July 18

Bloody January – Alan Parks (Audiobook)

When a teenage boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, Detective Harry McCoy is sure of one thing. It wasn’t a random act of violence.

With his new partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to lead the investigation but soon runs up against a secret society led by Glasgow’s wealthiest family, the Dunlops.

McCoy’s boss doesn’t want him to investigate. The Dunlops seem untouchable. But McCoy has other ideas . . .

In a helter-skelter tale – winding from moneyed elite to hipster music groupies to the brutal gangs of the urban wasteland – Bloody January brings to life the dark underbelly of 1970s Glasgow and introduces a dark and electrifying new voice in Scottish noir.

 

My thanks to Canongate Books for my review copy which I received through Netgalley – I also bought an audible copy which I listened to through Audible.co.uk

Last September I attended the Bloody Scotland festival and one of my pals suggested I read Bloody January as it seemed like “my kind of story”.  Ten months later I finally started reading and I am really regretting that ten month wait.  Bloody January is very much “my kind of story” I utterly loved it.  So much so that I cheated on the audiobook version with a digital copy so that I could “read” it quicker – it’s that good!

Alan Parks takes us back to Glasgow in the cold, damp January of 1973. The lead character is Detective Harry McCoy, he enjoys the company of a working girl, drinks heavily, takes drugs, smokes (everyone smokes) and his best friend is head of one Glasgow’s criminal gangs.  I rather liked McCoy, we find he has come through some tough times and is not coping well.

McCoy is summoned to Barlinnie (Glasgow’s famous prison) to speak with a man he helped convict. He is given advance warning of a murder…can he stop a life being taken? Despite his reservations over the accuracy of this information McCoy tries to track down the girl but he arrives too late to prevent her very pubic death. The murderer then takes his own life but the question of WHY needs addressed and McCoy, with his young trainee “Wattie” in tow, are tasked with finding answers.

Much of the appeal in reading came from the interaction between the characters.  McCoy and Wattie were especially fun to accompany on their investigations.  Wattie has been moved from rural Ayrshire to learn how policing in “the big city” works – watching him find his feet is a blast.

Bloody January is a police procedural where none of the conventional procedures seem to be followed. It is a rough time, political correctness is totally unheard of and sexual equality is a tricky area for McCoy (as we get to see).   Alan Parks has done a cracking job of making the old town come back to life around his readers. The story, the setting, the corruption and poverty all  makes for brilliant reading and I loved reading about “old” Glasgow.

As I indicated at the outset I listened to the majority of the book on audiobook. Narration duties are in the very capable hands of Andrew McIntosh. I maintain that the narrator can make or break the audiobook experience – if the story sounds wrong then it will stop me enjoying the book.  The good news is that McIntosh is perfect.  Glasgow sounds suitably gritty and the characters come to life under his care.

I loved this step back in time. Bloody January is, without doubt, one of the books which I have enjoyed most in recent months. I can only hope that the characters which survive the tale (no spoilers) will return for another outing.

 

Bloody January is published by Canongate Books and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloody-January-Harry-McCoy-novel-ebook/dp/B072M55NHT/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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July 9

Cold Desert Sky – Rod Reynolds

No one wanted to say it to me, that the girls were dead. But I knew.

Late 1946 and Charlie Yates and his wife Lizzie have returned to Los Angeles, trying to stay anonymous in the city of angels.

But when Yates, back in his old job at the Pacific Journal, becomes obsessed by the disappearance of two aspiring Hollywood starlets, Nancy Hill and Julie Desjardins, he finds it leads him right back to his worst fear: legendary Mob boss Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel, a man he once crossed, and whose shadow he can’t shake.

As events move from LA to the burgeoning Palace of Sin in the desert, Las Vegas – where Siegel is preparing to open his new Hotel Casino, The Flamingo – Rod Reynolds once again shows his skill at evoking time and place. With Charlie caught between the FBI and the mob, can he possibly see who is playing who, and find out what really happened to the two girls?

My thanks to the publisher for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

 

Charlie Yates is back and it feels like it has been too long since we last spent any time together. Reuniting with characters I love to read about never grows old  – picking up a book and slipping back into their world is such a treat.

