Grab This Book – Page 97 – Helping readers find great books they may otherwise miss

Doctor Who: Royal Blood – Una McCormack

“The Grail is a story, a myth! It didn’t exist on your world! It can’t exist here!”

The city-state of Varuz is failing. Duke Aurelian is the last of his line, his capital is crumbling, and the armies of his enemy, Duke Conrad, are poised beyond the mountains to invade. Aurelian is preparing to gamble everything on one last battle. So when a holy man, the Doctor, comes to Varuz from beyond the mountains, Aurelian asks for his blessing in the war.

But all is not what it seems in Varuz. The city-guard have lasers for swords, and the halls are lit by electric candlelight. Aurelian’s beloved wife, Guena, and his most trusted knight, Bernhardt, seem to be plotting to overthrow their Duke, and Clara finds herself drawn into their intrigue…

Will the Doctor stop Aurelian from going to war? Will Clara’s involvement in the plot against the Duke be discovered? Why is Conrad’s ambassador so nervous? And who are the ancient and weary knights who arrive in Varuz claiming to be on a quest for the Holy Grail…?

My thanks to BBC Books for a review copy of Royal Blood

The Doctor and Clara are back and, as we would expect, the TARDIS has landed them in uncomfortable surroundings once again. Varuz is a small city on the brink of ruin, a once-proud place it is falling into disrepair and the enemy forces are threatening, it seems one final conflict is coming and there is no escaping the fact that Varuz will fall.

The Duke (Aurelian) is trying to rally support for one last valiant push in a bid to save all that they hold dear, however, his wife and his closest allies are opposed to the idea. Into this fraught situation lands the Doctor and Clara. They are initially mistaken for the ambassadors from the opposing forces, however, the Duke appears convinced that the Doctor is actually a holy man who will bless his forthcoming attack – obviously the Doctor will provide no such blessing.

With the political wrangling in full swing a new element is thrown into the mix – the appearance of a number of ancient knights. They are on a long quest to find the Holy Grail and they believe their search will end in Varuz. The Doctor is far from convinced but how can he explain the appearance of the knights? These men are on a seemingly never-ending journey to find an item that the Doctor does not believe exists – why would they appear in Varuz at such a pivotal time in its history?

Royal Blood is a delight to read. There are many scenes ‘at court’ where Clara and the Doctor are caught up in the politics of Varuz. There are factions opposed to Auerlian’s planned war and Clara is asked to spy for one of the key players that oppose the Duke, something of a dilemma for Clara and Una McCormack brilliantly depicts Clara’s turmoil and her frustration at the Doctor’s apparent lack of concern about her predicament.

Royal Blood is one of three titles published by BBC Books this autumn. The stories are all linked and are described as a trilogy of adventures across time and space which follow the Doctor’s search for The Glamour. Although I struggled to find a definitive reading order for the books I found Royal Blood the best place to start and the concept of The Glamour was well defined (and intriguing).

This was the first of the three Doctor Who releases I read and it started the trilogy brilliantly. Varuz is an enigma, the political manoeuvring kept me hooked and the Grail quest was unexpected yet a great addition. Another great addition to the Doctor Who range.

Category: Doctor Who | Comments Off

September 12

Solomon Creed – Simon Toyne

I am delighted to be able to host today’s leg of the Solomon Creed Blog Tour.

Solomon Creed is the magnificent book from Simon Toyne and I am delighted to be able to share the opening chapter with you:

In the beginning is the road – and me walking along it.

I have no memory of who I am, or where I have come from, or how I came to be here. There is only the road

and the desert stretching away to a burnt sky in every

direction

and there is me.

Anxiety bubbles within me and my legs scissor, pushing me forward through hot air as if they know something I don’t. I feel like telling them to slow down, but even in my confused state I know you don’t talk to your legs, not unless you’re crazy, and I don’t think I’m crazy – I don’t think so.

I stare down the shimmering ribbon of tarmac, rising and falling over the undulating land, its straight edges made wavy by intense desert heat. It makes the road seem insubstantial and the way ahead uncertain and my anxiety burns bright because of it. I feel there’s something important to do here, and that I am here to do it, but I cannot remember what.

I try to breathe slowly, dredging a recollection from some deep place that this is meant to be calming, and catch different scents in the dry desert air – the coal-tar sap of a broken creosote bush branch, the sweet sugar rot of fallen saguaro fruit, the arid perfume of agave pollen – each thing so clear to me, so absolutely itself and correct and known. And from the solid seed of each named thing more information grows – Latin names, medicinal properties, common names, whether each is edible or poisonous. The same happens when I glance to my left or right, each glimpsed thing sparking new names and fresh torrents of facts until my head hums with it all. I know the world entirely it seems and yet I know nothing of myself. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t even know my own name.

