BLOG TOUR ~ The Passengers by John Marrs

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for The Passengers by John Marr where I have a review of John's latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers who organised this tour in conjunction with Penguin Random House and Ebury 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:

Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide.

Driverless cars are safe, aren't they?? Driverless cars are unhackable, aren't they?? WRONG!! When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course.

The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife - and parents of two - who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?

Well, where do I start with this apart from saying I absolutely LOVED it. I don't want to say too much about the plot or expand on it above as I'll be afraid that I'll give something away. But I will say having loved the One by John Marrs, I was delighted to be able to read this latest one. I read it at break neck speed, I couldn't put it down. It was full of twists and turns which will keep your attention and you guessing right until the end. There is the storyline from The One in this book too but this book is a standalone and can be read that way too. I'm sure this book will stick in all our minds because of the storyline as I'm sure we've all read and heard about some incidents about driverless cars and after reading this book I definitely won't be getting a driverless car anytime soon but i would LOVE to see this been made into a film or tv series.

The Passengers is available from all good bookshops from May 16th, libraries, on audio and available on kindle where it is currently £0.99 at the time of publication of this review.

The best thriller I've read so far this year. Go and get a copy, you won't be disappointed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

BLOG TOUR ~ Dark Sky Island by Lara Dearman

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Dark Sky Island by Lara Dearman where I've a review of her latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers who organised this tour in conjunction with Trapeze and Orion Publishing Group 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:

Sark is a tiny island that lies isolated in the dark waters of the Channel Islands. No cars are allowed. No streetlamps light its paths. It is the world’s only Dark Sky Island. This breathtaking patch of land seems the picture of tranquility―but at its heart lies a web of murder, deceit, and hidden danger. 

When bones are discovered on Derrible Bay and an elderly resident is violently murdered, DCI Michael Gilbert from the nearby island of Guernsey is called in to tackle the case. With his department under fire, he needs to find the killer―and fast. Joining him is newspaper reporter Jennifer Dorey, whose father died in a mysterious drowning off the island. As Michael struggles to crack the case and Jennifer launches her own investigation, the island’s residents are left reeling and soon, their dark secrets begin to unravel threatening everything. 

On an island steeped in superstition, where tales of hauntings and devil craft abound, Michael and Jenny race to discover the truth in Dark Sky Island, the second tantalizing installment of Lara Dearman’s Jennifer Dorey mysteries.

I really enjoyed this book, full of mystery and suspense with a real dark atmospheric setting where I could feel the winds howling at times in my mind. This story also raised my heartbeat on more than one occasion. Set in Sark which is off the coast of Guernsey and with only a population of 450, which is somewhere I wouldn't mind living with such a small population. We also follow Jennifer's search for the truth into her father's accidental death with circumstances that she doesn't believe are true, are these deaths connected and will she find out the truth?? 

Dark Sky Island is Lara Dearman’s follow-up to the first Jennifer Dorey mystery, The Devils Claw. I didn't realise that this was the second book in the series but can be read without reading the first one, although there were a few references to the first book so I will definitely go back and read the first in the series and I'm hoping that this isn't the last we hear from Jennifer and Michael.

Dark Sky Island is definitely going to find fans in readers of Susie Steiner and Sharon Bolton. If you've watched certain TV series like The Bay, Unforgotten and Broadchurch you will certainly love this series too.

Dark Sky Island is available in all good book shops, libraries, audio and on Kindle where it is currently £3.99 at the time off publication of this review and The Devil's Claw is £1.99 if you wanted to make a start on the series. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

BLOG TOUR ~ Picture of Innocence by TJ Stimson

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Picture of Innocence by TJ Stimson where I've an extract from her 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:

Lucas had told her to let the baby cry. That’s why they had been arguing. Lucas had told her to leave Noah. It was just colic, he’d grow out of it – Come on, Maddie, just leave him …

And then her memory simply snapped in half, like a spool of tape at the end of the reel. 

She exhaled in frustration. She had no way of knowing if she and Lucas had argued five minutes or five hours ago. The doctor said her memory lapses were normal, the product of exhaustion and the pills she was on. Nothing to worry about, he said. Nothing to do with what had happened before. She had three children, two of them under three: of course she was tired! Of course she forgot things! It’d all sort itself out if she was patient.

But it was happening more and more often: whole blocks of time, lost for good. It’d started around the time she’d found out she was expecting Noah, and had got worse in the nine weeks since his birth. No one watching her would notice there was anything wrong. She didn’t collapse or black out. But suddenly, in the middle of doing something, she would find she couldn’t remember what had just happened. A few seconds, or a few minutes of her life, gone forever. Her memory stuttered and skipped like a home movie, with blank spaces where pivotal scenes should be.

All she could remember tonight was the baby screaming, Lucas rolling away from her in frustration … 

Noah wasn’t screaming now.

