Don't Close Your Eyes - Holly Seddon

Robin and Sarah weren't the closest of twins. They weren't even that similar. But they loved each other dearly. Until, in the cruellest of domestic twists, they were taken from one another.

Now, in her early 30s, Robin lives alone. Agoraphobic and suffering from panic attacks, she spends her days pacing the rooms of her house. The rest of the time she watches - watches the street, the houses, the neighbours. Until one day, she sees something she shouldn't...

And Sarah? Sarah got what she wanted - the good-looking man, the beautiful baby, the perfect home. But she's just been accused of the most terrible thing of all. She can't be around her new family until she has come to terms with something that happened a long time ago. And to do that, she needs to track down her twin sister.

But Sarah isn't the only person looking for Robin. As their paths intersect, something dangerous is set in motion, leading Robin and Sarah to fight for much more than their relationship...

What did I think?

Having loved Holly Seddon's amazing debut, Try Not To Breathe, I could not contain my excitement when I picked up a copy of Don't Close Your Eyes.  You really can't put Holly's books down; they immediately draw you in to an intriguing storyline, making it quite possible to finish Don't Close Your Eyes in one sitting.  I didn't quite manage it as my brain ignored the instruction and my eyes unfortunately started to close as it was way past my bedtime.

Robin and Sarah are twins, although they are like chalk and cheese, and we meet them as they are growing up in the late 80's/early 90's.  There is no doubt as to the era with references to Jordan Knight from NKOTB (although I was a Donnie Wahlberg fan) and Opal Fruits (not the yellow ones).  Robin becomes close friends with her neighbour, Callum, as the two neighbouring families begin to socialise together, but she could never have expected her life to intertwine so intricately with Callum's.  In a cruel turn of fate, Robin and Sarah are separated by the Atlantic Ocean as Sarah goes to live in America.

Fast forward to present day and if you think the 'past' was full of drama, you ain't seen nothin' yet!  Robin is agoraphobic and spends her time looking out of her window at her neighbours' lives.  She is clearly very damaged and you wonder what on earth happened to her, this girl who was once confident enough to be in a band.  Sarah meanwhile, is equally lost after her husband, Jim, stages what appears to be an intervention which separates her from her beautiful daughter, Violet.  Jim has a list of misdemeanours, but surely Sarah can explain them?

I can't really say too much more without giving away some of the story, but what an amazing book this is.  Don't Close Your Eyes is filled with so much drama that it makes Eastenders look like an episode of Songs of Praise.  Holly Seddon really knows how to get under your skin, creating characters that are as multi-faceted as the rarest diamond.  It's not only a book that I will continually recommended, but a book that I will definitely read-again.

Seriously good, you won't want to blink, never mind close your eyes, until you have finished it.

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

My rating:

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An Honest Deceit - Guy Mankowski

When Ben and Juliette's young daughter dies in a tragic accident on a school trip, they begin searching for answers. But will they ever know the truth? What was the role of the teacher on the trip - and are the rumours about his past true? As Ben and Juliette search for the truth and the pressure rises, their own secrets and motivations are revealed.... An Honest Deceit is an intelligent and gripping contemporary psychological thriller that questions not just the motives of others, but the real reasons for discovering the truth.

What did I think?

I was drawn to this book, not only because Urbane Publications publish amazing books, but because the author currently lives in Newcastle.  Irrespective of the way that I came across this book, I am so pleased that I have read it.  I even started recommending it part way through, ensuring that my Mam was waiting eagerly in the wings to read it after me.  I am actually still very angry at the fictional school every time I think about it, so it just shows the depth of emotions that An Honest Deceit stirred in me.  I say stirred, more like whipped up like a whirlpool...do NOT mention Headmaster Paul Kraver to me or my blood pressure will spike!

When Ben and Juliette send their daughter, Marine, on a school trip they had no idea that it would be the last time they ever saw her. As they fight the school to find out what happened, their relationship feels the strain as they come up against one brick wall after another.  Will they ever find out the truth or will the school be successful in covering it up? 

Ben knows how schools work, he is a teacher at the senior school and was the shining star of 'Educating Bristol'.  This is something that Headmaster Paul Kraver clearly resents and he sees an opportunity to take Ben down a peg or two by turning Marine's death into an excuse to investigate Ben's fitness to teach.  Paul Kraver is one of those odious people who get jobs because of who they know not what they know.  He thinks he is protected by the board of governors and can therefore do what he wants.  What he has underestimated, however, is the strength of public emotion.  When Ben and Juliette take on the school they have the support of an enraged public behind them.  Nothing is more powerful than the voice of the people, especially enraged people.

