BLOG TOUR: Someone Who Isn't Me - Danuta Kot

 

When the body of a twenty-four-year-old man is found on Sunk Island, a quiet stretch of land in Yorkshire, two facts immediately stand out. First: the killer wanted the body to be found. Second, the dead man was a police officer, and he had been working undercover.

Meanwhile, aimless 20-something Becca has multiple jobs to keep her head above water. At night, in the local pub, she serves punters and tries to work out what she wants to do with her life. One thing that keeps her going is Andy, a regular she always has a laugh with – and maybe something more.

And then Andy vanishes. Becca is convinced that the shady manager of her pub has something to do with his disappearance. But in order to discover the truth, she'll have to put herself in danger. All for someone she doesn't truly know...

The gripping new novel from Dagger-Award-winning author Danuta Kot, perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Tana French and Denise Mina - a story about the people we are... and the people we aren't.

What did I think?

I loved Danuta Kot's Life Ruins set in the Northern dilapidated seaside town of Bridlington so I was very eager to visit Bridlington again in Someone Who Isn't Me.  As it has some of the same characters in it, Someone Who Isn't Me can be described as a sequel but it's so good in its own right that it can definitely be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

Danuta Kot's writing is stunning; she not only brings characters to life but the landscape itself almost seems to take on a life of its own.  It's not just Bridlington but Sunk Island, a little village almost 40 miles down the coast, that sets the scene for this wonderful novel filled with tension and danger.  Sunk Island sounds so dark and desolate that it gave me chills just reading about it.  It is actually a real place in Yorkshire so no offence to the residents, but it really does give me the creeps.  

Becca and her foster mum Kay are the two characters that follow through from Life Ruins.  It was great to catch up with them again and see that Becca is as independent as ever.  Working two jobs to make ends meet, the highlight of Becca's week is meeting up with her boyfriend Andy again.  As she watches the clock and Andy still doesn't appear, it soon becomes clear that Andy isn't who she thinks he is and Becca herself might be in danger.

I absolutely raced through this outstanding novel; the plot is fast-paced, gripping and incredibly believable and the writing is sublime with a raw and gritty edge.  I almost couldn't keep hold of the book in my sweaty palms during a particular scene on Sunk Island when I was on the edge of my seat - such brilliant writing.  I also picked up a really useful self-defense tip using just a newspaper - I'll never forget that one.

Tense and suspenseful, Someone Who Isn't Me is a fast-paced, dark and gritty novel filled to the brim with danger.  I loved Life Ruins but I think Danuta Kot has really raised the bar with Someone Who Isn't Me.  A stunning novel and one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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About the author:

Danuta Kot grew up with stories. Her Irish mother and her Polish father kept their own cultures alive with traditional tales they shared with their children. For many years, she worked with young people in Yorkshire who were growing up in the aftermath of sudden industrial decline. She uses this background in her books to explore some of the issues that confront modern, urban society: poverty, alienation and social breakdown, using the contexts of the modern crime novel. She now works as a senior education consultant, work that involves travel to establish education and training in other parts of the world. She is a regular academic speaker at conferences and literary festivals, and has appeared on radio and television.

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BLOG TOUR: Life Ruins - Danuta Kot

In a small northern town, girls are disappearing.

You won’t see it in the papers and the police aren’t taking any notice, but the clues are there if you know where to look.

Becca sees that something is wrong, but she’s been labelled ‘difficult’ thanks to her troubled past. So when a girl is so savagely beaten she can’t be identified, and Becca claims she knows who she is, no one will believe her.

With the police refusing to listen, Becca digs for evidence that will prove what she is saying. But her search for justice will put herself and those closest to her in danger – and once she finds the truth, will anyone even listen?

What did I think?

I love the cover of this book; it's so bleak and menacing and perfectly portrays the theme of Life Ruins.  I was completely mesmerised by Danuta Kot's poetic writing from the very first page where she brought the dramatic and dangerous East Yorkshire coastline to life and from that point on, I simply couldn't put this book down.

There are three very intriguing main characters in Life Ruins, that all have interesting back stories.  Kay is a recently widowed foster carer adjusting to life on her own, Becca is her tempestuous foster daughter taking her first few steps into independence and Jared is a troubled young man recovering from an accident.  How their stories intertwine is simply sublime and I read in open eyed awe as the story unfolded, with my heart pounding and my palms sweating as I approached the breathtaking conclusion at breakneck speed.

The story is set in Bridlington, a seaside town on the East Yorkshire coast.  Gone are the days when families would flock to the seaside towns of the UK for their summer holidays and a lot of towns have become run-down because of this.  With no money coming in from tourists, shops close down and the vulnerable people move in.  There is a line in Life Ruins about this that took my breath away and made all the hairs stand up on the back of my neck:  "If you populate an area with prey, the predators will not be far behind."

I found Danuta Kot's writing to be very visual in quite a unique way; not only did she perfectly set out the scene's appearance but she also manages to portray the feelings of the characters.  Not only the characters' emotions, but I sometimes felt as if the landscape itself had hidden emotions that only Danuta Kot could reveal through her vivid imagery.

I think it is a little misleading to say that Life Ruins is a debut novel as Danuta Kot has written books under the names of Danuta Reah and Carla Banks.  I'm pleased it mentioned this in the 'About the author' note below as I'll definitely be adding some of her previous books to my reading queue based on the outstanding quality of Life Ruins.

Tense and gripping, Life Ruins is a powerful, thought-provoking read that perfectly encapsulates the despair and desolation of a run-down town as the predators move in for their prey.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon



About the author:

Danuta Kot grew up with stories. Her Irish mother and her Polish father kept their own cultures alive with traditional tales they shared with their children. For many years, she worked with young people in Yorkshire who were growing up in the aftermath of sudden industrial decline. She uses this background in her books to explore some of the issues that confront modern, urban society: poverty, alienation and social breakdown, using the contexts of the modern crime novel. She has previously written under the names, Danuta Reah and Carla Banks. Danuta was also a former chair of the Crime Writers’ Association. She now works as a senior education consultant, work that involves travel to establish education and training in other parts of the world. She is a regular academic speaker at conferences and literary festivals, and has appeared on radio and television. 

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