July 1

The Corruption of Alston House – John Quick

Katherine’s life has been on a downhill turn, filled with tragedy and heartbreak. When she bought Alston House in the small Tennessee town of Poplar Bend, she hoped it would be the chance to turn things around, center herself again, and get serious about her art. True, it was a risk buying a house virtually sight unseen through the internet, but she knew it needed some extensive renovations, so what could go wrong?

What the real estate agent never told her was that Alston House had a history that was among the darkest secrets in the small town. As Katherine begins to put her life back together following her dream as a painter, she discovers there is more here than meets the eye. One of the home’s former residents never left, even after death, and now he seems to have set his sights on her. Can she uncover the darkness at the heart of the town and overcome her personal ghosts, or will she become one more victim to the town’s hidden hearts?

 

 

I received a review copy from the publishers, Silver Shamrock, but I also bought my own copy which I read through Kindle.

 

Forgive me readers but it has been one month since my last confe…erm…my last blog post.  This is entirely down to gravity.  Had it not been for gravity my laptop would not have fatally rushed towards the floor after it lost balance from a high place and the screen would certainly not have cracked up.  Not that it cracked up anywhere near as much as I did trying to get a replacement laptop through my insurance company – but all sorted now and no need to involve the Ombudsman as I eventually had to suggest may happen.

*And Breathe*

So let me turn to John Quick’s excellent The Corruption of Alston House. I started this one back at the beginning of lockdown but rest assued it has not taken me over 100 days to get through it.  Sadly for much of the lockdown time I have been unable to focus on books, everything I had started back in March got put to the side and it has taken me several weeks to slowly get back into my reading. But I had been enjoying The Corrupton of Alston House so I went back to the start and began again – a good decision!

I have always enjoyed a creepy story with a haunted house and in that regard this book was exactly what I needed. Katherine moves to Alston House to start a new life for herself, she leaves upset and tragedy behind her and hopes to restablish her painting as she is a talented artist.  Her new home, Alston House, is a grand property but in need of some maintenance to make it comfortable.  I was already imagining the sprawling old homestead with dark nooks and hidden corners.  There is a graveyard in the grounds (never a good sign) and the basement gives Katherine the chills when she needs to venture down in the dark.

The author builds up the anticipation around the secrets of Alston House really well and even before the really weird stuff kicks in there is a definite sense of foreboding. The first unusual incidents manifest themselves around the paintings which Katherine produces – she becomes so lost in the creative process she cannot even remember some of the details she includes. It is not long before the paintings are just a small part of the shocks which lie in store.

Katherine is befriended by the local marshall who is also trying to match-make her with his younger colleague Bradley. As events in her new home become increasingly dangerous for Katherine she relies more and more upon the support of Bradley and there is more than a spark of romance in the air.  However, one former resident of Alston House wants Katherine for himself and he will not let anything, not even the grave, stand in his way.  As Katherine gains greater understanding of the horrors which ocurred in her home many years earlier she realises a confrontation is looming – one she may not survive.

I always enjoy swapping out my crime reading to take in a good horror tale and The Corruption of Alston House helped me out my lockdown reading slump.  Horror readers should have this one in their collection.

 

 

The Corruption of Alston House is available in paperback and digital format and is free to Kindle Unlimited readers.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0826TT1HH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

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February 19

All The Little Lies – Chris Curran

After a lifetime of secrets how far would you go for the truth?

An unputdownable new psychological thriller, full of twists you won’t see coming, from Chris Curran.

Your whole life has been a lie…

One email is all it takes to turn Eve’s world upside down. It contains a picture of her true birth mother, Stella, and proves that Eve’s entire life with her adoptive parents has been a lie.

Now she must unravel the mystery of Stella’s dark past. But what Eve finds will force her to take enormous risks, which put her – and her new-born baby – in immediate danger…

 

I purchased this book with the intention of providing a review.

Eve is an expectant mum-to-be when a friend emails her an article about a young artist who created a brief stir in the art-world several years ago.  The artist in question was on the cusp of greatness when she met a tragic end and died under mysterious circumstances.

Eve had never heard of the artist but when she looked at the photograph which accompanied the article there could be no doubt that this was Eve’s mother. She immediately wants answers – why did her adoptive parents not tell her about her real mother?  What happened that her mother died so young?  Why are the circumstances of her death considered to be mysterious?

This is a terrific family drama story from Chris Curran. Working with a small cast of characters we follow Eve as she starts trying to find out what happened to her birth mother – a stranger to Eve but surprisingly well known to her foster parents.

As you may expect there are consequences to raking up long forgotten stories and the more that Eve discovers the more she realises that her family have kept secrets from her.  But additional dangers lurk…

Eve’s mother, Stella, died under mysterious circumstances and the reader gets to spend time with Stella seeing how the last days and weeks of her life played out. Will someone who knew Stella now look to prevent Eve from digging into the circumstances surrounding Stella’s death? It is a very real possibility and Eve and her family are in more danger than they may realise.

