Favourite Reads 2019

Hogmanay seems a good time to share my 2019 favourites list.

My blog and it’s my rules – the books I include in my list do not need to be published in 2019, but if I read them this year they get considered. I don’t have a top 10 this year. I reviewed far fewer titles in 2019 and if I compiled an audiobook list and a Top Ten it would almost make it harder to be excluded than included. Mental note to get more reviews written up in 2020.

I have selected five of my favourite reads, the stories which I had most fun with or the books which made the biggest impression on me as I read them. After the five (not in any order) I have selected the three best audiobooks I listened to this year and I wrap up my selections with the best debut – the first title in what will be an ongoing series. I hope you enjoy my choices and, fingers crossed, you may find some new books to enjoy.

The Five Favourites

Blood Orange – Harriet Tyce

Just released in paperback and a book you should be adding to your 2020 shopping list! A nasty and unsettling story which had me hooked.

My gob was smacked in all the right ways and despite this being one of my reads from early in 2019 the story still sticks with me. It had to be included in this selection.

Review here: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4093

Changeling – Matt Wesolowski

I love the Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski and this, the third installment, was a chiller. These books are the perfect blend of thriller/horror and much of the lasting impact comes through my overactive imagination long after the book has been read.

The podcast narrative style used in these stories is a wonderfully effective device and it does mean that Matt’s books are terrific audiobook listens too.

Review: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4045

The Ringmaster – Vanda Symon

#YeahNoir is seeping into my reading lists more and more. I am thoroughly enjoying the new exposure to New Zealand crime fiction and Vanda’s books are helping to lead the charge. The Ringmaster is a great thriller and is included in my selection because it had the most memorable scene from any book I read this year (sadly). Yup – THAT scene. *sobs*

Review: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4145

Death at the Plague Museum – Lesley Kelly

Another book which features recurring characters. The Health Enforcement Team are a mis-mash of terrifically entertaining characters tasked with monitoring the health of the residents of Edinburgh after a brutal virus devastated the population.

I seldom know which books are being published until other bloggers start talking about them but I always have my eyes peeled for the next book in the Health Of Strangers series. Great books and this, for me, was the best yet.

Review: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4174

Your Deepest Fear – David Jackson

This was my page turner of the year. The book I didn’t want to finish, the one I just couldn’t put down.

The full review is here: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4217 but quite simply, I loved it.

Best Audiobooks

Violet – SJI Holliday

This was listening bliss. The wonderful Imogen Church brought Susi Holliday’s words to life in the most incredible way. When you listen to an audiobook you want a good narrator – Imogen is astonishingly good and nailed every accent to deliver what felt like a full cast production.

Obviously a good audiobook needs a good story and Violet is terrific. Twisted and shocking but deeply engaging and compulsive. I don’t really have enough good words for Violet.

Review: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4440

Bad Memory – Lisa Gray

Another brilliant terrific narrator, Amy Landon, who delivered Lisa Gray’s Bad Memory in a gorgeous accent which I could have listened to all day.

This is the second Jessica Shaw thriller and I put up my hand to confess I could not see how Lisa could possibly find a way for Jessica to get any wiggle room for her client after I had read the opening chapters. Great story telling and a wonderful listen.

Review: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4435

The Lost Plot – Geniveve Cogman

Audiobooks take much more of a reading investment than a paperback or kindle title. I could have read my paperback copy of The Lost Plot in 3 or 4 hours but I wanted a fun listen and I knew that this would deliver! So I turned to Audible for a joyous 10 and half hours of listening pleasure.

Geniveve Cogman’s Invisible Library series are my go to titles when I want a fix of dragons, faye, adventure and magic. Irene, the Librarian, can open doors into many worlds and as a member of The Library she is tasked with recovering rare books which may only exist in a single realm or reality. The stories are hugely fun and carry engaging political drama as different factions try to outsmart each other.

If you enjoy fantasy stories these books really need to be on your radar.

Best Debut

See Them Run by Marion Todd

Regular visitors will know I love getting into a series of books and seeing recurring characters develop. My selection for best debut reflects the fact I loved this story, the characters were well established and I want to know them better. The location was very well represented – St Andrews is probably best known for two institutions, neither featured in See Them Run and that was perfect. I suspect both will appear in future but keeping the University and the golf course out of the action in the first book let the rest of the town shine.