Charlie’s world is 1950’s America and once again I find myself marvelling at the way Rod Reynolds can make a time and place which I have never visited seem so realistic. So much of what I love about these stories is based in the way I feel I become part of the telling…sucked into the world of Yates and his wife Lizzy.

In Cold Desert Sky the world is not a happy place for Charlie and Lizzy. They are facing constant jeopardy as Yates has upset Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel. A gangster who will let no man stand in the way of his business plans – certainly not a hack from a second rate newspaper. Much of this book carries the feeling that Charlie is one wrong question away from a bullet to the head.

He is doggedly chasing down two missing girls. Wanna-be actresses who have vanished but leave a the suspicion that they may have been prepared to go one step further than most to secure a role in the movies.

Charlie finds himself at the mercy of Siegel, to protect his family he will be expected to perform ‘services’ for the gangster. He hates the position he finds himself in and his turmoil is brilliantly compelling to read.

I ploughed through Cold Desert Sky in 2 days, a great start to my holidays.  Rod Reynolds is building a cracking series and I urge everyone to find out for themselves why I keenly look forward to each new book.

 

Cold Desert Sky is published by Faber and is available in paperback, digital and audio. You can (and should) order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-Desert-Sky-Rod-Reynolds-ebook/dp/B07C86J9DX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530833463&sr=8-1&keywords=Rod+Reynolds

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July 4

Straker’s Journey – Paul Hardisty

Welcome to the latest leg of the Claymore Straker journey – as brought to us by Paul Hardisty.  We began our trip with Liz Loves Books before moving to Off The Shelf Books then to Espresso Coco.  All those names link to you the journey and I’d highly recommend lingering on each blog once you have caught up with Straker and exploring the other content shared by Liz, Victoria and Dave.

Today we are concentrating on book three – Reconciliation for the Dead and I pass you to Mr Hardisty:

 

In the third instalment, Reconciliation for the Dead, I wanted to tell the story of how Clay comes to be the deeply disturbed man we meet in the first two books. Essentially a prequel, it opens in 1997, in the aftermath of events in Cyprus. Determined to somehow atone for the sins of his past, Clay has returned to South Africa to testify to Desmond Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  Rania has returned to Paris, married, and is again working as a journalist.  As Clay testifies, we are drawn back to 1980. Clay is a twenty-year old paratrooper in the South African Army, fighting in the Border War in Angola. All his illusions are shattered when he comes face-to-face with the real reasons for the war, and finds himself complicit in the most unspeakable atrocities. As with the other books, I was going for realism and historical accuracy.

 

Reconciliation for the Dead is published by Orenda Books and is available in digital and paperback format. Here is the overview…

Fresh from events in Yemen and Cyprus, vigilante justice-seeker Claymore Straker returns to South Africa, seeking absolution for the sins of his past. Over four days, he testifies to Desmond Tutu’s newly established Truth and Reconciliation Commission, recounting the shattering events that led to his dishonourable discharge and exile, fifteen years earlier. It was 1980. The height of the Cold War. Clay is a young paratrooper in the South African Army, fighting in Angola against the Communist insurgency that threatens to topple the White Apartheid regime. On a patrol deep inside Angola, Clay, and his best friend, Eben Barstow, find themselves enmeshed in a tangled conspiracy that threatens everything they have been taught to believe about war, and the sacrifices that they, and their brothers in arms, are expected to make. Witness and unwitting accomplice to an act of shocking brutality, Clay changes allegiance and finds himself labelled a deserter and accused of high treason, setting him on a journey into the dark, twisted heart of institutionalised hatred, from which no one will emerge unscathed.

 

Order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reconciliation-Dead-Claymore-Straker-Hardisty-ebook/dp/B01MTVTHRN/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1530726066&sr=1-3

 

 

 

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July 2

The Dali Deception – Adam Maxwell (audiobook)

Five criminals. Two forgeries. And one masterpiece of a heist.

Violet Winters—a professional thief born of a good, honest thief-and-con-artist stock— has been offered the heist of a lifetime. Steal a priceless Salvador Dali from the security-obsessed chairman of the Kilchester Bank and replace it with a forgery.

The fact that the “painting” is a signed, blank canvas doesn’t matter. It’s the challenge that gives Violet that familiar, addicting rush of adrenaline. Her quarry rests in a converted underground Cold War bunker. One way in, one way out. No margin for error.

