From The Bookshelf – Page 27

Bloq – Alan Jones

A gritty crime thriller.

Glasgow man Bill Ingram waits in the city’s Central Station to meet his daughter, returning home from London for Christmas. When the last train pulls in, and she doesn’t get off it, he makes a desperate overnight dash to find out why.

His search for her takes over his life, costing him his job and, as he withdraws from home, family and friends, he finds himself alone, despairing of ever seeing her again.

I received my review copy from the author in return for an honest review.

Bloq is going to be a tricky review to write. I like to provide the official book description (as above) and in my review I generally include a personal overview of the story and explain why I liked the book I am discussing. However, I cannot tell you WHY I enjoyed Bloq as it would just mean dropping massive spoilers. I CAN tell you that I loved it and didn’t want to put it down.

For no reason I can really explain (other than that I love an ongoing crime series) I had expected Alan Jones to set his new book in Glasgow and bring back Eddie Henderson, the lead character from his fantastic thriller Blue Wicked. I met Alan at the end of 2015 and although he wouldn’t tell me anything about Bloq he was quite happy to assure me Eddie was not returning!

So I picked up Bloq with no idea of what to expect and I tried to avoid other reviews before I read the story so that I could approach the book with a totally open mind. What I found was a gripping tale of a father’s obsession over his missing daughter, a deeply disturbing ‘bad guy’ to loathe and the dark shocking twists which turn a good thriller into a great thriller.

Bloq is the name of a London nightclub. Lead character, Bill Ingram, has travelled from Glasgow to London to try and find his daughter – the only real clue he has to her whereabouts is that she was a regular visitor to the Bloq nightclub. Bill visits the club but there is no sign of his daughter, the club manager gives Bill the owner’s address but that trail leads nowhere either and Bill is stumped where to turn next. What Bill does not realise is that his enquiries have caught someone’s attention and that he is now being followed.

As I alluded to previously, everything that is good about Bloq needs to be discovered by the reader as they follow Bill around London. You cannot know too much about this book in advance – avoiding spoilers is the key to maximum enjoyment. It is not the easiest of reads at times as Alan Jones seems to enjoy being really nasty to his characters. There are tough times ahead for Bill and as he leans more about his daughter’s potential fate you begin to wonder if you actually want Bill to find her!

Bloq scores a ‘must read’ 5/5 review from me.

Bloq is published on 1st April through Ailsa Publishing – you can order your copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloq-Alan-Jones-ebook/dp/B01CLH5AUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459374016&sr=8-1&keywords=bloq

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March 30

Star Wars Galaxy (Topps) – Gary Gerani

In 1993, 10 years after the release of Return of the Jedi, the Topps Company reintroduced the Star Wars universe to collectors with a series of trading cards.

Illustrated by the biggest names in science-fiction, fantasy and comicsincluding Kyle Baker, Moebius, Jon J Muth, William Stout, Walter Simonson, and Boris VallejoGeorge Lucass galaxy is reinterpreted in each artists own style, portraying favourite characters, recreating classic scenes, and even inventing new scenes the illustrators always wanted to see.

These trading-card images became instant fan favourites and the benchmark for visual reinterpretations of Star Wars to come. For the first time, this collection showcases the complete New Visions series; rare promotional images; and an introduction and commentary by Gary Gerani, the original editor of the Toppss Star Wars series.

My thanks to Alexandra at Abrams for my review copy.

We recently took our young bookworms to the Huntarian Art Gallery (Glasgow) to visit their latest exhibition: COMIC INVENTION. As a lifelong reader of comic books (or Graphic Novels when I want to sound more grown-up) I was keen to let my boys see how comics had evolved over the years. The exhibition is well worth a trip and the details are here: http://www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/visit/exhibitions/exhibitionprogramme/comicinvention/

After the Comic Invention display we took in the rest of the gallery. We realised that my youngest was loving the art and seemingly has a good eye for designs and style….his big brother, not so much. Older bookworm is not enchanted by pictures of random shapes or faces of people he has never heard of and (to be perfectly honest) neither am I…When it comes to art I know what I like and it is usually pictures with ‘POW’ and ‘ZAP’ surrounding Batman or Spider-man.

