BLOG TOUR: The Shame (Glasgow Southside Crime Series Book 3) - Maureen Myant

Glasgow

The cellar of a suburban bungalow has been hiding a dark secret. During building work, a skeleton is uncovered. DI Alex Scrimgeour and DS Mark Nicholson soon discover the remains have been there for sixty years. The owners of the house from that time, Richard and Doris Cavendish, are dead, but their daughter may still be alive.

Edinburgh

Edith Drummond is pleased to be back at work as a teacher after lockdown. She's a difficult woman with no friends but she's good at her job and the children love her. However, her Head Teacher, Olivia Waring, wants her to retire. Edith is determined to stay put, but their feud soon pales into insignificance when Edith receives a visit from the police.

Mark is sure Edith is hiding something, but he doesn't know what. His suspicion deepens when further remains are found at the bungalow in Glasgow, this time of a newborn baby. Despite dealing with his own personal problems, Mark is determined to get to the bottom of this bizarre case. Is there a link between the two crimes? Is the answer staring him In the face or is there more to the mystery than meets the eye?

 

What did I think?

The Shame is the third book in the Glasgow Southside Crime Series and although you can read it is a standalone and thoroughly enjoy it, it's absolutely brilliant when read as part of the series.  

The character development throughout the series is outstanding and I was as hooked by the continuation of their stories as I was by the actual crime they were investigating.  It's a rather grisly crime when the new owners of a home discover a skeleton in their basement so the police need to trace the previous occupants to identify the body and solve the crime.  

Edith Drummond was so ashamed of her past in Glasgow that she changed her name and moved to Edinburgh.  Edith is a difficult woman to love but she really did grow on me and I completely sympathised with her past family life and her present working life as a teacher.  I was so annoyed that the head teacher can't see what a brilliant teacher Edith is but instead is set on making Edith retire.  I was virtually fist bumping the air when Edith continued to stand up to her.

I am completely hooked by DS Mark Nicholson's story and although I do feel sorry for him, he made his bed so he has to lie in it.  Unfortunately for Mark, that bed is in his boss's flat as his wife threw him out after his affair.  DI Alex Scrimgeour is a bit of a teddy bear now that his own personal mystery has been solved but I really wouldn't be helping myself to his whisky if I was living in his flat!

As impossible to put down as it is to predict, The Shame is a cracking piece of crime fiction that had me on the edge of my seat and reading with my virtual running shoes on.  I already consider this to be one of my favourite crime series and The Shame proves that it is just getting better and better.  Very highly recommended.

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: I Know the Truth - M.A. Comley

From NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Justice series, M A Comley, who has sold over three million copies worldwide.

She escaped his clutches.

Now she hides under a new name.

For the past five years, Lucy has lived in fear of her past.

But all that changes when Matthew enters her life.

Is she able to trust another man after...

Should she listen to her head or her heart?

As she fights for her future, someone is lurking in the shadows with their own agenda.

And they will determine whether she lives or dies.  

What did I think?

I've had M.A. Comley on my radar for a while now but she's written so many amazing books that I didn't know where to start.  So with her latest novel , I Know the Truth, being a standalone psychological thriller I was very excited to get my hands on a copy.

Lucy is a great main character; she's very careful with money and men so it's quite out of character for her to meet a man on her night out with her best friend, Trisha.  There's something about Matthew that just clicks with Lucy, but she's understandably nervous about starting a new relationship.  Although I found it a bit odd that Lucy was so trusting of a man she had just met, especially with her history, Matthew puts her at ease and things go swimmingly until she meets his family.  If I was Lucy, I would have run a mile if my boyfriend had brought a member of his family on our second date, but Lucy thinks Matthew is worth it.  The story is written with so much menace, that I just hoped she was right.

The storyline is very intriguing and held my interest, although it did take me a few chapters to get into the rhythm of the book as the prose is quite heavily conversation based.  As the threats and danger increase, Lucy's fairytale turns into a nightmare.  Only Trisha knows Lucy's past so my mind was whirring nineteen to the dozen as I tried to work out who was threatening Lucy.  It was clearly someone who would go to any lengths to ruin Lucy's life and I had my suspicions who it was, but of course I was wrong!  