As soon as I finished See Them Run I pre-ordered the next title in the series. To put that in context, I only pre-ordered two books in 2019 – both the authors to achieve this rate feat feature in these selections. I strongly urge you to seek out See Them Run!

Review: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=4415

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December 17

Cast A Deadly Shadow (audiobook) – Roger Granelli

With Cast a Deadly Shadow Roger Granelli has followed his exciting series of Palermo Stories with a full-length novel that is a fast-moving tale of murder, betrayal and lust.

Continuing their never-ending fight against the Mafia, detectives Carpanini and Bracchi have captured their longtime target, the gangster Bardolini, setting off a dramatic chain of events in which dangerous men of the Sicilian underworld get involved – each one with his own agenda.

Carpanini’s marriage is on the rocks, and Bracchi has a heart-rending choice of devotion over duty, and the redoubtable duo are in their tightest spot ever – threatened by three different Mafia entities, all trying to gain the upper hand, as the story twists and turns towards an explosive final climax.

My thanks to Anna at Midas PR for the opportunity to join the blog tour and for providing a review copy of the story.

Cast A Deadly Shadow is only available as an audiobook and I listened through the Audible App. I did receive a review copy for the purpose of the tour but when the book released last week I also picked up a copy through the Audible Store (I like to nudge up the narration speed through the app).

Although I read a lot of crime stories I seldom get to enjoy a tale about the Mafia families so I took to Cast A Deadly Shadow with huge anticipation and I splurged on the book. Running time is over 8 hours, I got through it over two days. To put that into perspective, at present I normally only listen to an audiobook for around 30 to 45 mins per day. I got a bit caught up in this one!

Italy is the setting and we are in the company of detectives Carpanini and Bracchi. They have secured the arrest of one of the Mafia’s biggest thugs who had turned his fists on his girlfriend only to have her call the police and reveal his location. Carpanini and Bracchi are escorting their prisoner back to Palermo when the Mafia henchmen catch-up with the cops on the train. A shoot-out ensues and the fallout has repercussions for the rest of the book.

After the incident on the train one of the shooters targets the police to get revenge for the twarted plan. Carpanini and Bracchi have to deal with the emotional fallout and we see how high tension events (a staple of crime thrillers) should and does have ramifications for those involved and hos it impacts upon those they are close to.

But organised crime doesn’t stay quiet for long and soon the police are dealing with a robbery – protagonists heavily armed and casualties high. A kidnapping, which made for quite uncomfortable listening as we follow the kidnapper narrowing in on his target and there needs to be a rescue attempt to have us racing towards the end of the story.

I found Cast A Deadly Shadow to be well paced and nicely told. It held plenty of twists and thrills but the quieter moments were well covered too and the author made the characters engaging and well defined for a new reader/listener.

As ever an audiobook is reliant upon the narrator. Cast A Deadly Shadow has Andrew Wincott taking us through the tale. No complaints over his skills to deliver a well told and dramatic story – as I indicated I got caught up in this story and listened for hours in a single sitting. One thing which did strike me as odd was the fact all the Italian gangsters had a broad (thick?) London accents. It slightly distracted from the fact events were taking place in a totally different country; when locations were mentioned it brought the anomaly back to my attention. Minor quibble and, as I previously stated, the narrator is very good.

All in – good fun was had. Enough action to hold me, not too many characters and events to make it confused and over the top. Definitely a thumbs up – enjoyed my time with this listen.

Follow The Tour:

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December 12

A Window Breaks – C.M. Ewan

If your family was targeted in the middle of the night, what would you do?

You are asleep. A noise wakes you.
You stir, unsure why, and turn to your partner.
Then you hear it.
Glass. Crunching underfoot.
Your worst fears are about to be realized.
Someone is inside your home.
Your choices are limited.
You can run. Or stay and fight.
What would you do?

I received a copy of A Window Breaks from the publisher through Netgalley.

Reading A Window Breaks is like riding a rollercoaster. You purchase your ticket (buy the book) and climb into the car (start reading). As your rollercoaster car starts to move you are filled with the anticipation of the shocks, twists and surprises that will soon follow.

