best libraries are the ones which offer a broad selection of books to choose from. Since January I have been inviting guests to join me in a quest to determine which books should be added to the Ultimate Library. I started the Ultimate Library with no books so there was a clean slate (or empty shelves if you prefer) and I ask each guest to nominate the books they feel should be represented.

There are just two rules governing the selections each guest can make.

1- Choose Five Books
2 – You May Only Choose One Book Per Decade Over Five Consecutive Decades

In the past I have been made aware my two rules are “frustrating” and cause much gnashing of teeth. Imagine then, if you will, my delight at hearing my guest this week found making her selections “easy” and the experience to be fun!

If you visit the blog outwith my Decades posts then you will know I am a massive fan of audiobooks and enjoy nothing more than having someone read me a brilliant story. If you were to peruse my Audbile Library you would see one name repeated over and over: Imogen Church. If I am selecting my next listen and I see Imogen is the narrator (which happens often) then I am more likely to select that book over others.

I ask my guests to introduce themselves before they introduce their books so it is with great pleasure I hand you over to Imogen Church.

DECADES

Well, hello there! My name is Imogen Church and I’m an actor and writer. If you are a massive bookworm (like me) then you may know me as the narrator of roughly a gabillion audiobooks. Possibly you know my voice from audio dramas like Dr Who (for Big Finish), or as the voice of the Harry Potter Quiz on Alexa UK? Probably you don’t know me at all, which is fine too, we’re all busy and you must have better things to do with your time than knowing who I am.

Basically, I’m a storyteller. Sometimes I tell that story with my voice, sometimes with my body and sometimes by tippidy–tappedy-tap-tapping away on a computer screen and writing my brain out. Mostly, I get paid to talk to myself in a recording studio all day and, for a somewhat shy actor who is obsessed with books, that’s the greatest job in the world. I just can’t get enough of books; I read all day every day, in my head and out loud into a microphone. I also write. Most of my writing has been screenplays for films, particularly satirical horror comedy, but last year Audible commissioned me to write a novel for Audible Originals, to be narrated by moi. They asked me to write a crime novel, so obviously I wrote a satirical comedy crime caper set in an alternate world of steampunk and strippers, called Death and the Burlesque Maiden. I mean, obviously, I did that. The book was inspired by my experiences as a burlesque performer combining satirical poetry and striptease, and my experiences of life as an intersectional feminist. For those of you who have listened to Death and the Burlesque Maiden, I suspect the below literary selection may make some small sense of my writing style… the things that inspire me are comedy, social satire, black humour, the macabre, and explorations of what it is to be a woman. Also, being rude.

If you fancy finding out more about the weird world of Imogen, here are the links you need:

Instagram: @imogenchurchgobshite

Twitter: @ImogenChurch

Website: www.imogenchurch.com

And here (drumroll please) are my chosen books!

1920’s
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (published 1926)

Women have always been funny; with the crap our bodies put us through, we have to have a sense of humour. A century ago, one genius of a woman wrote a brilliantly acerbic, funny satire about the attention certain women get from men and what that means for those women and for all the women who are trying desperately to become those women. It is so funny, so biting, so sharp and witty. And she wrote it a century ago. One hundred years in the past. Yet it is still relevant… *Imogen sighs and stares off into the middle distance for a while*

1930’s
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (published 1932)

Did I mention that women are funny? It’s always my objective in life, to try and ‘do a Gibbons’ at any given point in time. In Death and the Burlesque Maiden I got the chance to ‘do a Gibbons’ by breaking the fourth wall and having the narrator talk directly to the reader, about the novel, mostly deriding the quality of the writing. I remember when I first read Cold Comfort Farm, the shocking oh-my-god-did-she-just-do-that joy I felt when Stella declared that she was going to help the literary critics out, by highlighting the sections she’d written rather well thank you very much, making it easier for them to pluck out and glorify her name. Throughout the novel there are moments when a particularly flowery and pretentious sentence is flagged by an asterisk or three: for our consideration. I mean… the genius! It made me die laughing and I wanted to write my own homage when I got the chance. Cold Comfort Farm is a warm and quirky pastoral parody, a silly, eccentric, heartfelt satirical joy and easily one of the greatest books I have ever read. Obviously, you can disagree with me, but I’m afraid you’d be wrong. You would be wrong.

