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Sleeping Giants – Sylvain Neuvel

Deadwood, USA. A girl sneaks out just before dark to ride her new bike. Suddenly, the ground disappears beneath her. Waking up at the bottom of a deep pit, she sees an emergency rescue team above her. The people looking down see something far stranger…

“We always look forward. We never look back.”

That girl grows up to be Dr. Rose Franklin, a brilliant scientist and the leading world expert on what she discovered. An enormous, ornate hand made of an exceptionally rare metal, which predates all human civilisation on the continent.

“But this thing … it’s different. It challenges us. It rewrites history.”

An object whose origins and purpose are perhaps the greatest mystery humanity has ever faced. Solving the secret of where it came from – and how many more parts may be out there – could change life as we know it.

“It dares us to question what we know about ourselves.”

But what if we were meant to find it? And what happens when this vast, global puzzle is complete…?

“About everything.”

My thanks to Michael Joseph for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

This book is just WOW. Sleeping Giants was an absolute gem, it made me laugh, it kept me hooked, I had no idea where it was heading and some scenes actually made me stop reading and double back thinking “Wait! What just happened?”

Now that sounds like Sylvain Neuvel may not have explained events very clearly, not so! The story unfolds as a series of interviews conducted between a shadowy political player and the various protagonists in the story. The interviews are a fantastically scripted and (usually) they are recapping events which have occurred in the past. The interview subjects are being quizzed on the ramifications of these past events and how they feel about what has taken place. This is how the whole story unfolds.

The end result of this interview-style story telling is that you can find that a MAJOR incident has occurred between interviews and the Shadowy figure is casually asking how a traumatic incident may have made someone feel (in the same way that they may be asked if they were unhappy that they forgot their umbrella on a rainy day).

If it sounds slightly unusual then I am not doing Sleeping Giants justice. It is a delight to read. The interview-style narrative is so cleverly used by the author that you cannot help but be entertained. The Shadowy figure is wonderfully deadpan and literal so the interviews always feel fresh and edgy.

The central characters are scientists, pilots, mathematicians – they operate on high intelligence levels yet are mere pawns in the game of the Shadowy character. He has out-thought them at each stage of the story, manipulated the team he assembled and has second guessed their actions months ahead of time.

But what of the titular Sleeping Giants? A young girl in Deadwood USA accidentally falls into a newly formed hole in the ground. Her landing is not on hard ground but she finds herself in the palm of a giant hand. The hand is made of a compound never before found on Earth and is confounding scientists. When the girl grows older she finds herself in charge of the team responsible for investigating the hand. However, now there is a will (or a Shadowy force, perhaps?) to find out if there are other parts to be found – what if the hand were a small part of a larger object?

Sleeping Giants tracks the progress of the quest to locate more ‘parts’ which will attach to the hand and then to establish the scope of power that they may harness. Sylvain Neuvel will take the story in directions you will not anticipate but you will enjoy every step of the journey.

Sleeping Giants gets one of the easiest 5/5 review scores I have awarded for some time. If this book does not feature in my Top Ten of 2016 it can only mean that the next 8 months have some stupendous books lurking in wait. I was gutted it ended, can we have the Shadowy figure back again please?

Sleeping Giants is published by Michael Joseph and releases on 21st April 2016. You can order your copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleeping-Giants-Sylvain-Neuvel/dp/0718181689/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461016047&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+giants

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April 12

Conversation: Amanda Jennings & Tammy Cohen

Last year I invited James Law and Susi Holliday to join me for a chat at Grab This Book. My plan had been to try and recreate the feel of a festival event or a book launch conversation in a single blog post. It was great fun to do, but my plan to bring together two strangers who would share the experience of being published for the first time slightly missed the mark when I ‘introduced’ two good friends.