However, I had a secret weapon to engage the interest of the disenchanted boy – Star Wars Galaxy. My son, like his Dad, is a bit of a collector – and Topps Trading Cards have been a bit of a guilty pleasure in the past. This is artwork I can relate to – the best artists in the land capturing people, creatures, droids and scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy. When we got back from the museum trip I brought out Star Wars Galaxy from its hiding place and sat down with the bookworm to look at pictures we could relate to. Happily he was on much more comfortable ground with the collection of classic trading card images and we spent ages looking at different art styles and interpretations that were collected and wonderfully presented by Gary Gerani.

There are over 200 pages in Star Wars Galaxy and as a rough estimate I would say over 150 classic trading cards are represented. I loved seeing Steve Ditko’s R2-D2/C3PO picture (I am a huge Ditko fan) but my son hardly glanced at it – he lingered on other pictures which I would have gladly skipped by. Art is so subjective but this collection seems to cater for many tastes and the editor’s helpful commentary added an extra level of detail to our appreciation.

I actually took the book into the office to show a colleague one of the pictures that I had particularly liked. It generated massive interest around the department and sparked dozens of conversations about the ongoing Star Wars love that we all seem to harbour and I was amazed just how many people used to collect trading cards!

The high point for my bookworm was the discovery that the book contained some bonus trading cards. Actual cards! He was over the moon and has squirrelled the book away on his bookshelves beside his much loved Wimpy Kid stories.

One final note – this is not a comprehensive collection, it is a selection of images chosen by the editor. The book does not suffer in any way from missing some of the images in the collection but it does seem to irritate purists.

Star Wars Galaxy is a wonderful collection which would delight Star Wars fans of all ages. The trading cards are well presented, the editor notes are witty, informed and insightful and the book looks and feels gorgeous.

Star Wars Galaxy is published by Abrams Books. You can order a copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Galaxy-Topps-Gerani/dp/1419719130/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459290636&sr=8-1&keywords=star+wars+galaxy+topps

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March 13

Girl Waits With Gun – Amy Stewart

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Drunken Botanist comes an enthralling novel based on the forgotten, true story of one of the US’s first female deputy sheriffs.

Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mould. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters from the city to the country fifteen years before. When a powerful, ruthless factory owner runs down their buggy, a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their farm. The sheriff enlists her help, and it turns out that Constance has a knack for outwitting (and disarming) the criminal element, which might just take her back out into the world and onto a new path in life.

Through Amy Stewart’s exuberant storytelling, Constance Kopp catapults from a forgotten historical anecdote to an unforgettable historical-fiction heroine – an outsized woman not only ahead of her time, but sometimes even ahead of ours.

My thanks to Molly at Scribe for my review copy.

Using source documents and reports from around 100 years ago Amy Stewart has written a fun tale about Constance Kopp, a real life character caught up in some very hazardous situations.

Constance and her sisters find themselves facing off against an unsavoury and powerful adversary in the form of a local factory owner. His reckless driving caused a crash and damaged Constance’s buggy – the repair bill of $50 is a significant sum and Constance is not prepared to write it off. However the factory owner is not keen to pay and it is not long before Constance and her sisters find themselves fearing for their safety when bricks (with warning messages) are thrown through the windows of their home in the wee small hours.

Yet Constance has another concern demanding her time. Her initial endeavours to have her $50 repair bill settled has brought her into contact with a young girl who is hunting for her baby, taken when the mother was not in ‘a good place’ to care for the baby. Constance is determined to do all she can to help track down what happened to the baby and pass word back to the anxious mother.

Amy Stewart tells a fun story in a style very much reflective of the time the story is set. There is almost a quaint or twee feel to the read and I found that I was flicking pages at a fair old rate as the story flowed and the world was built around me. Not my normal style of story and perhaps a little less action oriented than I would ordinarily go for.

HOWEVER…Girl Waits With Gun was a fun read, I enjoyed the time I spent with Constance and when I finished the book I was genuinely glad I had taken the time to read it. Although I said it was not my normal choice of story it is still a very entertaining book and I like to mix up what I read when the opportunity arises.

