BLOG TOUR: The End is Where We Begin - Maria Goodin

Jay Lewis is a troubled soul. A single father, just trying to keep everything together, he knows he sabotages any real chance of happiness.

Tormented by nightmares and flashbacks, he can’t forget the events from one fateful night that steered the course of the rest of his life. Struggling against the crushing weight of guilt, Jay knows there are wrongs he needs to put right.

Determined to get closure, he seeks out old friends and a past love. But in his quest for a more peaceful future, is he ready to face the trauma of his past?

What did I think?

The End is Where We Begin is a breathtaking book that completely exceeded all of my expectations.  I was expecting a slow, gentle pacing but I was so completely drawn into Jay's story that I couldn't put it down and greedily devoured every single perfectly penned word in this stunning novel.  

We are launched straight into Jay's troubled mind from the very first page as he experiences traumatic flashbacks of an event in his past.  This adds the perfect level of suspense to make sure that the reader is hooked from page one, which I was.  We are teased with snippets from this awful event all of the way through, gradually revealing it piece by piece, and when it fully takes form my heart shattered into a million pieces.

Jay blames himself and carries so much guilt on his shoulders that it's a wonder he doesn't walk with a stoop.  He has an awful lot on his plate anyway, being a 32 year old single father of a 15 year old with all the teenage angst and shenanigans that come with it.  Add in a lost love, a friend who constantly hits the self-destruct button and a father suffering from Alzheimers and we've got quite a story on our hands.

The chapters flow into each other beautifully, often carrying over a word or theme from the previous chapter and I loved this clever, thoughtful touch.  Maria Goodin's writing is stunning, creating loveable and relatable characters that I took to my heart and felt every emotion with them.  Not since the film Stand By Me have I witnessed such beautiful camaraderie between a group of teenage boys.  I was so emotional at the end, struggling to hold back the same tears that are springing to my eyes as I think about it now. 

The End is Where We Begin is a stunning and incredibly moving literary feast for the eyes.  Immersive, emotional and suspenseful, I felt completely bereft when I turned the final page so this is definitely going on my 'to read again' shelf.  I could actually pick it up right now and read it all over again.  An extraordinary novel and one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour; all opinions are my own.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Sins of the Father - Sharon Bairden

Lucas Findlay thinks he has struck gold when he marries Rebecca, but she married him for one reason only – to destroy him.

Trauma runs deep

When her past comes back to haunt her, Rebecca begins to disconnect from herself and the world around her. As secrets are unearthed, she begins to fear for her sanity … and her life.

Truth will out

With her world unravelling around her, Rebecca clings to her determination to make Lucas pay, whatever the cost.

Forgive his sins

But someone must pay for the sins of the father…

What did I think?

Yowzers!  This book is dark; if it was a Pantone it would definitely be Vantablack.  Of course just looking at the absolutely stunning but disturbingly dark cover, it doesn't claim to be anything other than dark.  

Sharon Bairden is a well-known established book blogger and now she has a foot in both camps as a debut author.  I have to say that her writing is very accomplished for a debut author and I was very impressed.  The storyline itself is so harrowing and Sharon's expressive writing brings it further to life, not only making my skin crawl but making me feel like I needed a shower at the end of certain chapters.

I don't want to say too much about the plot other than what is in the blurb but Rebecca sure is determined to destroy Lucas, her husband.  I was really torn in my feelings for the main characters: can you ever really feel sorry for a monster?  There are always two sides to every story but once you're set on revenge, there's no going back.

It's always fun to see characters named after people you know, albeit virtually, and it was really nice to see Sharon Bairden paying homage to her friends by naming characters after them; it's like a who's who of A-List book bloggers.  

Sins of the Father is a brilliant debut; it's an uncomfortable read with a dark and twisty plot that sent shivers down my spine.  Well done, Sharon!

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

Red Dog Press

Amazon

About the author:

By day Sharon Bairden is the Services Manager in a small, local independent advocacy service and has a passion for human rights; by night she has a passion for all things criminal. She blogs about books at Chapterinmylife and is delighted to be crossing over to the other side of the fence to become a writer. Sharon lives on the outskirts of Glasgow, has two grown up children, a grandson, a Golden Labrador and a cat. She spends most of her spare time doing all things bookish, from reading to attending as many book festivals and launches as she can. She has been known to step out of her comfort zone on the odd occasion and has walked over burning coals and broken glass - but not at the same time!

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The Night Lawyer - Alex Churchill

Sophie Angel is the night lawyer. Once a week, she's the one who decides what the papers can and can't say.

During the day, she's a barrister. She struggles for justice in a system that's close to collapse, where she confronts the most dangerous aspects of humanity. Her life changes when a wealthy Russian offers her the biggest case of her career, a rape trial with a seemingly innocent client. But is someone manipulating Sophie from the shadows or is the danger much closer to home?

With her marriage under strain and haunted by nightmares from the past, Sophie must find the answer to these questions before it's too late. 

This is a story about betrayal, trust, guilt and innocence, played out from the courtrooms of London to the darkest corners of Soviet era Moscow.

What did I think?

If you're like me and you love a courtroom drama then The Night Lawyer is most definitely for you.  There's nothing better than being immersed in a good story and feeling like you're viewing the trial from all angles and Alex Churchill does this absolutely brilliantly in her outstanding debut novel.  The Night Lawyer ticks all the boxes for a thrilling courtroom drama and then ticks a few more boxes for luck. 

Alex Churchill is on to a winner here as Sophie Angel is a superb character with more strands to her story than a plate of spaghetti.  The daughter of a Russian father and English mother, Sophie spent her early childhood in Moscow before her family defected to the west.  Sophie has nightmares about her childhood and there's something about her Uncle Kiril that her parents aren't telling her.  A big tick goes in the family secrets box.