Fast-paced and fraught with danger, I Know the Truth is a pulse-rocketing psychological thriller.  I'm definitely going to be adding more M.A. Comley books to my ever-expanding TBR pile.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon




About the author

M A Comley is a KINDLE UNLIMITED ALL-STAR author as well as being a New York Times, USA Today, Amazon Top 20 bestselling author, she has topped the book charts on iBooks as a top 5 bestselling and reached #2 bestselling author on Barnes and Noble. Over two and a half million copies sold world wide. She’s a British author who moved to France in 2002, and that’s when she turned her hobby into a career. 

When she’s not writing crime novels as well as caring for her elderly mother, she’s either reading or going on long walks with her rescue pup Labrador, Dex.

Here is a list of her books, Cruel Justice, Impeding Justice, Final Justice, Foul Justice, Guaranteed Justice, Ultimate Justice, Virtual Justice, Hostile Justice, Tortured Justice, Rough Justice, Dubious Justice, Calculated Justice, Twisted Justice, Prime Justice, Heroic Justice, Shameful Justice, Immoral Justice and Overdue Justice. There are several novellas and short stories in the series too.

No Right To Kill, Killer Blow, The Dead Can’t Speak, Deluded and The Murder Pact in the DI Sara Ramsey series. 

Her other successful series are: The DI Sally Parker thriller series, which includes WRONG PLACE, NO HIDING PLACE, COLD CASE, Deadly encounter and Lost Innocence

The DI Kayli Bright Trilogy – The Missing Children, Killer on the Run, Hidden Agenda, Murderous Betrayal and Dying Breath. 

The Hero series, TORN APART, END RESULT, IN PLAIN SIGHT, DOUBLE JEOPARDY and CRIMINAL ACTIONS.

There are three books in the Intention series, Sole Intention, Grave Intention and Devious Intention.

Plus a couple of standalone novels – EVIL IN DISGUISE and FOREVER WATCHING YOU.

She has also penned a cozy mystery Private Investigator series – Murder at the Wedding, Murder at the Hotel and Murder by the Sea.

As well as co-authoring the Deception Series co-authored by fellow NY Times bestselling author, Linda S Prather Clever Deception, Tragic Deception and Sinful Deception.

You can follow M A Comley via:-

Twitter: @ComleyMel

Blog: http://melcomley.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://smarturl.it/sps7jh

Newsletter: http://smarturl.it/8jtcvv

BookBub: www.bookbub.com/authors/m-a-comley

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BLOG TOUR: The Sinner (Tom Killgannon #2) - Martyn Waites

Tom Killgannon, ex-undercover police officer and now in witness protection, is recalled to active service by a local police task force, headed by DS Sheridan. His mission is to befriend notorious child killer Noel Cunningham and find out where he buried the bodies of his final two victims.

The catch? Tom has to obtain that information from within Blackmoor prison itself.

Undercover and with no back-up, Tom soon runs into danger.

In the prison is convicted gangster Dean Foley. He used to run Manchester's biggest gang, until Tom's testimony put him away for life. He recognises Tom, and so begins a cat-and-mouse game as Tom fights for survival before Foley can get his revenge.

But why can't Tom reach DS Sheridan and what is the real reason he has been sent to Blackmoor prison?

What did I think?

Newcastle born Martyn Waites is one half of the husband and wife thriller writing team publishing under the pseudonym Tania Carver.  Although I haven't read any Tania Carver books, the name was well known enough to me to pique my interest in the Tom Killgannon series that Martyn Waites has published under his own name.  I own a copy of the first book in the series, The Old Religion, and I was hoping to read it before I started book two, The Sinner, but as always there are too many books and so little time.

So having jumped into the series at book two and been absolutely blown away, I'd say you could definitely read The Sinner as a standalone, however, it will leave you wanting to explore certain parts of Tom's own story in more detail.  Tom Killgannon is living under a new identity following an undercover operation that saw Manchester drug lord, Dean Foley, imprisoned in Blackmoor prison.  A job well done as far as Tom's previous identity of Mick Eccleston is concerned.

Tom is now living in Cornwall with a young girl named Lila, who he refers to as his niece, and working for Pearl who runs a pub.  Tom is approached by the police to return undercover in order to extract the location of the bodies buried by creepy child killer, Noel Cunningham.  Tom is claustrophobic so the idea of going undercover in a prison is terrifying for him but unfortunately the assignment is an order not a request so he says goodbye to Lila and Pearl and heads to Blackmoor prison.  Yes, the same prison as Dean Foley, who blames Tom for his incarceration.  I'm not going to reveal any more about the plot but suffice to say, Tom is too busy trying to keep himself alive to worry about his claustrophobia.