I was keen to invite more guests to join me this year and, on finishing the astonishing In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings, I contacted Amanda to ask if she would be interested in chatting to a friend (with me listening in). Having clarified what I was hoping to achieve through the ‘chat’, Amanda suggested that Tammy Cohen may be willing to join in. I was beyond delighted when Tammy agreed.

This is what happened next:

GTB: Hi Tammy, Amanda thanks for joining me. Unlike the last time I had two guests here for a chat, I know in advance that you are good friends outwith the Social Media world. Should I be worried about what I may have let myself in for?

Amanda: Well, Tammy is a terrible influence on me, to be honest. We bonded on Twitter over a shared envy of the black-edged pages of a hardback edition of Gone Girl. God, I really want black-edged pages one day. When you get black-edged pages you know you’ve made it.

I can’t remember when we first met in real life, probably because Cohen fed me too much wine. I speak to her quite regularly on the phone because she is one of the few people who understands the self-doubt that plagues me as a writer. Also, she is generally having a worse day than me, so we have a jolly good moan, then a bit of a laugh, and maybe a chat about the film script we will one day write together, which we’ve been talking about – but not writing – for ages.

Tammy: I think saying I’m generally having a worse day than you is pretty fair actually, Amanda. I like to think of it as an extra service I offer my writer friends to convince them things aren’t going so badly for them after all.

Seriously though, having close writer friends like Amanda is one of the unforeseen upsides of being published. There are so many neuroses tied up in spending the best part of a year holed up in your own head that only someone else who does the same thing can really understand that particular blend of agony, tedium, self-loathing mixed with the (very) occasional bolt of elation it induces. And then when you couple that with the other seemingly irreconcilable aspects of being published – having to stand up in front of lots of people and waffle on in a (hopefully) coherent way and being expected to go out and promote your own book, you can understand how vital it is to be able to offload to someone who knows what you’re going on about.

The thing is, writing is such a privilege, and I don’t think any of us ever forget that, but it can also be very socially isolating, so having writer mates is such a relief. When we’re trying to distract ourselves from having to work, there is no subject too minor for Amanda and I to discuss at ridiculous length. So, Gordon, the short answer to your question is yes, you should be afraid. Very afraid.

GTB: I will consider myself suitably warned and am now drawing some small comfort from the fact I am in a different country from you both!

So, Amanda’s latest book has just released and Tammy you are rapidly approaching your next publication day.

Until now much of what you have been working on is shrouded in secrecy. Amanda, did unleashing In Her Wake bring new fears or was there an overwhelming feeling of relief that the edits and revisions were done?

Amanda: This book has been with me for such a long time, and has undergone quite a transformation through multiple rewrites and the gained experience of publishing two books between writing the first draft and publication, that by the time we neared publication I was actually quite pleased not to have to read it again.

But at the same time, there was great trepidation. At this stage the book is no longer mine. It’s under the control of my editor and publishing house, so even if I wanted to shout ‘no, I’m not ready, don’t publish it!’ I couldn’t. It’s a very surreal feeling to send that final, FINAL, version – edited, revised, and proofed – knowing it’s heading out into the big bad world.

I always feel like I should crack open the Champagne to celebrate, but really I just want to hide beneath the duvet for six months! This is the moment when the real self-doubt sets in, but it coincides with the time when you have to shout about it and convince people they will love reading it! This is why authors love book bloggers so much. To have early support, and people who want to share your book, helps so much in these early days.

Tammy: Amanda is being modest about her ‘early support’. In reality there was so much fanfaring about In Her Wake from the blogging and writing communities around publication day that we had to decree that day #InHerWake Day for ever more. But she’s absolutely right about that weird, seemingly neverending pre-publication limbo between signing off the final page proofs and waiting for the first independent, unbiased reviews to come in. And of course during that wait you (for which read ‘I’) convince yourself that the book is absolutely the worst thing ever written, and everybody is going to hate it and make you into a laughing stock when it eventually does come out.