The wind gusts at my back, pushing me forward and bringing a new smell that makes my anxiety are into fear. It is smoke, oily and acrid, and a half-formed memory slides in with it that there is something awful lying on the road behind me, something I need to get away from.

I break into a run, staring forward, not daring to glance behind. The blacktop feels hard and hot against the soles of my feet. I look down to discover that I’m not wearing shoes. My feet ash as they pound the road, my skin pure white in the bright sunshine. I hold my hand up and it’s the same, so white I have to narrow my eyes against the glare of it. I can feel my skin starting to redden in the fierce sun and know that I need to get out of this desert, away from this sun and the thing on the road behind me. I fix on a rise in the road, feeling if I can reach it then I will be safe, that the way ahead will be clearer.

The wind blows hard, bringing the smell of smoke again and smothering all other scents like a poisonous blanket. Sweat starts to soak my shirt and the dark grey material of my jacket. I should take it off, cool myself down a little, but the thicker material is giving me protection from the burning sun so I turn the collar up instead and keep on running. One step then another – forward and away, forward and away – asking myself questions between each step – Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? – repeating each one until something starts to take shape in the blankness of my empty mind. An answer. A name. ‘James Coronado.’ I say it aloud in a gasp of breath before it is lost again and pain sears into my left shoulder.

My voice comes as a surprise to me, soft and strange and unfamiliar, but the name does not. I recognize it and say it again – James Coronado, James Coronado – over and over, hoping the name might be mine and might drag more about who I am from my silent memory. But the more I say it, the more distant it becomes until I’m certain the name is not mine. It feels apart from me though still connected in some way, as if I have made a promise to this man, one that I am bound to keep.

I reach the crest of the road and a new section of desert comes into view. In the distance I see a road sign, and beyond that, a town, spreading like a dark stain across the lower slopes of a range of red mountains.

I raise my hand to shield my eyes so I might read the name on the sign, but it is too far away and heat blurs the words. There is movement on the road, way off at the edge of town.

Vehicles.

Heading this way. Red and blue lights flashing on their roofs.

The wail of sirens mingles with the roar of the smoke-filled wind and I feel trapped between the two. I look to my right and consider leaving the road and heading out into the desert. A new smell reaches me, drifting from somewhere out in the wilderness, something that seems more familiar to me than all the other things. It is the smell of something dead and rotting, lying somewhere out of sight, sunbaked and fetid and caramel-sweet, like a premonition of what will befall me if I stray from the road.

Sirens in front of me, death either side, and behind me, what?

I have to know.

I turn to gaze upon what I have been running from and the whole world is on fire.

An aircraft lies broken and blazing in the centre of the road, its wings sticking up from the ground like the folded wings of some huge burning beast. A wide circle of flame surrounds it, spreading rapidly as flames leap from plant to plant and lick up the sides of giant saguaro, their burning arms raised in surrender, their flesh splitting and hissing as the water inside boils and explodes in puffs of steam.

It is magnificent. Majestic. Terrifying.

The sirens grow louder and the flames roar. One of the wings starts to fall, trailing flame as it topples and filling the air with the tortured sound of twisting metal. It lands with a whump, and a wave of fire rolls up into the air, curling like a tentacle that seems to reach down the road for me, reaching out, wanting me back.

I stagger backwards, turn on my heels. And I run.

Solomon Creed is published by Harper Collins and is available in Hardback and digital formats now.

Order via Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solomon-Creed-Simon-Toyne/dp/0007551355/ref=sr_1_1_twi_har_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442011831&sr=1-1&keywords=solomon+creed+simon+toyne

Follow the Solomon Creed Blog Tour

Category: Blog Tours | Comments Off

September 6

The Girl Who Broke The Rules – Marnie Riches

The pulse-pounding new thriller from Marnie Riches. For anyone who loves Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larsson, this book is for you!

When the mutilated bodies of two sex-workers are found in Amsterdam, Chief Inspector van den Bergen must find a brutal murderer before the red-light-district erupts into panic. Georgina McKenzie is conducting research into pornography among the UK’s most violent sex-offenders but once van den Bergen calls on her criminology expertise, she is only too happy to come running. The rising death toll forces George and van den Bergen to navigate the labyrinthine worlds of Soho strip-club sleaze and trans-national human trafficking. And with the case growing ever more complicated, George must walk the halls of Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, seeking advice from the brilliant serial murderer, Dr. Silas Holm…

From the winner of the 2015 DEAD GOOD READER AWARD FOR MOST EXOTIC LOCATION

My thanks to the team at Avon Books for a review copy which I received through Netgalley.