Due to the changes of identity, it is a little bit confusing at first, but I soon got into the rhythm of the book.  The rhythm being something like a very fast beating heart as there is so much danger around every corner.  It's so fast-paced and perilous that I frequently had sweaty palms and a rapidly beating heart when I was reading The Sinner; I even found that I was holding my breath without even realising.

Tom is a very intriguing character as you don't really know who he is, but I also loved the spunky character of Lila.  I wasn't surprised to learn that Lila has a huge backstory and features heavily in book one, The Old Religion.  Reading The Sinner has made me very eager to read The Old Religion as soon as I possibly can. 

Full of thrills and spills and packed with danger, The Sinner is a supersonic fast-paced page turner; calling it high octane doesn't even come close to doing it justice.  The Sinner is a book that made me forget to breathe and if that isn't a good recommendation, I don't know what is!

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon





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BLOG TOUR: I Could Be You - Sheila Bugler

A life has been taken. But whose life is it?

On a stifling hot day, former journalist Dee Doran finds the crumpled body of her friend at the roadside. Katie and her little boy, Jake, have been a light in Dee’s otherwise desolate life – now a woman is dead and her son is missing.

Katie has been keeping secrets for a long time. Years earlier, she fell for the wrong person. But he was in love with someone else; who he couldn’t have but couldn’t keep away from. When jealousy and desire spilled over into murder Katie hid the truth, and has been pretending ever since.

As Dee assists the police with their enquiries she’s compelled to investigate too. She realises Katie wasn’t who she claimed to be. Lies are catching up. Stories are becoming unravelled. Revenge is demanded and someone must pay the price. The question is: who?

Don’t miss this explosive crime thriller perfect for fans for Alex Marwood and Fiona Barton.

What did I think?

I Could Be You is a book that grabs the reader's attention not just from the first page, but from the very first line when Dee finds her neighbour, Katie, dead in the road and only an empty pushchair where toddler Jake should be.  It soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary hit and run as Sheila Bugler takes us on a twisty journey through Katie's dark and mysterious past.

Dee is a former journalist so she's no stranger to investigating stories and sniffing out deep, dark secrets but she's not the only one interested in finding out the truth about Katie; both Dee's ex-husband and her cousin are journalists too.  Dee is warned by the police to stay out of the investigation but Katie was her friend and I loved that she put herself in danger in the hunt for justice.

A lot of the story revolves around Katie's past and after her mother disappeared, it's no surprise that Katie was a troubled teen.  Her father had a busy job running a pub so he didn't have a big hand in her upbringing and she was left to her own devices, which is when she hooked up with local bad boy, Shane.  I felt so sorry for Katie when she was growing up; she was overweight and felt invisible so it's no wonder she grabbed on to the attention that Shane lavished on her, even though she knew that he was using her.  I knew this story would end badly, but I didn't realise how many lives would be ruined.

With past and present mysteries to solve, I Could Be You is a definite page-turner.  It's full of mystery and intrigue and some eye-popping moments that really did make me gasp out loud.  With fast-pacing and a gripping storyline, I Could Be You is a tense and twisty thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon




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The Rumour - Lesley Kara

When single mum Joanna hears a rumour at the school gates, she never intends to pass it on. But one casual comment leads to another and now there’s no going back . . .

Rumour has it that a notorious child killer is living under a new identity, in their sleepy little town of Flinstead-on-Sea.

Sally McGowan was just ten years old when she stabbed little Robbie Harris to death forty-eight years ago – no photos of her exist since her release as a young woman.

So who is the supposedly reformed killer who now lives among them? How dangerous can one rumour become? And how far will Joanna go to protect her loved ones from harm, when she realizes what it is she’s unleashed?

What did I think?

I've had my eye on The Rumour for a while and my inability to visit the library without coming away with a book meant that I snatched up a copy of The Rumour when I spotted it on the shelves.  I was so eager to read it that I even read the opening chapters as I was travelling home on the metro.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book; with such short chapters it's a quick and easy read so you find yourself rocketing through it at lightning pace.  It's an interesting idea to see how fast a rumour spreads and the lengths that people will go to without a shred of proof.  It really highlighted the mob mentality as the snowball effect of a rumour begins to pick up pace.  What is so scary is that I'm sure it will have happened in real life; I mean it's not as if people are given new identities and sent off to live on a desert island.  They are given a whole new life that could mean they live next door to you or me.  Of course, once they have paid for their crime there's nothing wrong with that if they are a reformed character.