At the moment I’m two and a half weeks away from publication of When She Was Bad, and luckily I’ve had some great feedback from bloggers and early reviewers on NetGalley and Lovereading, so I’m slightly less convinced that people will be openly pointing and jeering in the streets. Only slightly mind.

I find the only way not to obsess about publication is to have started a new project, so my focus isn’t on the book that’s coming out but the book I’m writing next. Amanda, have you got any tricks up your sleeve to stop you refreshing your Amazon rankings every hour?

Amanda: Every hour? *looks sheepish* You mean every ten minutes is too often? I think shifting focus on to another project is by far the most sensible thing to do. The trouble is there’s always something akin to a mourning period for me, when my brain seems locked on that last book, unable to fully dive into the next. I’m in that peculiar limbo now, my new project is there, emerging through the mist so that I can just make out the characters and have a glimpse of the story, but not quite been grabbed yet. It will come. Perhaps I need to cut down the checking of Amazon rankings to only once per hour…

While we’re talking about early reviews, I’m lucky enough to say I’ve read an early copy of When She Was Bad and loved it. It’s brilliant to see it getting reviewed so well. The book gives us a delicious window into the world of office politics with all the dark humour and piercing observation that we’ve come to expect from you. I’d love to know what drew you to the idea of exploring the realms of ‘Office Noir’?

Tammy: Thank you Amanda, for that seamless invitation to talk about MY NEW BOOK! And for saying such kind things about it too. The Office Noir (or Paperclip Lit if you prefer) aspect of ‘When She Was Bad’ came about really because I couldn’t face the idea of writing another thriller with a domestic setting. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading about dysfunctional marriages and dark family secrets, but I felt I needed a break from writing about that. And if you want to get right away from the domestic, the workplace is the obvious setting.

Many of us spend more of our lives with our workmates than with our families, yet how much do we really know about them – what their background is, and what they’re capable of? In ‘When She Was Bad’, a group of people who’ve been working together more or less harmoniously for years find their relationships rapidly unravelling when a bullying boss is introduced into the department operating a divide-and-rule style of management . As the atmosphere becomes increasingly toxic, the one-time friends turn on each other, with catastrophic results.

While I was writing the book, I wondered at points if it was too far fetched, yet almost everyone who has read it has come back with some experience of their own of working in a toxic work environment, and said how much they could relate, so Office Noir has clearly hit a nerve!

Having said that, my next project has nothing to do with offices or workplaces. I’m not saying exactly what it is, in case it doesn’t come off, but it’s a completely new direction for me, which is very exciting!

GTB: Tammy, I love the idea of Office Noir, I can relate to the idea of a dysfunctional office environment as I have worked in my fair share of those down the years! It may surprise some readers to even think that writers would know what office life is like…have you not ALWAYS been authors? I know it was something of a shock to me when (around 10 years ago) I was told that the guy sitting behind me at ‘The Bank’ was an author – what was he doing in a bank if he wrote books?

Tammy: Gordon, I love the idea that we ought to be somehow born fully formed as authors, maybe with a little pencil stub behind our ears. Like most of us I did lots of jobs when I first started out, including teaching English in Spain and secretarial work (at which I was agonisngly rubbish). Finally I got into journalism and worked in magazines and newspapers for many years, during which time I worked in numerous offices. The thing about offices is, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the local council refuse collection office or a supposedly swanky magazine office – the politics is exactly the same. In fact the bullying boss in When She Was Bad was directly inspired by a boss I once had on a magazine. And no, I’m not naming any names!

Amanda: I’m certainly happy to have a career that involves my office being next door to my kitchen at home. Despite loving people and being very sociable, I adore working in solitary. I am such a chatterbox and love a bit of gossip and am far too distractible, so working in an office environment would wreak havoc on my output! I work in my slippers, with my dog at my feet and my cat on a chair next to me (or lying on the keyboard, depending on her state of mind and her need for attention) and my water-cooler moments are spent gazing out of the window. If I need interaction to distract me, I have Twitter, of course. That, and my address book full of writers to call…

Not wishing to distract Amanda or Tammy any further, this seems the perfect time to wrap up for now. I suspect I will get in trouble for not asking for more information on the Cohen/Jennings film script. If someone wants to pick that one up at a later date then I can only suggest that you ask your question at a point when they both pause for breath.

