August 2

Zero Days – Ruth Ware

Her husband has been murdered and she’s the only suspect. What should she do?

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband Gabe are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. It soon becomes clear that the police have only one suspect in mind – her.

Jack must go on the run to try and clear her name and to find her husband’s real killer. But who can she trust when everyone she knows could be a suspect? And with the police and the killer after her, can Jack get to the truth before her time runs out?

 

I received a review copy from the publishers. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the tour for Zero Days

 

I’ve never met a Ruth Ware book I didn’t like. These are books I actively seek out as I know the likely outcome is that I am going to be gripped for a few hours while wrapped in a a world created by a wonderful storyteller. Zero Days did exactly what I had expected – great story with a lead character I was fully invested in and rooting for them to overcome all the challenges she was facing.

Because I knew I’d be reading Zero Days I purposefully did not read the blurb and went in “cold”. The story opens with Jack Cross breaking into an office. It’s straight into the action as Jack is finding her way through the fence, over a wall or any seeking any possible route which will take her to the building she needs to enter. Guiding Jack’s progress and offering “helpful” advice is her husband – Gabe. He is at home and communicating with Jack waiting for her to infiltrate the target building and access their computer systems, that’s when his skills come to the fore as Gabe is a computer expert.

Despite their illegal endeavours the couple are breaking and entering with a valid reason. They are penetration specialists, routinely engaged by firms who challenge them to break into offices and stress-test their secuity protocols. Ideally their customers are hoping Gabe and Jack will fail but Jack seems to love the excitement of sneaking into buildings and snooping where she knows she’s not meant to be.

Jack’s having a good deal of success and manages to evade security guards and slip past doors which are meant to be secure but when she reaches the computer servers her good fortune wavers and Jack’s evening and her life will slide into chaotic dispair. While trying to access the server room Jack makes a mistake and alerts secuity to her presence. She flees the scene (Gabe on comms tying to help her) but she is caught and finds herself being escorted to the local police station. While this is not a new experience for Jack, her bad luck continues as their client is not contactable at 1am and she finds it hard to get someone to clarify to the police she is legitimately entitled to break into the building she was fleeing from.

Finally released from custody Jack returns home to the ultimate nightmare. She finds Gabe dead at his computer…murdered. Stunned into a shocked stupor Jack finally manages to pull herself together enough to call the police. However it soon becomes clear to Jack that SHE is the primary suspect in her husband’s murder. When it becomes clear to Jack the police are not listening to her claims of innocence she seizes the opportunity to escape from the police station where she’s being questioned and goes on the run.

But Jack can’t run forever. She needs to know what happened to Gabe. Why did his killer take some of his computer equipment? And, most importantly, how can she convince the police she isn’t a murderer?

Those questions are not going to be answered here – this is a spoiler-free zone and Ruth Ware has provided all the answers and much more besides in Zero Days. Best you grab a copy and find out more about Jack’s story for yourself.

What I can promise is that this is a pacy action thriller that will keep you turning the pages long into the night. Jack has few people she can turn to and the police know this so her options are severely limited. Her skills at infiltrating places she’s not meant to be will undoubtedly come in handy but how can she know where she needs to be? Ruth Ware skilfully takes Jack and her readers on a journey of discovery and shock revelations and it’s fabulous reading.

Another fantastic thriller from an author you really shouldn’t miss.

 

Zero Days is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. It is published by and you can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/zero-days/ruth-ware/9781398508392

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August 15

The IT Girl – Ruth Ware

Everyone wanted her life
Someone wanted her dead

It was Hannah who found April’s body ten years ago.
It was Hannah who didn’t question what she saw that day.
Did her testimony put an innocent man in prison?

She needs to know the truth.

Even if it means questioning her own friends.
Even if it means putting her own life at risk.

Because if the killer wasn’t a stranger, it’s someone she knows…

 

 

Ruth Ware always delivers! The IT Girl is another clever, twisty thriller which takes the reader deep into the lives of the characters and has you wondering which of the players in this drama can be considered trustworthy as the moving finger of accusation slides around seeking the rotten apple in the barrel.

This is Hannah’s story – the “then” and the “now” – events take place in present day where Hannah the bookseller in Edinburgh is expecting her first child and has just received some shocking news. But it is also Hannah’s story of “then” when, ten years ago, she was a new student at Oxford and finds herself sharing rooms with April.

April who died.

April who was murdered by the man that Hannah’s testimony helped put into prison.

The man who has died in prison.

The man that a journalist now suggests may have been innocent.

Hannah is tormented with the possibility she may have been instrumental in sending an innocent man to prison and she begins to reevaluate everything she saw on the fateful night April died. However we know from the “then” timeline that the man charged with April’s murder wasn’t quite so innocent and Hannah had some concerns over his behaviour. Watching the history of Hannah’s time at a Oxford play out while also reading of the consequences of everyone’s actions is fascinating and makes for an intense read.

The chapters flip between past and present and Ruth Ware’s control over the flow of facts and information is spectacular. You can’t know what will be important, misleading or character defining for Hannah and her friends so, as a reader, my opinion of characters and their level of guilt would wildly fluctuate on a regular basis.

If you want a book which will spirit you into the seemingly incomprehensible traditions and lifestyles of  students Oxford Uni then The IT Girl will show you how a gaggle of students cope (or don’t) with the death of one of their own. You may like or loathe some of the people but you will absolutely want to know what happens to them and that keeps the pages turning.

You can’t go wrong with a Ruth Ware thriller!