Joanna seems to engage her mouth before her brain and can't stop talking about and spreading the rumour that Sally McGowan, a child killer, is living with a new identity in their home town.  People are determined to find out who it is and everyone comes under suspicion, everyone apart from the one person I suspected and for once, I was right!  This doesn't take anything away from the book and the red herrings laid out within the story; it's not very often that I'm right but I still ended up reading late into the night as I couldn't put the book down.

The Rumour is a fabulous debut by Lesley Kara and I'm as eager to read what she writes next as I was to read her wonderfully twisty debut.

My rating:

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Cross Her Heart - Sarah Pinborough

Lisa is living a lie and everyone is about to find out.

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn.

But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she's ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it's time to let her terrifying secret past go.

But when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see, Lisa's world explodes.

As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it's up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear.

But someone has been pulling all their strings. And that someone is determined that both Lisa and Ava must suffer.

Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren't meant to be broken.

What did I think?

I do love Sarah Pinborough books; she is such a talented author and, because absolutely anything can happen in her books, I find that I just go with the flow and enjoy the story rather than try to work out the unimaginable twist.  It quickly became apparent that Cross Her Heart is so full of secrets and I was virtually rubbing my hands together in glee as I immersed myself in the story to see how it would all play out.

Lisa doesn't have an easy life; she has few friends and is a single parent to her stroppy teenage daughter, Ava.  I initially found Lisa to be very weak and forgettable and thought that this is most unlike Sarah Pinborough, but I should have known better as there is a very good reason for this...Lisa is not who she seems.  Lisa has kept her head well below the parapet in order to protect her new identity and to forget a past that she has managed to keep hidden from Ava....until now!

I thought the first part of the book was fast paced but once Lisa's past is revealed the pace is ramped up to supersonic!  I simply couldn't read fast enough as I eagerly devoured every scintillating word written on the scorched pages.  Lisa's past is revealed teasingly bit by bit and my heart went out to her as the full picture is painted.  

Supersonically fast-paced, Cross Her Heart is an addictive and riveting read that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.  Another absolute cracker from the brilliant Sarah Pinborough!

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG BLITZ: I Know Where You Live - Pat Young

Penny believes she’s being watched. Yet no one should know where she lives.

Penny seizes the chance of a new life for her family when her husband is offered a job in Europe.

At the airport, they meet charming Sophie, fluent in French and looking for work as an au pair. Penny, struggling to cope in France, offers Sophie a job and she soon becomes an important part of the family’s life. But Sophie is hiding something.

Then Penny’s toddler son, Ethan, is abducted and an international hunt for the child begins. The police beg Penny and her husband to take part in a television appeal but the couple refuse. Unknown to the police, Penny and Seth have new identities and are determined to lay low and protect them. But it may be too late for that.

Who has taken Ethan and why?

Are the couple’s true identities linked to the abduction?

And who has been watching them?

To save her son Penny may have to put her own life on the line.

What did I think?

I was greatly impressed with Pat Young's debut, Till the Dust Settles, so I didn't hesitate when presented with the opportunity to join the blog blitz for her second novel, I Know Where You Live.  As this is a sequel I would recommend reading Till the Dust Settles first, although you could get away with reading this as a standalone as it might make the story more believable (which I will explain shortly).

Lucie and Dylan are now known as Penny and Seth Gates: identities that have been created to keep them safe whilst in witness protection.  They have two children, Angeline and Ethan and have taken the decision to swap Texas for France.  After 10 years, surely they're safe now?  It is whilst at the airport that they are befriended by stranger, Sophie, and, knowing Lucie/Penny as I thought I did, this is where the story became quite unbelievable as she entrusts this stranger with her children.  You're in witness protection, you feel like you're being watched, then you hand your children over to a stranger you meet in an airport!  I know it is fiction, but it does need that nugget of possibility to draw the reader into the story which is why I think that someone who hasn't read Till the Dust Settles would perhaps accept the storyline more.  

Putting my disbelief to one side, I did get engrossed in the story and Ethan is so unbelievably cute that I was devastated when he was taken.  I really felt for Penny and Seth as they struggled with the decision to make a televised appeal that would reveal their identities and put themselves and Angeline in danger.  

I love Pat Young's style of writing; I feel like the book is almost speaking to me as she gives each character a unique voice.  I loved seeing the transformation from frightened Lucie into happy and secure Penny with her husband and children by her side.  I Know Where You Live is a good follow up to Till the Dust Settles but my niggling disbelief meant that it didn't scoop all of the stars like its predecessor.  