I would like to thank Amanda and Tammy for agreeing to join me and for letting me ‘listen’ to their chat. They cannot know how much enjoyment each stage of their conversation brought me and they very kindly left me with hardly any editing to do – perfect guests!

When She Was Bad is released on 21st April in both paperback and digital formats. You can order a copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-She-Was-Tammy-Cohen/dp/1784160199/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460496470&sr=1-1&keywords=when+she+was+bad

In Her Wake is also available in paperback and digital formats. You can order a copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Wake-Amanda-Jennings/dp/1910633291/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460496921&sr=1-1&keywords=in+her+wake

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April 11

The Silent Twin – Caroline Mitchell

I’m alone in the dark, please can you find me …

Nine-year-old twins Abigail and Olivia vow never to be parted. But when Abigail goes missing from Blackwater Farm, DC Jennifer Knight must find her before it’s too late.

Twin sister Olivia has been mute since Abigail’s disappearance. But when she whispers in Jennifer’s ear, Jennifer realises it is Abigail’s voice pleading to be found.

A damp and decaying house set in acres of desolate scrubland, the farm is a place of secrets, old and new – and Jennifer must unravel them all in order to find the lost girl. But could Olivia’s bond with her twin hold the key to finding Abigail? And can Jennifer break through her silence in time to save her sister’s life?

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

DC Jennifer Knight returns in her third outing in Caroline Mitchell’s The Silent Twin. I really enjoyed the first two books so had been looking forward to seeing what would come next for Jennifer – something rather different as it turns out.

A young girl, Abigail, has disappeared from her family home (a remote farm cottage), her glasses have been found seemingly dropped or discarded and her twin sister, Olivia, has not spoken a word since her sister vanished. The police were quick to respond but they have encountered a family dealing with their crisis in very different ways.

The father is a police officer and has mobilised family and neighbours to search the farm and surrounding areas. The mother is behaving extremely oddly as she is calm, collected and playing hostess to the police and searchers – she is not showing any apparent concern about her missing daughter. Olivia is moving around the house like a lost soul – she is not speaking and is seemingly keeping out of her parents way. But there is an added worry for the police that are assisting the family, strange events and disturbances in the family home (objects falling from stable positions and other unexplained phenomenon).

Jennifer is called into action in the unfamiliar role of Family Liaison Officer, this gives her constant access to the family and gets her into the house. Could her special talents and awareness of ghosts and spirits give her any insights into what happened when Abigail disappeared?

I loved this very different approach from Caroline Mitchell. The uncertainty over what had happened to Abigail keeps the reader engrossed in the story. Jennifer’s role felt very different in The Silent Twin too, admittedly she was performing a very different role for this investigation but it was fascinating following her attempts to engage with different family members who all required different approaches. Also the ‘haunted house’ element of the investigation gave the whole book a delightfully creepy edge which allows it to stand apart from the more standard police procedural stories.

The Silent Twin has a narrative from multiple viewpoints which worked really well as the story developed. The police investigation into a missing child had a very realistic feel and the constant frustration over lack of progress was brilliantly conveyed. The supernatural edge to the book was of particular appeal to me and I love the balance that Caroline Mitchell is working into the Jennifer Knight stories, the crime story the dominant element yet enough of the supernatural to make it distinctive.

I highly recommend The Silent Twin, it is a gripping story with more than its fair share of unexpected twists. Caroline Mitchell is putting the ‘super’ into supernatural, 5/5 from me.

The Silent Twin is published by Bookouture and will release on 14 April 2016. You can order a copy here.