George McKenzie is back. Four years have passed since the events of The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die and we find George back in England where she is studying for her PhD. These studies bring her into contact with some of the UK’s worst sex offenders and, in particular into direct contact with serial killer Silas Holm.

Holm is a manipulative subject and throughout The Girl Who Broke The Rules he manages to extend his influence far beyond the walls of his secure prison. He is a powerful character and I liked how his presence seemed to be kept in the background, he is not overused within the telling of the story but when he does feature the intensity of the scene is cranked up.

In Amsterdam two horribly mutilated bodies have been found. Chief Inspector Paul van den Bergen is struggling to make any significant headway in the investigation and reaches out to George to return to Amsterdam to work with his team. Yet there are more than professional reasons behind his request, van den Bergen is infatuated with George and is desperate for her to return to Amsterdam.

George does not appear to have made any effort to let van den Bergen slip out of her life despite her ongoing relationship with her seemingly hapless boyfriend, Ad. You cannot help but feel that headstrong, independent George is playing with fire as she tries to keep her continued friendship with van den Bergen a secret from Ad.

I need to back track to the ‘horribly mutilated bodies’ at this stage…The Girl Who Broke The Rules can sometimes score quite highly on the ‘very graphic’ scale. I am absolutely fine with this! However, I cannot tell you why you may find some scenes make you squirm because SPOILERS.) Suffice to say that this is not a schlock/slasher story, Marnie Riches has delivered another clever and classy murder story.

The Girl Who series is becoming essential reading – high quality thrillers with a feisty heroine who is far from perfect and certainly not bulletproof. Another 5 star outing for Georgina McKenzie – do not miss out on these books.

The Girl Who Broke The Rules is published by Maze (Avon Books) and is available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Who-Broke-Rules-ebook/dp/B00U5NU62E/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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

September 3

Joff Sharpe – Reciclador Q&A

Today I am delighted to welcome Joff Sharpe to Grab This Book. Joff’s book Reciclador will stand out as one of the most memorable titles I have read this year and I am thrilled that Joff has taken time to answer a few of my questions.

The first question I had when I sat down to read your book was: who or what is Reciclador?

He is a scavenger; a person who rides around on top of a donkey cart collecting other people’s garbage which he can sell to recycling companies for a few pesos. He plays a small but very important role in the book because he symbolises the possibility of redemption.

The two central characters in Reciclador are Yessica and Marcus. Yessica is an open book and we learn so much of her background yet Marcus is a walking mystery. If pressed would you say this is Yessica’s story or would you put Marcus at the heart of the tale?

Sorry to duck the question but actually I think it’s the story of their relationship and the question of whether it will survive the storm and how much collateral damage it will inflict on other key members of the family.

Why did you elect to write a book set in Columbia? Does the social dynamic of Columbians give greater flexibility than other countries?

Columbia is a country of extremes. It’s beautiful, bountiful, maybe even a little mystical but also struggling through a post-Pablo Escobar social and economic renaissance. In many ways the story of Reciclador is an analogy for the struggles that are going on in Colombia at the moment.

Are there any elements of Reciclador which were influenced by actual events?

Absolutely; the character of Marcus is inspired by a larger-than-life German ‘rogue financier’ called Florian Homm. I researched him when writing an article for Newsweek entitled ‘Are the real Wolves of Wall Street dead?’ Actually, many of the craziest ingredients in the book like ‘The Young Womens’ Talent Competition’ are also based on true events. Of course the general background music of narco-terrorism, police brutality and kidnap is also real.

One of the elements of the book I found most shocking was the seeming disregard for human life that several of the characters seemed to hold. I need to avoid spoilers, however, violent death almost seemed to be accepted as part of life in Columbia. Is this typical of how some areas of Columbia (and possibly elsewhere) live their lives?

Search YouTube stories for Medellin and it’s not long before you’re coming across young men talking openly to camera about how many people they’ve killed. The situation has improved dramatically since the late 1990s but it is estimated that some 5,000 inhabitants last year were displaced through threats, violence and forcible gang recruitment. The situation is fragile.