What an emotional read this was.  It wasn't so much that I cared about the characters but I found myself getting more and more angry at the bureaucracy that they came up against.  I kept wanting to shout out that a little girl had died, who cares if you could lose your job by speaking out, she lost her life!  It's a rather sobering thought as human nature conflicts between helping others and saving your own skin.

An Honest Deceit is an absolutely breathtaking, outstanding and powerful book that hooks you very quickly, so you could quite easily read it in one day.  It evoked such strong emotions in me that I had to wait a while before writing my review or it would have ended up being a rant against school bureaucracy and undeserving people in positions of power.  I wholeheartedly recommend this book to EVERYONE!  Ruth Dugdall said that Guy Mankowski has created a sub-genre in crime fiction and I couldn't agree more.  It's something so completely unique to anything I have read before and it will appeal to every reader.  Don't miss this one!

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

My rating:

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Never Forget (Saul Marshall Thriller Book 2) - Richard Davis

Saul Marshall is on the run.

As a wave of seemingly random assassinations engulfs California, Marshall finds himself drawn into a situation spiralling out of control.

He soon discovers some of the webs’ most secure protocols have been compromised by a rogue team of former Chinese agents. When Marshall realises what they plan, the stakes are raised…

And that’s before the Secretary of State gets involved. Can Marshall unravel the deceit and tricks before it’s too late? Can he stop the carnage, or will he become part of it? One thing is for certain: either way his enemies will never forget.

What did I think?

I absolutely LOVED the first Saul Marshall thriller, False Prophet, and you can read my review here so I started reading Never Forget straight after as I couldn't get enough of Saul Marshall.  We are introduced to Saul again as he listens in to police radio.  He's like a modern-day real-life Batman: a shadowy vigilante trying to put a spanner in the works of criminals on the streets of California.  When he hears something on police radio, he starts his engine and rushes to the scene.  What he sees puts him on a rollercoaster he can't get off and when a lady needs his help he puts on his bat-cape and (hopefully) saves the day (and the girl).

Saul swoops in to save the damsel in distress and teams up with Ellen, the attempted abductee, and puts together all the pieces of the puzzle to see why she is so valuable.  Saul is a wanted man so he can't go to the authorities but he still has some friends in law enforcement who are willing to put their jobs on the line to help him.  As he helps Ellen, he puts himself back on the radar again and he must be one step ahead to avoid being caught whilst removing the threat that could tear the government apart.

Wow!  What a ride!  I love the character of Saul Marshall, he could be any man on the street.  It's absolute genius to have a main character who was a con-man, FBI agent and now a wanted man.  If Saul is Batman, then Vann is definitely Robin; his trusty sidekick who can swoop in to save the day.  Although this was a bit too techie for me at times, it is a fantastic edition to an AMAZING series.  I'm not a fan of politics but I will grab with both hands any political thrillers starring Saul Marshall.  Hollywood, take note, Saul Marshall is destined for the big screen!

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

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: My Name is Leon - Kit de Waal

I am delighted to re-release my 5🌟 review on my stop of the My Name is Leon blog tour.  This is one of those books that stay with you long after you have turned the final page; several months after I read it, I still have a little home in my heart for Leon.  If you're looking to read something uplifting, poignant and funny, make sure you don't miss My Name is Leon.

A brother chosen. A brother left behind. And a family where you'd least expect to find one.

Leon is nine, and has a perfect baby brother called Jake. They have gone to live with Maureen, who has fuzzy red hair like a halo, and a belly like Father Christmas. But the adults are speaking in low voices, and wearing Pretend faces. They are threatening to give Jake to strangers. Since Jake is white and Leon is not.

As Leon struggles to cope with his anger, certain things can still make him smile - like Curly Wurlys, riding his bike fast downhill, burying his hands deep in the soil, hanging out with Tufty (who reminds him of his dad), and stealing enough coins so that one day he can rescue Jake and his mum.

Evoking a Britain of the early eighties, My Name is Leon is a heart-breaking story of love, identity and learning to overcome unbearable loss. Of the fierce bond between siblings. And how - just when we least expect it - we manage to find our way home.

What did I think?

This book should come with a packet of tissues; I felt so emotionally invested in this book and completely engrossed in Leon's story that I kept thinking about it long after I had turned the final page.

