BLOG TOUR: The Howling: Volume 3 (The Annie Jackson Mysteries) - Michael J Malone

Two men, centuries apart, dream of being a wolf. 

One is burned at the stake.

Another is locked in a psychiatric hospital for most of his life.

And Annie Jackson is about to find out why…

Vowing once again to remove herself from society, Annie is back living alone in her little cottage by the shores of a loch. But when an old enemy – now locked up in a high security hospital – comes calling, begging her to find the son that she was forced to give up at the age of seventeen, Annie is tempted out of seclusion. The missing boy holds the key to ending Annie’s curse, and he may be the only chance that both she and Lewis have of real happiness.

Annie and Lewis begin an investigation that takes them back to the past, a time etched in Scottish folklore, a period of history that may just be repeating itself. And what they uncover could destroy not just some of the most powerful people in the country, who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and their secrets, but also Annie’s life, and everything she holds dear…

Dark, immersive, and utterly compelling, The Howling is a story of deception, betrayal, and misplaced power, and a reminder that the most public of faces can hide the darkest of hearts…

 

What did I think?

The Howling is the third book in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series and although you could enjoy it as a standalone, it is absolutely brilliant when read as part of the series.  If you thought the first two books were dark, just wait until you read The Howling.

Annie Jackson has a curse that gives her a vision of the impending death of someone with whom she has come into contact.  There is nothing she can do to prevent the death so she has chosen to isolate herself in a remote cottage to keep her murmurs quiet.  Annie is drawn out of isolation when an old adversary dangles a carrot in front of her that is too impossible to resist: find her son and the curse will be broken.

Interspersed with chapters from a dark and dangerous past, I was completely hooked from the start and the historic storyline is both horrifying and heartbreaking.  I could very easily visualise every scene in the book as it played out in my head as I was reading.

I just can't get enough of Michael J Malone's writing; he immediately draws you into the story and I dived in headfirst to submerge myself in the vivid and haunting words.  As much as I wanted Annie and her twin Lewis to succeed in their mission to break the curse, I also don't want the series to end so what a quandary that puts the reader in as we race to the dramatic conclusion.

Deliciously dark and incredibly haunting, The Howling is a fast-paced and completely unmissable novel.  Very highly recommended.

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

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BLOG TOUR: The Torments (The Annie Jackson Mysteries book 2) - Michael J Malone

Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch,  Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs,  a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries. 

While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices  merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths. 

Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for  Annie’s help. Mandy’s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping  off his four-year old son at his mother’s home. 

Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis’ life may be changed forever… 

 

What did I think?

I loved The Murmurs, the first book in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, so I couldn't wait to read the sequel, The Torments, and I was not disappointed.  Although you could read The Torments as a standalone, I think it's beneficial to have read The Murmurs first to really get to know the characters of Annie Jackson and her brother Lewis and to understand Annie's curse.

Annie finally has her curse under control, at least when she's at home in her isolated cottage.  If only she could stay behind closed doors, she wouldn't be plagued by the murmurs and the death visions. When her cousin Damien goes missing, Annie and her brother Lewis are called upon to help find him but the world outside Annie's four walls is filled with danger for someone like Annie.

I really enjoyed reading about Annie Jackson again and it was like meeting up with an old friend so I was very invested in her story.  I was on the edge of my seat as the danger level ramped up and I was suspicious of everyone linked with Damien's disappearance.  With Hallowe'en approaching, the clock is ticking for Annie and Lewis to uncover the truth behind Damien's disappearance, and a whole lot more than they bargained for.

Spooky, chilling and compelling, The Torments is a book that will keep you up at night, both when you're reading it and after you've finished it.  It's the perfect book to read on Hallowe'en and I most definitely recommend it.

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

My rating:

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About the author:

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines  throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood  Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and  is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed  suit. The Murmurs, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, was published to critical  acclaim in 2023. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as  an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr, where he also works as a hypnotherapist. 

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BLOG TOUR: The Murmurs - Michael J. Malone

On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die.

How she knows this is a terrifying mystery, but it is the start of horrifying premonitions ... a rekindling of the curse that has trickled through generations of women in her family – a wicked gift known only as ‘the murmurs’...

With its reappearance comes an old, forgotten fear that is about to grip Annie Jackson.

And this time, it will never let go...

What did I think?

Oh wow, Michael J. Malone has done it again.  Just when I think he's written his best book, he goes and pulls another one out of the bag.  The Murmurs is an outstanding gothic thriller that chilled me to the bone.

Annie has always felt different from her twin brother Lewis, and it wasn't helped by their mother treating Lewis as the golden child and all but ignoring Annie.  Their mother Eleanor always feared that Annie had a curse lying dormant inside her and now it's about to wake up.  Eeeeeek!  The death premonitions and whispering voices really creeped me out and I loved it!

The whole story is very intricately plotted around Annie's curse and it's like untangling a ball of wool so I couldn't read fast enough to discover all of the book's dark and creepy secrets.  I loved the story of Eleanor and her sisters and it was heartbreaking to read about how patients (mainly women) with mental health issues were treated in the not too distant past.  

Expect the unexpected with a Michael J. Malone book and you will not be disappointed.  The Murmurs is a dark, creepy and compelling book that ticks all the boxes of a fast-paced thriller but it goes one better by adding an element of the supernatural.

