December 2020 – Grab This Book

My Favourite Books from 2020

Happy Hogmanay from a snowy Scotland. As the sun sets for the final time on 2020 I think we can all agree that this has not been one of the better years. Yet I look back on the previous 12 months with my bookish eyes and there were some great moments (mainly books I loved which offered escapism from our real-world dystopia).

Before everything stopped in March and we were no longer allowed out to play I had the joy of attending two events in Glasgow. A special mention and my thanks to the Orenda authors who made the trip to Glasgow for the Orenda Roadshow. Also to Elly Griffiths who hosted an afternoon tea and book reading in Waterstones in Sauchiehall Street. Little did I know at the time that this would be the only events I would attend all year – both days were great fun and I took the teenager along too where he initially got a bit starstruck but also started his own collection of signed crime thrillers…I am so proud!

But I digress. This post is my end of year wrap up. The ten books which brought me the most joy and esacapism during the year. Some were the right book at the right time. Some were great stories I could not put down and the others were titles I immediately put into the hands of someone else with a nod of “You MUST read this”.

10 – Curse The Day – Judith O’Reilly (Head of Zeus)

At a global tech gala hosted at the British Museum, scientist Tobias Hawke is due to unveil an astonishing breakthrough. His AI system appears to have reached consciousness, making Hawke the leading light in his field.

But when terrorists storm the building, they don’t just leave chaos in their wake. They seize Hawke’s masterwork, sparking a chain reaction of explosive events which could end the world as we know it.

Michael North, ex-assassin and spy-for-hire, must find the killers and recover the AI. But he can’t do it alone. Hawke’s wife, Esme, and teenage hacker, Fangfang, have their own reasons to help complete North’s mission – and together they unravel a dark and deadly conspiracy which stretches right to the top of the British elite.

Can North survive long enough to uncover the whole truth? Or is it already too late for humanity?

9 – Dark Highway – Lisa Gray (Thomas & Mercer)

An isolated highway in the middle of the desert—the perfect place to hide a secret.

LA-based artist Laurie Simmonds disappeared two months ago, her campervan abandoned on the isolated Twentynine Palms Highway, miles from anything—or anyone. With the police investigation stalled, her parents put all their faith in private investigator Jessica Shaw to find out the truth of what happened.

Jessica and her partner Matt Connor discover that two other women are missing, their disappearances connected to the same highway. When a link emerges between these women and a group of former college friends, Jessica feels certain they’re closing in on their target.

But no sooner do they follow this up than Laurie’s parents get spooked and drop the case. Jessica is blindsided but determined not to give up: three women are missing, and many more may be at risk. She can’t turn her back on them. But the more she pulls at the threads of the truth, the closer she comes to danger. Can she find out who’s behind these crimes before they come for her?

8 – Thirty-One Bones – Morgan Cry (Polygon)

When Daniella Coulstoun’s estranged mother Effie dies in Spain under suspicious circumstances, she feels it’s her duty to fly out for the funeral.

On arrival, Daniella is confronted by a dangerous group of expat misfits who claim that Effie stole huge sums of cash from them in a multi-million property scam. They want the money back and Daniella is on the hook for it.

When a suspicious Spanish detective begins to probe Effie’s death and a London gangster hears about the missing money, Daniella faces threats on every front. With no idea where the cash is and facing a seemingly impossible deadline, she quickly finds herself out of her depth and fighting for survival in a strange and terrifying world.

7 – One White Lie – Leah Konen (Penguin)

Imagine you’ve finally escaped the worst relationship of your life, running away with only a suitcase and a black eye – and you’re terrified what will happen if he finds you.

Imagine your new next-door neighbours are the friends you so desperately needed – fun, kind, empathetic, very much in love.

Imagine that they’re in trouble. That their livelihoods – even their lives – are at risk. They have a plan to keep all of you safe, but they just need you to tell one small lie.

One small lie, and all of these problems would disappear . . .

You’d do it. Wouldn’t you?

It’s only one small lie, until someone turns up dead.

6 – The Resident – David Jackson (Viper)

THERE’S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN
AND HE’S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE

Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. With a trail of bodies in his wake and the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that he can drop down into all the other houses through the shared attic space.

That’s when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing is playing games with his victims – the lonely old woman, the bickering couple, the tempting young newlyweds. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet…

Do you fear The Resident? Soon you’ll be dying to meet him.

