September 21

The Interview – C.M. Ewan

It’s 5 p.m. on a Friday.

You have been called to an interview for your dream job.

In a stunning office thirteen floors above the city below, you are all alone with the man interviewing you.

Everyone else has gone home for the weekend.

The interview gets more and more disturbing.

You’re feeling scared.

Your only way out is to answer a seemingly impossible question.

If you can’t . . . what happens next?

 

I received a review copy through Netgalley

 

Kate has an interview. Friday evening 5pm and the opportunity to take on a new position which will allow her to move on in her life after a period of trauma and turbulence.

She meets Maggie, her recruiting agent, for a pep talk before the interview and the pair agree to meet afterwards for a debrief so they can assess how the interview went. As the hour draws near Kate is psyched, ready to impress and determined the job will be hers. If you have ever attended an interview in the past you will likely appreciate the anxiety Kate is feeling and the author conveys her apprehension well.

The book opens with a bit of background into Kate, her current job and her aspirations. Just enough detail to leave a thread of intrigue dangling. There’s something in Kate’s history which she is keen to leave behind her, a huge incident that she has had to take some time to deal with and now it appears she is ready to make changes.

Whether she will be given the job will depend on Joel. He is a dark horse, an interviewer who is hard to read and he takes a somewhat unorthodox appeoach to his questionning. Joel is about to put Kate through an interview she will never forget.

C.M. Ewan is a master at spinning an unpredictable and entertaining thrill-fest so I will not be doing much more in this review in terms of describing what unfolds when Kate’s interview begins. What I will address is the first question I had….Is this whole book about two people chatting through an interview?  No – there’s a lot more going on than a grilling over a table top. Once events start to slip away from Kate and the balance of power moves to Joel this book will reach out and grab you, there will be no escape until you know how everything gets resolved.

A story you can slip into and let events take you along for the ride. It will keep you reading long past the point you should have settled down to sleep. C.M. Ewan knows how to tell a good story and The Interview is another fine example of this.

 

The Interview is new to paperback and is available in digital and audiobook. You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09H7HMYYP/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

 

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December 12

A Window Breaks – C.M. Ewan

If your family was targeted in the middle of the night, what would you do?

You are asleep. A noise wakes you.
You stir, unsure why, and turn to your partner.
Then you hear it.
Glass. Crunching underfoot.
Your worst fears are about to be realized.
Someone is inside your home.
Your choices are limited.
You can run. Or stay and fight.
What would you do?

 

I received a copy of A Window Breaks from the publisher through Netgalley.

 

Reading A Window Breaks is like riding a rollercoaster.  You purchase your ticket (buy the book) and climb into the car (start reading).  As your rollercoaster car starts to move you are filled with the anticipation of the shocks, twists and surprises that will soon follow.

But rollercoasters don’t just launch you into those breakneck speeds or hurl you round a sharp twist – there is a period of build up as you winch up an incline, the car getting ready for that point where you are tipped over the edge of a shocking drop and the real rush begins.

When reading A Window Breaks there is the same steady winch period where the reader gets introduced to the family at the heart of the story. You have time to take in your surroundings and get comfortable while out of sight there are cogs whirring and slowly drawing you to the top of the incline.

Then in the story A Window Breaks.

That is the point where this book tips you over the edge of that first rollercoaster incline and you, as a reader, are plummeting forward on an unstoppable thrill ride of twists, shocks and surprises.  It is an adrenaline filled rush and you will not want to get off the ride are you are now fully committed to the whole experience.  You can’t stop, you are compelled to keep moving forward, drawn along by the events which are unfolding and you want to be there at the end so you can proudly proclaim “I did it” and then you will recommend to your friends that they make the same journey and read A Window Breaks.  It’s a rush.

So what’s the story actually about?  Well I can tell you some of it but not too much as that takes us too deep into spoiler territory and I am not keen to do that.  A Window Breaks follows a family who have endured too much personal trauma of recent times.  The Sullivan family were originally a family of 4, the eldest son has recently died in a car crash (the car taken before he was legally entitled to drive). Parents Tom and Rachel are devastated and start to drift apart, their young daugher is keeping them together. Then further trauma occurs – a mugging as they leave a work event sees daughter, Holly, receive a nasty injury and the fragile family security takes another impact.

To allow healing time Tom, Rachel and Holly are invited to spend a few days in a remote lodge in the Scottish Highlands. The idyllic retreat will allow them time to relax and hopefully repair some of the cracks which have appeared in Tom and Rachel’s marriage. All seems well…until A Window Breaks.

I really, really enjoyed the latest thriller from C.M (Chris) Ewan.  He can take the reader through an emotional wringer and his plots always carry a satisfying punch. Definite five star read for me, a proper page turner.

 

A Window Breaks is currently available in digital format and will release in paperback on 20 February 2020.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Window-Breaks-Nerve-shredding-Pulse-racing-Thriller-ebook/dp/B07S1TS6L6/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1575661790&refinements=p_27%3AC.+M.+Ewan&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=C.+M.+Ewan

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