Perhaps one best suited for the girls as the boys, in the main, don’t fare too well or come across in a very positive light. It is a charming read, nicely balanced with actual historical influences and (coming on the back of a few of the more ‘graphic’ books I have read recently) it was a refreshing change of pace.

Girl Waits With Gun is published by Scribe and is available in paperback and digital format here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Waits-Gun-Constance-Kopp/dp/1925228576/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457877176&sr=1-1&keywords=girl+waits+with+gun

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February 23

Guest Post: A.K. Benedict – The Sound of Writing

A busy few weeks coming up for my guest today A.K. Benedict. Not only is her new novel, Jonathan Dark and the Evidence of Ghosts, published on 25th February but March sees the release of her Torchwood audio play – The Victorian Age – from the wonderful team at Big Finish.

With two very different projects coming to fruition in such a short space of time I was keen to find out a little more about the ‘sound’ of a story and how the author hears the characters.

My most sincere thanks to A.K. Benedict for unexpectedly bringing Captain Jack to my blog and for brilliantly answering the questions I had such trouble phrasing!

While reading Jonathan Dark I discovered that you had written a Torchwood play for Big Finish (I have been a BF fan for many years). As I read I try to envisage characters and how they may speak…Jonathan Dark was (for me) very London – setting it around the Thames fixed that perception early in the story.

When you write for Torchwood the cast (and their voices) are so well known…a Welsh accent for Gwen, Jack’s American/Scottish twangs etc. Does that make it easier to feed the lines?

YES! I have been a fan of Captain Jack for ten years so I know his voice very well. I also rewatched Dr Who and Torchwood episodes before I began writing the script – it felt at once naughty and virtuous to do this for an actual job, not just my pleasure! This made it wonderfully easy to slip into character while writing and, hopefully, to get as near as I could to Captain Jack’s tone, rhythm and wit. His quips darted onto the page without much intervention, as if repeated viewing had led me to internalise him, as it were. I have only written for Jack out of the original Torchwood characters so far but I hope the same would apply, it certainly did while writing Queen Victoria, the other main character in ‘The Victorian Age’. Her character, played by Pauline Collins, was so distinctive in ‘Tooth and Claw’ that it made it much easier to expand and build on, even though Rowena Cooper’s Victoria in TVA is nearing the end of her reign and life.

When you write an audio play do you hear the actors voices speaking the lines?

Definitely – it is as if I have audio playback in my brain! When the voices stop, I know it is time to take a break and make a cup of tea.

How does that differ from a novel where you create the characters from scratch, do you give them a voice?

Writing for existing characters is a case of slipping on their coats; for original characters, I tailor an entirely new set of clothes, right down to the pants and socks. This takes some time and is full of surprises. I start by asking them questions and then scribble down their answers. When I interviewed Jonathan in a coffee shop in 2007 (he had a caramel latte and a BLT), he told me all about his life situation, worries, likes and dislikes, pets, comics, shortcomings and shadows. His revelations, and the broken way he saw the world, gave me an insight into his narrative voice. The rest came when I started writing.

I feel like a medium at times – very appropriate for ‘Jonathan Dark. . .’ –transcribing from the other side. Maria from ‘Jonathan Dark’ and Stephen Killigan from ‘The Beauty of Murder’ came very quickly. As did Jackamore Grass. It’s unnerving to have a murderer’s voice, like Jackamore or the stalker in ‘Jonathan Dark or The Evidence of Ghosts’, speaking through me. At the end of a chapter, it is a relief to step out of their blood-stained clothing.

The next step in this question comes when you pass your novel to the team that will turn it into an audiobook. Does the narrator of the audiobook change how you had intended a character to sound? As most authors will not hear their books read aloud by their readers is it strange to see how actors or narrators interpret your writing?

It is very strange but also fun. Sometimes lines are performed just as I intended, sometimes much better, sometimes it jars with what was in my head. That’s as it should be. Once the words are on the page and out in the world, a book becomes another entity. Readers hear different voices, make different pictures to the ones in my head and that is beautiful – the alchemy of reading a book and creating something new.