5 – A Dark Matter – Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)

Meet the Skelfs: well-known Edinburgh family, proprietors of a long-established funeral-home business, and private investigators

When patriarch Jim dies, it s left to his wife Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah to take charge of both businesses, kicking off an unexpected series of events.

Dorothy discovers mysterious payments to another woman, suggesting that Jim wasn’t the husband she thought he was. Hannah s best friend Mel has vanished from university, and the simple adultery case that Jenny takes on leads to something stranger and far darker than any of them could have imagined.

As the women struggle to come to terms with their grief, and the demands of the business threaten to overwhelm them, secrets from the past emerge, which change everything

A compelling, tense and shocking thriller and a darkly funny and warm portrait of a family in turmoil, A Dark Matter introduces a cast of unforgettable characters, marking the start of an addictive new series.

4 – Stone Cold Trouble – Amer Anwar (Dialogue Books)

Trying – and failing – to keep his head down and to stay out of trouble, ex-con Zaq Khan agrees to help his best friend, Jags, recover a family heirloom, currently in the possession of a wealthy businessman. But when Zaq’s brother is viciously assaulted, Zaq is left wondering whether someone from his own past is out to get revenge.

Wanting answers and retribution, Zaq and Jags set out to track down those responsible. Meanwhile, their dealings with the businessman take a turn for the worse and Zaq and Jags find themselves suspected of murder.

It’ll take both brains and brawn to get themselves out of trouble and, no matter what happens, the results will likely be deadly. The only question is, whether it will prove deadly for them, or for someone else . . . ?

3 – How The Wired Weep – Ian Patrick (Independently Published)

The Wire crosses the pond.

Ed is a detective who handles informants. He recruits Ben, a young man, who is treading a dangerous path into the criminal underworld.
Ben’s unsure of where his loyalties lie. They have to find a way to work together despite their differences.

Both men are drawn into the world of Troy, a ruthless and brutal leader of an Organised Criminal Network.

Ben is torn between two worlds as he tries to walk the impossible line between criminality and helping Ed combat crime.
He lives in fear of discovery.

When your life is thrown upside down who do you turn to in order to survive?

Set against the backdrop of the 2012 Olympic Games, How the Wired Weep is a fast paced urban thriller where time is against both men as they attempt to serve their own agendas.

2 – Bobby March Will Live Forever – Alan Parks (Canongate)

WHO IS TO BLAME WHEN NO ONE IS INNOCENT?

The papers want blood.
The force wants results.
The law must be served, whatever the cost.

July 1973. The Glasgow drugs trade is booming and Bobby March, the city’s own rock-star hero, has just overdosed in a central hotel.

Alice Kelly is thirteen years old, lonely. And missing.

Meanwhile the niece of McCoy’s boss has fallen in with a bad crowd and when she goes AWOL, McCoy is asked – off the books – to find her.

McCoy has a hunch. But does he have enough time?

1 – King of the Crows – Russell Day (Fahrenheit Press)

2028, eight years after a pandemic swept across Europe, the virus has been defeated and normal life has resumed.

Memories of The Lockdown have already become clouded by myth, rumour and conspiracy. Books have been written, movies have been released and the names Robertson, Miller & Maccallan have slipped into legend. Together they hauled The Crows, a ragged group of virus survivors, across the ruins of London. Kept them alive, kept them safe, kept them moving.

But not all myths are true and not all heroes are heroes.

Questions are starting to be asked about what really happened during those days when society crumbled and the capital city became a killing ground.

Finally the truth will be revealed.

And there you have it – ten cracking books. Bring on 2021 I am ready for new stories.

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December 29

My Five Favourite Audiobooks of 2020

In years gone by the audiobook was my go-to option when I was commuting to work and back. Since March 2020 my work has never been more than 10 metres from my bed so for a while it seemed there may not be a “best audiobooks” post for 2020. However, shortly before the March lockdown commenced we welcomed a puppy to the Grab household and the long walks I have been taking since the summer (when his wee legs were able to start doing long walks) meant the audiobooks made an appearance after all. Hurrah for puppies and brilliant stories.

As tradition demands I shall start to wind down the year by sharing the five audiobooks I listened to in 2020 which brought the most enjoyment. They are not in any order and I don’t have a “best” but if you asked me to recommend a good audiobook I would tell you to listen to any one of these.

Beast – Matt Wesoloski

Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories….

In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger Elizabeth Barton had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.

Three young men, part of an alleged cult, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’.

However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.

King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’.

Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return….

The Unwanted Dead – Chris Lloyd

Paris, June 1940.

The Nazi occupation of Paris begins. Detective Eddie Giral – a survivor of the last World War – watches helplessly on as his world changes forever. But there is something he still has control over.

Finding whoever is responsible for four murdered refugees: the unwanted dead, forgotten amid the headlines.

To do so, he must tread carefully between the Occupation and the Resistance, all the while becoming whoever he must be to survive in this new and terrible order descending on his home.

The Point of No Return – Neil Broadfoot

How far would you go to find the truth?

After more than a decade of being in prison for the brutal murder of two Stirling University students, Colin Sanderson has been released after his conviction was found to be unsafe.

Returning home to a small village not far from Stirling, Sanderson refuses police protection, even in the face of a death threat. But the PR firm that has scooped him up to sell his story does know of a protection expert in Stirling. They want Connor Fraser.

Connor reluctantly takes the assignment, partly as a favour to DCI Malcolm Ford, who is none too keen to have Sanderson on the loose, particularly as he was involved in the original investigation that saw him imprisoned.

When a body is found, mutilated in the same way as Sanderson’s victims were, all eyes fall on the released man. But how can he be the killer when Connor’s own security detail gives him an alibi?

As Connor races to uncover the truth, he is forced to confront not only Sanderson’s past, but his own, and a secret that could change his life forever.

The Law of Innocence – Michael Connelly

The most important case of his life.

Only this time the defendant is himself.

The law of innocence is unwritten. It will not be found in a leather-bound code book. It will never be argued in a courtroom. In nature, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world.

Heading home after winning his latest case, Defence Attorney Mickey Haller – the Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.

Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life.

Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.

With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.

But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence….

Crime doesn’t come better than Connelly.

Red Desert – Paddy Magrane

When a violent attack on his girlfriend tears Tom’s life apart, escape makes perfect sense. He takes a job with an oil company, providing therapy to staff cooped up in a camp in Southern Iraq. Nice pay packet, if you don’t mind being stuck in the desert surrounded by unexploded mines and cluster bombs.

On his arrival, an explosion outside the camp leaves four men dead. Something about it doesn’t make sense, and Tom starts to ask questions. His curiosity begins to get him into trouble – especially with the former soldiers who work there as security contractors. When the camp is attacked and Tom is shipped home, he continues his investigations. Working with a journalist pursuing a story about a cover-up, Tom looks into a notorious army barracks. But then the journalist falls beneath a tube train. Falls, or is pushed? With an unseen enemy closing in, will Tom’s search for the truth end in his death, too?

Set between London, Berlin and Iraq, this white-knuckle suspense thriller is perfect for fans of The Hurt Locker, American Sniper and Homeland.

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December 22

Winterkill – Ragnar Jonasson

A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only mean one thing…

When the body of a nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður, Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling, claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland series.

Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.

Ari Thór Arason is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there is an unsettling chill in the air.

Three days before Easter, a nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room, there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart of her death…

As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one unscathed.

I bought my copy of Winterkill. My thanks to Orenda Books and Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the blog tour.

Ari Thor Arason returns and Winterkill gives us a sixth wonderful reason to visit the Northern Iclandic town of Siglufjörður. I have been a huge fan of these clever crime stories, each has been a tightly plotted tale working wonders with a small cast. Ragnar Jonasson has indicated Winterkill will be the final trip to Siglufjörður and the last Ari Thor novel. One can but hope that in the future he listens to the pleas of the readers and gives Ari Thor as many farewell tours as The Rolling Stones have enjoyed.

Winterkill finds Ari Thor promoted to the role of chief investigator. He heads up the police department in Siglufjörður and has responsibility over a younger officer who he is trying to train in the way Ari Thor’s mentor trained him. We will see that the two men have a slightly strained relationship which Ari Thor finds a little unsettling. He has been pondering an offer to “have a word put in” in Reykjavik which would smooth over a move away from Siglufjörður for Ari Thor but he is taking each day as it comes for the moment.

Easter is approaching and Ari Thor has been looking forward to the visit of his girlfriend and their son who are now living in Sweden. A few days of enjoyable family time is put at risk when a teenage girl falls to her death on the main street in the early hours of the morning. Initially it seems to have been a suicide, yet, for those left to mourn, the question of “why” demands an answer.