1940’s
1984 by George Orwell (published 1949)

Orwell. Just… Orwell. I first read 1984 as a teenager and it blew the top right off my head. As I scooped my brains back inside my skull, I realised that the book had changed the shape of my brains, for life. Nowadays, any satirical dystopia has me drooling to consume it, all because of 1984. I think 1984 was the first novel to give shape to the feeling I had, that we are extremely lucky, to be alive at this point in history, in this place in history, in a world where we can access and read someone like Orwell, and the very keen feeling that I must never take that for granted. Orwell knew how small we all are, but also how important every small person can be and his writing is the most wonderful combination of misery and hope, humour and horror. Orwell. Just… Orwell.

1950’s
Wasp by Eric Frank Russell (published 1957)

I initially tracked down and read this book when I met my (now) husband and my (now) father–in–law told me it was his favourite book and he read it every single year.

Was I trying to impress him? Possibly!

Did it work? Certainly!

But did I also genuinely love the subversive, dystopian nature of it and the reminder that even the smallest individual matters? Absolutely!

Terry Pratchett chose Wasp as one of his favourite books of all time and said that he “can’t imagine a funnier terrorists’ handbook”. I rest my case.

1960’s
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (published 1961)

If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. Or kill yourself. This book makes you do the first two, but hopefully not the third. How else can you process the horrors of war, but to laugh through the pain? There are true horrors in Catch 22, true horrors and legitimately insane humour and those two are essential bedfellows.

Why?

Why does satire have such a hold on me? I think it’s all about power. Power, and impact for change. Satirising the terrifying, the inhumane, the oppressive, is a way to gain mastery over it. I love work that satirizes bigotry, predators, misogyny, Nazis… because mocking them gives me a feeling of power over them, that to laugh in the face of horrors, emboldens us. Also, satire is an entertaining inroad that makes for powerful impact. Humour softens an audience, it helps them relax and let down their barriers, the act of laughing releases endorphins that make us so much more susceptible… when an audience has let go of the stresses of real life, it enables the artist to get right in there, right under the ribs, right up in to the soft squishy heart of a person with ideas, ideas about cruelty and society and how to avoid moving backwards into persecution, racism, misogyny, fascism, all the things we really should be too grown up by now to be playing around with. I love art as entertainment, but I also want art to be something that helps us understand more about our lives, our world, our humanity.

I think this is why these are some of my favourite books of all time; stories that are beyond precious to me and have clubbed together to form part of who I am.

Which is why I love books.

My thanks to Imogen for her time and for these excellent additions to my Library

You can see all the books which have been added to the Library if you click this handy wee link: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=5113

DECADES WILL RETURN

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April 28

Geiger – Gustaf Skördeman

The landline rings as Agneta is waving off her grandchildren. Just one word comes out of the receiver: ‘Geiger’.

For decades, Agneta has always known that this moment would come, but she is shaken. She knows what it means.

Retrieving her weapon from its hiding place, she attaches the silencer and creeps up behind her husband before pressing the barrel to his temple.

Then she squeezes the trigger and disappears – leaving behind her wallet and keys.

The extraordinary murder is not Sara Nowak’s case. But she was once close to those affected and, defying regulations, she joins the investigation. What Sara doesn’t know is that the mysterious codeword is just the first piece in the puzzle of an intricate and devastating plot fifty years in the making . . .

My thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the opportunity to join the Geiger Blog Tour and to the publishers for my review copy.

My introduction to Geiger was a powerful promotional tease. A woman waves goodbye to her visiting family, takes a phonecall on which a single word is spoken”Geiger”. She then retrives a hidden pistol and executes her husband. How could you not want to know what followed that?

When you pick up Geiger that tease happens right at the start of the book. The story opens with the end of a family holiday where the grandchildren had been staying with Grandma Agneta and Grandpa Stellan. The grandchildren’s parents have been on holiday but now return to see their parents and recover their children. A happy family gathering where Grandpa Stellan shows off his garden and all his plants and Grandma Agneta tries to keep a degree of calm amongst the brood of grandchildren before they are packed into cars and the holiday ends. As the families depart and goodbye’s are waved that phone call takes place. Grandma Agneta answers and shortly after she steps up behind Grandpa Stellan and shoots him in the back of the head.