Elsewhere in Central America, including Mexico, drugs and the associated violence have made some metropolitan areas almost ungovernable. Kidnap, torture and beheadings are the hallmarks of many narco-gangs and citizen vigilante groups are now springing up in response. Police murder squads have existed in various South American countries for years.

You have written about Financial Fugitives for Newsweek, Huffington Post and The South China Morning Post. I am fascinated by the concept that successful people can essentially ‘cut and run’ and evade authorities. How frequent/common is it for someone to abscond and leave behind millions of pounds in debts and failed investments? Would it be typical for the companies involved to try to repair the damage without alerting their clients?

Small-scale fraud is common-place and is often ruinous to the families of “clients”. The more shocking examples are where public figures have behaved outrageously and with impunity under the noses of financial authorities. Alan Stanford and Bernie Madoff would be classic examples. Damage-repair is a more complex issue and it depends on the magnitude of the fraud relative to the size of the company. For example, Nick Leeson is credited with single-handedly destroying ING Barings bank with his unauthorised trading activities.

Reciclador is your debut novel, however, you have published a non-fiction title: ‘Who Dares Wins in Business.’ How does writing fiction compare to writing a business title? Does one come more naturally to you?

Writing fiction is essentially good fun, tempered only by the fact that you want your book to be commercial enough to attract a decent readership. ‘Who Dares Wins in Business’ was an usually hard book to write because it combined business writing with military history and analysis. I benefited from the advice and support of a professional journalist Teena Lyons who made sure that the whole thing hung together coherently. The book has sold modestly but spawned lucrative motivation-style speaking engagements.

I have to ask about your CV – SAS Special Forces Officer to Executive in a multi-billion pound real estate investment company (via Borneo headhunters, Rupert Murdoch and Piers Morgan). Can you pick out some stand-out moments from such a diverse career?

Standing on the decking of a submarine, as a twenty-eight year old SAS officer, and being asked; “Where to, Sir?” by the Captain has to be up there. Fast forward a few years and I rumbled into historic Prague, newly liberated from communism, in a transit van encased in a giant fibre-glass tabby cat, in an attempt to flog cat food to an incredulous Czechoslovak nation. Surely careers are made of such moments?

With such a vast range of experiences behind you what do you do to relax and unwind?

Mainly watching my kids pursue their own multiple sports and hobbies. I have also recently acquired a gigantic dog that takes me for walks. On holiday I SCUBA-dive.

Which authors do you enjoy reading or who would you cite as an influence?

It won’t surprise you that I love Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Peruvian Mario Vagas Llosa and our own (British) Colombian trilogist Louis de Bernieres. I probably read too much of this stuff and need to read more pulp to keep my writing grounded.

Are you planning to write more fiction in the future or have you set yourself a different challenge?

If people like my fiction writing they will get more. The opposite is also true.

Joff, I can honestly say that Reciclador stands out amongst the books I have read this year, it is quite different from the domestic thrillers I normally pick up and I loved every minute of it. Thank you for taking time to answer my questions, it is very much appreciated.

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

September 3

Reciclador – Joff Sharpe

Medical school drop-out Yessica Sanchez opens a restaurant in her home town of Medellin, the most dangerous city in the world. She falls in love with a Swiss backpacker and together they enjoy a simple, idyllic lifestyle. But the traveller, Marcus Hamm, carries a dark secret and when a man is killed outside the restaurant it triggers a series of events that threaten their lives and will test their relationship to its limits.

Soon other interested parties like the CIA, mercenaries and Colombian police are competing to secure the huge financial prize that they believe to be at stake. Only Yessica’s father, an unassuming but cunning professor of anthropology, can save his family from a terrible fate. He’ll stop at nothing to do so.

The backdrop to the story includes some of the more colorful aspects of Medellin, such as its spectacular festival of flowers and Young Women’s Talent Competition, and a host of interesting characters from every part of Colombian society.

My thanks to Emma at Busy Bee for my review copy.

One of the reasons I started to blog was that I wanted to make readers aware of books that I had read which I thought other people would also enjoy. I also set myself a personal challenge of reading new authors and also books which are suitably different from my normal go-to titles. This brings me nicely to Reciclador by Joff Sharpe – a debut novel set in Columbia’s roughest suburbs. Did I enjoy it and do I want lots of people to read it? Damn right!

The problem that I am going to have in explaining why you should read Reciclador is that if I enthuse about what I loved about the story then I need to include spoilers and spoilers are banned on these pages.