The mother of the dead girl assures Ari Thor that her daughter had been a quiet girl and they had no secrets. The few friends she had commented on her studious nature and could not explain why she may have chosen to end her life. Yet something doesn’t quite sit right with Ari Thor – the reader is left sharing his thought that everyone he speaks with may be holding something back. Is it imagination or are there secrets to uncover?

A call from an old friend brings Ari Thor to a small nursing home in the town. One of the patients has scrawled “She was murdered” all over his wall…what did the old man see the night the girl fell to her death? Can Ari Thor elicit any useful information from an elderly witness who has trouble focusing on the person in the room?

As we have come to expect from a Ragnar Jonasson book there are clues and half-truths sprinkled through the story for sharp-eyed readers to look out for. The telling of Winterkill is exquisite and the pages simply fall away as you get wrapped up in the story. Jonasson can tell a story which feels deep and enriched and he does it without loading his story with padding. There is a ruthless efficiency in these books which will leave you entertained without feeling the writer is filling time – the long standing comparisons with the pacing and style of Agatha Christie’s books spring to my mind once again.

A Ragnar Jonasson book is always a rewarding experience – Winterkill reaffirmed this.

Winterkill is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BC4D58S/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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December 5

Christmas Shopping 2020 – Buy Books!

As we are still navigating our way through a global pandemic; the opportunity to browse for the ideal book gift for loved ones, friends, family, work colleagues etc will be very limited – that is assuming the shops are even open. So I thought I would pull together a selection of books which I feel would make a great Christmas gift.

As there is an overwhelming amount of choice when it comes to selecting books I had to narrow down the criteria for incusion – otherwise I would still be drafting this at Christmas 2021. The books I have included in my selections are (a) books I have actually read (b) books I have not yet reviewed because 2020 has been demanding in too many ways and (c) books you are unlikely to find in a supermarket – unless your local supermarket are much better than the ones I can access.

CURSE THE DAY – JUDITH O’REILLY

First up I offer a Crime Thriller which offers slick and stylish tech devices, a dogged and determined lead character and his sassy mouthed teen sidekick (the tech wizard). Curse The Day was one of the few books I was able to read and enjoy while lockdown was at its peak. Here’s the blurb:

Can North survive long enough to uncover the whole truth? Or is it already too late for humanity?

Curse The Day is a high stakes thriller where Michael North is pitted against a ruthless enemy who will allow nothing to stand in their way. From the gripping opening chapter to the explosive endgame this is a book which will appeal to fans of the Hollywood summer blockbusters. Political interest is high in the cutting edge technology that Tobias Hawke is due to reveal to the world – investors and superpowers are determined to cut themselves a piece of the action. The pace is relentless and the pages are packed with tension – I loved this book and it allowed me some much needed escapism at a time I really needed it.

Judith O’Reilly has crafted a brilliant action adventure which pits underdogs against international spies, covert military groups and there is even an extremely unsettling appearance from an underwater killer which I certainly did not expect but absolutely adored. During the adrenaline filled chase scenes and the narrow escapes from death North has to negotiate there are plenty of wise-cracks and putdowns to be dished out by his colleagues – those touches of humour or deadpan wit were so important to humanise the players and bring some light to their dark and chilling predicament. Highly recommended.

You can order a Hardback copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/curse-the-day/judith-oreilly/9781788548946

If you are not looking to pick up a hardback crime thriller but still like the idea of gifting a gripping story then I have a paperback recommendation too.

THE BLOOD IS STILL – DOUGLAS SKELTON

When the body of a man in eighteenth-century Highland dress is discovered on the site of the Battle of Culloden, journalist Rebecca Connolly takes up the story for the Chronicle.

Meanwhile, a film being made about the ’45 Rebellion has enraged the right-wing group Spirit of the Gael which is connected to a shadowy group called Black Dawn linked to death threats and fake anthrax deliveries to Downing Street and Holyrood. When a second body – this time in the Redcoat uniform of the government army – is found in Inverness, Rebecca finds herself drawn ever deeper into the mystery. Are the murders connected to politics, a local gang war or something else entirely?

There was no chance I was going to get through this list of offerings without including some Scottish crime fiction. Regular visitors will know that I am a huge admirer of Douglas Skelton’s books and each new release is very much anticipated here at Chez Grab.

The Blood is still sees journalist Rebecca Connolly digging for a story after a body is found on the site where the Battle of Culloden was fought. The deceased is dressed in antique Highlander clothing which is causing the police no small amout of confusion. A second body dressed as a Redcoat gives Rebecca further fuel for her story but her paper is facing further cutbacks and unwelcome editorial intervention. Convincing the bean counters that she needs time to investigate these strange deaths will be a challenge she could well do without.