But the reason Violet fled Kilchester is waiting right where she left him—an ex-lover with a murderous method for dumping a girlfriend. If her heist is to be a success, there will have to be a reckoning, or everything could go spinning out of control.

Her team of talented misfits assembled, Violet sets out to re-stake her claim on her reputation, exorcise some demons, and claim the prize. That is, if her masterpiece of a plan isn’t derailed by a pissed-off crime boss—or betrayal from within her own ranks.

 

In theory this should be one of the easier reviews to write. I could just proclaim “I LOVED THIS BOOK” and whack a 5 star comment onto Twitter.  Job done.

Not quite…that would be criminally understating how much I enjoyed Adam Maxwell’s fantastically fun crime caper The Dali Deception.  I hope “crime caper” is an acceptable description but I cannot find a more apt snappy description.  It was shades of Oceans 11 (though Violet’s crew are fewer than eleven), it had the gangster pizzazz of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the humour of Hot Fuzz.  I can only apologise that all my movie references are so out of date…I don’t see many films these days!

Violet is a crook (one of the nice ones).  She was forced to leave Kilchester after a planned robbery went wrong – well when her boyfriend sabotaged her plan. Now she is back and it does not take long before a new opportunity presents its-self – steal an original Dali and replace it with a replica so the crime goes undetected. Tricky, but Violet has a plan oh and if she should happen to cross paths with her treacherous ex then there may be the chance to put a few things straight there too.

This was an audiobook listen and I grudged the time that my commute ended and I had to pause the story.  Violet’s plan to steal an original (and most unusual) Dali from a heavily guarded underground location was brilliantly kept under wraps by the author who teased out clues as to how the heist would play out as the story unfolded.

She recruits a wheel-man, a computer expert, a con man and her muscle – all are wonderfully depicted in the story and they all clash, then bond and fall foul of calamity.  You cannot help but love them.

Every good story also needs a villain and Kilchester’s criminal underworld is certainly ruled by a big personality (even if that personality is not contained within a big body).

Always important for an audiobook – the narrator.  Big shout to RJ Alldred at this point, she was perfect and I hope to hear her narrate more stories soon – by far the clearest (and most pleasant) voice I have enjoyed listening to on my daily commute.

Did I mention that I loved this story?  It’s true – an easy 5 star read (or listen in this case).

 

The Dali Deception is available in digital, paperback and audio format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dali-Deception-Kilchester-Book-ebook/dp/B01G3VAEIW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1530549957&sr=1-1&keywords=the+dali+deception

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June 25

Only The Dead Know – C.J. Dunford

After a traumatic military tour in the Middle East, Daniel “Uneasy” Truce returns home with PTSD. Something happened there. Something he never wants to come out.

A few hand shakes later, Truce lands a new job in a ragtag investigations unit. He may be emotionally awkward, but he’s got a knack for reading body language. Problem is, his boss hates him. Calls him mentally unsound. She gives Truce the dirty work. That’s how he ends up with “the crazy old bat” case.

At 11 a.m. every morning, June drops by her local police station to report a murder she witnessed. Initially the cops took her seriously. They visit the alleged victim’s home to find him very much alive. But June won’t give up, and her daily appearances become a nuisance. Truce is tasked to investigate. To shut her up. Soon June winds up dead-hit by a car. Was it really an accident? Truce thinks there’s more to the case. That maybe someone just doesn’t want the truth to come out …

 

I received a digital review copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

Daniel “Uneasy” Truce is a former soldier who now works for the police in Scotland.  He leaves his days in the army behind him yet the memory of the experiences are still very much with him and Truce is a PTSD sufferer.

His boss is no fan of Truce and does not value his contribution to the squad so when a serial complainer visits her local police station each day to report the same crime Truce is sent to meet her.  The complainant is June, a feisty widow who manages to convince Truce that she has indeed witnessed a murder.   The only problem is that the alleged victim is still very much alive.

Truce is an expert on body language and firmly believes that June is telling the truth – or what she understands to be the truth. So how can he persuade his grumpy boss that the old “time waster” may have witnessed a crime?  His problem intensifies when June is the victim of a road traffic accident – is this a tragic coincidence or was June murdered?

