BLOG TOUR ~ A Gift For Dying by M.J. Arlidge

Hi everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for A Gift For Dying by M.J. Arlidge where I have a review of M.J.'s latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers who organised this tour in conjunction with Angela McMahon, Penguin UK and Michael Joseph to take part along with some other fab book bloggers. You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour at the end of this review so without further ado, here it is:

A Gift For Dying is set in Chicago (where I'd love to visit one day), we are introduced to Adam Brandt, a forensic psychologist who is well used to dealing with the most damaged members of society. Adam seems to have it all, a beautiful home, a wife and a baby on the way, he has the perfect life, that is until he meets Kassie and he's never met anyone like her before in his line of work.

Kassie is a troubled teenager who claims to have a terrible gift - with one look into your eyes, she can see when and how you will die. Adam knows Kassie must be insane. But then a serial killer hits the city and only Kassie seems to know where he'll strike next, against all his suspicions Adam starts to believe her but he just doesn't realise how deadly his faith might prove. Then when Kassie accidentally bumps into someone on the street and “sees” their fast approaching murder she tries to intervene but this only brings her to the attention and under suspicion with the police.

I'm a huge fan of MJ Arlidge's writing when I was recommended to read his first novel in the DI Helen Grace series, Eeny Meeny which I absolutely adored and from there I quickly started to love the books I've read so far in the series (I've a few more to read) but besides that I was delighted to hear the there was another new novel coming out and that it was a stand alone novel too. The serial killer/sociopath character was absolutely brilliant, very well written and cleverly constructed. They were everything you'd expect with a sociopath - cold, calculating, manipulating and has no regard for anyone's feelings or who they hurt on their path of destruction.

I enjoyed this novel immensely, it was absolutely brilliant, very gorey in parts so you may need a strong stomach and remember to breathe also but this is what makes the novel. At times, I could feel I was right there with the victims and I will admit that I found parts of the story hard to read and in places it made my skin crawl but it definitely didn't disappoint. It was a spine-chilling , pulse pounding, heart thumping rollercoaster ride. I know that his book will stick in my memory longer than most because of the subject matter that was involved and especially that ending which I definitely wasn't expecting either. I am really looking forward to MJ's next book already where I'm hoping it won't be too long until another novel regardless of whether it's the next DI Grace in the series or another stand-alone is upon us.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

BLOG TOUR ~ Keep Her Close by M.J. Ford

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Keep Her Close by M.J. Ford where I've an exclusive extract from his latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Sabah Khan from Avon Books to take part along with some other fab book bloggers. You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour at the end of the review so without further ado, here it is:

‘It’s a beautiful house,’ said the young woman.

‘Oh – it’s not mine,’ said Jo quickly, as they walked inside. ‘My brother’s on holiday.’ She let the estate agent past as well, then turned to go. ‘I’ll leave you to it?’

‘Do you have to rush off?’ he said. ‘I’m sure Mr and Mrs Daley might have some questions.’

‘Oh . . . sure,’ said Jo, with little enthusiasm. She followed them in. The house was immaculate inside – Amelia had hired professional cleaners to keep on top of things while they rented in central Oxford. Most of the furniture had been moved out already. There’d never really been any question of them staying here, not after what had happened just a stone’s throw from the end of the back garden. The heating was on, but Jo resisted taking off her coat. The sooner she could be on her way again, the better.

‘I’ll take you upstairs first,’ said the estate agent. ‘Save the best parts until the end!’

Jo waited in the entrance hall while the estate agent led the Daleys to the first floor. She heard various exclamations of surprise and delight as they inspected the bedrooms, the family bathroom, and as they came downstairs, both were smiling. They checked the living room, the study, and the under-stairs cupboard before going to the kitchen.

‘Oh wow!’ said the woman. 

Jo drifted in behind them. From the slight tension in the estate agent’s face, Jo guessed he’d been fully briefed on the background to the marketing of The Rookery. The brutal murder of Detective Ben Coombs, not ten feet from where they all stood. The kidnapping of William Masters, her six-year-old nephew, from the upstairs bedroom by a psychopath. With a vague smile pasted across her features, Jo found her eyes drifting to the island, wondering if the cleaners had missed even the tiniest spot of blood. 

BLOG TOUR ~ If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman where I have a review of Hannah's latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers who organised this tour in conjunction with Orion Publishing to take part along with some other fab book bloggers. You can find out who else is taking part in this fabulous Blog Tour at the end of this review so without further ado, here it is:

Well, where do I start with this review? I finished this book about 4 days ago and I'm still unsure if I've got my words right to do this review but here goes....

Audrey's family has fallen apart. She has two grown-up daughters, Lily and Jess but there is one major problem, they are estranged and haven't really seen each other in over three decades. Jess and Lily also have two daughters between them and they have never been allowed to meet either. A huge secret has torn their family in two for over three decades but in another way it's also keeping them together. Audrey's final wish is for both her daughters to reconcile and heal the huge split in the family before it's too late but Audrey has a major secret she's been holding so tight to her chest from everyone including both her daughters for months but will she be able to hold it from them for long??

As tensions reach breaking point, the irrevocable choice that one of them made all those years ago is about to surface. After years of secrets and silence, how can one broken family find their way back to each other?

Well what a beautiful, emotional and thought provoking story, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I went through so many emotions whilst reading it This story had it all from family, love, secrets, lies, guilt, betrayal, friendships and taking risks with more sensitive and hard-hitting issues running through the novel in the background which all intertwine that make this story. They were dealt with perfectly and it was well researched and written in a very sensitive and compassionate manner and by the time I was finished it, I was an emotional wreck, my heart strings were torn apart and I cried for most of the night when I thought about how it all panned out after finishing it.

It is a beautiful story with heart, courage and hope with one of the storylines in it that I do highly agree with and it needs to be talked about more often and hopefully if more people do, maybe things will change?? I don't want to say anymore as I don't want to give anything away by mistake other than go and buy this book and read it, you won't regret it but make sure that you've plenty of tissues.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

If Only I Could Tell You is available in all good bookshops, libraries and on audio and is also available in Kindle where it is currently £7.99 at the time of publication of this review.