If you are keen to gift a clever and exciting murder story then look no further than The Blood is Still.

The Blood Is Still is published by Polygon and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-blood-is-still/douglas-skelton/9781846975301

THE REACHER GUY – HEATHER MARTIN

Jack Reacher is only the second of Jim Grant’s great fictional characters: the first is Lee Child himself. Heather Martin’s biography tells the story of all three.

Lee Child is the enigmatic powerhouse behind the bestselling Jack Reacher novels. With millions of devoted fans across the globe, and over a hundred million copies of his books sold in more than forty languages, he is that rarity, a writer who is lauded by critics and revered by readers. And yet curiously little has been written about the man himself.

The Reacher Guy is a compelling and authoritative portrait of the artist as a young man, refracted through the life of his fictional avatar, Jack Reacher. Through parallels drawn between Child and his literary creation, it tells the story of how a boy from Birmingham with a ferocious appetite for reading grew up to become a high-flying TV executive, before coming full circle and establishing himself as the strongest brand in publishing.

Heather Martin explores Child’s lifelong fascination with America, and shows how the Reacher novels fed and fuelled this obsession, shedding light on the opaque process of publishing a novel along the way. Drawing on her conversations and correspondence with Child over a number of years, as well as interviews with his friends, teachers and colleagues, she forensically pieces together his life, traversing back through the generations to Northern Ireland and County Durham, and following the trajectory of his extraordinary career via New York and Hollywood until the climactic moment when, in 2020, having written a continuous series of twenty-four books, he finally breaks free of his fictional creation.

Despite my blog being very heavy on the fiction titles I do also read some non-fiction when the subject appeals. As a fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books I found the prospect of reading the Lee Child story to be very appealing.

Lee Child has become a name recognised around the world but Child is a creation too and Heather Martin’s new book The Reacher Guy takes a look at the author, his literary creation and the real man behind the books. Wonderful narrative, stories and real life incidents which found their way into recognizable scenes within the Jack Reacher novels this would make a tremendous gift for any Reacher fan.

Child’s writing process is fascinating and Heather Martin made The Reacher Guy captivating reading – something I seldom say about biographies.

The Reacher Guy is published by Little, Brown Group and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-reacher-guy/heather-martin/9781472134257

DOCTOR WHO: THE MONSTER VAULT – JONATHAN MORRIS, PENNY CS ANDREWS

You’re going to need a bigger sofa…

Doctor Who‘s biggest and most comprehensive monster guide yet, The Monster Vault takes you on the ultimate tour of the Whoniverse, discovering and cataloguing every wonderful and terrifying creature the Doctor has ever encountered.

From the notorious Daleks, to evil Stenza warrior Tzim-Sha and the ancient Thijarians, The Monster Vault features in-depth profiles on each monster, showing the Doctor’s most dangerous enemies in their natural habitat and unveiling their secret histories. You will also discover how monsters were created and designed, behind-the-scenes secrets, unseen details from the original scripts, case studies and rare artwork.

This lavish and visually stunning book provides an unrivalled wealth of information, allowing you to explore the rich history of Doctor Who and expand your knowledge and understanding of characters old and new.

I have been reading Doctor Who fiction for 40 years. I have been reading Doctor Who non-fiction for about 30 years. I got hooked on books about how they made the show, the characters, the companions, the monsters and even the writers and production team. Having taken in the best and the worst of the Doctor Who offerings down the years I am comfortable proclaiming The Monster Vault to be extremely high quality and a cracking addition to the Doctor Who library.

I did have to ask the question: is a book collating information and background on fictional monsters really allowed to be called a non-fiction title? Yes! This book will include all the monsters you recognise from the tv show and will remind you of dozens more which you may well have forgotten about. Detailed without being excessive, colourful and huge fun to read – this would be a beautiful Christmas gift for any Doctor Who fan.

Doctor Who – THe Monster Vault is published by Ebury Press and can be ordered here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/doctor-who-the-monster-vault/jonathan-morris/penny-cs-andrews/9781785945335

A VERY FAHRENHEITY CHRISTMAS

The Final Suggestion breaks my selection rule about books I have acutually read. This offering is included because I think it is a lovely idea and buying this book would support an indy publisher, and that can only be a good thing.