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

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the author:

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr, where he also works as a hypnotherapist.

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BLOG TOUR: Half-Past Tomorrow - Chris McGeorge

 

Shirley Steadman, a 70-year-old living in a small town in the North East of England, loves her volunteer work at the local hospital radio. She likes giving back to the community, and even more so, she likes getting out of the house. Haunted by the presence of her son, a reluctant Royal Navy officer who was lost at sea, and still in the shadow of her long dead abusive husband, she doesn't like being alone much.

One day, at the radio station, she is playing around with the equipment and finds a frequency that was never there before. It is a pirate radio station, and as she listens, the presenter starts reading the news. But there is one problem - the news being reported is tomorrows. Shirley first thinks it is a mere misunderstanding - a wrong date. But she watches as everything reported comes true. At first, Shirley is in awe of the station, and happily tunes in to hear the news.

But then the presenter starts reporting murders - murders that happen just the way they were reported.

And Shirley is the only one who can stop them.

What did I think?

As he's a local author, I've been meaning to read a Chris McGeorge book for a while so Half-Past Tomorrow may be his fourth novel but it's the first one of his that I've read.  I always get a kick out of reading books set in the North East and I know the book's setting of Chester-le-Street reasonably well so I felt like I was walking in Shirley's footsteps.

With a storyline that sees into the future, you really do have to suspend belief when reading Half-Past Tomorrow and I'm sure I'll see loads of reviews saying that it's not very realistic.  But that's why it's called fiction, surely?  I like something a little bit weird and unexplainable now and again and this thriller with a difference certainly fits in that category.

Shirley moved to Chester-le-Street after the death of her husband and she volunteers at the local hospital radio station and has joined an embroidery group which stops her from being lonely.  Shirley is literally haunted by the death of her son Gabe as he continually appears in her kitchen and she makes him a cup of tea in his favourite mug.  So even when Shirley is alone, she still has someone to talk to.

When Shirley stumbles across a pirate radio station at work one day, she thinks the presenter has made a mistake with the date.  Surely the news isn't for tomorrow?  But when the news starts to come true and the news reports increase in severity it isn't long before the premonitions of little accidents turn into murder.  Armed with the pertinent details, can Shirley stop the crimes or will everything happen the way it has been reported?

Well I really rather enjoyed my first Chris McGeorge book.  There's so much going on to keep the reader entertained from the mystery of Gabe's death to the future murders.  There's a real sense of community in the book and you get the impression that everybody knows everybody in a small town, which they often do!  I loved the sense that anything could happen in the original and intriguing plot and I found the whole book hugely entertaining from start to finish.

So imaginative and filled with surprises, Half-Past Tomorrow is impossible to guess so just sit back and enjoy the ride.

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

My rating:

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About the author:

Chris McGeorge studied MA Creative Writing (Crime/Thriller) at City University London where he wrote his first novel as his thesis. His interests are broad - spanning film, books, theatre and video games. He is a member of the Northern Crime Syndicate, a supergroup of writers from Northern England. He lives in County Durham with his partner and many, many animals.

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Seeing Scarlett - NC Marshall

Seeing is believing!

DCI Morgan was looking forward to returning to his old career in his beloved hometown. However, when he’s assigned to his first case, to question a young woman, Grace, who claims she has psychic abilities, he is more than a little sceptical!

Grace claims to have seen the murder of a woman – Scarlett, the wife of a wealthy entrepreneur – six months ago. Her murder was supposedly solved, with the culprit in prison, and the case closed, but did it really happen the way the police were led to believe?

As Grace embarks on a mission to discover the truth behind Scarlett’s death, she uncovers dark secrets, shocking revelations, and lies once buried which threaten to resurface.

Think you've worked it out? Guess again!

What did I think?

I love NC Marshall books; they really are fabulous little tales of the unexpected.  Seeing Scarlett is a crime thriller with a hint of the supernatural that I easily read in one sitting.  NC Marshall’s gripping and suspenseful writing draws you in immediately and even though I wasn’t massively surprised at the ending I enjoyed it immensely.

Grace Stone works in a charity shop and one day a beautiful red coat catches her eye, but she gets the biggest shock when she tries it on: a vision of Scarlett Preston’s murder.  Scarlett’s killer is already behind bars so why would Scarlett be reaching out to Grace from beyond the grave?  This isn’t exactly the first case that DCI Tony Morgan expected to pick up when he returned to his native North East from Manchester.  Despite their initial scepticism, Grace is so convincing that DCI Morgan and his colleague DI Taylor feel it is their duty to investigate...and I’m sure they’d hate to admit it, but I think they were a little intrigued.

I often get a bit goosebumpy when I read about anything supernatural and Seeing Scarlett is no exception.  I felt as if Scarlett could appear as a ghostly apparition at any moment and I worried that Grace was in danger, especially when things started happening to those close to her.  Just like Grace, I had no idea of the danger she was really in.  Grace can’t let go of the feeling that Scarlett is trying to tell her something and when she gets further visions she finds herself getting closer to the truth of what really happened to Scarlett…but someone is prepared to do anything to keep that secret well and truly buried.  

Gripping, twisty and completely riveting, Seeing Scarlett is a goosebumpy supernatural crime thriller that had me on the edge of my seat as I hurtled full speed towards the nail-biting conclusion.  NC Marshall’s books are so addictive that once you read one, you will definitely want to read them all.

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

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