Agneta goes on the run. Many years earlier she had a handler, a contact who ensured she had access to an untraceable car, money and another weapon. What prompted this shocking turn of events? The police will initially be stumped. Grandpa Stellan is famously known across Sweden as Uncle Stellan. He was one of Swedish televisions most beloved faces, for years he had been a reliable and safe pair of hands and everyone in Sweden knew and loved Stellan. His murder will cause shockwaves through the country. The disappearance of his wife, Agneta, is the most worrying element for the police – was she kidnapped, is she running for her life or has she been killed and her body hidden? It certainly does not occur to them that Agneta may have been responsible.

Sara Nowak is a Swedish police officer. She works to prevent prostitution, attacks on working women and to stop the men who are exploiting vulnerable women and working as their pimps. Sara struggles to supress her anger when she sees men abusing the women she is trying to protect. Men being arrested are fair game to a kick or a punch from Sara and it is causing problems with her colleague. Sara has just arrested a man for beating a prostitute when the call comes through about Uncle Stellan. As a child Sara had grown up with Stellan and Agneta and she had played with their daughters – Sara’s mother had been the cleaner for the family. Sara rushes to the crime scene intent on being part of the investigation.

From this point on Sara relentlessly pursues the truth behind the family she grew up with. She uncovers a hidden life for Uncle Stellan who appears to have been deeply sympathetic to the East German political approach and there are strong links to the Stasi. His political leanings are just the tip of the iceberg though and Sara will unearth more and more shocking information about the family she clearly did not know as well as she thought.

Dividing her time between official investigations into attacks on the working girls in Sweden and the digging she is doing into Stellan’s disappearance we see Sara stretched and worn down by events. She enlists help from journalists, other police and even the security services will try to tap her for information – Sara will need some quid-pro-quo on that front.

There’s a lot to take in with Geiger. It’s a police drama with a lot of espionage and terrorism elements in there too. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a spy thriller, a police drama and everyone that likes a great story – be warned, however, there are some potentially upsetting elements too best described in a non-spoilery way as “exploitation”.

Well worth hunting this one down – powerful drama.

Geiger is published by Zaffre on 29 April 2021 and is available in Hardback, Digital and Audiobook format. You can order a copy here:

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April 15

The Island – Ragnar Jónasson

Four friends visited the island. But only three returned . . .

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is sent to the isolated island of Elliðaey to investigate a disappearance.

But she finds haunting similarities to an old case – the murder of a young woman ten years ago.

Has a patient killer struck again?

What secrets is the island hiding?

And what price will she pay for uncovering the truth?

I received a copy of The Island through Netgalley

One of the issues with juggling work, family and then reading and blogging is actually finding the time to do them all. The one which slipped most over the last 18 months was the blogging as the day job changed and took time away from blogging. The reading was able to continue (albeit at a slower pace) but writing up reviews of everything I read didn’t happen. So I am spending some time catching up on reviews I wanted to write but did not have the chance at the time.

One book I particularly enjoyed was the second in Ragnar Jónasson’s Hidden Iceland series: The Island. Normally I would be explaining how events pick up from the action in the first book (The Darkness) but that isn’t how this trilogy is working. The Hidden Iceland series is a trilogy which is being written in reverse so The Darkness and its unexpected finale happen after The Island which is the book that was written after The Darkness. Simple.

Knowing what the future brings for the investigating detective Hulda Hermansdottir makes her past behaviours seem more significant. In this outing she is called to investigate a death on a remote Icelandic island. Readers know that a group of schoolfriends had stayed at the island some years earlier and that during their stay tragedy struck. Now one of their number has proposed a reunion of the surviving friends. It is a strange suggestion as after the tragic events of their first visit the friends drifted apart and are no longer close.

The reader is treated to a creepy opening and the utter remoteness of the island does give the story a stillness and an intensity which almost makes you feel you should be treading carefully around Hulda’s investigations and the reunited friends (who seem to be struggling to keep each other company).

As we have come to expect from this author, the plotting is meticulous and the cast are used wonderfully to maximise the uncertainty for the reader. You are always guaranteed entertainment from Ragnar Jónasson and The Island did not disappoint.

The Island is published by Penguin and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Hidden-Iceland-Book-Two/dp/1405930829/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&qid=1618428925&refinements=p_27%3ARagnar+J%C3%B3nasson&s=books&sr=1-16&text=Ragnar+J%C3%B3nasson

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April 8

Facets of Death (Detective Kubu) – Michael Stanley

When a Botswana mine is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds and the thieves are murdered execution-style, Botswana’s Detective Kubu begins a terrifying international investigation in the prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series.