My last choice is Fahrenheit Press’s A VERY FAHRENHEITY CHRISTMAS. It is a slim volume of five carefully selected tales featuring stories from Oscar Wilde, The Brothers Grimm and Arthur Conan Doyle (to name but three). I have not read this book in its current format but I am familiar with the stories. Here is the purchase link to the book so you can judge for yourself https://fahrenheit-press.myshopify.com/collections/latest-releases/products/a-very-fahrenheity-christmas-fahrenheit-press

Numbers are limited so not only are you buying loved stories but you are buying a very rare collected volume of loved stories. What book lover doesn’t enjoy owning a rare book? It is also worth mentioning that Fahrenheit do a cracking line in book merchandising – it is a bit more edgy than their wholesome Christmas book but I got through the last 8 months wearing one of their “Bookish Weirdo” facemasks so there are some practical presents available too!

So there you have it – just a few suggestions, all very different but each is a gem. I have included purchase links to every one of the titles I have suggested. I do hope one of my recommendations would make a welcome gift for someone close to you this Christmas.

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December 3

The Last Resort – Susi Holliday Q&A

It is an exciting day here at Grab This Book as for the first time in 18 months I have the pleasure of introducing a guest. Today I host the latest leg of the blog tour for The Last Resort – the new creepy, tech, chiller-thriller from Susi Holliday.

I reviewed The Last Resort before the tour kicked off (my review here) so this was the perfect opportunity to try to kick start my brain again and see if I could remember how to ask intelligent, book-related questions. Unfortunately 2020 has mainly been me asking my children “what do you want for dinner?” After deciding Susi would probably not want to chat about turkey dinosaurs or potato waffles I came up with a few questions about heroes, villains and all things technological.

My first question is never a question. Instead I invite you to introduce yourself and take the opportunity to plug your new book: The Last Resort.

Hello, Gordon – thanks for having me on your fabulous blog… again 🙂 I’m Susi Holliday, also known as SJI Holliday, and I write dark psychological thrillers. The latest, The Last Resort, follows the fates of seven strangers as they navigate a small island, lured by the promise of a luxury adventure. It becomes apparent quite early on that there won’t be much luxury, and the promised adventure actually involves them having their shameful secrets projected to the rest of the group.

I reviewed The Last Resort last month when it launched onto the Amazon First Reads programme. In my review I tried to describe the story as “Agatha Christie meets Westworld with some Enid Bylton and Michael Slade”. Not my most elegant description – how do you describe The Last Resort?

I like yours! I’ve been describing it as “Agatha Christie meets Black Mirror” but I love Derek Farrell’s: “The book that Michael Crichton would be writing if he were alive today.” I’ll take that!

Can we focus first on Amelia? I felt the story demanded she was capable and level-headed, particularly when compared to her travelling companions, but she couldn’t be too GI Jane. Could you introduce Amelia and give us a bit of her background? I did wonder if you determined her history before dropping her on the island or did she evolve to cope with what you were throwing at her?

Amelia is meant to be the “good guy” in the story (is she though? You’ll have to read it to find out…) She’s a humanitarian aid worker, and she thinks she’s been invited to the island to assess the infrastructure for the so-called luxury retreat. She’s immediately ill at ease when she meets the other invitees – an influencer, a games designer, a photographer, a journalist, a businesswoman and a nutraceuticals CEO. She’s singled out from the start as being different and she has to work hard to prove herself. She was sketched out a bit upfront as I knew what I wanted her to achieve, but as always, the characters do grow and develop as they interact with the others.

The Last Resort comes with a lot of technology integral to the plot. One key element is the device each of the guests to the island are invited to wear upon their arrival. Could you perhaps outline some of the functions these gadgets can perform?

Then as a further expansion on this. How much of these technological wonders come directly from the Susi Imagination or are the core elements of their devices already out there and you just embellished them up a bit?

Well, they are given a small device about the size of a fitness tracker, and it is clipped over their ear – but then a sharp metal prong pierces the skin and I guess, attaches to their brain! It serves a couple of functions. First, it’s intended to tap into the wearer’s thoughts/feelings/likes/dislikes and help the hosts to determine how to tailor the experience for them – giving them things they want. The Host can also use it to communicate directly with the wearer. All sounds good, right? Except it has another function, where it taps into the wearer’s memories, and at opportune moments through the day’s journey (the whole story unfolds over 24 hours), it projects these memories for the rest of the group to see. This, of course, leads to some shocked reactions from the others. But there are no innocents on this island. That’s the real reason that they are there.

