Try Not to Breathe - Holly Seddon

You won't be able to put it down.
Just remember to breathe.

Alex is sinking. Slowly but surely, she's cut herself off from everything but her one true love - drink. Until she's forced to write a piece about a coma ward, where she meets Amy.

Amy is lost. When she was fifteen, she was attacked and left for dead in a park. Her attacker was never found. Since then, she has drifted in a lonely, timeless place. She's as good as dead, but not even her doctors are sure how much she understands.

Alex and Amy grew up in the same suburbs, played the same music, flirted with the same boys. And as Alex begins to investigate the attack, she opens the door to the same danger that has left Amy in a coma...

What did I think?

What an amazing debut from Holly Seddon.  Corvus agreed it should come with a Pringle-type warning as once you open it, you really can't stop reading!

It's such a novel idea to have a main character in a persistent vegetative state.  It's set in 2010 and Amy is not only trapped in her own body, she is trapped in 1995 when she was brutally attacked and left for dead.  She can hear visitors talking to her but she is understandably confused and her attempts at communication go unnoticed.

Alex's life is falling apart; she has lost everything she ever held dear and keeps looking for the answers in the bottom of every bottle. Alex starts writing a freelance piece about the local coma ward where she recognises one of the patients as Amy, whose attack she remembers hearing about.  Alex is determined to find out what happened to Amy 15 years ago and this gives her something to focus on other than alcohol.  Through writing this story, Alex gets stronger and thanks to Amy, perhaps there is still time for Alex's life to be saved.

I loved the way this book was written from Amy's perspective in 1995 through to present day, and through Alex, Jake (Amy's boyfriend from 1995), and Sue (Jake's Mum) in 2010.  There were so many red herrings that I thought anybody could have attacked Amy as I frantically raced through the pages for more clues.  Although Amy was going out with Jake, her head was turned by her 'Secret', but who is Amy's 'Secret'?  Only Amy can identify him...

This is a book that kept me hooked from start to finish.  It is so hard to put down and I highly recommend it.  Holly Seddon is certainly one to watch - I think we'll be hearing a lot more about her.

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

My rating:

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Blood of the Rose - Kevin Murray

London. A newspaper editor is horrifically murdered, his death quickly followed by a series of more brutal, and often bizarre, slayings. The police are baffled, the only clear link between the murders being a single blood red rose left at the scene of every killing. Why? What does the rose mean? What connects the killer to each bloody corpse? Scotland Yard detective Alan Winters leads a hunt for the elusive prey. As the body count rises, Jennifer Chapman, renowned investigative journalist and daughter of the murdered newspaper editor, sets out on a personal quest for revenge. Drawn together in their pursuit of a deadly quarry, Winters and Jennifer unwittingly face a fatal surprise, for the killer is closer than they think. As they close in on the truth of the blood red rose, their unseen foe plots a shattering end to his reign of terror, and death awaits them all.

What did I think?

This was an excellent thriller that I read over the course of 24 hours.  I was immediately hooked with the chilling description of the killer hunting his prey and my stomach did a huge somersault as the crossbow found its first target.

The reader is simultaneously immersed into a police investigation, a journalistic scoop and a fledgling relationship; barely giving us time to pause for breath.  A continual string of murders gives the story its fast pace and as hints to the killer’s identity are revealed the pace definitely goes up a notch.  I was flicking through the pages almost as fast as Winters when he was racing to St Paul's Cathedral for the final explosive showdown.

Jennifer is a great character; she is the daughter of the first victim and, as a journalist, she understandably begins her own investigation into who killed her father.  She also begins a relationship with Alan Winters, who is heading the police investigation, and both he and I wondered if Jennifer was using him to get information on the case.

It kept me guessing right up to the end and even once the killer is revealed there’s another excellent twist.  I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to everyone; crime/thriller readers will love it and I think it could also introduce a love of the crime/thriller genre to other readers.

Many thanks to Matthew from Urbane Publications for sending me this outstanding book in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

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Career Girls - Louise Bagshawe

All's fair in love and war?  Blonde, beautiful, upper-class Rowena Gordon is the perfect English rose.  Topaz Rossi is a feisty, Italian-American red-head from Brooklyn.  Both are determined and talented.  And there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other. Until Rowena hooks up with Topaz's boyfriend.  Now, years later, they are star career girls at the top of their game; Topaz in journalism, Rowena in the music industry.  When their paths cross again, Topaz is not about to just forgive and forget.  She'll do everything in her power to shatter Rowena's success.  And Rowena will do anything to stop her...

What did I think?

I was pre-warned that this book was a little steamy and it certainly was!  Sex scenes aside, it was actually a really enjoyable story about two women who used to be friends at university but fell out when Rowena slept with Topaz's boyfriend.  When they both find themselves in New York, whilst trying to climb the career ladder, we find out that Topaz has neither forgiven nor forgotten Rowena and seeks her revenge.