Sophie is a barrister in the prestigious Inner Temple and married to popular QC Theo Frazer so her life should be the envy of all of her peers, however, the couple are struggling to make ends meet and there are rumours that Theo is having an affair.  Barrister by day and newspaper libel lawyer by night, Sophie has a lot on her plate without her personal problems.  Let's tick that box for a potentially cheating spouse and put an extra tick in the gossip box as Sophie hears whispers around court.

As the great comedian Frank Carson would say, 'There's more!'.  A case from the past comes back to haunt her when a prisoner escapes from custody and is rumoured to be obsessed with Sophie.  Sophie has to keep looking over her shoulder whilst also taking on a rape case at the request of the new newspaper owner's wife.  The court case that follows is absolutely sublime; I felt like I was judge, jury, defendant, victim, prosecutor and defence as well as viewing it all from the public gallery.  This is one of those books that you can't put down because you're 'in court'.  A huge tick for realistic courtroom scenes that keep the reader entertained.

Aside from the magnificent story, it was great to get an insight into the workings and history of the British justice system.  Although I already knew about the history behind the black robes, I did look up the gateway at the top of Inner Temple Lane and Fleet Street.  I was amazed to read that the gateway is one of only a few surviving medieval buildings in London and that the rooms above it date back to the 17th Century when they were reputed to be used as council chambers of Charles I when he was Prince of Wales.  I love books where I get a little something extra from them; little nuggets of interesting facts that send me off searching the internet for hours.  That's the exceptional box populated with a big fat tick.

The Night Lawyer is a stunning debut that transports the reader from the present day courtroom in London one minute to Sophie's early childhood in Soviet Moscow the next.  It says on the back cover that this is a Sophie Angel novel so I am crossing my fingers and toes that there are many more Sophie Angel novels to come.  The Night Lawyer is absolutely outstanding and is a very highly recommended read.

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: The Shadow Man - Mark Brownless

Idyllic memories. A perfect childhood. A secret buried for thirty years.

None of us could remember why we drifted apart – we were always so close at school but then… you know. That was thirty years ago, and I hadn’t thought of my school friends in all that time – it was like I’d been made to forget.

And then the dreams started. Dreams that I knew I’d had before. Horrific dreams of fear and fire and death. Dreams of the Shadow Man, a ghostly urban legend who seemed to hang over my home village like an evil spirit. I’d begun to remember, my memories of back then becoming two-dimensional – a lie to mask what really happened – and I knew we’d have to go back. Back to Janey, because she never left.

What did happen to us back then, and do we really want to know? And what about the supernatural horror lurking in the shadows – could we face the Shadow Man again?


What did I think?

At just under 250 pages, this is a book that you can easily read in one sitting, which is exactly what I did.  Not just because it's a reasonably short book but also because I simply couldn't put it down.

As a pre-teen in mid-1980's, the dual time-frame in this book was very nostalgic for me; it brought back memories of long hot summers riding around on our bikes until 10pm and sledging in the never-ending winters.  This is a huge thought-provoking element of the book; in my memories, it didn't rain in the summer, yet in reality it's summertime in Britain so it'll have rained nearly every day, for as Mark Brownless says, 'our memories edit out the rain'.  It's always intrigued me how a long forgotten memory can appear from a simple trigger, such as a sight, smell or sound.  The human brain is a wonderful, complex organ that stores information and fires it back out at us when we thought we'd lost it forever.

Philippa (Flip) and her friends were spooked by the Shadow Man in their youth, a dark ghostly presence that burned its victims alive.  After leaving their home village, they had forgotten about the Shadow Man but several years later they all shared a common dream and returned home to visit the one friend who never left, Janey.  Something happened to Janey in the past, although none of the girls can quite remember what happened, but remembering this will prove key to catching the Shadow Man once and for all.

This was pretty spooky at times and although I did guess the plot quite early on, I still had an element of doubt as to who or what the Shadow Man actually is.  I think I'd totally bought into the childhood memories and felt how scared the girls were whilst their village was being terrorised.  There was even talk of the possibility of spontaneous human combustion at one point and I remember being fascinated by this hot topic (no pun intended) back in the day.

I deliberated a little over my rating for this one; although I guessed the shocking twist, I still couldn't put it down.  So because I was so hooked, I think it does deserve the full five stars, although realistically it's a 4.5 from me but I never do things by halves.

Nostalgic, thought-provoking, completely addictive and pretty scary at times, The Shadow Man is a must read for anyone who wants something a bit different in a thriller.  I definitely want to read more from Mark Brownless, past and future, and I'm delighted to discover that he has another tales of the unexpected style thriller in his back catalogue.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon



About the author:

Mark Brownless lives and works in Carmarthen, West Wales.

He has been putting ideas on paper for some years now but only when the idea for THE HAND OF AN ANGEL came to him in the autumn of 2015 did he know he might be able to write a book. Mark likes to write about ordinary people being placed in extraordinary circumstances, is fascinated by unexplained phenomena, and enjoys merging thriller, science fiction and horror.

Mark's new novel, The Shadow Man is a terrifying horror thriller imagining what would happen if you found out the memories of your childhood were untrue, and that something sinister was lurking behind the facade of your life. Could you face what had happened back then? Could you face The Shadow Man.

Mark is also fascinated by myths and legends such as those of Robin Hood and King Arthur. This has culminated in the release of his short story series, Locksley, a Robin Hood story.

Website : http://www.markbrownless.com/

Twitter : @MarkBrownless

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