In a collaborative medium like drama and audio work, it is so exciting to hear what actors make of a script or story. Rowena Cooper elevated every single line as Queen Victoria, performing with pathos, gravitas and panache and John Barrowman as Captain Jack was even better than I had hoped. I grinned all the way through the recording. Some of it was as I imagined while writing; some not all: every bit was delightful. I was lucky enough to play a teeny cameo in ‘The Victorian Age’, and even I didn’t perform it as I’d heard it in my head!

Last question, do the Big Finish actors look to make tweaks to your script to make a conversation ‘fit’ how they perceive the character would phrase a sentence?

In my limited experience, the actors don’t play with lines much at all, bar an ad lib or two, some very funny outtakes and the odd line tweaked for ease of expression. They mainly bring their own skills, breathing life into a line and making it sing.

‘The Victorian Age’ is out in March from Big Finish and can be ordered here:

Jonathan Dark and the Evidence of Ghosts is published by Orion on 25 February 2016 and can be ordered here.

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February 22

Guest Post: The A-Z of David F Ross

The Rise and Fall of the Miraculous Vespas blog tour kicks off right here.

As I read through the book I was gobsmacked over the sheer volume of musical references which cropped up during the story. The music of the time plays such an influential part of the story that I knew I had to ask David for some of his musical influences. But how to ask the right questions in a Q&A without knowing which songs or artists may feature?

My solution – cheat! I asked David if he would share his music A-Z. I thought that finding 26 songs may be a bit of a challenge. It turns out that the challenge he faced was narrowing down his selections – there are some amazing songs in here and I am loving discovering some new ones too from his recommendations:

You will need this link: http://open.spotify.com/user/dross-gb/playlist/0yjz4c7830vwSsrjsrhlZn

David has kindly assembled a Spotify playlist so you can enjoy his selections.

A is for… Amoeba Records up at Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco; the greatest place on Earth. ‘All Mod Cons’, Amy Winehouse, Almost Famous, and Alex Turner, the last of the great lyricists.

And ‘A New England’ by Billy Bragg.

B is for… Bowie, Bolan, Broadcast, Bill Callahan, Burt Bacharach, The Barrowlands, Bobby Bluebell, and three quarters of the Beatles. Also Boy George who hopefully won’t mind my kidnapping him for other people’s entertainment.

And ‘Black Boys on Mopeds’ by Sinead O’Connor.

C is for…’Curtis’ by Curtis Mayfield (one of my all time top 3 LPs), Costello, Creation Records, Chic, The Chi-Lites.

And ‘Cath’ by The Bluebells.

D is for…’Definitely Maybe’, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, ‘Detroit 67’ by Stuart Cosgrove, ‘Days of Speed and Slow-time Mondays’ – a story about the inspiration behind The Miraculous Vespas .

And ‘Don’t Look Back’ by Bettye Swann.

E is for…”Electric Warrior’, Eels, ‘Exile On Main Street’, Everything But The Girl’s ‘Eden’, Eton Rifles, ‘England’s Dreaming’ by Jon Savage, David Essex in ‘Stardust’, Echo & The Bunnymen,

And ‘Eventually’ by Tame Impala

F is for…The Fall, ‘Forever Changes’, ‘Fools Gold’

And ‘Fake Tales of San Francisco’ by Arctic Monkeys.

G is for…’Going Underground’, The Go-Betweens, ‘Ghost Town’, Gil Scott-Heron,

And ‘Give Me Your Love’ by Curtis Mayfield.

H is for…’Hatful of Hollow’, ‘Heart of Glass’, Heatwave Disco, Hendrix.

And ‘How Soon Is Now’ by The Smiths.

I is for…Iggy, ‘In Rainbows’, ‘It’s A Miracle (Thank You)’, ‘I Am The Fly’, ‘Is This It’.

And ‘Ice Hockey Hair’ by Super Furry Animals.

J is for…John Peel, The Jam, Joe Strummer (who’s signed LP remains one of my most prized possessions), James Brown, Johnny Cash.

And ‘Jeepster’ by Marc Bolan & T.Rex.

K is for…The Kinks, Kate Bush, Kurt Vile. King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.

And ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’ by The Ramones.