Leon is almost 9 years old and already he is acting as a carer for his baby brother, Jake, and his mother, Carol. As it becomes clear that his mother cannot look after Leon and Jake, or even herself, Leon and Jake are taken into care. So they pack their meagre belongings and go to live with Maureen, their foster carer.  Maureen has fostered lots of children and she welcomes each and every one of them into her home and loves them as if they were her own children.  With Maureen opening her heart to Leon and Jake so unconditionally, I immediately knew that they were in good and safe hands.

I thought my heart would break when Leon kept wondering when his mother would come back for them but as Carol shows no signs of getting back on her feet, it is not long before Jake is adopted and Leon is left feeling understandably bereft. When Maureen is suddenly taken ill it is her sister, Sylvia, who steps in to look after Leon. As Leon struggles to fit in to his ever-changing environment he rides his bike to the local allotments and makes some unlikely friends - a strange bunch of people who are all struggling to fit in and find that, in the end, they just might all fit together perfectly like the missing pieces of a jigsaw.

My Name is Leon is a wonderful advert for foster caring; it's a beautiful story that reminds us that 'family' can come in all guises, not just those we are related to by blood. We hear so many horror stories on the news that it is so refreshing to read a heartwarming, lovely story like this.  I cried at the beginning, middle and end as Leon's plight is an all too common occurrence.  Kit de Waal, in her astonishing debut, has done an amazing job of giving each of her characters a strong and completely unique voice; from Leon's hilarious innocence to Maureen's inexhaustible love.  Such varied and unique characters who inevitably managed to set up house and make a little home in my heart.

Written with such breathtaking tenderness, My Name is Leon is an emotional, poignant, heartwarming story filled with innocent humour and, above all, hope.

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

My rating:

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COVER REVEAL: Widdershins - Helen Steadman

I am delighted to reveal the cover of a new book that I am VERY excited about.  Set local to me in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it is the 17th Century story of fifteen people executed for witchcraft.  I had no idea that witch trials happened this far North so I can't wait to read Widdershins.  Until publication on 1st July, we will just have to be content with the amazing cover. 

‘Widdershins was inspired by the seventeenth-century witch trials in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Although fifteen people were executed on the same day for alleged witchcraft, the trials aren’t widely known about outside the north east of England. So, I’m pleased that the story of this travesty will now reach a much wider audience.’ (Helen Steadman, Author)

‘I’m thrilled that we are publishing Helen Steadman’s engrossing novel, Widdershins. I loved following the interplay of John and Jane’s stories in this vividly evoked and fascinating period of history.’ (Laura Christopher, Commissioning Editor)

‘Her writing reminds me of Hannah Kent’s bestselling novel, Burial Rites, which follows the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829. Helen’s writing has a similar persuasive and empathetic force, weaving together historical fact with modern concerns about the treatment of women.’ (Helen Marshall, Award winning author)

‘Did all women have something of the witch about them?’

Jane Chandler is an apprentice healer. From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane will soon learn that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world.

From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witch-finder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft.

Inspired by true events, Widdershins tells the story of the women who were persecuted and the men who condemned them.

The Cry - Helen Fitzgerald

When a baby goes missing on a lonely roadside in Australia, it sets off a police investigation that will become a media sensation and dinner-table talk across the world.

Lies, rumours and guilt snowball, causing the parents, Joanna and Alistair, to slowly turn against each other.

Finally Joanna starts thinking the unthinkable: could the truth be even more terrible than she suspected? And what will it take to make things right?

Perfect for fans of Julia Crouch, Sophie Hannah and Laura Lippman, The Cry was widely acclaimed as one of the best psychological thrillers of the year. There's a gripping moral dilemma at its heart and characters who will keep you guessing on every page.

What did I think?

This was a read-in-a-day kind of book.  With a starting line of 'It was the fault of airport security.' you know that something terrible is going to happen and my finger of blame was poised to point right from the start.  As it happens, I actually chose the right person as, for once, I added up the clues and got to the right answer.  That doesn't mean that the book was predictable in any way at all, there are plenty of surprises in store and I didn't know I was right until the very end.