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon


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BLOG TOUR: Hiding - Jenny Morton Potts

Even before I was invited to read a review copy, I had earmarked Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts as a book I definitely wanted to read this year.  There was something so very alluring and mesmerising about the cover: the unsuspecting lone woman and the hypnotising eyes of the man who has her in his sights, who I have to say looks rather dishy.

So I leapt at the chance to join the blog tour and I am delighted to share my review of this spectacular book, along with your chance to win an e-book for yourself.

A gripping psychological thriller with chilling twists, from a unique new voice.  

Keller Baye and Rebecca Brown live on different sides of the Atlantic. Until she falls in love with him, Rebecca knows nothing of Keller. But he’s known about her for a very long time, and now he wants to destroy her.

This is the story of two families. One living under the threat of execution in North Carolina. The other caught up in a dark mystery in the Scottish Highlands. The families’ paths are destined to cross. But why? And can anything save them when that happens?

What did I think?

Hiding draws you in immediately with two very strong and intriguing main characters: Rebecca Brown and Keller Baye.  The reader is catapulted into such pivotal points in each character's life that it made me sit up and take notice, rubbing my hands in glee, at such juicy bait dangling from the line cast by Jenny Morton Potts.  Now that's what I call hooked from the start.

Rebecca's story starts in 2007 when she becomes an orphan along with her older siblings: brother, Austen, and sister, Colette.  When their parents are killed in a car crash they are sent to live with grandparents in Scotland at the family home called Taransay, or The Orphanage as the siblings refer to it.  As Rebecca gets older she wants to know what happened to her parents but her family won't talk about it.  Why?  What are they hiding?

Fast forward to the not too distant future of 2021 and Keller Baye is heading to the prison to watch his father be put to death by lethal injection.  Keller is already severely damaged as his time spent living with his cruel Aunt Joya has made him into the man he is today.  The event that started all this was the moment his father shot a man in a failed bank robbery and now Keller is out for revenge.

The development of both main characters in Hiding is exceptional.  I felt like I could see inside their heads and know what they were thinking and how they were feeling.  I actually felt so sorry for both of them as they seemed so unhappy with their lives that they invent a new persona to escape who they really are.  Rebecca reinvents herself as a comedian after a life spent feeling as if she didn't belong, her family has even taken her name away as they refer to her as 'Youngest Brown'.  It might seem affectionate to them but I felt like it stole her identity.  Meanwhile, Keller becomes quite the charmer with the ladies but he is not as controlled as Rebecca as his emotions can change at the flick of a switch.

I was wondering what the link was between Rebecca and Keller from the start and after some nicely built suspense, the pieces all start falling into place.  The title of the book is woven so cleverly into the story, meaning very different things for Rebecca and Keller, but ultimately every character is Hiding something. 

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Hiding; it is so intriguing and compelling that I lost track of time while I was reading (I could have easily read it in one sitting if I'd picked it up on a weekend rather than a work night).  Reading Hiding is like doing a jigsaw; you have all of the pieces but you can't see the full picture until the final piece is slotted into place.   Hiding is an exceptional book that hooked me from the start and kept me riveted throughout; a well-deserved five stars.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon


About the author

Jenny is a novelist, screenplay writer and playwright. After a series of 'proper jobs', she realised she was living someone else's life and escaped to Gascony to make gîtes. Knee deep in cement and pregnant, Jenny was happy. Then autism and a distracted spine surgeon wiped out the order. Returned to wonderful England, to write her socks off. 

Jenny would like to see the Northern Lights but worries that’s the best bit and should be saved till last. Very happily, and gratefully, settled with family. 

She tries not to take herself too seriously.

Social Media Links –

www.jennymortonpotts.com

https://twitter.com/jmortonpotts

www.facebook/jennymortonpotts

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Genuine Fraud - E. Lockhart

From the author of the unforgettable bestseller WE WERE LIARS comes a suspenseful new psychological thriller - the story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. 

But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.

Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. 

An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. 

A bad romance, or maybe three.

Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains. 

A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.

A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

What did I think?

I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to numbers (well ok, maybe I'm severely OCD about numbers) so I wasn't sure how I would cope with Genuine Fraud beginning at Chapter 18.  Well I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't really notice, to be honest.  I just wanted to know what had happened to get to this point in time and even though I sometimes didn't know what the devil was going on, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.