Reciclador tells the story of Marcus and Yessica. They run a restaurant in Medellin, Columbia (the most dangerous city in the world). Life seems simple for the couple and the restaurant is doing well but readers soon learn that Marcus cuts a somewhat mysterious figure. Yessica, however, is much more open and is invited, as a successful local businesswoman, to help the younger women of Medellin to show their skills and talents through a Young Women’s Talent Competition. In a city where drawing attention to your successes can be a dangerous idea Yessica soon finds her restaurant is receiving some unwanted attention.

Although Yessica and Marcus are the main characters in Reciclador we also get to spend time with a variety of characters from very different social backgrounds. Corrupt policemen, savvy politicians, street kids scrapping for status and their peers who are looking to lift themselves out of their impoverished existence. Reciclador was an eye-opening read and although it is a work of fiction the story is grounded in fact which makes some of the events so much more disconcerting. I urge you to read my chat with author Joff Sharpe where he discusses how much of the story was influenced by actual events. Full interview can be found here: https://grabthisbook.net/?p=983

If you are looking for a gripping thriller which offers something a little different from the norm then Reciclador should be right up at the top of your list. The dynamics of Columbian society essentially mean that anything goes, everyone has a price, nobody is above intimidation and violence is commonplace. Drop in two people trying to live a quiet life (who find themselves with a dead body on their property) and you know that things are going to go wrong fairly quickly.

When I consider the titles I have covered on my blog I cannot think of any book which is comparable to Reciclador. A fresh reading experience which I devoured – a book I wanted to read in one sitting yet a book I did not want to end. I hope that Joff Sharpe decides to return to Medellin as this is a city which offers so much potential for more thrilling tales. 5 star thrills – loved this!

Reciclador is the debut novel from author Joff Sharpe, who has written about financial fugitives for Newsweek, Huffington Post and Hong Kong’s largest circulation English-speaking newspaper, The South China Morning Post.

He has previously published a non-fiction book ‘Who Dares Wins in Business’ which combined wisdom from his early career as an SAS Special Forces officer and his role today as an executive in a £17 billion real estate investment company.

Other entries on Joff’s CV include: a year living amongst the Iban headhunters of Borneo, running an internet company for Rupert Murdoch and being Piers Morgan’s HR director.

Reciclador is available now through Amazon in paperback and digital format: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reciclador-Recycler-Mr-Joff-Sharpe/dp/1512269387/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441233935&sr=1-1&keywords=reciclador

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

September 1

Setting – Melissa Bailey: Beyond The Sea

The #BookConnectors Round The World blog tour has commenced its long journey in my native land of Scotland. If you have never had the opportunity to experience the remote and haunting beauty of Scotland’s West coast and the Western Isles then Beyond The Sea by today’s guest, Melissa Bailey, should immediately be added to your shopping list.

Melissa has kindly taken some time to share some of her memories on the places and events which inspired Beyond The Sea. The pictures are also Melissa’s and beautifully compliment her writing (while also allowing us the chance to show off some of Scotland’s beauty on this Round The World blog tour).

I have been asked a lot about the setting of Beyond the Sea, and why I chose the Hebrides as the landscape in which the action of the novel plays out.

While the book emerged from a single image of a woman, her hair turned white in grief, standing alone by the sea, a lighthouse in the near distance behind her, I think I probably knew even then, way back in the beginning when I didn’t know much else, that the woman was standing on a beach in the Inner Hebrides. It is a part of the world that I love and have been visiting for many years: Mull, Iona, Skye and the small islands, the stunningly isolated Rum, Canna, Muck and Eigg. I’m drawn to its raw beauty, its wildness, the fact that the weather can change in an instant, sunshine becoming rain becoming sleet. It is brutal, elemental, timeless – craggy mountain ranges, desolate moorlands, restless ever shifting seas.

And yet, I feel there is also something redemptive, magical almost about this landscape. The sea takes away, and yet it also gives back. It is an endless, eternal pattern. The sea is often death, but it is also life. So the remote fringes of the British Isles, the untamed edges of civilisation, seemed a very natural and fitting backdrop for a woman touched by devastating loss, her emotions as turbulent and fast changing as the winds or the tides, but perhaps moving slowly towards redemption.

So a story began to evolve. The woman became Freya, whose husband and son vanish at sea the year before the novel begins. She returns to the lighthouse keeper’s cottage they once called home, seeking solace, trying to lay to rest the dreams that haunt her sleep. I began to research the Hebrides in more detail, stories of storms and shipwrecks, tales of mythical islands and mermaids. I read, amongst a great deal of other things, Martin Martin’s ‘A description of the Western Islands of Scotland circa 1695’, which documented not only the geography of the islands but the ancient rituals and practices of the islanders. For example, they would sometimes take a turn, east to west, to ward off evil spirits after disembarking from a boat; they would drink from ‘magical’ wells. They accorded reverence to those with ‘second sight’ who often predicted through visions or dreams things which later came to pass. As with many isolated communities, the supernatural was accepted as present in the everyday – and I wanted it to fit just as naturally into my novel.