Recruited straight from university to Botswana’s CID, David ‘Kubu’ Bengu has raised his colleagues’ suspicions with his meteoric rise within the department, and he has a lot to prove…

When the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats worth of gems, and then the thieves are killed, execution-style, Kubu leaps at the chance to prove himself. But where are the diamonds? And what role does a witch doctor and his son play? Does this young detective have the skill – and integrity – to engineer an international trap? Or could it cost him everything, including his life…?

A riveting, chilling prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series, Facets of Death introduces the beloved Kubu and his richly described native Botswana, in a dark, sophisticated thriller that will leave you breathless.

I had ordered this book before release and I review my own copy for the Blog Tour. I would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the Facets of Death tour.

Amazon describes Facets of Death as Kubu “Book 0”. A prequel to the stories which I have previously read and really enjoyed. A new story about the large Botswana policeman and how he took on his first cases when he joined the police. It’s like reading Spider-Man before Uncle Ben was killed. I am fully in board for Kubu The Early Years.

The book opens with David “Kubu” Bengu getting ready to head to his first day at his new job. He is excited about the prospect of joining the police and readers share his nervous enthusiasm. Returning readers will have seen Kubu as an established member of the police force and I enjoyed his seemingly unflappable composure when faced with subsequent investigations. Yet the apprehensive and optimistic Kubu is rather endearing and I have no doubt readers will warm to the awkward youthful detective too.

Kubu starts as he intends to proceed. He introduces himself to the officer at the front desk as Kubu, a nickname which translates as “hippopotamus” (Kubu is a large gentleman) and he meets a frosty reception. The name does not concern Kubu as it has always been used and he takes it in good spirits – his new colleagues are not so quick to be congenial with him. Kubu realises this is not an issue with the name but grudges are being held as Kubu has been recruited to join the police in a promoted role – no grafing his way up the ranks for the smart-educated new start.

Nevertheless Kubu throws himself into his new job and is enlisted to solve a problem with missing luggage. Suitcases leaving Botswana for Europe are not reaching their destination but both departure and arrival airports insist there are no anomalies in their processes. Latching onto a colleague to keep him right Kubu begins to puzzle out this mystery. He will receive some critical feedback on trust and effective witness questioning before much longer passes.

Missing luggage will soon become a minor concern for the police though. A massive diamond robbery has taken place (readers riding along with the crime as it develops and unfolds). The mining company had an effective process in place to protect their gems during transport but the robbers have found a way to identify when to target the diamonds and how to steal them away. Can the police get a trace on the missing diamonds? A trail of dead bodies and double crossed robbers will provide some clues but to get to the truth they will need to figure out how the thieves could have successfully identified where the diamonds would be. The collective brainpower of the Botswana police will be needed and Kubu wants to help in any way he can.

The innocence of Kubu tracing missing suitcases is a strong counterpoint to the brutality of the diamond theft. Even though it is all hands on deck to recover the diamonds, Kubu still wants to work out how the luggage is disappearing. An early indication of the thoroughness of his approach to his work and an amusing look at how his new colleagues take to this young, inexperienced addition to their team.

The writing is superb, as is always the case with the Michael Stanley books. The setting and location is exotic for the European readers and the sense of place is wonderfully conveyed. The local customs and beliefs play a large part in the behaviour of many characters and early in is police career Kubu will discover the power that a Witch Doctor can exert when he turns his focus on the manipulation of the players in Kubu’s investigation.

Facets of Death is a rewarding and richly entertaining read. Young Kubu is a familiar friend in an unrecognisable skin and I would not be unhappy to see more of this youthful police officer in future books.

Before I was introduced to the books of Michael Stanley by the Queen of Orenda Books, Karen Sullivan, I know I would not have stepped out of my reading comfort zone to read a crime story set in Botswana. Yet Karen’s enthusiasm for these books was infectious and I am so glad I listened to her advice – the Detective Kubu books are fabulous reading and I encourage everyone to try these wonderful stories too.

Facets of Death is available in digital format and will release in paperback on 29 April 2021. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08T6C7HDC/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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March 7

The Spiral – Iain Ryan

Erma Bridges’ life is far from perfect, but entirely ordinary. So when she is shot twice in a targetted attack by a colleague, her quiet existence is shattered in an instant.