I do enjoy domestic dramas when they are as well told as All The Little Lies. You know everyone is keeping secrets, you know some are deliberately telling lies. Can you work out where the truth is to be found?  I’d strongly urge you to read All The Little Lies to find out!

 

 

All The Little Lies is published by Killer Reads and is available in paperback and digital format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Little-Lies-unputdownable-psychological-ebook/dp/B07K23KH3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550530059&sr=8-1&keywords=all+the+little+lies

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April 8

The Stolen Child – Sanjida Kay

 

Zoe and Ollie Morley tried for years to have a baby and couldn’t. They turned to adoption and their dreams came true when they were approved to adopt a little girl from birth. They named her Evie.

Seven years later, the family has moved to Yorkshire and grown in number: a wonderful surprise in the form of baby Ben. As a working mum it’s not easy for Zoe, but life is good.

But then Evie begins to receive letters and gifts.

The Stolen ChildThe sender claims to be her birth father.

He has been looking for his daughter.

And now he is coming to take her

 

My thanks to Kirsty at Atlantic Books for my review copy

 

Last year I read Sanjida Kay’s debut novel, Bone By Bone, and it messed with my head. Bone By Bone tells an intense story which focusses heavily on bullying and the impact that it can have. Despite all the terrible things I read about in the many dozens of crime thrillers I read each year, I find it hardest to read about bullies. Sanjida Kay did an amazing job of crafting a story around bullying which drew me in and kept me reading – I had to see how the story would be resolved.

Spin forward to yesterday morning and I don’t mind admitting that I was more than a little wary of picking up Sanjida Kay’s new novel: The Stolen Child.  Yup that DID say “yesterday morning”  I poured through The Stolen Child in superfast time as Sanjida has written another nail-biting emotional rollercoaster of a novel.

Zoe and Ollie adopted Evie 7 years ago. The story actually opens when Evie’s mother goes into labour – early. A tricky birth and a spell in intensive care for a baby, could this have had some impact upon Evie’s behaviour as when we meet her (aged 7) she appears a flighty, distracted girl?  Zoe is struggling to cope with the demands of young children, managing a home, trying to find time to work on her painting and she has, in Ollie, a husband who appears more focussed on work than his family. It is not an uncommon situation but Sanjida Kay brings the reader into the family home and exposes all their insecurities and weak moments.

As is indicated in the book description, Evie is receiving notes which appear to come from her father. Zoe finds the notes and the family face the challenge of explaining to a headstrong child that she was adopted. Evie’s reaction is initially one of acceptance, however, when her temper is raised she starts to lash out at Zoe and indicates that she want’s her “real” family.  Once again Sanjida Kay has a story which unsettles and I can honestly say that during the course of the book I was empathising with almost all of the characters at some point (and wanting to give them a stern talking to at others).

There are loads of discussion points which could arise from The Stolen Child and after this review I have some possible topics for consideration – this book is a dream for reading groups.

 

The Stolen Child is published by Corvus, is available now in paperback and digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stolen-Child-Sanjida-Kay/dp/1782396918/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491607094&sr=1-1&keywords=sanjida+kay

 

Book Club Questions:

  • What do you think about the attraction between Zoe and Harris?
  • Sanjida KayWho do you think is the best person for Zoe to be with – Ollie or Harris?
  • How does Ollie and Zoe’s marriage and their relationship change as the
    novel progresses?
  • Zoe says she feels almost like a single mum at times. Do you think this
    is true for many modern-day families?
  • Zoe is trying to be an artist. How hard to you think it is for her, and
    women like her, to juggle creativity and motherhood?
  • The novel is set in Ilkley, with some of the key scenes taking place on
    Ilkley Moor. Do you think such a large expanse of wilderness can be
    strange and frightening?
  • What do you think of the relationship between Jack and Evie?
    How do you feel Zoe and Ollie handled Evie’s adoption? Do you think
    she’s simply a ‘quirky child’ as Ollie does, or has she been damaged by
    her biological mother?
  • Zoe initially thinks that Harris is not from Ilkley. Later she and the police
    make some key assumptions about him based on what they believe
    about his religion and ethnicity. What role does race play in this novel?
    The title of the novel comes from a poem by WB Yeats, also called, The
    Stolen Child. How much of an influence do you think fairy tales, like the
    one described in Yeat’s poem, play in the novel?
  • Sanjida Kay has said that one of her favourite books is Emily Brontë’s
    Wuthering Heights. Can you see the novel’s influence on The Stolen
    Child?
  • Were you surprised by the ending?

 

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