L is for…’Like A Rolling Stone’, The La’s, Lambchop, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, Lee Dorsey.

And arguably the greatest love song ever written, ‘Love Letter’ by Nick Cave.

M is for…Morrissey & Marr, and of course…The Miraculous Vespas.

And ‘Magnificent Seven’ by The Clash.

N is for…NME, Nick Drake, New Order, ‘Native New Yorker’.

And ‘New Amsterdam’ by Elvis Costello.

O is for…Orange Juice, ‘Odessey & Oracle’, Oasis in Lucca 2002, ‘Ong Ong’, ‘Oedipus Schmoedipus’, ‘Ocean Rain’, Old Blue Eyes.

And ‘On Battleship Hill’ by PJ Harvey.

P is for…Postcard Records, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey (after whom we named the dog), The Pale Fountains, Pet Sounds, Parallel Lines.

And ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ by The Velvet Underground.

Q is for…Quadrophenia, ‘Queen Bitch’.

And ‘Quiet Houses’ by Fleet Foxes.

R is for…Radiohead, Radio 6 Music, Ray Charles (whom I met once in Montreal) ‘Revolver’, Rickenbacker Guitars, Rock Against Racism, The Ronettes, REM.

And ‘Roadrunner’ by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers.

S is for…The Smiths, Sex Pistols, ‘Screamadelica’, Sly & The Family Stone, Springsteen, Sparklehorse, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and Michael Head’s masterpiece, ‘The Magical World of The Strands’.

More than any other, The Strands LP was the record that prompted me to write. The night after I listened to it for the first time, I had a dream so vivid I wrote it down thinking it would make an interesting novel:

The central protagonist – a recovering addict – searches for something very personal and important to him (we will never exactly find out what it is) which he has lost, or has had taken from him. His uncoordinated search forces him to confront the challenges and temptations he faces, the decisions he has made, the broken relationships, the turbulent Liverpool streets he somehow can’t leave … but also the joy and hope in things previously taken too much for granted; a necessary catharsis. The time sequence is uncertain and the story could be taking place over a year, rather than a day. There are four phases – morning, afternoon, evening and night – each with a different weather, reflecting the protagonist’s changing emotions.

The story is about transformation and seeing things – his relationships, his city, his life – with a new clarity, but not always with the positivity he had assumed that would bring. He ultimately comes to the conclusion that, although he knows it will soon kill him, he preferred the anaesthetised life of an addict where he doesn’t have to deal with, or confront the pain he has caused others. One of these days, I’ll get it started.

And naturally, ‘Something Like You’, by Michael Head & The Strands.

T is for…Tindersticks, T.Rex, T in the Park, Top Of The Pops, The Triffids, Tame Impala, Terry Hall, Tracey Thorn.

And ‘That’s Entertainment’ by The Jam.

U is for…U2’s ‘Boy’ LP (but absolutely nothing that followed it). The Upsetters.

And ‘Unsolved Child Murder’ by The Auteurs.

V is for… ‘Velvets in the Dark’ (the song AND the group it refers to), ‘The Village Preservation Society’.

And ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’ by The National.

W is for…Weller (obviously), Wire, ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’. The Wedding Present, Wah!, Wilco, ‘Wichita Lineman’, Waterloo Sunset’, The Walkmen. Wigan Casino.

And ‘What A Waster’ by The Libertines.

X is for…X-Ray Spex, The X-X,

And ‘X-Offender’ by Blondie.

Y is for…’Young Americans’ , ‘Youth & Young Manhood’, Neil Young, ‘Young At Heart’

And ‘Young, Gifted and Black’ by Bob and Marcia.

Z is for…Zappa, the Zombies,

And, of course, ‘Ziggy Stardust’ by the most influential artist in music history, David Bowie.

You can follow The Rise and Fall of the Miraculous Vespas blog tour at the following venues:

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January 29

Fever City – Tim Baker

Nick Alston, a Los Angeles private investigator, is hired to find the kidnapped son of America’s richest and most hated man.

Hastings, a mob hitman in search of redemption, is also on the trail. But both men soon become ensnared by a sinister cabal that spreads from the White House all the way to Dealey Plaza.