Rowena is a young executive in the music industry, trying to discover bands and make a name for herself.  Topaz is climbing the ladder in magazines and uses her influence to take shots at Rowena every chance she gets.  It was really exciting to see what Topaz would do next and I almost forgot that Rowena was the boyfriend-stealing baddie and started to feel sorry for her.  Then Rowena starts an affair with a married man, making any compassion I felt for her melt away like the ice cubes in my gin and tonic (who am I kidding, I don't water down my drinks).

I wouldn't have the energy to carry a grudge like Topaz, but it certainly made good reading.  As they were mixing in the same social circles, I did wonder if they could ever bury the hatchet and be friends again.  When business eventually throws them together, I couldn't put the book down!

As with other Louise Bagshawe books we are treated to excellent descriptions of items being worn.  This one didn't feel it was advertising as much as Destiny but I still wondered if people in New York walked backwards as their ass always seems to get a mention.

It was a nice few hours of escapism from Louise Bagshawe with the glitz and glamour of New York's social scene and the cut-throat backstabbing of the business world.

My rating:

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The Beer Guru's Guide - Chris Street

This book is for all who understand that drinking beer can be a religious experience, a portal to an alternative reality. This is the perfect gift for the millions who like a pint. It features marketing partnerships with breweries and pubs. The author is a high profile advertising creative who will attract media attention. It is fully illustrated throughout, and all for the price of just four pints. As a follower of the Barmy Swami, Chris Street is eminently qualified to reveal the mystical secrets of beer, its sacred nature and the path of the Beer Guru. Go on a quest for the Holy Ale, the sacred beer that flows from the Font of All Knowledge and which bestows infinite knowledge, immortality and enlightenment. Create your own beer temple, master the art of astral travel.

What did I think?

This was a very quick fun read with some absolutely cracking quotes from the beer guru himself.

"Life's short.  Drink as much as you can."

I have a really good sense of humour but didn't laugh as much as I expected.  Having said that, I still think this would be a really good gift book for anyone with a love of beer.

"After a couple of beers, you love everyone and everyone loves you.  Beer is liquid love."

The Beer Guru mentions a quest for the Holy Ale and anyone with a love of Real Ale will know exactly what this means.  Ale lovers the world over are sampling every ale they can, worshipping at the beer altar, until they find the ale that they worship above all others.  I have been on this quest for some time and set up my beer blog to catalogue my very own quest for the Holy Ale.  Please feel free to head over to Ale Be Seeing You to follow my quest.

There are some really good play on words, such as the Dalai Llager, that make this a really fun book that any beer lover will enjoy.

Many thanks to Amy from Souvenir Press for spotting my beer blog and sending me a copy of The Beer Guru's Guide.  It was my pleasure to read it, with a beer in hand, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

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Holy Cow - David Duchovny

Elsie Bovary is a cow and a pretty happy one at that. Until one night, Elsie sneaks out of the pasture and finds herself drawn to the farmhouse. Through the window, she sees the farmer's family gathered around a bright Box God - and what the Box God reveals about something called an 'industrial meat farm' shakes Elsie's understanding of her world to its core.

The only solution? To escape to a better, safer world. And so a motley crew is formed: Elsie; Shalom, a grumpy pig who's recently converted to Judaism; and Tom, a suave turkey who can't fly, but can work an iPhone with his beak. Toting stolen passports and slapdash human disguises, they head for the airport ...

Elsie is a wise-cracking, slyly witty narrator; Tom dispenses psychiatric advice in a fake German accent; and Shalom ends up unexpectedly uniting Israelis and Palestinians. David Duchovny's charismatic creatures point the way toward a mutual understanding and acceptance the world desperately needs.

What did I think?

This was a really fun book with some crazy illustrations that made me smile.  Elsie is quite an impressive cow - after seeing animals being slaughtered on the TV, that she calls the Box God, she decides to make a run for it.  Where better for a cow to go than India, where cows are worshipped, not eaten.

Calling the TV a Box God was actually quite a sobering thought.  For those of you who worship at the altar of Sky Atlantic, perhaps you should read Holy Cow instead and learn from the animals who decided to break from the herd and be heard.

I really liked all of the characters but I think Tom was my favourite.  He wants to go to Turkey as he thinks that he will be safe in a country that is named after him.  The only problem is his fellow traveller and escapee Jerry is a pig and will not be welcomed in a muslim country.  Tom is a bird who can't fly but in this book nothing is impossible and Tom does fly!

This was a really quick read and David Duchovny really brought the characters to life through his narrative writing style.  It had a nice mix of humour but at the same time showing respect to different cultures.  I was pleasantly surprised.

I received this book from the publisher, Headline, via Bookbridgr in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

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Rebellious Spirits - Ruth Ball

A delicious history of the secret, exciting and often dangerous world of illicit spirits

For as long as spirits have existed, there has been someone doing something really naughty with them: selling gin through pipes in a London back alley; standing guard on a Cornish clifftop waiting for a smuggler's signal; or dodging bombs and shrapnel running whisky in the Blitz. It is a history that is thrilling, utterly fascinating and uniquely British.