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April 5

A Time of Torment – John Connolly – The Travelling Man and beyond…Creating the Villains.

This is Day three of a week-long celebration of the world of Charlie Parker which has been brought to us by John Connolly. On 7th April 2016 the 14th Charlie Parker novel will be published by Hodder: A Time of Torment.

Readers are invited to take a journey with Liz of Liz Loves Books. On Monday Liz featured the Mythology of Charlie Parker.

Yesterday Christine of Northern Crime found Liz considering the Anti Heroes (Louis and Angel).

Today I am delighted to share the third leg of the journey as Liz discusses The Travelling Man and beyond…

Creating the Villains

The Charlie Parker series has one particularly strong hook to it – the villains. The villains are incredibly well drawn, scary as all hell every single time with the occasional tendency to make you love them.

Going all the way back to the start you had The Travelling Man. A killer beyond imagination (except obviously that of the author I am not sure I would like to spend TOO much time inside his head) he took from Charlie that which made him who he was – his family – and turned him into what he would become. He still echoes through the narrative today, a known yet unknowable quantity that haunts the narrative occasionally, a glance back into a darkness that only grew darker over time.

You would not think that there could be worse waiting round the corner but each new novel brings new challenges to bear – and for the reader new nightmares to experience. The Killing Kind brought us Mr Pud and his spiders – whenever I reread this novel my skin does literally crawl, a true and real reason why these stories are so incredibly brilliant – you cannot help but be held in every horrific moment. When it comes to the crime element a good bad guy is everything – the well here is deep and you are forever looking into the abyss.

Black Angel which brought a beautiful historical flavour and finally threw us off a cliffs edge when it came to the mythology, also brought Brightman, an extreme yet highly intriguing figure and yes again scary as all hell! This novel had the added advantage of solidifying the relationship between Louis, Angel and Charlie – this was a very personal journey for all three of them and the villainous content for it had to be bang on and boy it absolutely was.

I cannot mention all, there are layers upon layers, the main villain of every piece inevitably draws other evil towards him (or her) and whilst I want to give a flavour to give all away would be unthinkable. But there is one more I simply must pay homage to – that would be The Collector.

The Collector is absolutely my favourite character outside of our main core group – for reasons that may not make sense to anyone but me, he has a place in my heart, so many levels you cannot get an actual handle on him but there he is. The relationship that develops between him and Charlie is yin and yang, up and down – the power he yields within the narrative is atmospheric and fascinating. In the latest stories the upper hand held is changing – and to finish this off I’d like to say out of all the darkest, scariest and most fearful characters imaginable it is possible that in fact Charlie and his daughter will end up being the most terrifying of all.

We shall see. This series is unpredictable, it is enticing and will endure – where it is going I cannot say. All I can say is I’m in it to the bitter, beautiful end.

Article written by Liz of Liz Loves Books

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March 31

London Locations. Researching ’Bloq’ – Alan Jones

On my blog tour for Blue Wicked, Gordon asked me to do a post about the locations I’d used in the book, so for my second visit to GrabThisBook, I suggested a follow up post on how I found the London locations for Bloq.

Bloq is the story of a Glasgow man, Bill Ingram, a very ordinary husband and father who lives in a pleasant suburb of the city. He’s a civil engineer; a man who does his job well and lives a quiet life.

On Christmas Eve, he’s waiting in Glasgow’s Central Station for his daughter, Carol, a journalist working in London, who’s returning home to spend Christmas with him. When she doesn’t get off the last train, he knows something is badly wrong. He returns home, but sitting by the telephone, waiting for her to call, he makes the decision to drive to London to find out what has happened to her.

Up until that point, I was great with the locations. I’ve been in Central station thousands of times; I know the suburb in Glasgow where Bill lives. I can see him driving home up the switchback, sick with worry.