Sometime later, I found myself on a ferry leaving Oban (in mainland Scotland) for Mull. The day was cold and overcast as I stood on deck, looking down at the churning sea. As the ferry advanced up the Sound of Mull and we passed Duart Castle in the south east corner of the island, I remembered from my research that the Swan, a Cromwellian warship, had sunk at this exact spot on 13 September 1653 – almost 360 years ago to the day. I began to think about sailors and letters in bottles and the historical thread of the novel began to emerge. This journey, made in 2013, is the same one taken by Freya in Chapter 1 of the novel.

I travelled all over Mull that autumn, circling the whole island on its single track roads. I drove along the A849, from Craignure to Fionnphort (the same route that Freya also takes), following the meandering of the Lussa river, past the towering grandeur of Ben More and the beautiful desolation of the Glen at its feet. I passed the three lochs, emerging into the lowlands around Loch Scridain, and watched the sunshine turn its seawater brilliant blue. When I reached the western shore, I looked over to Iona, just a stone’s throw away, the Abbey clearly visible until the mist rolled in later that day.

I drove to Knockvologan on the south of the island, waited until low tide, and then crossed the exposed white sand beaches of the tidal island of Erraid (the setting for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped). I trekked past the now abandoned lighthouse keepers’ cottages and tried to imagine what it would be like to live on a tiny island like this, isolation complete when the sea rolled back in. Out in the vastness of the ocean, I caught sight of the shadowy lighthouse, Dubh Artach, floating on the horizon, somewhere between land and sea, a mirage perhaps.

Dubh Artach was built 15 miles south west of Mull upon a black rock that sits just above sea level. Perched at the end of an Atlantic submarine valley, it encounters ferocious sea conditions including waves of up to 30m in height. Many have told of the harsh realities of tending the light. Billy Frazer, one of Dubh Artach’s old keepers, recounted the everyday challenges of life at the lighthouse and his face to face encounter with what he called ‘the big wave’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dszc3) But his story was not unusual – there are countless other tales from keepers in the Hebrides of danger and disappearance, depression and madness.

So the lighthouse was also crucial in establishing the mood of the novel. While it is a symbol of sanctuary, of hope, of light in the darkness, it is simultaneously the quintessential symbol of isolation and loneliness – loneliness that can prey upon an already precarious sanity. It seemed to be a wholly appropriate place for Freya to live – a very visual image of her emotional state.

After I returned from Mull that autumn, the novel really started to take shape. Myth and fairy tale fed into history, fact fed into fiction. Beyond the Sea is Freya’s story, but it is also the story of the Hebrides, the lighthouse and the sea – all characters in their own right.

Beyond The Sea is published by Arrow and is available in paperback and digital format.
You can order the book through Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0099584956?keywords=beyond%20the%20sea%20melissa%20bailey&qid=1440970840&ref_=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1&s=books&sr=1-1

Also available from Waterstones here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/beyond-the-sea/melissa-bailey/9780099584957

Category: Blog Tours | Comments Off

September 1

Beyond The Sea – Melissa Bailey

One summer’s day, Freya’s husband and son vanish at sea.

A year on, and struggling to cope, Freya returns to the lighthouse-keeper’s cottage on a remote Hebridean island, where she and her family spent so many happy times.

Haunted by visions of her old life, Freya’s dreams are dark and disturbed. And when a stranger, Daniel, is washed ashore during a storm, they turn even more menacing.

As dream and reality start to merge, Daniel seems to be following Freya’s every move. What does he want from her and is he everything he seems to be?

Is her mind playing tricks? Or is the danger that she senses very real?

Beyond The Sea is a tale of loss set in one of the remotest outreaches of the wilds of Scotland. It will transport the reader to a beautiful wilderness where lead character, Freya, is on a personal journey to rebuild her life after the loss of her husband and son 12 months earlier.

Freya’s family were lost at sea off the Hebridean coast, she has not returned to the family home since her husband’s boat failed to return from a trip out on the ocean. We are quickly made aware that Freya has not coped well with her grief and has relied heavily upon her sister in the intervening months. Now, one year on, she is facing the ghosts of her past and coming home.

