Saturday 7 December 2019

BLOG TOUR: Silent Winter - Maggie James


No sound.  No light.  No hope.

On an icy November night, Drew Blackmore is beaten unconscious, then abducted.  He awakes to find himself in total darkness, naked and chained to the floor.  Fed just enough to keep him alive, Drew is unable to identify his captor, or the reason for his incarceration. As reality fades, hallucinations take over. Can Drew escape his prison before madness claims him?

Meanwhile Drew's wife, Holly, despairing of ever seeing him again, turns to his brother for comfort. As the worst winter in decades sweeps the UK, she learns of Drew's tragic past. Could his disappearance be connected with that of a prostitute years before?

A story of how the mind responds to solitary confinement, Silent Winter examines one man's desperate attempt to survive the unthinkable.


What did I think?

Who knew Maggie James had such a dark and twisted imagination?  Maggie James' new novel, Silent Winter, is so very dark, especially in contrast to the crisp white snow on the cover.  It's a book that doesn't so much get under your skin as worm its way into your brain due to the fascinating subject matter of solitary confinement.

When Holly's husband, Drew, doesn't return home from work one night she knows something is seriously wrong and calls Drew's brother, Todd.  Todd thinks Drew has just gone for a few drinks to blow off steam and will return home full of remorse the following day.  When Drew doesn't return and the days turn to weeks they wonder whether Drew has walked away from his marriage voluntarily.

Meanwhile, the reader is party to the secret of Drew's abduction.  As if it isn't bad enough to be kept in a makeshift prison, Drew is deprived of sights and sounds; he is kept in the dark and his captor doesn't utter a word to him.  Drew has no idea why he has been targeted and there are several threads to untangle before the reader can even find that out.

There are so many layers to this story that kept my eyes glued to the page: Holly and Drew's marriage, Holly and Todd's history, Todd and Drew's dark family secret and the captor's motivation.  Most of all, I was fascinated by the sensory deprivation that Drew suffered in captivity.  It was interesting to see how the brain reacts to such things and I wondered how long I would last without stimulation; probably not long at all if I had no books!

Silent Winter is an outstanding book that reminds me of a boxing match; it packs a big punch at the beginning, keeps the reader on their toes throughout until the final knockout blow at the end.  Maggie James has really raised the bar in the psychological thriller genre with this exceptional and unforgettable book.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:


Buy it from Amazon



About the author:

Maggie James is a British author who lives near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She writes psychological suspense novels.

Before turning her hand to writing, Maggie worked mainly as an accountant, with a diversion into practising as a nutritional therapist. Diet and health remain high on her list of interests, along with travel. Accountancy does not, but then it never did. The urge to pack a bag and go off travelling is always lurking in the background! When not writing, going to the gym, practising yoga or travelling, Maggie can be found seeking new four-legged friends to pet; animals are a lifelong love!




Social media links:

Maggie James – psychological suspense novelist
Website and blog: www.maggiejamesfiction.com
Twitter: @mjamesfiction
Amazon: Maggie James



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2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for being on the blog tour today Michelle and for the wonderful review x

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  2. Thank you for the wonderful review - makes me very happy! :-)

    ReplyDelete