But I’ve been to London maybe half a dozen times in my life and I really didn’t know it well at all. I pretty much had the plot in my head, and I knew that I needed five or six key locations at least. I’d used google earth to find those I needed for my last book, Blue Wicked, but I was looking for very specific spots in an area that I was much more familiar with, so I knew where to look. This was different.

The first one wasn’t too difficult. I’d stayed in London thirty years ago with friends in Camden, and I remembered it as an ideal location for Carol’s flat. Google maps proved to be much better than google earth in a city environment, and street view has improved to the point where I could almost feel that I was walking about the streets of London, but with the ability to teleport myself to anywhere in on the map at the touch of a mouse. Within a short while, I’d found a street that matched the one in my mind’s eye.

The next bit blew me away; I was looking for a bar where Bill would have gone to grab something to eat and have a couple of pints after a long day treading the streets looking for his daughter, so in Streetview, I made my way from carol’s flat down to Camden High Street, and walked along it looking for a traditional bar. I had in my mind that it would be the sort of place that Bill would choose. I found one, The Elephants Head, situated only 10 minutes’ walk from the flat, as calculated by the Google maps, and had a closer look at it. To my amazement, when I clicked on the doorway, I was inside the bar, looking at the interior. It was like something out of Alice in wonderland! Not only was I in the bar, but I could move around inside, checking out the layout as if I was there. I even tried going up to the bar to see if I could order a pint, but it wasn’t that good!

I hadn’t realised that this was available in Streetview, so I wasted the next hour finding places to go into, just for the fun of it. Check it out yourself; it’s phenomenal. Just enter ‘The Elephants Head, Camden’ into google maps and drop the little Streetview man outside it.

For the nightclub that gives the book its title, I had a converted warehouse in my mind, and I wanted it to be in one of the less fashionable areas of London. I’d already written some of the scenes that happen at the nightclub, so I had a much longer list of specific requirements that needed to be just right. Why didn’t I just make the place a complete figment of my imagination, I hear you ask, and it’s a fair question.

I find it easier to write if I can totally immerse myself in the story, and having real locations definitely helps. If I believe the narrative one hundred percent, I hope the reader will too, but I do tinker sometimes with the detail a bit, to make it fit in with the plot.

After looking at seven or eight places in Bethnal Green, and finding nothing suitable, I moved my search south of the river. It was time consuming, but worth it, because I eventually found the perfect place in Walworth. It had all the right attributes, and I could see the changes that the builders would make to transform it into the nightclub of my imagination. A tarted up exterior with a new ostentatious doorway that had a certain look about it would make it perfect for the job, and it had a car park wedged between it and the church next door that ran the whole length of the building, just as I wanted.

I always imagined Alexander Gjebrea, one of the main characters, living in an uber-modern Grand Designs style house in one of the more affluent boroughs of London, so I checked on Google to see which areas were the most desirable. Islington seemed to fit the bill, and I did a Google search for modern houses in the area and came up with a development that was just perfect. It even had an online brochure from the developer with detailed plans and pictures of the interior.

For the story, I altered these a little and added some bling, to fit in with the story and the character.

I emailed Martin Stanley, a London author who I’d been introduced to, mentioning two or three of the key locations and asking him if they made sense. According to him they did.

I meant to get to London myself to check out all the locations, and physically travel between them to get the feel of what the characters would have to put up with, getting from one to another, but work and life got in the way, and it just didn’t happen, so I decided that I needed a couple of proof readers who knew London well to check out the first draft for authenticity in its setting.

I had a friend in London, Nick Short, who’d read my first two books, and he generously agreed to read Bloq for me and check out its London credentials. For the other proofreader, I asked the members of The Crime Book Club on Facebook (I’m a member there) if anyone fancied helping out, and I got a quick reply from an extremely nice lady, Rowena Hoseasons, who said she was a book blogger at www.murdermayhemandmore.net and she was willing to read it through for me.

Both my London beta-readers were a godsend. They said that, on the whole, I’d got it almost right, but they came back with a list of tweaks about living in London that they thought would enhance the realism of the book, all of which I incorporated into my first edit.