‘Home’ is amongst the remote Hebridean Islands off the Scottish coast. Melissa Bailey portrays the beautiful isolation and the closeness of the island communities wonderfully. It is impossible not to feel for Freya as she ventures back into the life she once embraced and see how friends respond to her return.

But there is a depth to Beyond The Sea which brings through the sense of history and location. Stories within stories – there are tales of the sea, legends of the area, history of lighthouses and the letters of a sailor which have been recovered after over 400 years and are interspersed through the book. I loved the myths and legends that Melissa Bailey has interwoven into Freya’s story and, despite my desire to find out what was happening to Freya, I also wanted more of the folklore – an extra treat as I read.

I am always keen to ensure I avoid spoilers so I cannot share too much about how Beyond The Sea plays out. Suffice to say I found the story captivating, tragic and fascinating – an enriching read and one that I highly recommend.

Also available from Waterstones here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/beyond-the-sea/melissa-bailey/9780099584957

Category: Blog Tours | Comments Off

August 28

Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards (Seasons 3 & 4)

Adventure Time’s adorably weird and wonderful post-apocalyptic world has captured the hearts of fans worldwide. Featuring all the title cards from seasons 3 and 4 of the show, plus early sketches, creator commentary, and exclusive insights into the vast and varied inspirations behind the art, the second volume of Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards is an absolute must-have for every fan.

My thanks to Cara Fielder at Titan Books for my review copy.

When I was young I remember watching cartoons featuring Bugs and Daffy, Captain Caveman or Godzilla. Many years have passed and today the choice of cartoons is vast – there are channels which need output 24/7 so the battle for airtime is tough.

I have two boys (both under 10) and, like their dad, they enjoy the cartoons too. However, Teen Titans, The Amazing World of Gumball and even Spongebob are nothing like the cartoons we once watched (except perhaps for Chorlton and the Wheelies which was trippy – and not a cartoon).

There is one show that both my kids cannot get enough of and that is Adventure Time. When I received the beautiful Adventure Time Cartoon Title Cards book they pounced on it with absolute glee. This book is a treat for all the fans of the show. The artwork is striking, there are sketches and outlines of images used in the show, the variant title cards are particularly fun to see and it is incredible how subtle changes can alter the whole feel of a picture. The comic book nerd in me was lapping up the unseen artwork.

I enjoyed reading some of the artist’s notes to my younger son (who at 5 is showing way more artistic skill than I will ever achieve). The commentary and discussions nestle amongst the pictures and provide some insights into the considerations that go towards selecting the ‘right’ image to include in the finished cartoon.

Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards (Seasons 3 & 4) would be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of any fan of the show. The book looks beautiful with high quality finish and feel to the pages. It also gave my kids the chance to discuss each of the episodes over and over – the phrase ‘Oh look’ met virtually every page turn.

Adventure Time: The Original Cartoon Title Cards (Seasons 3 & 4) is published by Titan Books and is available now.

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

August 27

DM For Murder – Matt Bendoris

Shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Crime Book of the Year Award 2015.

Ten million Twitter followers. One killer. Bryce Horrigan, a Brit made good in America, makes a living rubbing people up the wrong way. He revels in antagonising guests on his TV talk show, and the thousands of death threats he’s received on Twitter are a badge of honour. But when the controversial TV host is shot dead, it leaves the authorities with one hell of a dilemma. After all, where do you start investigating millions of suspects? Detective Sorrell has to separate the keyboard warriors from the real killer who begins tweeting cryptic clues. As the investigation and media storm build, Sorrell discovers a British journalist from Horrigan’s past may hold the key.

My thanks to Matt Bendoris for my review copy.

A murder mystery story for the Twitter generation.

Bryce Horrigan is a larger than life star on American TV. He is not afraid to speak his mind and has been revelling in the notoriety of controversy. He has been actively seeking Twitter death threats by speaking out on contentious issues – all good for ratings and his follower count. However it appears that he has finally gone one step too far as one evening Bryce’s Twitter account is used to Tweet images of his own murder. Millions of people see images from the moments leading up to his death and the police have a problem, how to find a killer when there are millions of potential suspects?

Meanwhile in Scotland Bryce’s friend and former colleague (Connor ‘Elvis’ Presley), is following the developing story. A reporter for one of Scotland’s national newspapers Elvis and his often-hapless colleague, April Lavender, are engaging in the constant battle to meet deadlines and source content in a bid to stop falling circulation figures. One of the highlights of DM For Murder is the dialogue between Elvis and April who often provide some comedic interludes, these scenes nicely break up the more serious chapters that featuring the official police investigation.