Only the Dead Know was really enjoyable reading. CJ Dunford tells a great story and this was nicely paced – I just wanted to keep reading.  Truce was an engaging lead character and his personal life looks like it is going to keep us entertained when he returns in future outings as the book is billed as ‘the first book in the Daniel ‘Uneasy’ Truce Mystery series’.

This is exactly the type of story I enjoy.  A police procedural, a nicely plotted mystery to try and solve, realistic characters (June’s pals were perfectly depicted) and a twist I had not expected – makes for a happy reader.

 

Only The Dead Know is available in digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Only-Dead-Know-Daniel-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07B6752H2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529931954&sr=8-1&keywords=only+the+dead+know

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June 24

Mark Brownless Q&A – The Hand of an Angel

Yesterday I shared my review of the darkly chilling The Hand of an Angel. If you missed that then you can catch up here.

This weekend is the blog tour for The Hand of an Angel and I am thrilled to be joined by author, Mark Brownless, as we chat about the nature of his story and consider why hospitals can be perfect settings for creepy tales:

 

The Hand of an Angel does get very dark in places. I had a quick check on Amazon and spotted it is ranked in Science Fiction and Fantasy classification and also Medical Thrillers – could consideration be made to class it as a Horror tale?

The book does cross a few genres, which creates its own challenges when trying to categorise and promote it for the reader – Sarah Pinborough has had huge success of late by doing this, however. There are science fiction elements, but it’s more ‘fictional science’ rather than spaceships and aliens.

Essentially The Hand of an Angel is a psychological medical thriller. It plays with the idea of reality – what is real? Do we believe all the main character says he’s seen when he has his near death experience, or is it the product of an oxygen-starved brain?

I’ve always been fascinated by unexplained phenomena like near death experience in this case, alien abduction, Nessie and Bigfoot. These type of themes lend themselves to the horror genre from the fear of the unknown, and I agree, that late on there are some more horror-type elements in the book. When I wrote the ending I had Stephen King in mind with some of his big set pieces like at the end of It and Needful Things. The tension building over the last few chapters, and the increasing presence of Hoody has that supernatural element as well. I hope people find it satisfying.

 

Much of the story is set around a hospital.  All those rooms, all those corridors, the strange contraptions and the ever present presence of illness and even death.  Does a hospital make a great setting for a thriller?  As a supplemental question…are there too few medical thrillers?

Oh yeah, hospitals make great locations. I had to build my own hospital in The Hand of an Angel, because I didn’t know of one that had all the elements I needed for the story. If we are talking about scary hospitals, one has to think of Victorian asylums. I had great fun in writing about the old parts of ‘my’ hospital and trying to make them have that kind of feel in the type of bricks used and the design of the corridors, etc. The hospital is such an integral part of the story that I’ve always felt it’s a character in itself – the old and the new struggling with each other, the underfunded research wing that hasn’t even been completed, in contrast to the ostentatious atrium foyer and glass roof.

I’m not sure if there are too few medical thrillers. I love Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta books, but there are a lot of others in that pathologist / post mortem sub-genre. I think a medical thriller has to be intrinsically medical – it can’t just be a story that happens to be set in a hospital or with doctors and nurses, so in that sense there may be too few. There are a lot of good medical thrillers out there, though, and I hope mine measures up.

 

The one element I found most disturbing in The Hand of an Angel was the transformation in the lead character, Tom, through the story. Is it fun to build up a character to then break him down or did some guilt creep in?

The book starts off slowly with us getting to know the family at the centre of the story. I really want you to get to know them, to share some experiences with them almost as if you are part of their family. As a kid I read a lot of James Herbert. His book, The Magic Cottage, spent the first hundred pages or so building the relationship of this couple in their holiday home. I loved it and actually didn’t like it when Herbert started to pull the rug out from under them. So yes, I want you to like Tom and Sarah and the family, and I want you to be annoyed with me when bad stuff happens. Because it does.

 

What comes next from Mark Brownless?  Is there a work in progress which you can chat about?

Well I’m just about to upload the second of my Locksley short story series to Amazon for pre-order. It’s a re-telling of Robin Hood and arose from a challenge in a writing group about getting a short story written, edited, with a cover done and on pre-order within a month. I want Robin to be real and grounded, to be someone who doesn’t really have a choice with what happens to him, and to be driven by doing what is right. I’m hoping to release a chapter a month for the next few months, each with a cliff-hanger ending like those old Saturday morning serials.