It was mainly issues like traffic congestion, bus lanes, Oyster cards, parking nightmares, cyclists and ways in which I could beef up the manic and multicultural nature of London life.

I’m extremely grateful for her and Nick’s help in improving Bloq’s depictions of London.

All of the locations in the book exist, although I’ve altered some details in a few of them, and one day I’ll jump on a train to London and go round and visit than all. I’ll be almost disappointed when I turn into Browning street and there’s no bright neon sign, ’BLOQ’ above a nightclub doorway half way along, next to the church.

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March 31

Bloq – Alan Jones

A gritty crime thriller.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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March 30

Star Wars Galaxy (Topps) – Gary Gerani

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

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

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

My thanks to Alexandra at Abrams for my review copy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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March 28

The Teacher – Katerina Diamond

You think you know who to trust? You think you know the difference between good and evil?

You’re wrong …

A LESSON YOU WILL NEVER FORGET

The body of the head teacher of an exclusive Devon school is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall.

Hours earlier he’d received a package, and only he could understand the silent message it conveyed. It meant the end.

As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again.

But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community.

And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him?

SMART. GRIPPING. GRUESOME.

This is a psychological crime thriller in a class of its own.

WARNING: Most definitely *not* for the faint-hearted!

My thanks to Helena at Avon for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

When I first heard about The Teacher it was presented as a very dark crime story, it would be graphic, often horrific, and absolutely not suitable for everyone. As I read the description all I could think was “this is exactly the kind of story I enjoy.” Anticipation was high.

The opening chapter had me hooked. A mysterious delivery which leads a man to take his own life, teasing hints of transgressions in the past and the suggestion that the death you read about is just the first of many. Little did I know just how many characters would fail to make it to the end of the book!

The Teacher is a fast paced serial killer story. The death count is significantly higher than I was expecting and the depictions of the murders certainly justify the warning that comes with the book that The Teacher is ‘not for the faint-hearted.’ The killer is on a revenge mission and is keen to ensure the victims that have been targeted suffer horrifically before they are eventually allowed to die.

Running alongside the story of the killer (and victims) is that of Abbey. She is a shy, awkward girl working in a local museum tasked with restoring stuffed animals from the displays to a better state of repair. As the story unfolds we learn why Abbey is happy to be hiding herself out of the limelight in the dark corners of the museum working with dusty exhibits. Abbey provided a great side plot from the more visceral events which were unfolding, however, her story also made for some uncomfortable reading and she was the character I found myself wanting to come out of the story with a happy ending.

On the hunt for the killer are local police officers Adrian Miles and Imogen Grey. They have just been partnered together for the first time – two rogue officers who appear to have been put together as punishment for their role in events prior to the story. If Katerina Diamond wants to bring Miles and Grey back for a second outing I would be delighted as these two were great fun to read about.

So I liked the cops, I found a character to root for and the serial killer was wonderfully dark and highly inventive. All good and I have to say that I really enjoyed The Teacher. One final observation…it was presented as a crime novel but read like a horror story.

The book does carry a warning along these lines so the readers can make that choice for themselves. However, there seemed greater emphasis on the murders than on the investigation element which I felt was somewhat sidelined. As an avid reader of both crime and horror fiction this did not concern me – I was loving the story.

Definitely a book I will recommend and I really hope Grey and Miles will return.

The Teacher is published by Avon and is available in paperback and digital format now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teacher-Katerina-Diamond/dp/0008168156/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459158346&sr=8-1&keywords=the+teacher

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March 27

In Her Wake – Amanda Jennings

A tragic family event reveals devastating news that rips apart Bella’s comfortable existence.

Embarking on a personal journey to uncover the truth, she faces a series of traumatic discoveries that take her to the ruggedly beautiful Cornish coast, where hidden truths, past betrayals and a 25-year-old mystery threaten not just her identity, but her life.