With her would-be murderer dead, no one can give Erma the answers she needs to move on from her trauma. Why her? Why now?

So begins Erma’s quest for the truth – and a dangerous, spiralling journey into the heart of darkness.

With all the inventiveness of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and the raw brutality of Mulholland Drive, THE SPIRAL is a unique crime thriller with killer twists – and 2021’s most jaw-dropping ending.

I recieved a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley

Do you remember the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks which were very much in demand in the late 1980s and early 1990s? Iain Ryan clearly does as they play quite a significant part of the story in The Spiral.

For those that may not have put in the hours of fun playing adventures (I very much did), the story begins on page 1 and at the end of the first few paragraphs the reader is presented with a choice. For example: does your character go left (Turn to page 39) or go right (turn to 311) and so on – your story evolves. There were mulitple paths to naviate the story and most would result in a failure to “complete” the adventure but if you were told to turn to 400 you knew you had “won” the book and often this meant your character survived to fight another day. I loved these books and it is wonderful to know that they are still available 30 years on and that new titles are still being released.

But back to The Spiral. We are taking in Erma’s story and when we first meet her at the university where she works she is facing a disciplinary meeting. There have been allegations she is sleeping with some of her students, it appears the allegations may have subtsance behind them and Erma appears disappointed that some of the men involved would have come forward to support the claims. However, she is determined to fight her corner and is treating the disciplinary meeting with some contempt. It is this difficult introduction to the character which means Erma initially comes across as a confrontational character. Her life is about to be turned on its head though (and not because of the charges against her) as Erma is about to face a near death encounter which will result in her taking an extended leave of absence from her post to recuperate and deal with the trauma.

Interspersed with Erma’s story is a short fantasy adventure. Orcs and warriors and a developing story of a stranger trying to find the meaning behind a tattoo they have. It is a spiral and nobody can give a satisfactory explanation for the reason the spiral has been inked. The adventurer will slay his foes, pursue a quest to uncover the reason for the spiral and will keep the fantasy theme of the story uppermost in the mind of the reader. It works well and isn’t just there for padding – but it took a while to understand why so stick with it.

Erma slowly makes her way back into society, spending lots of her recuperation time practicing martial arts and mentally steeling herself to return to work. Although she cannot know it, the physical and mental recouperation will become invaluable. Erma is caught up in a dangerous story and Iain Ryan took her adventures in a very unexpected direction, the Endgame to The Spiral was proper page-turning drama.

I had seem some cryptic posts asking how the book would work on Kindle. Without any problem is the answer. Kindle can handle, maps, graphics and much much more so there was nothing in The Spiral which detracted from the enjoyment.

Enjoyed this one, nice to get a bit of a switch up in the reading and have a thriller with some different elements to give it a fresh feel.

The Spiral is published by Zaffre and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08CZW8SMG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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February 23

Chopping Spree – Angela Sylvaine

Eden Hills, Minnesota is famous for one thing—its ’80s inspired Fashion Mall. When high school junior, Penny, lands a job at one of its trendy stores, she notices her teen coworkers all wear a strange symbol they won’t explain. Suspicious but wanting to belong, she agrees to stay after closing for a party in the closed store. Her fun turns to terror when Penny discovers a mortally wounded boy and learns there is a killer loose in the mall. Soon the teens are running for their lives.

I recieved a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley

Despite my claims of being a Crime and Thriller blogger I do enjoy other types of books too. Eagle eyed visitors to the blog will have noticed a few fantasy titles down the years and I am very partial to a good horror story. When you grow up reading Stephen King, James Herbert, Richard Laymon and Shaun Hutson you know there is absolutely zero chance you will allow yourself to miss out on a book called Chopping Spree. And look at that cover – it screams to be read.

Chopping Spree is set in an 80’s themed Mall in Minnesota and the reader follows Penny who (at 16) is still in school but she also has a job in one of the high profile fashion stores. We see her finding her feet in her new job and her nervousness around the highschool heart-throb who also works in the shop. But any teen crush problems are going to fade into insignificance when Penny is confronted in the mall by a man wearing a wolf mask and warning her of danger.

As the mall closes for the evening Penny and her colleagues are locked in after hours with a dangerous would-be killer and that is just the start of Penny’s problems. Why do her colleagues all wear the same strange symbol? Why is there a hidden door inside her shop? And then people start to die.