My next novel again looks at reality, but this time in the form of memories. Can you trust them? Can you rely on them? And what happens when you find out that your memories aren’t quite what you thought. I decided to revisit memories and incidents of childhood, but as an adult looking back from present day. Earlier on I was talking about unexplained phenomena, and The Shadow Man will follow this theme by having a background of spontaneous human combustion, and lean a lot more to horror than The Hand of an Angel. I’m hoping to have The Shadow Man available by the end of the year.

 

Huge thanks to Mark for finding time in his busy week to answer my questions.  The Hand of an Angel is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Angel-shattering-thriller-heart-stopping-ebook/dp/B077Y83GT1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529830185&sr=8-1&keywords=the+hand+of+an+angel

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June 23

The Hand of An Angel – Mark Brownless

How far would you go to get a glimpse of the afterlife, and what would you bring back?

A shattering medical thriller with a heart-stopping climax.

Devoted family man and respected cardiologist Tom Boyand is obsessed with the near-death experiences of his patients. An obsession that leaves him dead on a table with his colleagues battling desperately to resuscitate him.

But Tom has pushed the limits of the experiment too far and he’s gone for too long, seeing more of the other side than anyone before.
They get him back but he isn’t the same person. And he’s not alone.

 

My thanks to Sam at Lounge Marketing (Lounge Books) for the chance to join this blog tour and for providing a review copy.

I reviewed The Hand of An Angel a few weeks ago but now that the official tour is running I am re-sharing my review. Coming up in a few short hours will be my wee chat with Mark Brownless, but before we discuss his chilling thriller I thought a recap may help….here is what I loved about this book.

 

I cannot remember the last time I read a medical thriller, however, The Hand of an Angel made me appreciate how much I had missed them. Doctors playing God, patients suffering mysterious ailments and so many long corridors with many, many closed doors…love, love, love a good medical drama. It is pleasing to be able to confirm that The Hand of an Angel is every bit a good medical thriller!

Tom Boyand is about to embark on the final journey. But he also plans to make it a return trip and live to tell the tale. In order to cheat death he has amassed a huge wealth of medical knowledge, assembled team of researchers and physicians who can help him “die” and then bring him back to life. Everything will be carefully monitored, all done under controlled conditions and Tom hopes that he will remember exactly how it feels to die so that he can share the knowledge.

The first half of the novel draws readers into Tom’s world. His project, his colleagues, his family and we get a very good idea as to the type of person that Tom is…a nice guy!

When the time comes to begin his experiment we are excited for Tom and his team and as a reader I was also keen to find out what he may experience after his death. Suffice to say I was shocked by how the story changed – perhaps I should have read the blurb before reading…

Tom becomes a changed man. His easygoing personality changes and he becomes paranoid, suspicious, aggressive and confrontational. Having spent so much time getting to know Tom it is upsetting to see the changes he appears to be undergoing. More so when when we see the impact it is having on his family and friends. Mark Brownless handles this change in dynamic brilliantly and it makes for gripping reading.

Unfortunately for Tom he has more pressing problems to contend with than a change to his moods. He believes that he may not have returned from the dead on his own. Tom keeps seeing the same strange figure in different places he visits…at work, at home and he cannot understand why other people don’t appear to notice.

What had been a great medical thriller now becomes a dark and sinister tale. The change up in tension is marked and it had me flicking the pages like a demon (as it were) trying to reach the end of the book as quickly as I could so I could find out what happened. And Wow.

This story totally sucked me in – what more could a reader ask for?

 

The Hand of an Angel is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Angel-Mark-Brownless/dp/1976248744/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1527016541&sr=8-1

Follow the tour

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June 17

Rise of the Superheroes – David Tosh

They Could Be Heroes

Rise of the Superheroes–Greatest Silver Age Comic Books and Characters is a visual and entertaining adventure exploring one of the most popular and significant eras of comic book history. From 1956 to 1970, the era gave us Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and a flurry of other unforgettable and formidable characters.

The Silver Age redefined and immortalized superheroes as the massive pop culture titans they are today.