Chilling, complex and profoundly moving, In Her Wake is a gripping psychological thriller that questions the nature of family – and reminds us that sometimes the most shocking crimes are committed closest to home.

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my review copy.

I knew that I would be reading In Her Wake so I purposefully have been avoiding reading reviews. What it is impossible to avoid is the fact that all the reviews that I have seen other bloggers and reviewers sharing are incredibly positive, I think all the superlatives have been taken already.

I read In Her Wake in one day and can see why everyone has loved it. I had no idea what to expect but the story of Bella was utterly compelling and I just had to keep reading. Amanda Jennings has a beautiful writing style and paces this story magnificently, her depiction of Cornwall gave the book the real sense of location and I could almost feel the warmth of a beach or the shock of cold water – such was the level of my absorption into the tale.

Bella has had a sheltered upbringing. Raised by an over protective mother, home schooled and encouraged not to mix with other children. She finally gets a degree of freedom when she leaves for university and meets her future husband, however, it seems he is also a very controlling individual. Bella needs to break the shackles and take control of her life.

A family tragedy reveals a dark secret from Bella’s past – suddenly everything she thought she knew is turned on its head. Her life is a lie and she is given just enough information to uncover the truth. In Her Wake follows Bella’s attempts to uncover the truth about her past and it is an amazing journey that you simply must read.

Dark, intense and utterly unputdownable.

In Her Wake is available in paperback and digital formats and can be ordered here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Wake-Amanda-Jennings/dp/1910633291/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459076970&sr=8-1&keywords=in+her+wake

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March 26

Thin Ice – Quentin Bates

Snowed in with a couple of psychopaths for the winter…

When two small-time crooks rob Reykjavik’s premier drugs dealer, hoping for a quick escape to the sun, their plans start to unravel after their getaway driver fails to show. Tensions mount between the pair and the two women they have grabbed as hostages when they find themselves holed upcountry in an isolated hotel that has been mothballed for the season.

Back in the capital, Gunnhildur, Eiríkur and Helgi find themselves at a dead end investigating what appear to be the unrelated disappearance of a mother, her daughter and their car during a day’s shopping, and the death of a thief in a house fire.

Gunna and her team are faced with a set of riddles but as more people are quizzed it begins to emerge that all these unrelated incidents are in fact linked. And at the same time, two increasingly desperate lowlifes have no choice but to make some big decisions on how to get rid of their accidental hostages…

Thin Ice is the fifth book from Quentin Bates featuring Icelandic police officer Gunnhildur – it is a series that I am new to and I can confirm that Thin Ice is easily accessible as a stand alone story. I can also confirm that I will be dipping back into the coffers to pick up the books I have missed as Thin Ice was great fun to read.

Although this is a Gunnhildur story the main focus of the first 2/3rds of the book are the crooks! Ossur and Magni have robbed a drug dealer of thousands of Euro’s and are on the run. Unfortunately their driver failed to turn up to whisk them off to safety and they have had to improvise. A mother and daughter out on a shopping trip find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. The robbers escalate their crime spree to include a double abduction and the four head off into the Icelandic wilds looking for a safe haven.

The interaction of the robbers and their unwilling companions is wonderfully entertaining to read. A small cast thrown together in a remote location and trying to keep one step ahead of the authorities (well Ossur and Magni are) made for an unusual scenario which Quentin Bates pitched perfectly.

As the book progresses the police come into the story more. We follow their investigations and see how they start to narrow down their search for the missing women. There are some unexpected twists along the way too which took Thin Ice in directions I had not anticipated, a sensation I never tire of.

A highly enjoyable story, the snowy Icelandic chill seemed to creep off the pages and when the story drew to a close I was disappointed it was over.

Thin Ice is published by Constable and is available in paperback and digital formats. You can order a copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thin-Gunnhildur-Mystery-Quentin-Bates/dp/147212149X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458948336&sr=1-1&keywords=thin+ice

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