Chopping Spree is a novella and I made rapid progress through the story. Events are almost entirely concerned with a single evening of Penny’s life (the last evening?) so it suited the novella length and breaking reading during such a tight timeframe felt a bit wrong – I wanted to keep going. In terms of horror it is assuredly a tale of terror and peril but it is light on gore and although I haven’t seen Chopping Spree tagged as being a YA read that’s where I felt it could be presented.

For an 80’s music fan there is a great soundtrack to Chopping Spree. Songs play in the mall and Angela Sylvain blends the songs perfectly with the action on page. There was also a playlist at the end of the book which I plan to add to my digital library. These extra touches for readers are always appreciated.

Fun was had with Chopping Spree. I do enjoy a horror tale which stands up without been too ridiculous and the story worked really well for me. Penny is a likeable lead, the mall is a great setting for a horror tale with events contained with no chance of escape and the actual danger is *redacted* but perfectly in keeping with the background.

Chopping Spree will be published in digial format on 1 April 2021. You can pre-order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08W4R1NGL/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6

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February 17

The Nothing Man – Catherine Ryan Howard

I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man.
Now I am the woman who is going to catch him…

You’ve just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, the true crime memoir Eve Black has written about her obsessive search for the man who killed her family nearly two decades ago.

Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle is reading it too, and with each turn of the page his rage grows. Because Jim was – is – the Nothing Man.

The more Jim reads, the more he realises how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won’t give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first…

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy which I recieved through Netgalley

Eve Black is a survivor. When she was a young girl she was in the house when a killer broke into the family home and killed her parents and younger sister. Eve only survived as she had woken in the night and wasn’t in her bed when the killer looked into her room. Twenty years later Eve writes The Nothing Man. It is her memoir and a true crime book about serial killer The Nothing Man – the man responsible for the death of her family and numerous other murders in Ireland.

Jim Doyle is the security guard at a supermarket. His world is turned upside down when he spots a customer buying a copy of The Nothing Man. Years ago Jim was The Nothing Man. Technically he still is – The Nothing Man was never caught or held to account for the crimes he committed. Why is Eve Black publishing her story now? What could she have to say?

Eve is using her book to announce she is going to identify The Nothing Man. She believes the work she put in when researching his crimes has allowed her to work out the identity of the man that took her family from her. Jim realises that this cannot be allowed to happen. His life is far from ideal but there is no way he is going to allow Eve Black to make him pay for crimes he has managed to get away with for over two decades. The Nothing Man will need to be born again – one more victim is needed.

Rest assured that nothing in this review contains spoilers. The blurb and opening chapters introduce Jim and Eve and readers are made fully aware of their respective backgrounds. What I loved about this new thriller from Catherine Ryan Howard was that we know exactly who the killer is, we see the devastating legacy the killer’s crimes caused and you need to know how the killer reacts when he starts to feel a net closing in on him.

The Nothing Man (Eve’s book) covers the murder of her family. As the reader we don’t just get to read Eve’s written account of events but Catherine Ryan Howard takes us back in time to when the killer was active and committing his crimes. The narrative covers both timeframes (then and now) so we can have a comprehensive picture of the man Jim Doyle was and the man he has become. This is also the case for Eve Black who survived a home invasion and escaped the murderer to grow up in a remote cottage with her grandmother where she was sheltered from the potential of a second attack. Eve is determined to tell her story and she plans to find justice for her family and the other victims.

Reading (partially) like a true crime novel, but with lots of extra content which firmly marks it as a gripping crime fiction read, The Nowhere Man is one of those wonderful bookish delights you always hope to pick up. The characters leap out the pages and are vividly realised, the story is so engaging that you will yourself to read one more chapter as you need to know what’s coming next. As a reader you want to be picking up a book which makes you glad you read it – that’s The Nothing Man. I loved it.

The Nothing Man is published by Corvus and is currently available in Hardback, digtial and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0855N98FH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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February 2

Smoke Screen – Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger

Oslo, New Year’s Eve. The annual firework celebration is rocked by an explosion, and the city is put on terrorist alert.

Police officer Alexander Blix and blogger Emma Ramm are on the scene, and when a severely injured survivor is pulled from the icy harbour, she is identified as the mother of two-year-old Patricia Smeplass, who was kidnapped on her way home from kindergarten ten years earlier … and never found.

Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the unsolved case, as public interest heightens, the terror threat is raised, and it becomes clear that Patricia’s disappearance is not all that it seems…

My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Smoke Screen Tour. I am reading a purchased copy.

Book two in the Blix and Ramm series. Last year the duo were introduced in the brilliant Death Deserved which I really enjoyed. Smoke Screen had been on my watch list for a good while as there is nothing better than reuniting with characters you enjoy. No need to have read Death Deserved before starting on Smoke Screen (but it’s a great read and background is always good to know).

The two books felt different to read. My memory of Death Deserved was of a fast paced and constant peril read where Smoke Screen (despite an explosive opening) was more measured and methodical. This may sound like a negative comment but it really is not – I enjoyed both books immensely and a slower pace for Emma Ramm in Smoke Screen is very appropriate as she is shouldering a tragic burden in this story.

I mentioned the Explosive Start. On New Years Eve in Oslo a crowd had assembled in a city park to cheer in the New Year and watch the fireworks. A bomb has been placed in a waste bin within the park which detonated and killed several bystanders. The police and emergency services are put on full alert but Blix and Ramm were already near the scene.

One survivor of the blast was a former person of interest to the police, the mother of a kidnapped toddler. Around ten years earlier Patricia Smeplass had been abducted and was never found. Patricia’s mother was investigated as a potential suspect. She did not have full custody of her daughter at the time as her mental health and substance dependencies had been problematic. No evidence was found to suspect Patricia’s mother has been involved in her daughters kidnapping. However Blix is not convinced her presence at the scene of the explosion is coincidence and wants to dig further. The problem is the woman is critically ill in hospital and appears unlikely to recover consciousness.

A comprehensive investigation begins and readers are treated to a slick police procedural with a dogged journalist pursuing her own leads.

A second bomb explodes in another park but Blix is still determined to dig deeper into the kidnapping some ten years ago. He remains convinced the explanation behind the current incidents lies within the kidnapping story.

Smoke Screen spins the reader a tale rooted within tragedies. Secrets and lies left to fester will resurface with devastating consequences. There are threads of hope interwoven through the story too and the characters of both Blix and Ramm are given a chance to develop in this second outing.

The Horst/Enger partnership is looking mighty strong at this stage and the cherry on the cake is the post-novel “chat” between the pair which rounds off the reading. Joyous.

Smoke Screen is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08DTHMGJS/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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January 23

Secret Santa – Andrew Schaffer

After half a decade editing some of the biggest names in horror, Lussi Meyer joins prestigious Blackwood-Patterson to kickstart their new horror imprint. Her new co-workers seem less than thrilled. Ever since the illustrious Xavier Blackwood died and his party-boy son took over, things have been changing around the office. When Lussi receives a creepy gnome doll as part of the company’s annual holiday gift exchange, it verifies what she’s long suspected: her co-workers think she’s a joke. No one there takes her seriously, even if she’s the one whose books are keeping the company afloat.

What happens after the doll’s arrival is no joke. With no explanation, Lussi’s co-workers begin to drop like flies. A heart attack here; a food poisoning there. One of her authors and closest friends, the fabulous but underrated Fabien Nightingale, sees the tell-tale signs of supernatural forces at play, stemming from the gnome sitting quietly on Lussi’s shelf.

The only question is does Lussi want to stop it from working its magic?

I received a review copy from the publishers through Netgalley

At 215 pages this was a nice quick horror fix which provided a perfect read on our dark wintery evenings. It also caught me slightly off guard, the early chapters lulled me into thinking this was a quirky and lite horror tale. A Gremlins or a Critters (yes my horror movies references are straight out of the 1980’s) but Secret Santa got dark and I do like that in a book.

What I really liked was the lead character – Lussi Meyer. She works in pubishing and Secret Santa sees her sitting in front of publishing legend Xavier Blackwood interviewing for a role as head of the new horror imprint at Blackwood-Patterson. Despite being an established and well respected name Blackwood-Patterson don’t publish horror. Lussi will have her work cut out convincing Xavier she is the ideal candidate for the job.

Before the interview can be concluded (unsuccessfully for Lussi) Xavier Blackwood dies at his desk with only Lussi in attendance. This leaves Lussi in the clear to confirm her new role to the staff at Blackwood-Patterson and she finds herself installed into a new job. With her new colleagues in mourning and a barely concealed distrust/dislike of Lussi on display it seems Lussi ia going to have her work cut out to become an accepted member of staff.