Decades later in Dallas, Alston’s son stumbles across evidence from JFK conspiracy buffs that just might link his father to the shot heard round the world.

Violent, vivid, visceral: FEVER CITY is a high–octane, nightmare journey through a Mad Men-era America of dark powers, corruption and conspiracy.

My thanks to Faber & Faber for my review copy.

My friends will groan when they find I have read a book with a conspiracy theory element to it as I love ‘em. Roswell, the Moon Landings, JFK and Nessie all provide hours of fascination. Obviously from the 4 I listed one is a total fabrication of the truth but I am quite happy to believe that there was a UFO at Roswell, JFK was not killed by Lee Harvey Oswald and I have seen pictures of Nessie so she clearly is a real thing too.

In Fever City Tim Baker has crafted a phenomenal story around the JFK assassination – putting forward new observations and casting more suspicions over the ‘official’ story on the death of a President. Many famous names crop up through the story and relationships, alliances and adversaries are explored. It is a compelling read and as I reached the end of the book I could not turn the pages fast enough to see how everything would resolve.

The narrative is handled from three viewpoints and events cover three different points in history. 1960 when the child of one of America’s richest (and most loathed) men is kidnapped – Private Investigator Nick Alston is called in to help locate the kidnapped boy.

Jumping forward to 1963 when Alston is reunited with a hitman called Hastings (the two had first met during the kidnap investigation). Obviously 1963 is of huge significance and we follow events which will eventually build up to that fateful day in Dallas.

Then the narrative jumps forward to 2014 when the son of one of the key players (that of Nick Alston) is looking into all the theories which surround the assassination of JFK. As Fever City progresses Alston (junior) comes to realise that his father may have been very close to some of the key players who are implicated in one of history’s greatest cover-ups.

The switching narrative is brilliantly handled and the way the story flits across the time periods works really well. I initially had fears that this may fragment the story but these fears were short lived as Baker builds so much tension into the story you don’t mind being drawn through the years.

Fever City should come with a ‘dark’ or ‘gritty’ warning. The male characters can come across as hard, uncompromising or aggressive and the females are brilliantly balanced initially appearing to be femme fatales but ultimately showing more depth and inner steel than most of their male counterparts.

A deeply enjoyable story. Compelling, twisty and downright nasty at times. All plus points for me – definitely a bit of a favourite.

Fever City is published by Faber & Faber and can be purchased here.

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January 28

Dead Pretty – David Mark

Hannah Kelly has been missing for nine months. Ava Delaney has been dead for five days.

One girl to find. One girl to avenge. And DS Aector McAvoy won’t let either of them go until justice can be done.

But some people have their own ideas of what justice means…

My thanks to Mulholland Books for my review copy which I received through Netgalley

DS Aector McAvoy returns for a fifth outing in David Mark’s new novel Dead Pretty. I will ‘fess up from the start, I have not read the first four books so I come to the series with no awareness of what has gone before. In turn this lets me consider Dead Pretty entirely on its own merit (and I like when I can do that).

My initial impression was that Aector McAvoy is nice. Really, really nice – everyone seems to like him, he gets emotionally involved in his cases, blushes easily and wants to do the right thing. An interesting and welcome change from the ‘flawed’ characters I expect to read about in crime stories.

Contrasting McAvoy is his boss Detective Superintendent Trish Pharaoh. She struck me as much more rough and ready, willing to do whatever was required to get the task in hand completed and more…flawed. I don’t know how the dynamic between the two normally plays out but I did feel that for large parts of Dead Pretty Pharaoh was much more in the limelight than McAvoy.

Pharaoh’s prominence is very much integral to the investigations underway in Dead Pretty. To explain why would require plot spoilers (and you do not get those here) but suffice to say I enjoyed Pharaoh’s fights, dilemmas and crisis moments as they sprang up through the book.

Central to the story is the investigation into Ava Delaney’s murder and McAvoy’s ongoing obsession with tracking down missing girl Hannah Kelly. Pharaoh has her own problems, a man that was integral in imprisoning has had his conviction overturned and is back on the streets and their paths are going to cross – Pharaoh will make sure of that!