Lavishly illustrated with comic book covers and original art, the book chronicles:

  • The new frontier of DC Comics, with a revamped Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, and new characters including Hawkman
  • Marvel’s new comics featuring Thor and The Fantastic Four
  • The pop art years that saw Batman’s “new look” and the TV series
  • Independent characters, including Fat Fury and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
  • Spotlights new and re-imagined superheroes, like Wonder Woman, who have become central to modern pop culture
  • Includes values of these comics, which are popular with collectors

Thanks to the Silver Age, superheroes are bigger and badder than ever.

 

My thanks to Quirk Books for the chance to review this book.

It seems that Superheroes are cool again.  Marvel comics have set a high bar in our cinemas over the last 10 years as they build up a cinematic universe beyond the wildest dreams of the more mature comic book fan.

DC Comics may not have fared quite so well in the cinema (though Wonder Woman was a notable exception), however, they are ruling the small screen.  From Smallville to The Flash, Arrow and Supergirl they are showing the way forward at producing hours of fan pleasing content which keeps the comic book readers hooked.

But before the heroes had their rise to fame on our homes and in movie theatres they first had to Rise from anonymity in the original comic books.  Why should Spider-Man, The Flash and Thor have been the successful stories while Luke Cage, Cloak and Dagger or Hawkman maybe just didn’t capture the public imagination in the same way?

In the gorgeously illustrated Rise of the Superheroes David Tosh looks at the Silver Age of comic books and charts how the action heroes of their day became the megastar crowd pullers that they are today.  By focusing on the events of the time, the stories which became character defining and by drawing on his own observations a story is built around the names we know so well.

I have been reading comic books since I was about 8 or 9 years old – that is over 30 years of being a Spidey fan (long before it was cool to be a comic nerd).  I love a book which will tell the back stories, look at pivotal moments in the evolution of characters and (one day) I may even understand why there are so many different X-men groups and factions!  This book is very much aimed at readers like me – fans who want to read more about their favourite characters and possibly even learn about the heroes which feature in comics I don’t read.

Let’s face it – there are just too many comics out there to try to read them all.  Some just don’t get an opportunity to shine and some titles just don’t get picked up by readers for reasons which will seem ridiculous to other readers.  For example I have never read a Green Lantern comic, nor have I ever been a fan of Iron Man.  Hulk is great (but not when he is in space) and the X-Men are just too complicated to know where to start.  But I still claim to love comic books and I use books like Rise of the Superheroes to try to make me WANT to read Iron Man or Green Lantern.

David Tosh has done a good job of making his book very accessible.  I was surprised that it was not 100% factual and that some of her personal opinions and observations creep in – unusual for this type of reference book. But his writing style is easy to pick up and put down (we are in coffee-table book country here) and I loved the time I spent pouring over the pages.

If you are discovering comics through the recent influx of film and tv shows then books like Rise of the Superheroes are a great way to understand better where the characters first found their feet. Seasoned readers may find this one a little light on new information, but that does not stop it being a fun read.

 

Rise of the Superheroes is published by Quirk Books and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rise-Superheroes-Greatest-Silver-Characters/dp/1440248168/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529270776&sr=8-1&keywords=rise+of+the+superheroes

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June 17

The Chosen Ones – Howard Linskey

Eva Dunbar wakes in a large metal box.

She has no idea who has taken her.

She has no way out.

 

She isn’t the first young woman to disappear.

And with no leads Detective Ian Bradshaw has precious little time.

When at last a body is found, the police hope the tragic discovery might at least provide a clue that will help them finally find the kidnapper.

But then they identify the body – and realise the case is more twisted than they ever imagined .

 

My thanks to Penguin Books for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

 

I hadn’t realised that The Chosen Ones was taking me into a series which has been running for a few books. It made no difference to my enjoyment of this cracking police thriller – I felt I was given all the backstory and information I needed to ensure I could keep up with proceedings.

The Chosen Ones is downright disturbing in places (a real positive for this reader) – women are vanishing in Newcastle and NE England. Readers get to learn what happens to the latest girl to be abducted – held in a small box by a masked man then shifted to a larger, but extremely well hidden, location.

Police are baffled and problems of staffing are going to compound their problems – a sting operation has exposed some corrupt cops and this leaves very few officers to track down the disappearing girls. Ian Bradshaw is tasked with the investigation into the missing girls, with resources a problem he manages to persuade his boss to agree to draft in some external assistance – journalist Tom Carney and his assistant Helen Norton.

