BLOG TOUR: One Bad Thing - M.K. Hill

She thought she'd got away with it. She was wrong.

Hannah Godley is an agony aunt on a London radio show Queen of Hearts. She's warm and empathetic; a good listener. Her catchphrase is: Be kind, always. But when a stranger phones in to tell a tragic story about her brother who killed himself after he was the victim of a terrible prank by two people, Hannah goes cold. Because she remembers Diane's brother well. In fact, all these years later, he still haunts her dreams. All because of that one bad thing she did when she was young...

Is Diane just a sad, lonely woman looking for a friend, or does she know what Hannah did, and is looking for revenge? Because as Diane insinuates herself into her life and family, Hannah is going to discover that you can never truly escape that One Bad Thing you did – sooner or later, you're going to have to pay the price...

 

What did I think?

Ooooh this is such a good book!  I was hooked from the very first page when Hannah explains that she did something in her past that she's not proud of...but what did she do?  I couldn't read fast enough to find out but that's not the only hook...someone knows what Hannah did and if the truth comes out it could destroy her.

Hannah is radio's Queen of Hearts and her crown would well and truly slip if people ever find out what she did, so when a caller to the radio show threatens to expose Hannah's secret, Hannah will do anything to keep it buried...even befriending the person who is threatening her.  Diane is really creepy, she is so clingy and needy but it's clear that she is very lonely and I did feel sorry for her.  Loneliness can be a crippling condition so I could understand Diane grabbing on to social contact whether obtained through fair means or foul.

Although Hannah has a deep, dark secret that could show her in a completely different light to her public persona, I still really liked her.  She's a new mum, juggling a busy career and a home with a husband who needs a good talking to.  I think Sean often forgets that he is married; he acts like a single bloke, always leaving Hannah to look after the baby.  Sean's contribution to parenthood was to hire a nanny...enough said.

I just loved everything about this book: the well-developed characters, the fast-paced, drama-filled plot and the compelling writing that really drew me into the story.  The writing is so good that I already have my eye on M.K. Hill's previous books and can't wait to read them.

Gripping, pacy and twisty, One Bad Thing is a cracking thriller that is as impossible to predict as it is to put down.  I highly recommend it and I think M.K. Hill is definitely an author to watch.

Many thanks to Sophie Ransom for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and to Head of Zeus for providing an ARC to read and review; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: On Hampstead Heath - Marika Cobbold

 

On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold is a sparkling little gem of a book.  I had already posted my review when an invitation for the blog tour arrived in my inbox and I loved the book so much that I was keen to jump on board the tour bus.  I am delighted to share an extract from the book for my stop on the blog tour and you can also click here to read my review.

Extract

1

I grew up in a house of whispers, of meaningful glances and half-finished sentences.

‘Tell me.’

‘Tell you what?’

‘What you’re not telling me.’

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘Tell me!’ I shouted.

‘Rudeness will get you nowhere,’ they said. Then they sent me to my room.

‘My room is somewhere,’ I said.

These conversations never ended well.

People asked, as people do, ‘So, little girl, what do you want to be when you grow up?’

‘I’d like to be God.’

I blame the vicar. He was the one who told us, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.”’

All I wanted was to know.

Unsurprisingly, I did not grow up to be God. Instead, I became a journalist. A journalist is a seeker of Truth, its upholder and defender. Or so I thought.

Where lies go unopposed, democracy dies. A long time ago, when I first started out, I embroidered the words, badly, in cross stitch and hung the framed canvas above my bed, as a reminder, should I need one, of why I became a journalist. Now it hides, face to the wall, at the back of my wardrobe; a reminder, should I need one, that I’m a liar and a hypocrite.

I flicked through my clothes. What does a liar and a hypocrite wear on judgement day? It sounds like the start of a joke.

What does she wear?

Something light and loose, but not voluminous.

That won’t have them rolling in the aisles.

I’d asked him to meet me on Viaduct Bridge. It was where it all began; the place where, by some strange alchemy, I might yet turn fiction into reality.

It was early still, and overcast, but by the time I got to the Heath the sun was shining. I thought, it’s a bad omen, the sun always shines when something truly shitty happens in my life. It’s why I believe in a higher power. Chance does not do irony.

I stood on the bridge, looking down at the still water. What was it like, I wondered, down in that mirror-world of bridge and trees?

The minutes ticked by and turned into half an hour. I checked my phone but there were no messages. He wasn’t coming. I don’t know why I had imagined he would. Hope, I suppose; that prankster makes fools of us all.

Five more minutes, I told myself, no more.

I looked out across the pond. The mandarin duck was there, with his grey-feathered friends. It seemed their tranquil morning swim would not be disturbed after all.