David Mark sets a scene in magnificent detail, he has a very descriptive style and I did feel myself drawn into the story – easily imagining a cottage in the woods, a horse walking down a county lane, a family home under threat from <Spoilers>. When the surroundings are jumping off the page so vividly I cannot help but love that reading experience.

What I really liked about Dead Pretty is that is very dark in places and this is slightly disconcerting when the author is so good at describing a scene! I always favour a crime thriller that is not afraid to shirk from the gritty details and Dead Pretty ensured McAvoy and Pharaoh faced down the horrors as I hoped they would.

Dead Pretty is published by Mulholland Books and is available in Hardback and digital format from 28 January 2016. You can get a copy here

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January 23

Devoted in Death – J.D. Robb

It’s a new year in New York city, and two star-crossed lovers have just discovered an insatiable appetite…for murder.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas has witnessed some grisly crimes in her career and she knows just how dark things can get on the streets. But when a much-loved musician is found dead, Eve soon realises that his murder is part of a horrifying killing spree, stretching right across the country.

Now the killers have reached New York, and they’ve found themselves another victim. Eve knows she only has a couple of days to save a young girl’s life, and to stop the killers before their sadistic games escalate. Eve’s husband Roarke is ready to put his brains and his considerable resources behind the search. But even as the couple works closely together, time is running out…

My review copy came from Little Brown/Piatkus through Netgalley.

The In Death series by J. D. Robb is one of my favourites, I love Eve Dallas (the central character) and over the last 20 years J. D. Robb has built up a world and cast of characters that I cannot wait to return to. Set in a futuristic New York there are fun technological ‘advances’ and inventions which are now so well established in the books that the world seems totally believable to me. If I am still kicking around in 2061 I will be gutted if J. D. Robb’s portrayal of how life will be turns out to be inaccurate!

Devoted in Death takes the approach of revealing the killers (there are two of them) from the outset of the story. They are the Devoted couple from the title and are on a killing spree from Arkansas to New York City. However, their crimes are spread across a number of states and they have remained undetected. Undetected that is, until they murder a loved and respected musician in NYC Dallas notices a mark on the corpse which has previously appeared on other bodies.

Dallas and her team are now on a race against time as the killers have abducted their latest target. If Dallas does not track down the killers soon then another body will be found and it too will almost certainly show signs of a prolonged torture prior to death.

Devoted in Death is not ideal as a jumping on point for a series which has now reached into 50 titles (a count which includes short stories and novellas). However, all the books in the In Death series CAN be read as a stand-alone crime thriller – the fun in knowing the back story will always reward returning readers. For a series that has been running for so long I am constantly amazed how J. D. Robb can keep hitting such a high mark.

These are fun reads, great crime thrillers and there are a huge number of books to read. I have read most of the In Death books more than once and will continue to revisit them. Dallas is the kick ass hero that you want to read about – long may she continue.

Devoted in Death will be released in paperback by Piatkus on 28th January and is also available in digital format: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0349403716?keywords=devoted%20in%20death&qid=1453576624&ref_=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1&sr=8-1

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January 10

In The Cold Dark Ground – Stuart MacBride

Sergeant Logan McRae is in trouble…

His missing-persons investigation has just turned up a body in the woods – naked, hands tied behind its back, and a bin bag duct-taped over its head. The Major Investigation Team charges up from Aberdeen, under the beady eye of Logan’s ex-boss Detective Chief Inspector Steel. And, as usual, she wants him to do her job for her.

But it’s not going to be easy: a new Superintendent is on her way up from the Serious Organised Crime Task Force, hell-bent on making Logan’s life miserable; Professional Standards are gunning for Steel; and Wee Hamish Mowat, head of Aberdeen’s criminal underbelly, is dying – leaving rival gangs from all over the UK eying his territory.

There’s a war brewing and Logan’s trapped right in the middle, whether he likes it or not.

My thanks to Jaime at HarperCollins for my review copy.

Logan McRae is back in his 10th outing and although you did not know it – this is the book that you have been waiting for. Everything that Stuart MacBride has been building up in the first 9 McRae novels seems to be coming to a head within In the Cold Dark Ground and it is magnificent. Absolute jaw-dropping, edge of the seat brilliance.