Galvanised by fear, she sat up and switched on the nightlight. She’d been holding him in her arms, but they were empty now. He wasn’t in his cot, he wasn’t on the floor. She couldn’t see him. She leaped up from the chair in panic, and then she saw him, crushed against the back of the seat. Somehow, he’d slipped out of her arms and become wedged between her hip and the side of the rocking chair, his vulnerable head pressed against the wooden spindles. Terror flooded her as she crouched on the floor and pulled his limp body onto her lap. His eyes were closed, his face still and pale, except for the vivid red imprint of the chair on his cheek.

BLOG TOUR ~ Twisted by Steve Cavanagh

Hi everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Twisted where I have a review of Steve's latest novel. I was thrilled to be asked by Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers who organised this tour in conjunction with Orion 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 this review so without further ado, here it is:

BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS:

1. The police are looking to charge me with murder.

2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.

3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for you next.

After you've read this book, you'll know: the truth is far more twisted......

As most of you know from people either talking about Twisted or you've seen the campaign through social media, you've definitely heard about JT LeBeau in some way but who exactly are they?

Are they a best-selling crime writer, whose words have gripped the world?

The only mystery greater than his stories is his true identity.

One woman thinks she's found him - her husband has millions in the bank and a letter for the enigmatic author.

But the truth is far more twisted than the title....

Well, where do I start about Twisted, other than saying I absolutely LOVED it, I don't want to say too much about it in case I say something I shouldn't apart from that it's a stand alone thriller away from the Eddie Flynn collection although he does get a mention where a smile did creep across my face while reading it. Just when you think you're working out what's going to happen something is thrown in and the story gets Twisted on it's head again, many the time I thought I was smart and worked it out and then a red herring is thrown into your path. This book is full of brilliant twists and turns, more than you'd experience on a rollercoaster and it's definitely twistier than a Tangle Twister. Just go and get it immediately and read it, you won't be disappointed.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

BLOG TOUR ~ My Sister's Lies by S.D. Robertson

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for My Sister's Lies by S.D. Robertson where I've an 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:

‘I think I’ll head to bed and read for a bit, Mum,’ Mia said after they’d finished eating. She looked across the dining table, first at Hannah and then Mark, adding: ‘Would it be all right for me to have a shower first?’

‘Of course,’ Hannah replied, even though the question hadn’t ultimately felt directed at her. ‘You know where the bathroom is. Help yourself to a towel from the pile in there and feel free to use whatever toiletries you need. The shower is pretty straightforward, but give me a shout if you need any help.’

She smiled at her niece, who pursed her lips and muttered, ‘Thanks,’ in response.

Mia still hadn’t shown much sign of coming out of her shell – at least not to Hannah. Mark, on the other hand, had had some success at getting the teenager to chat when he’d started asking her about what kinds of TV shows and films she liked. They’d both seen a lot of the Marvel superhero movies, apparently. Plus they shared an affection for this weird, nerdy cartoon about space, time travel and that kind of thing. Hannah had seen Mark watch it a few times and dismissed it as nonsense. She couldn’t remember what it was called, but it definitely wasn’t her cup of tea. Neither was the Marvel stuff, to be honest.

Her ears had pricked up, however, at Mia’s mention of reading. This was much more her field than Mark’s, who rarely found time to read anything but the paper these days. So before her niece disappeared from the dining room, she asked her what she was reading.

‘Oh, you wouldn’t have heard of it,’ Mia replied.

‘Try me,’ Hannah said, throwing Mark a glare designed to remind him not to say anything about the upcoming release of her own novel, which she’d warned him not to mention in front of Diane. It wasn’t something she was ready to share with her yet.

BLOG TOUR - Envy by Amanda Robson

Hi Everyone,

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for Envy by Amanda Robson where I've an extract from her 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:

I watch you every day, walking past my flat on the way to the school drop-off, holding your older daughter’s hand, pushing the younger one along in the buggy. Sometimes strolling and chatting. Sometimes rushing. Usually wearing your gym kit. Judging by your body shape, your commitment to exercise is worth it. I wish I had a figure like yours.

Your older daughter has gappy teeth and straggly hair. Nowhere near as pretty as you. Your husband must have diluted the gene pool. The younger one, the toddler, is always asleep in the buggy. She looks to have stronger hair, and a chubbier face. I would have loved to have children, but I’ve never been in the right relationship.

I envy you, and have from the first moment I saw you scurry past. A moment I recall so well. I was bored. I had nothing to do but look out of my front window, and watch the world go by. Three p.m. Parents rushing to the primary school at pickup time. Parents, nannies, and then you. The woman I would look like if I could, moving past me. The image of my mother from my only remaining photograph. So similar you made me hold my breath.

A few days ago, when you dropped your gym card, I finally found out that your name is Faye Baker. You didn’t notice it fall from the back pocket of your jeans as you tightened your laces, did you? As you turned in to the school gates I left my flat, and crossed the road to pick it up. Later that day I handed it in to the school reception. Were you grateful, Faye?