But here he was, crossing the bridge towards me, his hair copper in the morning sun. But no halo – the halo would have been too much; he was splendid all the same.

I raised my hand in a wave. He didn’t wave back. I stuffed my hand in my trouser pocket.

‘Rose.’ He gave me a curt nod.

‘Thank you for coming.’

‘Sure.’

And there we were, two little people whose lives did not amount to a hill of beans in this vast, indifferent universe. Only there is a different universe, there always is: a tiny, selfimportant one, built by us, for us. A fool’s universe, if you like, but that’s OK, because in that universe, he and I, standing there on Viaduct Bridge, mattered a great deal.

‘What did you want to see me about?’

‘I was hoping to explain.’

He shrugged. ‘Fine, explain away.’

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. He glanced at his watch, shifted from foot to foot, like someone cornered by a talkative stranger. I lost my nerve.

‘I was drunk and on a deadline.’

‘You’re a journalist. That’s not an explanation, it’s an ordinary day at the office.’

Unfair, but this was not the time to argue.

‘I’d never planned for things to go as far as they did.’

His tone was brisk. ‘People never do.’

‘The story, it took on a life of its own, like Frankenstein’s monster. I was powerless to stop it.’

‘No, you weren’t.’

I took a step towards him and my hand, being just a limb, incapable of understanding, reached out for his. ‘Rufus, please.’

He took a step back.

I said, ‘You really can’t forgive me?’

He looked down at my hand, then back up at me.

‘No. No I don’t think I can.’ With that, he began to walk away.

The sun just kept on shining, bathing the bridge in golden light, turning the duckweed emerald.

‘But what will I do without you?’

He turned to look at me. ‘Work,’ he said. ‘Isn’t that what you do?’

I took the phone out of my pocket and put it down on the ground. I scrambled over the railings and onto the ledge, closed my eyes and jumped.

Doesn't it sound great?  You can buy a copy from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

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On Hampstead Heath - Marika Cobbold

Thorn Marsh was raised in a house of whispers, of meaningful glances and half-finished sentences. Now she's a journalist with a passion for truth, more devoted to her work at the London Journal than she ever was to her ex-husband.

When the newspaper is bought by media giant The Goring Group, who value sales figures over fact-checking, Thorn openly questions their methods, and promptly finds herself moved from the news desk to the midweek supplement, reporting heart-warming stories for their new segment, The Bright Side, a job to which she is spectacularly unsuited.

On a final warning and with no heart-warming news in sight, a desperate Thorn fabricates a good-news story of her own. The story, centred on an angelic apparition on Hampstead Heath, goes viral. Caught between her principles and her ambitions, Thorn goes in search of the truth behind her creation, only to find the answers locked away in the unconscious mind of a stranger.

Marika Cobbold returns with her eighth novel, On Hampstead Heath. Sharp, poignant, and infused with dark humour, On Hampstead Heath is an homage to storytelling and to truth; to the tales we tell ourselves, and the stories that save us.

What did I think?

On Hampstead Heath may be the first book I have read by Marika Cobbold but it definitely won't be the last.  I absolutely love her dark humour and had many unexpected laugh out loud moments in this thought-provoking, witty and hugely entertaining book.

Thorn is a journalist with a conscience, most of the time.  There are many things you shouldn't do when drunk - writing a story and submitting it to the news desk is definitely one of them, as Thorn discovers when she wakes up with a hangover and a story that's gone viral.  As events spiral out of control, it's both poignant and hilarious as Thorn struggles with the weight of keeping her secret.

In this humourous and entertaining novel, Marika Cobbold gives us a glimpse into the cutthroat world of journalism through the eyes of her fabulous main character of Thorn.  I really felt for Thorn as nothing seems to go right in her personal or work life but maybe the angel of Hampstead Heath is about to turn that around.  As the secrets and lies begin to snowball into a massive web of deceit, Thorn is trapped between living a lie or coming clean and facing the consequences.  Is she really a journalist with a conscience?

This is definitely a book I will read again and at only 238 pages long it's a quite a quick read.  I think there is so much to be gained from this small but mighty novel; it's not only an entertaining story but for me, it's a stark reminder of the importance of creating a good work/life balance.  Many of us put our work before our home life, but Thorn has given the best years of her life to her job and when she finally gets a glimpse of what a happy and fulfilling life could be like her job still manages to get in the way.

An absolute little gem of a book, On Hampstead Heath is entertaining, thought-provoking and extremely witty.  Marika Cobbold writes with incredible raw honestly and has such hilarious observations of the mundane that I definitely want to read more of her books.  I absolutely unreservedly recommend this magnificent book.

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

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