I got the idea for the technology after reading an article in an inflight magazine, where a company in Sweden were using nanotechnology to place chip-like devices into people’s thumbs. The chip would allow you to use your hand as an in-body contactless system, where you could wave your hand over a scanner like you do with your chip and pin card or your smartphone. I thought if that was happening now, it would only be a matter of time before a company started tapping into the wearer’s brain – ostensibly to help in some useful medical way. But of course I decided to twist it around so that the device could only be used for evil purposes. Just as I finalised the edits, I read an article about one of Elon Musk’s companies who are already working in this field. The future is already here, folks!

Joining Amelia on her island adventure is an assortment of largely unpleasant characters. Is it more fun to write about the bad guys in a story? Can you cut loose a little more with the characters the reader is intended to dislike?

Absolutely. I have had a tendency to write unlikable characters from the start of my writing career, because I find them fascinating. Everyone has a dark side – a shadow side – and it’s a lot of fun tapping into that. With this book in particular, it’s kind of all about these unpleasant characters getting their comeuppance. I was inspired by the epic disaster that was Fyre Festival, and all those rich, entitled wannabes paying $12,000 for a luxury festival that ended in them sleeping on wet mattresses in half-erected tents, with processed cheese sandwiches to eat. Yes. Did I mention that I was evil? Haha. Seriously though, yes. I love writing about horrible people.

The 2020 question also needs to be asked. How have you been keeping yourself sane and occupied this year? Personally I lost all my reading mojo between March and the summer and found some bookish comfort reading comic books or escapism through picking up videogames. Were you able to keep focus?

As you know, I have a day job in pharmaceuticals – so that kept me very busy. We were thrown into a position where we had to stop all of the clinical trials, because all healthcare settings were commandeered by virus-related activities. I work from home anyway, but I found myself doing longer hours and suffering more stress, as we had to work on COVID-19 contingency plans to make sure that we could carry on our drug trials as soon as it was possible again. Other than that, I took lots of long walks, and after torturing myself for several weeks, I stopped watching the news. My brain was overloaded. I couldn’t read a thing and struggled to focus on films and boxsets – weirdly, finding comfort in horror, as it made the world as it was/is seem like a walk in the park! I did manage to write a novella that had a deadline during lockdown, but I struggled again after that. I’ve found the whole experience a bit of a mental health rollercoaster to be honest, but now, while we’re in the second wave, I am currently coping a lot better. Reading a lot, writing, planning, and daring to feel a bit hopeful that from spring 2021, things might get a bit better. Ask me again in January when I am completely deprived of sunlight!

You recently Tweeted that your next book had received a thumbs up from your editor – any chance you can share a sneaky clue or two about what we can look forward to in 2021?

Well, seeing as it’s you… It’s called Substitute and it will be out in summer 2021. It poses the question “What if you could prevent the death of a loved one by choosing someone to die in their place?” It’s quite a high-concept idea, and possibly similar to some other recent releases – but I started writing this book in 2014, then put it aside as I wasn’t sure how to make it work. It fits in with The Last Resort in that there is a scientific backdrop to it, a huge moral dilemma, and it’s all wrapped around a domestic noir storyline. I’m editing it now, and I have to say, I’m very excited about this one!

Of all the reading recommendations I see on Social Media every week I think you have matched me with some of the stories I have enjoyed the most. What gems have you read recently which you think we should be picking up?

We have very similar tastes, I think. I’ve recently been raving about The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean, which scared the pants off me. A couple of months ago, it was all about Hunted by Gabriel Bergmoser, possibly the first book I have wanted to read with my eyes shut; and a recent one you might have missed me sharing called Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy – which is one of those books you can’t say much about, but I will just say if you liked Misery, you will love it… oh, and of course, next year’s big book – The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. The ultimate in books that can’t be discussed as any words at all would be a spoiler, but it is just brilliant – please tell me when you’ve read it so we can discuss it! Wait though… also a final shout for Will Dean’s The Last Thing to Burn – which is nerve-shreddingly dark and will be fighting hard against Catriona’s for best book of 2021!

My thanks to Susi for being a fabulous guest and allowing me the opportunity to return to sharing something other than my usual ramblings. Her support is always very much appreciated and now I have the urge to chat with a few more people…watch this space!

The Last Resort is published by Thomas & Mercer and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B085HCCP4W/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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