Now comes the tricky part – I want to talk about things that happen in the book and I can’t. I cannot even hint at the stuff I REALLY want to talk about because spoiling the twists, shocks, surprises and the WTF moments would seriously impact on your enjoyment of the book. Well I say ‘enjoyment’ but aside from the usual dark humour we can expect from MacBride’s books I can let share that Logan is in for a tough time. Again. Poor sod.

In The Cold Dark Ground opens with Logan and his team investigating a missing-persons case, However, a body soon turns up and the Major Investigations Team (and Roberta Steel) are not far behind. Before long Steel is stomping all-over Logan’s life again. But Logan has more pressing issues to contend with, his girlfriend remains in her coma, the gangsters of Aberdeen (and beyond) are restless as an ailing Wee Hamish Mowat struggles to retain control of his territory. Logan is still Wee Hamish’s preferred successor to his criminal empire, however, Logan has other ideas…as does Hamish’s second in command – the psychotic Reuben who intends to step up to the top spot himself and needs to ensure he has Logan’s loyalty.

This is Stuart MacBride at his finest. He has written some harrowing storylines in the past but In The Cold Dark Ground blew me away. The tension I felt while reading some scenes was unlike anything I have experienced from a book for a long, long time. There are moments that could have you in tears…laughter or sorrow. We see some characters in a new light and there are welcome returns for old friends and some new faces we MAY see in future.

I could write a few more paragraphs telling you how much I enjoyed In The Cold Dark Ground but I will spare you that. I loved it. A 5/5 review score was guaranteed before I was even half-way through the book – it could even be a 6/5 I enjoyed it so much. My only concern is that I read it too soon, now I have a very long wait to find out what happens next!

In The Cold Dark Ground is published on 14th January in Hardcover and Digital format. You can (pre)order your copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-Dark-Ground-Logan-McRae/dp/0007494645/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1452463726&sr=1-1

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

December 31

A Killing Moon – Steven Dunne

For the young woman kidnapped on her way home from the pub, the nightmare is about to begin…

Weeks after Caitlin Kinnear goes missing, the police are unable to break her case. Worse they are not even certain harm has come to her. But determined to pursue all leads, DI Damen Brook and his team begin to trawl through the murky world of cheap migrant labour. Convinced that the answers lie hidden within its depths, Brook soon begins to realise Caitlin is in terrible danger.

When the body of another young girl turns up it becomes clear that Caitlin’s abduction might not be an isolated incident and the race is on to save her. But with time running out, can Brook put the pieces together and find Caitlin before it’s too late?

Thanks to Headline for my review copy

As 2015 drew to a close I realised that there were books in my TBR pile which had been sitting too long. I decided I would try to spend the last few weeks of the year catching up on some of the titles that had released earlier in the year – 2016 titles will take care of themselves.

So many books to choose from but following his appearance on the Britcrime Christmas Blab chat (which you can see here) I moved Steven Dunne’s A Killing Moon to the top of the queue – and what a great decision that turned out to be!

A Killing Moon was my first introduction to Steven’s books and is the 5th DI Brook novel. For a first time reader I can confirm that I had no problems picking up the storyline, did not feel that there was too much reliance upon backstory and (knowing that there are 4 books before A Killing Moon) am delighted that there are more books with DI Brook that I can look forward to catching up on in the New Year.

Events in A Killing Moon are dark, sinister and frequently disturbing – basically everything that I enjoy in a good crime thriller. And this IS a good crime thriller…a very good one. DI Brook is a strong lead character and his fellow officers form a good unit which make you want to read about them. This investigation is a nasty one though – Caitlin Kinnear has been abducted but rather than the murder investigation that the reader may expect to ensue Caitlin’s abduction is just the beginning of her ordeal.

Frequently chilling and always compelling – the investigation into Caitlin’s abduction kept me gripped and I could not get to the finale fast enough. A great story to bring my reading year to an end.

A Killing Moon is published by Headline and is available in paperback and digital format: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472214897?keywords=a%20killing%20moon&qid=1451605970&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off