But rollercoasters don’t just launch you into those breakneck speeds or hurl you round a sharp twist – there is a period of build up as you winch up an incline, the car getting ready for that point where you are tipped over the edge of a shocking drop and the real rush begins.

When reading A Window Breaks there is the same steady winch period where the reader gets introduced to the family at the heart of the story. You have time to take in your surroundings and get comfortable while out of sight there are cogs whirring and slowly drawing you to the top of the incline.

Then in the story A Window Breaks.

That is the point where this book tips you over the edge of that first rollercoaster incline and you, as a reader, are plummeting forward on an unstoppable thrill ride of twists, shocks and surprises. It is an adrenaline filled rush and you will not want to get off the ride are you are now fully committed to the whole experience. You can’t stop, you are compelled to keep moving forward, drawn along by the events which are unfolding and you want to be there at the end so you can proudly proclaim “I did it” and then you will recommend to your friends that they make the same journey and read A Window Breaks. It’s a rush.

So what’s the story actually about? Well I can tell you some of it but not too much as that takes us too deep into spoiler territory and I am not keen to do that. A Window Breaks follows a family who have endured too much personal trauma of recent times. The Sullivan family were originally a family of 4, the eldest son has recently died in a car crash (the car taken before he was legally entitled to drive). Parents Tom and Rachel are devastated and start to drift apart, their young daugher is keeping them together. Then further trauma occurs – a mugging as they leave a work event sees daughter, Holly, receive a nasty injury and the fragile family security takes another impact.

To allow healing time Tom, Rachel and Holly are invited to spend a few days in a remote lodge in the Scottish Highlands. The idyllic retreat will allow them time to relax and hopefully repair some of the cracks which have appeared in Tom and Rachel’s marriage. All seems well…until A Window Breaks.

I really, really enjoyed the latest thriller from C.M (Chris) Ewan. He can take the reader through an emotional wringer and his plots always carry a satisfying punch. Definite five star read for me, a proper page turner.

A Window Breaks is currently available in digital format and will release in paperback on 20 February 2020. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Window-Breaks-Nerve-shredding-Pulse-racing-Thriller-ebook/dp/B07S1TS6L6/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1575661790&refinements=p_27%3AC.+M.+Ewan&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=C.+M.+Ewan

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December 1

The Sound of Her Voice – Nathan Blackwell

Detective Buchanan remembers every victim. But this one he can’t forget.

The body of a woman has been found on a pristine New Zealand beach – over a decade after she was murdered.

Detective Matt Buchanan of the Auckland Police is certain it carries all the hallmarks of an unsolved crime he investigated 12 years ago: when Samantha Coates walked out one day and never came home.

Re-opening the case, Buchanan begins to piece the terrible crimes together, setting into motion a chain of events that will force him to the darkest corners of society – and back into his deepest obsession…

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

Over the last couple of years I have been invited to read some really great New Zealand based thrillers and it has opened my eyes to a wave of crime writing talent perviously not on my radar. Add the name Nathan Blackwell to that list – The Sound of Her Voice was a terrific read.

The story is led by Matt Buchanan, he is a cop in Auckland and he is called to investigate when human remains are found. The body (as is) has been in place for over 10 years and to investigate Matt will be required to revisit many incidents from the past.

As the blurb aludes to, every cop has a case which they will not let go. For Matt that is the unexplained disappearance of a young girl who simply vanished with no trace and has haunted Matt since. He keeps in touch with her family and refuses to accept he will never find the missing girl. However the discovery of the murder victim will bring that cold case back to focus and a sequence of disturbing revelations will follow.

Nathan Blackwell makes very effective use of multiple timeline narratives. We will be in present day, back to significant events in Matt’s early days of being a member of the police force and we touch into several key elements of his developing career. It allows the reader to understand what drives Matt and to watch him find his place. The action flows well and characters are likeable (if appropriate), plausible and I wanted to read more about them.

The Sound of Her Voice was another #yeahnoir treat – to find more great New Zealand crime thrillers I highly recommend searching #yeahnoir online – so many gems to discover.

The Sound of Her Voice is published by Orion and is available in digital, paperback and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sound-Her-Voice-addictive-thriller-ebook/dp/B07JX57RBG/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1575196261&refinements=p_27%3ANathan+Blackwell&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Nathan+Blackwell

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