Jule and Imogen are unlikely friends but friendship doesn't see class, religion or skin colour but Jule is a fraudster and it isn't long before she turns herself into a mirror image of Imogen.  It isn't long before Jule assumes Imogen's identity and starts living her life, but Imogen will turn up and put an end to all that, won't she?  

There is so much suspense in Genuine Fraud, making it a compelling addictive read.  I felt so afraid for Imogen's safety early on and as time ticked backwards that feeling intensified until I had to read every single page before going to sleep.  I don't know whether it was the working backwards, but I did sometimes feel a bit confused at times as to what was going on.  Despite this, it held my attention enough to continue on and I wonder if perhaps we haven't seen the last of Jule...in fact I think a sequel is a must!

Genuine Fraud is a quick read at less than 300 pages which is just as well as it's quite hard to put down!  A super little YA read that made me look at unlikely friendships in a different light.  It's true that you can never see inside someone's mind, and nor would I want to, but it's frightening to think that some people may have hidden agendas.  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...but which is which?

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Till the Dust Settles - Pat Young

The lives of two women who never meet are about to collide.

Lucie married young. Her husband has become abusive, controlling and violent.  Having lost everything as a result of the marriage, Lucie decides it is time to walk away.

As she leaves the house on the morning of September 11th, heading to a job interview at the World Trade Centre and the promise of a new life, the unthinkable happens.

On a street in New York, choking on the dust, Lucie stumbles upon an opportunity for a new life.

She thought the grass would be greener. But starting again is never that simple…

Sometimes, what lies ahead is even more deadly.       

What did I think?

Until September 11th 2001, I could never understand how people of a certain generation always knew where they were and what they were doing on the day that President John. F. Kennedy was assassinated.  With a family member working only a block away from WTC, I can remember September 11th of 16 years ago as if it was yesterday.  I can still feel the shock, fear and disbelief as the majestic twin towers collapsed, towers that I had stood before to photograph only the previous September.  So I was a little unsure how I would feel about reading a book set around this horrific event, but I had absolutely no cause for concern as Pat Young recreates events with so much grace and compassion in her EXCEPTIONAL debut novel, Till The Dust Settles.

Lucie is in an abusive relationship with her husband, Curtis, and in an attempt to take back control, applies for a job as a cleaner in the World Trade Center.  Her job interview is on September 11th 2001 and she's worried about turning up late after applying make-up to cover up the imprint of her husband's hand on her face.  For once, the detestable Curtis has saved Lucie's life as by turning up late she is outside WTC when the plane hits.  In the confusion and blindness of the dust cloud, Lucie drops her handbag and when she scambles to pick it up, she picks up somebody else's bag.  In an attempt to return it, she is mistaken for the bag's owner and she realises that she might have an opportunity to escape Curtis once and for all.

Phew!  What a scorching read.  I was shocked to find that this is Pat Young's debut novel, it is so impeccably written and she has created such a strong likeable character in Lucie that you root for her from the start.  There are so many moments that tug at your heartstrings and I felt completely emotionally invested in the book that I gasped and held in my tears several times over.  Lucie may have been a beaten wife but she is so strong underneath and Pat Young has quite a rollercoaster ride in store for her before she even has a chance of her own happy ever after.

Without capitalising on such a tragic event, Pat Young has written an emotional story of hope and new beginnings.  Without darkness we wouldn't have light and this story is the perfect example of that.  Till the Dust Settles is such an exceptional debut novel and if ever a book is well worth 5 stars, this is it.  It makes me wish I had a secret extra star to give to outstanding books such as this.  Absolutely superb!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. I am releasing my review as part of the blog tour.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon



About the author

Pat Young grew up in the south west of Scotland where she still lives, sometimes. She often goes to the other extreme, the south west of France, in search of sunlight.

Pat never expected to be a writer. Then she found a discarded book with a wad of cash tucked in the flyleaf. ‘What if something awful happened to the person who lost this book?’ she thought, and she was off.

Pat knew nothing of writing, but she knew a thing or two about books, having studied English, French and German at Glasgow University. A passion for languages led to a career she loved and then a successful part-time business that allowed her some free-time, at last. 

Pat had plans, none of which included sitting at her desk from daybreak till dusk. But some days she has to. Because there’s a story to be told. And when it’s done, she can go out to play. On zip-wires and abseil ropes, or just the tennis court.

Pat writes psychological thrillers. Till the Dust Settles is her debut, from Bloodhound Books. 

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