At the office christmas party the Secret Santa exchange of gifts is in full flow. Lussi opens her gift to uncover a creepy doll which she had last seen in the office of Xavier Blackwood during that fateful (fatal?) interview. Naturally Lussi is not too enamoured to be presented with the grotesque troll like doll but she feigns pleasure and puts the doll into her office.

Although life continues at Blackwood-Patterson under the new management of Xavier’s son, strange things are happening in the big old building which houses the publishing firm. Unexplained accidents to staff members. Excrement on Lussi’s office floor, which her colleagues don’t feel is too unusual. The feeling of not being alone when she visits the stacks of unread manuscrips in the basement of the building. Not to overlook the hooded figures performing a very perilous ritual after hours.

Lussi confides in one of her authors, the brilliant and larger than life horror writer Fabien Nightingale. Together they try to understand what is going on at Blackwood-Patterson and to get to the bottom of an old myth which surrounds Lussi’s secret santa gift.

The danger is growing and Lussi has increasing fear for her life, her colleagues can’t be trusted and people around her are dying – can she escape a similar fate?

Slick writing, dark but with humour and tension when it counts – Secret Santa was a very welcome diversion during a busy week and it’s a recommended read for horror fans.

Secret Santa is published by Quirk Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084V7WTPQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

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January 18

The Sanatorium – Sarah Pearse

EVERYONE’S IN DANGER. ANYONE COULD BE NEXT.

An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she’s taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother’s recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it’s beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous – as does her brother, Isaac.

And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancée Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin’s unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

But no-one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she’s the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they’re all in . . .

Huge thanks to Thomas Hill at Transworld for a very early look at this chilling thriller due for release in early 2021.

If you have read Stephen King’s The Shining then you can easily understand how terrifying a remote, snowy location can be for a hotel. Rather than a haunted hotel try to imagine a luxury hotel hidden away deep in Swiss Alps in a fully refurbished building which was once a sanatorium. A sanatorium that could treat patients away from any watchful eyes – you can rest assured it has its own dark history.

The Sanatorium in Sarah Pearse’s chilling thriller has been renovated to an unrecognisable form. It is the darling of the archietectural world and the famed architect who has given it new life has ensured a stark simplicity compliments luxury and comfort. Into the frozen mountains comes Elin Warner, a British detective who is currently off work on a period of recouperation and still suffering PTSD after teh death of her younger brother when they were children.

Elin has been invited to stay in Le Sommet by her elder brother Isaac (who appears both strange and estranged). He is celebrating his engagement and asks Elin and her partner Will to join him. As an architect himself, Will is delighted to have the chance to visit Le Sommet but Elin arrives apprehensive.

Her concerns appear to be valid. As Elin and Will arrive at the hotel in the midst of a heavy storm, the reader gets a sneak to another part of the site where one of the staff is about to have an unexpected encounter with a masked figure. One which will see her plucked from the mountainside and held capitve and at the mercy of a stranger. Her terror is palpable but as she sees the mask of the kidnapper more clearly – a rubber facemask with a breathing tube attached – she knows there will be no escape from her past. For the reader this was not the first appearance of the masked villain – we had already been alerted to the danger this sinister figure posed.

As Elin and Will settle in to their room and after Isaac and Elin have an awkward reunion, the storm outside continues and conditions get worse. The Swiss authorities are about to make life more challenging for Elin; they close access to the resort and other than key hotel staff and a handful of guests there is nobody left in Le Sommet. Then a body is found.

The locked-in claustrophobia oozes from the pages and is heightened when it becomes apparent the masked figure is still lurking around the hotel. With a murderer in their midst Erin steps into the fray and tries to offer what help she can but the danger is getting close to home – Isaac’s fiancee is missing and Erin cannot shake her distrust of her older brother. Is it possible Isaac could be a killer?

The Sanatorium is a psychological thriller which will undoubtably please fans of the genre. The isolated setting, the unpenetrable storm and the lurking rubber-faced hidden menace encapsulated the “base under siege” feeling of the classic Patrick Troughton Doctor Who serials I adore so much. A stone-cold page turner which keeps you guessing to the very last page.

The Sanatorium will publish on 4 February through Bantam in hardback, digital and audiobook format. Pre-order your copy today by clicking this handy wee link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086M9BLF5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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