Elvis manages to convince the newspaper owners that he could cover the story of Horrigan’s murder much better if he was to travel to America and be ‘on the ground’ where he could use his connections to get close to those that knew Horrigan best. The story then splits as we have Elvis and in America and April in Scotland, each uncovering more detail of how Horrigan lived his life and who he left behind in his pursuit to the top. Their investigations run a very different path to that being followed by the police and it is great to see how Matt Bendoris portrays the different journalistic skills of Elvis and April.

Although the stars of the book (for me) are April and Elvis, we also follow the official police investigation headed up by Twitter ‘noob’ Detective Sorrell. With a high profile victim and no real leads Sorrell is under pressure to come up with visible results. Help comes from unexpected sources as Twitter users start their own witch-hunt of possible suspects. More importantly for Sorrell is one user who is reaching out to him directly – suggesting a Tweeter that may merit close investigation.

If you are comfortable with Twitter you will enjoy DM For Murder immensely, the concept of the murder Tweets is unsettling but you cannot help but feel that if such an event were to happen IRL (as it were) then the retweet count would go through the roof. If Twitter is not for you then do not despair, both Sorrell and April are new to the world of Twitter and through them the concept of Tweeting and Direct Messaging is explained so everyone can easily follow how the mystery is played out.

Fun, fast paced and a cracking whodunnit…this is my type of story. I thought I had solved the murder with around 80 pages to go but I was caught out by a red herring. Well played Mr Bendoris I liked this very much.

DM For Murder is published by Contraband and is available in paperback and digital format

Matt Bendoris is on Twitter (I assume he knows the risks): @MBendoris

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

August 18

In A Dark, Dark Wood – Ruth Ware

Someone’s getting married.

Someone’s getting murdered.

In a dark, dark wood

Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

There was a dark, dark house

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?

And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room

But something goes wrong. Very wrong.

And in the dark, dark room….

Some things can’t stay secret for ever.

Thanks to Harvill Secker for my review copy which I received through Netgalley

A male blogger reviewing a Hen Night book. Tricky! I asked my wife about her Hen Nights (plural). Great fun apparently (though I do recall picking broken glass from the soles of her feet) but seemingly it can be awkward bringing random strangers together who have little in common – other than the fact they all know the bride.

Between finishing In A Dark, Dark Wood and writing this review I also saw a comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe*. He had been a barman for many years and had an interesting view on group dynamics. He believed that Stag Parties have an Alpha who the group will blindly follow – Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Hen Parties he compared to Game Of Thrones, anyone can betray anyone else in the blink of an eye.

In a Dark, Dark Wood did read just like he described. A Hen Party where you do not feel any alliance is truly believable and (through clever use of jumping the reader forward in time to events after the hen weekend) we know that something has gone very, very wrong.

The lead voice in the story is that of Nora, a writer who lives a private and quiet life. Out of the blue she receives an invitation to a hen party for one of her oldest friends. However, she has not seen this friend for many years and the invitation is very unexpected. Persuaded by a mutual friend from their University days (who also has an invitation) Nora agrees to travel to a remote area of Northumberland in deep, dark Autumn to spend the weekend in the company of strangers. This may not be the best decision she makes all year!

The remote setting and the oddly assembled cast of characters was very reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel ripped forward into a 21^st Century setting. You know that the ‘bad guy’ is likely to be one of the guests (but perhaps not) and you know that the ‘nice’ people are most at risk (unless the irritating one is). Beautifully complicated dynamics.

It was impossible for me not to make judgement on each of the characters, some I liked, others I did not and one person irritated the Hell out of me. Knowing that events were soon to spiral out of control I did find myself willing the nicer people to be spared from future horrors.

As the story unfolded (and Nora’s discomfort increased) I became increasingly engrossed in the book. The writing was top quality and I have to applaud Ruth Ware for transporting me from poolside in sunny Ibiza to a bleak Northumberland wood on a chilly and dark night.

In A Dark, Dark Wood is a cracking read and comes highly recommended. Definitely one to add to the shopping basket next time you are in the market for a slick and thrilling tale.

In A Dark, Dark Wood is published by Harvill Secker and is available in Hardback and digital format now.

Ruth Ware is on Twitter: @RuthWareWriter and at www.ruthware.com

*The comedian I have quoted is Chris Betts – he is well worth tracking down at comedy clubs/festivals. He also collects graffiti from toilet walls.

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off