Packed full of historical recipes, from Milk Punch to a Wartime Martini, along with cocktails from contemporary bartenders, Rebellious Spirits is a treasure trove for the curious drinker.

From the gin dispensed from a cat's paw at the Puss and Mew shop which could have been the world's first vending machine, to whole funeral corteges staged just to move a coffin filled with whisky, the stories show off all the wonderful wit and ingenuity required to stay one drink ahead of the law. The accompanying recipes are just as intriguing: How did we drink gin before tonic? Was punch really made with curdled milk? Or breakfast served with brandy porridge, and gin mixed into hot ale? What did the past really taste like?

What did I think?

Although it took me a while to read it, this book was really interesting.  It is so full of information that I could only read one chapter at a time so I could fully digest what I had read, and spend some time sampling the alcohol I had just read about, of course.

I absolutely loved the recipes, both original and alchemist versions, although I have yet to try them out.  It will be really interesting to try some authentic versions of drinks our ancestors will have supped.  I'll start off with some easier ones like Egg Flip, Gimlet or Bobby Burns as some of them are really adventurous like the Blue Blazer whereby a stream of liquid fire is passed between two containers - with the author pointing out that you should make sure you have a helper to put you out if it goes wrong.

The book starts with a chapter on the origins of alcohol, but also has excellent sections on whisky, gin and poitin.  I had many laugh out loud moments at the hilarity of hiding whisky from the excise officials - from whisky babies to innovative seating arrangements.  I have taken great delight in telling my friends the story of the Puss and Mew shop, although having read later chapters whereby people were paralysed by illegal alcohol perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea to drink unnamed spirit passed through a spout in a painting. Desperate times do indeed call for desperate measures and it just proves that Brits will do anything for a shot of gin.

Something else that really interested me was the hidden bars also known as secret speakeasies.  From a secret bar in New York called PDT (Please Don't Tell) which you access via a phone booth in a hot dog joint to a Detective Agency in Kensington which has a bar hidden behind a secret entrance in the wall, they sound like amazing places that I would love to visit.

It's such an interesting book that I am sure I will pick it up again for many years to come.  It has certainly made drinking whisky and gin much more interesting as I now have so many stories of their origins.  I think the author has done a brilliant job of writing such a comprehensive history of booze, with just the right amount of history and humour.

I received this book from the publisher, Elliott & Thompson, in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:

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Poor Little Bitch Girl (Santangelo #7) - Jackie Collins

There's Denver Jones, the hotshot attorney working in L.A. and Carolyn Henderson - personal assistant to a powerful and very married Senator in Washington with whom she is having an affair. And then there's Annabelle Maestro - daughter of two movie stars - who has carved out a career for herself in New York as the madame of choice for discerning famous men. The three twenty-something women used to go to high school together in Beverly Hills and Denver and Carolyn have always kept in touch, but Annabelle is out on her own with her cocaine addicted boyfriend Frankie. 

Bobby is Frankie's best friend - Bobby Santangelo Stanislopolous, that is, Kennedy-esque son of Lucky Santangelo and deceased Greek shipping billionaire Dimitri Stanislopolous. Now he owns Mood, the hottest club in New York, but back in the day he went to high school with Denver, Carolyn and Annabelle, and hung out with all three of them. Which means that Bobby knows everyone's secrets - and he has some of his own, too.

What did I think?

I had never read a Jackie Collins book before and I don't really like jumping into an already established series, but I was loaned this book so thought I'd give it a shot (no pun intended with a shooting in the book).

The story centres around 4 main characters; Bobby, Denver, Annabelle and Carolyn.  They all went to same school as youths but weren't all friends.  Denver is a lawyer who was briefly friendly with Annabelle, daughter of two famous movie stars, but is now friends with Carolyn, assistant to a senator.  Bobby is the son of Lucky Santangelo and is in Annabelle's social circle as he is friends with her boyfriend, Frankie.

Unsurprisingly, Annabelle is a spoilt bitch and is the subject of the book's title.  She lands herself in hot water but as it is in LA, if you have enough money you can make anything go away.  I quite liked Denver at first, as she seemed the more normal of the 3 girls until she jumped into bed with anyone who looked at her for longer than 10 seconds.  Carolyn got the short straw; having an affair with a married senator who makes an arrangement with a local gang leader to abduct Carolyn when she gets too attached.  That was quite a gripping part of the story.  Bobby didn't really leave a lasting impression on me.  He seemed a bit weak, most unlike the playboy I expected him to be.  

I really liked the way that Jackie Collins summed it all up in the last chapter by giving a brief 'what happened next' to each character.  I do think that there were too many characters in the book with none of them standing head and shoulders above the rest as a main character.  The murder storyline was predictable and the bitch wasn't even that bitchy so it all felt a bit flat for me.  Perhaps if I had read the first 6 books in the series, I would have enjoyed it more.

My rating:

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