Absolute Proof - Peter James

Investigative reporter Ross Hunter nearly didn’t answer the phone call that would change his life – and possibly the world – for ever.

‘I’d just like to assure you I’m not a nutcase, Mr Hunter. My name is Dr Harry F. Cook. I know this is going to sound strange, but I’ve recently been given absolute proof of God’s existence – and I’ve been advised there is a writer, a respected journalist called Ross Hunter, who could help me to get taken seriously.’

What would it take to prove the existence of God? And what would be the consequences?

This question and its answer lie at the heart of Absolute Proof, an international thriller from bestselling author Peter James.

The false faith of a billionaire evangelist, the life’s work of a famous atheist, and the credibility of each of the world’s major religions are all under threat. If Ross Hunter can survive long enough to present the evidence . . .

What did I think?

As a lover of Egyptian history and mythology, I was immediately drawn to this book by the eye-catching hieroglyphs on the cover and I've also read a few of Peter James' Roy Grace series so I know that he is an excellent writer.  At over 500 pages, it's quite a chunky book with a complex plot and a lot of characters so it did take me longer than I expected to read it.

The whole premise of this book intrigued me: what would happen if proof of God's existence came to light and what lengths would some people  or organisations go to prevent this happening?  This is the question that Peter James explores in Absolute Proof which injects the thriller element into the story at just the right time to keep me interested.  As reporter Ross Hunter gathers the evidence to prove God's existence, it really did feel like there were lots of people out to stop him and I had no idea who he could trust.

I think I was a little guilty of my own hype as I expected to love this book but found it a little hard going in places, so I ended up liking but not loving it.  I'm glad I've read it but it's not a book I'd recommend and I think I'd rather stick with the amazing Roy Grace series.

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

My rating:

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My Sister's Bones - Nuala Ellwood

Kate Rafter is a high-flying war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped their father. Her younger sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks.

But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her very first night she is woken by a scream.

At first Kate tells herself it's just a nightmare. But then terrifying things start to happen, things she can't explain...

What secret is lurking in her mother's garden?

And what if the real danger is where you least expect it?

What did I think?

I started My Sister's Bones one lazy Sunday afternoon and could not go to sleep that same night until I had finished it.  The book was glued to my hand from start to finish and, although I might have had suspicions about certain people, I certainly wasn't expecting the story to take the direction that it did.

Kate is a war reporter who was on assignment in Syria when her mother died.  She didn't make it home for the funeral, leaving her sister Sally to make the arrangements with the help of her husband, Paul.  When Kate returns home, she finds Sally drinking herself into oblivion leaving Paul at the end of his tether.  Sally has an awful lot to cope with so I can understand her turning to alcohol to numb her pain.  Sally was a teenage mum, giving birth to her daughter, Hannah, but after a drunken argument, Hannah left home at 16 never to be seen again.

Kate moves into her family home and it becomes clear quite quickly that she is suffering from PTSD.  She has flashbacks and nightmares of her time in Syria, so when she hears a young boy crying in the night she is determined to rescue him.  Kate tackles her neighbour, Fida, about the boy but Fida claims that there aren't any children living in the house.  Then Kate spots a young boy in her garden during the night and follows him into next door's shed only for him to disappear.  With insights into the cause of her PTSD, the reader is naturally drawn to the conclusion that Kate is hallucinating.  But is she?  When one day she wakes up with blood on her hands and no memory of how it got there, I really didn't know what to believe.

Absolutely impossible to put down, My Sister's Bones will have you questioning every single sentence that you read.  It is an exceptional debut and an impressive psychological thriller that really gets inside your head, making it impossible to tell fact from fiction. There are a multitude of threads to follow and untangle and I felt like I had held my breath until the very last page was turned.  I could write so much more about this book but writing any more than I've written would spoil some of the surprises.  I have no doubt that My Sister's Bones is going to be a massive hit when it is released in 2017.  Make sure you look out for it as you really don't want to miss this one!

I received this book from the publisher, Viking, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:


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