gangs – Grab This Book

No More Games – Gordon J Brown

Glasgow, 1974 – a time of power cuts, strikes and the three-day week. Twelve-year-old Ginger Bannerman is playing in the local woods when he stumbles across a gunman in hiding. The man has incriminating evidence of police corruption and forces Ginger to steal a tape recording from a major criminal’s flat. But when Ginger discovers that his dad, a police constable, is mentioned on the tape, his world is turned upside down. With both the gunman and the criminal in hot pursuit, he must prevent the tape falling into the wrong hands if he’s going to save himself and his family. Things have suddenly got very serious.

I was grateful to recieve a review copy from the author

Ginger and Milky are 12 years old. They go to high school in Glasgow and it’s 1974. Best friends who look out for each other and are about to have a life changing encounter.

You’re going to hear about this encounter, and all the subsequent consequences that spiral from it, as someone is reminiscing and telling their story. The storyteller isn’t sure his audience of one (you will be the second listener) will actually stay to hear the whole story but if they do listen there’s a suggestion of a job to be completed at the end of it.

The story begins with a dead body. In Milky and Ginger’s secret den of all places. Milky has found the body and he seeks out his best friend to share the discovery and seek guidance on what they should do. Once they have assured themselves there really IS a dead body in their den neither boy is prepared to approach the dead guy but that problem quickly becomes irrelevant when their corpse wakes up. Terrified and fascinated in equal measure the boys make their high speed escape.

When Milky returns to the den the next day the dead guy is gone but he’s left something behind…a gun. While the boys are debating what to do with a loaded gun (obviously one of them wants to try it out) the “dead guy” returns to collect his property and a standoff ensues. Again the boys will have to escape from an older (and slower) pursuer but speed won’t help when the man you’re running from knows where you live.

Soon Milky and Ginger are being followed by people that want to involve them in affairs outwith their youthful comprehension. Return the gun. Don’t tell your parents. It’s going to end badly for you if you don’t do as we say. Unfortunately for Ginger and Milky there is a suggestion of corruption within the Glasgow police, their encounter with the gunman brings them directly into this situation.

Someone is keen to utilise their knowledge of these corrupt officers, someone else is already paying these officers and wants to continue to benefit from their services. Both parties are powerful and dangerous individuals and two twelve year old boys are not going to disrupt their plans.

Ginger will soon find himself in possession of a tape which could shine a light on the dark corners of the corruption in the police station – but there’s a suggestion his Dad’s name is on that tape. Can Ginger and Milky risk exposing Ginger’s own father as a criminal?

Huge Kudos to Gordon J Brown for making this story sing from first page to last. The scene setting (Glasgow in 1974) is perfectly captured, the rental televisions, the rolling power cuts, the school janitor sneaking a nip of vodka during class time and the two boys behave exactly how you’d expect two twelve year-old’s to behave. It all feels so very real and the story just flows from one predicament to the next.
No More Games was absolutely mesmerising. Time will slide past, totally unnoticed, as you get caught up in Ginger and Milky’s story. Their problems just snowball from chapter to chapter and every decision they make seems to drag them deeper and deeper into the mire. You will want to know who is telling Ginger’s story and you’ll want to know who is listening. You’ll will them to survive, you’ll hope their problems are not as bleak as they appear and you’ll love how 1970’s Glasgow comes alive for you.

No More Games is published by Red Dog Press and is available directly from the publisher here: https://www.reddogpress.co.uk/product-page/no-more-games

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

February 25

Evidence of Death – Peter Ritchie

Billy Nelson is back home in battle-scarred Belfast. But the Troubles have cut this ex-Army Loyalist hard man deep – and now that his city’s allegiances have shifted, nothing is quite the same.

An outbreak of gang violence forces Billy to move on. This time to Edinburgh, where he muscles in on the capital’s drug trade and the family who run it. As the balance of power tips, underworld rivalries between Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast spill out onto the streets.

With a spate of horrific incidents and a trail of victims, the pressure is mounting for Grace Macallan, new superintendent of the Crime & Counter Terrorism Directorate. Troubled by her own demons and with everyone baying for the blood of Billy Nelson and his old paramilitary contacts, can Grace hold her nerve?

My thanks to Lina at Black and White for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

Edinburgh is about to become a battleground as a new gang aim to muscle their way into the city and take over the top spot among the city drug suppliers. As Edinburgh already had a family at the top of the pecking order who were supplying drugs to their needy customers it is safe to assume that things are going to get messy.

Billy Nelson grew up in Belfast. He hated Catholics and, after a life defining incident as a child, he wants to devote his time hurting as many Catholics as he can. His intelligence and focus comes to the attention of the head of Belfast’s most influential crime family. He identifies Billy as a resource to be harnessed and encourages the boy to join the army and learn new skills which he can bring back to Belfast in future. Billy agrees and as readers pick up events in Evidence of Death, Billy is home from the army, discharged after an incident which made it impossible to remain in service. He is changed but remains an angry, focused and dangerous individual.

Billy’s return to Belfast is attracting the wrong sort of attention and he is brought back before the kingpin of Belfast’s underworld and given a choice – head to Edinburgh and set up as the new drug suppliers…or die. Billy heads to Scotland, armed and ready to take out any competition.

What follows, Billy and his gang finding a path to challenge the incumbent suppliers, was gripping, at times harrowing and was what the phrase “page turner” was made for. The callous brutality of their path to power, contrasted brilliantly by the author with the lives they are destroying to there, was terrific.

Although the book is part of the Grace Macallen series (book 2) she very much takes a back seat for the first third of the story. There is no requirement to have read the first book (Cause of Death) as all the backstory is nicely threaded through Evidence but we know Grace is enjoying some much needed rest and recuperation. While she rests the story is building up the various bad guys so that Grace returns from her break as all Hell is about to be unleashed on her turf.

Evidence of Death was a delight to read. It is brutal in places, melancholy in others, the characters so well defined that it made the impact of their respective fates more meaningful for the reader. There are more books to come from Peter Ritchie and Grace’s story will continue – these are stories you should be reading.

Evidence of Death is published by Black & White Publishing and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-Death-Detective-Grace-Macallan-ebook/dp/B079YLC9M1/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1519556336&sr=1-2

Be aware that Evidence of Death is a revised edition and was previously published as The Shortest Days of the Year

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

October 5

Quieter Than Killing – Sarah Hilary

It’s winter, the nights are dark and freezing, and a series of seemingly random assaults is pulling DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jake out onto streets of London. When Marnie’s family home is ransacked, there are signs that the burglary can have only been committed by someone who knows her. Then a child goes missing, yet no-one has reported it. Suddenly, events seem connected, and it’s personal.

Someone out there is playing games. It is time for both Marnie and Noah to face the truth about the creeping, chilling reaches of a troubled upbringing. Keeping quiet can be a means of survival, but the effects can be as terrible as killing.

My thanks to Katie at Headline for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour

Quieter Than Killing is the 4^th book by Sarah Hilary to feature DI Marnie Rome. Each book can be read as a stand-alone novel but what you need to do is make sure you DO read all four books – they are all fantastic.

We readers are blessed with choice when it comes to police procedurals and crime thrillers, yet – for me – the Marnie Rome books stand head and shoulders above the others. Rome is a determined and focused detective who lives in the constant shadow of personal tragedy and it makes her own story utterly compelling.

In Quieter Than Killing, London is in the grip of a bitter winter and Marnie and DS Noah Jake are on the hunt for a violent offender. Someone has targeted three people for a vicious beating – disfiguring injuries have been inflicted and the only obvious link between the victims is that they have each (in the past) served time in prison for violent attacks of their own. Are Marnie and Noah looking for a vigilante? If so then how are they selecting their victims and what possible motive could they have?

Elsewhere the reader gets to see Finn. He is 10 years old and has been plucked from the street and locked into a house from which there seems no escape. His captor, dubbed Brady by Finn, has “rules” which Finn must obey…cooking and cleaning is expected and noise or disobedience are not tolerated. Finn is convinced Brady is a pervert who is planning to murder him, but Brady is keeping his distance and has been keeping Finn alive for several weeks. What does he need with the young boy and how much longer must Finn endure his captivity?

I got to enjoy Quieter Than Killing in audio and I need to give a massive thumbs-up to the narrator Imogen Church who voiced Marnie almost exactly how I had imagined her.

As with all of Sarah Hilary’s books the story is gripping, the clues well hidden and the entertainment is to the max. If you are not already reading these books you damn well should be.

Quieter Than Killing is published by Headline and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quieter-Than-Killing-D-I-Marnie-ebook/dp/B01INGSU68/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1507232613&sr=1-1&keywords=sarah+hilary

Category: 5* Reviews, Audiobook, Blog Tours | Comments Off

March 9

Born Bad – Marnie Riches

The battle is on…

When gang leader Paddy O’Brien is stabbed in his brother’s famous nightclub, Manchester’s criminal underworld is shaken to the core. Tensions are running high, and as the body count begins to grow, the O’Brien family must face a tough decision – sell their side of the city to the infamous Boddlington gang or stick it out and risk losing their king.

But war comes easy to the bad boys, and they won’t go down without a fight. So begins a fierce battle for the South Side, with the leading Manchester gangsters taking the law into their own hands – but only the strongest will survive…

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

One of the reviews where I will cut to the chase…reading Born Bad was a joyous experience, I bloody loved it.

Manchester’s criminal underworld are a volatile crowd and Marnie Riches is going to light the blue touch-paper under these powerful gangs and pit them against each other in a battle for supremacy. It is going to be bloody, the players will be treacherous and, in a world where reputation is everything, nobody can afford to show any weakness.

The story will track multiple characters and their lives will intertwine. At the heart of Born Bad is Paddy O’Brien – he is head of the family and controls one of the gangs. Paddy gets what he wants and expects obedience, particularly from his wife Sheila. Although a powerful woman in her own right, Sheila cannot stand up to the volatile and aggressive behaviour of her husband and their relationship is somewhat strained. But when the opportunity comes for Paddy to get out and leave his enterprise behind both he and Sheila are eyeing up a new start, a clean break.

Needless to say walking away from the lifestyle which has defined him will not be easy and events will appear to conspire against him. A matter of family honour will lead to bloodshed – a hired killer engaged to avenge a perceived wrongdoing. But a death will demand a retaliation and a peaceful exit for Paddy and Sheila looks a bleak prospect.

The multiple focal points in Born Bad keeps the story flowing at a cracking pace. These are not nice people that we are reading about so you can be sure that something unpleasant will soon befall someone (I had such fun trying to predict who may not make it to the end of the chapter).

In a book of bad guys there are clear distinctions between those we are to root for and the really “evil” people we want to see fail. The character interaction is brilliantly handled, humour and empathy meets anger and irrationality and the reactions and responses are exactly how you would expect. The characters drive the story and they are wonderfully realised, without the depth and development that Marnie Riches bestows upon them the emotional engagement would not have been there for me. I believed in the characters and that gave Born Bad the life and vibrancy that a good book needs.

Yeah – I loved it.

Born Bad is published by Avon and is available now in paperback and digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-Bad-Marnie-Riches-ebook/dp/B01KTKEX2Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1489098471&sr=1-1

Category: 5* Reviews, Blog Tours, 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