I am new to Howard Linskey’s books but there was clearly some history between Tom and Helen and their relationship (or Tom’s relationships with women who are not Helen) made for some fun reading. Tom is dating a girl who is quite a few years younger than he…Helen does not approve. However, when one of Tom’s old flames appears on the scene to seek out his assistance things become even more entertaining.

Back to Eva, the girl lifted from the streets and held against her will.  Her captor is a strange individual, he holds her at gunpoint while she washes but shows no interest in getting too close. He seems driven by an agenda which the reader does not get to share and the puzzle surrounding his motives ensured I kept turning the pages as I tried to work out what was going on!

As I have already stated, this is a cracking story which spins along at a crisp, and entertaining pace.  The short chapter length and multiple viewpoints made sure there was always something new to develop or follow. I much prefer when a story zips along in this way, no lags or padding this is continuous entertainment.

The end came all too soon. Not that The Chosen Ones is a short book, I just wanted more of this story as I was enjoying it so much.  A wee review of my bookshelves and Kindle Library shows I already have at least two more of Howard Linskey’s books waiting to be read – they will be moved up the reading order as Mr Linskey is very readable.

 

The Chosen Ones is available in paperback and digital format and also as an audiobook. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chosen-Ones-gripping-crime-thriller-ebook/dp/B072FH6XM5/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

 

 

 

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June 13

A Dead American in Paris – Seth Lynch

Arty Homebrook lived and died in a world of sleaze which stretched from Chicago to Paris but never beyond the gutter. He’d been sleeping with Madame Fulton, which is why Harry Fulton promised to kill him. So far as the Paris Police are concerned it’s an open and shut case.

Harry’s father has other ideas and hires Salazar to investigate. As Salazar gets to grips with the case he’s dragged reluctantly into an unpleasant underworld of infidelity, blackmail, backstreet abortions and murder. Salazar is far too inquisitive to walk away and far too stubborn to know what’s for the best. So he wakes up each hungover morning, blinks into the sunlight, and presses on until it’s his life on the line. Then he presses on some more, just for the hell of it.

 

My thanks to Emma from Damppebbles.com for the chance to join the blog tour

 

A murder tale taking the reader into the dark heart of 1930’s

 

Paris. A tight reading schedule meant I had to read A Dead American in Paris in just a couple of sittings. If I am honest I think I would have read it in the same short space of time even if I had allowed myself all the time in the world – I was drawn right into the world of Salazar and his chain-smoking companions and could not get enough of this story!

From early in the book we have the very dead American (as advertised in the title).  The police believe the killer is quite obviously Harry Fulton, a jealous husband who threatened to kill the dead man after he slept with Harry’s wife.   But Harry’s father is convinced of his son’s innocence and hires Salazar to investigate and prove Harry is not guilty.

So begins an extremely entertaining murder story which took more dark twists than I had originally anticipated. The reason for my surprise at those dark twists was due to the highly engaging characters of Salazar and his delightful companion Megan.  When these two are in a scene together I rather enjoyed some of the best written dialogue I have read for some time – they are brilliant together. Their verbal sparring (affectionate) lulled me into believing the story would be leaning to the cozy – how wrong was I??? Full on “noirish” goodness – as this was a Fahrenheit Press publication I should have realised this much sooner.

Seth Lynch captures the location wonderfully and the feeling of being in post WW1 Paris comes oozing out of the pages. The scenes feel claustrophobic, rooms are chilly, damp and dingy and even the descriptions of poorly furnished apartments make the whole reading experience seem more authentic as it draws you back to harder times.

It becomes clear that our dead American may not have been the nicest of chaps and Salazar will have his work cut out in narrowing down the suspect pool – but it bodes well for Harry Fulton as his standing as prime suspect starts to look too straightforward. Lots of people wanted Arty Homebrook dead and if Salazar gets too close to uncovering secrets then there is every chance he will be a target too.

A Dead American in Paris was hugely entertaining. Plenty of surprises and twists to keep this reader happy and the location and time-setting of the story made this story stand out (in no small part down to the wonderful descriptive writing by Seth Lynch).

Read this – it’s a good’un.

 

A Dead American in Paris is published by Fahrenheit Press and you can order a copy (paperback or digital) here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_a_dead_american_in_paris.html

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