 

The IT Girl is published by Simon & Schuster and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-it-girl/ruth-ware/9781398508354

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July 30

The Death of Mrs Westaway – Ruth Ware

When Harriet Westaway receives an unexpected letter telling her she’s inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother, it seems like the answer to her prayers. She owes money to a loan shark and the threats are getting increasingly aggressive: she needs to get her hands on some cash fast.

There’s just one problem – Hal’s real grandparents died more than twenty years ago. The letter has been sent to the wrong person. But Hal knows that the cold-reading techniques she’s honed as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way to getting the money. If anyone has the skills to turn up at a stranger’s funeral and claim a bequest they’re not entitled to, it’s her.

Hal makes a choice that will change her life for ever. But once she embarks on her deception, there is no going back. She must keep going or risk losing everything, even her life…

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

 

The Death of Mrs Westaway is one of those reading gems where you can just give yourself over to the story. Ruth Ware will take you into the life of Harriet (Hal) Westaway and you will want to follow her and learn her fate.

Hal is living on a breadline. She is telling fortunes, reading tarot on the seaside pier and living in a small flat which she can ill afford. She has borrowed money from a local lone-shark and the interest is ramping up, so much soat someone has been sent to meet Hal to “encourage” her to pay up.

With things looking grim a ray of salvation lands on her doorstep.  Hal has been identified as the beneficiary of her grandmother’s estate, she needs to go go Cornwall to claim her inheritance.  Only problem…the deceased woman cannot be Hal’s grandmother so Hal should not be claiming any bequeathment.

Readers can follow Hal’s predicament and if you feel that the choices she makes are not appropriate then it creates a moral dilemma for the reader.  As we see Hal’s choices start to generate problems she could not have foreseen will you find any empathy for her predicament?

A great story is guaranteed with Ruth Ware and The Death of Mrs Westaway is no exception. Definitely a book to seek out and I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The Death of Mrs Westaway is published by Vintage and is available in hardback, digital and audio format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Mrs-Westaway-Ruth-Ware-ebook/dp/B075MTRJ9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530549713&sr=8-1&keywords=the+death+of+mrs+westaway

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September 15

Holiday Reads – Part 4

Summer is always a busy time, the long Scottish summer evenings mean that my kids get to stay up a bit later, which then means less time for me to sit with the laptop and catch up on my reviews. To attack the review backlog (and ensure I still get to share my thoughts on the books I have been reading) I am doing a series of shorter posts which will cut back on my waffle and cut to the chase. Or perhaps that should read Cut to the Bone…

 

Cut to the Bone – Alex Caancut-to-the-bone

What I got wrong with Cut to the Bone was that I read it by the pool on my holiday.  It is a dark thriller and deserved a more appropriate atmosphere to really set the mood of the story.

A vlogger has gone missing her fans are distraught (and there are many thousands of them). Investigations led by DI Kate Riley uncover some dark truths of life away from the camera for the darlings of You Tube. We are treated to an engaging tale of internet survival of the fittest, tech talk and cyber trickery all help to make this a quite distinctive story.

Cut to the Bone is a strong police procedural, with a diverse and fascinating ensemble of investigating officers. Alex Caan does not shirk away from graphic and upsetting situations for his characters and this carries the story along leaving the reader constantly wondering where trouble will land next.

On a personal note I had a bit of trouble differentiating between the characters as I read (again I am blaming the holiday distractions) so I would recommend giving Cut to the Bone the full attention it deserves. Not having a memory like a goldfish will also give you the edge over me!

I have no qualms recommending Cut to the Bone to the crime readers and I hope that Alex will bring Kate Riley back for more.

 

Nomad – James Swallow

nomadThis is a story which opens with a bang and keeps the reader gripped throughout.

Marc Dane works for MI6 – although he normally operates from behind a keyboard providing tech support to the advanced tactical units of his team – he is also quite handy at looking after himself. This comes in very handy when the operation he is engaged in suddenly goes horribly wrong and his team are wiped out.

Marc has to escape the area before his position is discovered and then try to piece together what may have gone wrong.

Nomad is pure action adventure. If you like your stories fast paced and are a fan of the Bourne stories or Homeland then you are in for a treat with this book.

 

The Woman in Cabin 10 – Ruth Ware

woman-in-cabin-10The most Agatha Christie-esk book that I have picked up for many a year.

Lo Blacklock comes home and finds herself confronted by a masked intruder in her home.  Badly shaken and more than a little traumatised by the incident Lo (a journalist) finds herself on assignment on a luxury yacht.  Can she keep herself together and relax in the splendour of one of the most exclusive cruises money can buy? Can she successfully grasp the opportunity to enhance her career by interviewing the multi-millionaire that owns the boutique cruise ship and submit a suitably gushing article for her bosses?

Well possibly not. On the first night on board Lo thinks she sees the woman in the cabin next to her throw a body overboard.  However, next morning Lo discovers that the cabin next door is actually empty and that all the guests and crew are  fully accounted for. But Lo knows that there was definitely a woman in the “empty” cabin – Lo had spoken with her. Did she imagine seeing a body?  Did she imagine meeting a woman in the empty cabin?  Did someone wipe away the bloodstain that Lo thinks she saw?  And most alarmingly for traumatised Lo…has someone been in her cabin?

Ruth Ware totally hooked me with this story, a traditional whodunit that I could not read fast enough.

 

 

 

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August 18

In A Dark, Dark Wood – Ruth Ware

In A Dark Dark WoodSomeone’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 21st 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.

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