Joanna didn't know Alistair was married when she first met him and when she did find out, it was too late.  She was already in love with him and felt like the most important woman in his life.  What Joanna doesn't know is that Alistair is good at using the right words in whatever situation demands it, his job is basically a fixer for politicians.  Whatever bad press is coming their way, Alistair can spin it into a favourable light.  Alistair and Joanna are on their way to Australia to fight for custody of Alistair's daughter, Chloe, from his first marriage with Alexandra.  They are bringing with them their 9 week old son, Noah, who is fractious throughout the flight and the parents take turns looking after him.  Joanna is understandably fraught and the other passengers remember her when she later appears on TV after Noah goes missing in Australia.  With no sign of him, what really happened to baby Noah?  Somebody knows and somebody is to blame, but all eyes turn to Joanna and she starts to question her own sanity.

Alistair, despite Noah's disappearance, is still planning to fight for custody of his 14 year old daughter, Chloe, and Joanna fears that he is planning to pin Noah's disappearance on his ex-wife, Alexandra.  The two women have more in common than they think; Alistair his spun the words they want to hear around both of them.  As Joanna picks up all the pieces of Alistair's history, she wonders just how important she is to him and to what lengths he will go to portray the desired appearance.

The Cry is an absolutely gripping story from Helen Fitzgerald, I was riveted from start to finish.  We are able to read passages from 'now' when Joanna is on trial whilst trying to dig through what happened in the past.  What exactly is Joanna on trial for?  I didn't guess and I'm sure you won't guess too!  I finished reading on the same day that I started, so that's a 5 star read all the way for me!  I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another novel by Helen Fitzgerald and I'm overjoyed to see that I have Viral in my TBR pile.

My rating:

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Everything but the Truth - Gillian McAllister

Do you ever check your partner's phone? 

Should you? 

Are you prepared for the consequences?

Everything but the Truth is Gillian McAllister's stunning breakthrough thriller about deceit, betrayal and one woman's compulsive need to uncover the truth

It all started with the email.

Rachel didn't even mean to look. She loves Jack and she's pregnant with their child. She trusts him.

But now she's seen it, she can't undo that moment. Or the chain of events it has set in motion.

Why has Jack been lying about his past? Just what exactly is he hiding? And doesn't Rachel have a right to know the truth at any cost?

What did I think?

I had no idea when I started this book that it was part set in my neck of the woods so it was a lovely surprise to read a setting comprising Grey's Monument (the iconic towering statue at the heart of Newcastle), The Boat (Newcastle's floating nightclub with the famous revolving dancefloor), The RVI (a hospital in the heart of Newcastle) and The Hoppings (the annual fair on Newcastle's Town Moor).  To be fair, it could have been set anywhere and still been an amazing read, but I get an extra buzz when reading books set in my area.

Rachel and Jack are in a relatively new relationship when Rachel discovers that she is pregnant.  Unlike most men, Jack doesn't run back to Scotland but instead embraces the addition of the baby fondly referred to as 'Wally' to their family.  One night Rachel sees an email appear on Jack's iPad referring to his history being dredged up in the John Douglas case.  Who is John Douglas and what does he have to do with Jack Ross?  When Rachel meets Jack's friends they call him 'JD' and Jack says it's because he used to be a heavy drinker in his youth.  Rachel, however, is no stranger to lies and paranoia as she discovered after her mother's death that her mother had been having an affair.  So Rachel starts digging into Jack's past, but will she be prepared for what she might uncover?

Rachel has a story of her own that we are treated to in flashback chapters which takes us back to when Rachel was a promising junior doctor.  Rachel isn't practising now so just what happened a year ago with 'the boy'?  Cue the fabulous DOUBLE HOOK!  Both Jack and Rachel have secrets and I for one couldn't read fast enough to uncover both devastating and heart-breaking stories.  I'm not a Newcastle United fan, but Rachel's story affected me so deeply that I shall remember it every time I see the black and white stripes around somebody's neck which, due to where I live, will be very often indeed.

I think this is the first book that I have read where The Hoppings have been mentioned.  The Hoppings is an annual event held in June where Europe's biggest travelling fair appears on Newcastle's greenbelt, The Town Moor.  We always joke that we know when The Hoppings is here as we usually get a week of rain, thanks to the gypsy curse.  It was nice to read that the sun was shining on The Hoppings in Everything but the Truth but I can't remember The Hoppings ever being held in October.  A bit of artistic license perhaps or maybe I'm wrong, either way it doesn't really matter.

Everything but the Truth is truly a fantastic book!  I'm now a self-confessed Gillian McAllister junkie as I was addicted from the very first page.  Like stepping on a rollercoaster at The Hoppings, once you get on there's no getting off until the ride stops.  So stand in line and hop aboard for the ride of your life!  I promise it's well worth it, then join me in waiting for our next Gillian McAllister fix.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon