Little Sister - Isabel Ashdown

After sixteen years apart sisters Jessica and Emily are reunited. With the past now behind them, the warmth they once shared quickly returns and before long Jess has moved into Emily's comfortable island home. Life couldn't be better. But when baby Daisy disappears while in Jess's care, the perfect life Emily has so carefully built starts to fall apart.

Was Emily right to trust her sister after everything that happened before?

What did I think?

I've had my eye on Little Sister for a while so I couldn't resist picking it up to see what all the fuss was about.  Yes, I expected a twisty psychological thriller but what I didn't expect was such a fast-paced dual timeline story that had me suspecting EVERYONE!!  Sometimes I didn't even know which 'Little Sister' the book was named after - it really is SO good.

Emily and James have a baby daughter, Daisy.  Daisy is the Little Sister of James' teenage daughter, Chloe.  When Emily and James go out to a party to welcome in the New Year, Daisy is left in the care of Emily's Little Sister, Jess.  When Emily returns home, she finds Jess collapsed on the floor and Daisy missing.  As the police hunt for Daisy, we delve into the dark and dusty background of each and every member of this family, discovering more skeletons in the closet than the ghost train at the fair.

Emily and Jess have been apart for many years and have only just been reunited when Jess returned for their mother's funeral.  As we look back into their past, we find such deep rooted sibling rivalry that was quite cleverly hidden.  On the surface they appear to be loving sisters, but underneath...dare I say it, I think they hated each other!  That was all in the past, though - wasn't it?

Meanwhile, Chloe is lying and sneaking around as she spreads her rebellious teenager wings.  Could she have put her Little Sister in danger?  Then we look at Emily and James - why did Emily return from the New Year's Eve party without James?  What happened to James' first wife and why won't he marry Emily?  So many questions with such ripe juicy answers just waiting to be plucked within the pages of Little Sister. 

You seriously won't be able to put Little Sister down!  I thought I had it all worked out on many an occasion, only to be proved wrong time and time again.  I gave my eyes a total workout as they whizzed over the pages of this riveting book and I can't recommend it highly enough.

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

My rating:

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Home - Kate Hughes

“You need to come and get my daughter. She’s not safe anymore.”

For Sophie, life with her daughter has never been easy. Rosie’s extreme autism has made her unpredictable and often difficult. Like most mothers though, her first instinct has always been to protect her child and keep her close. However, when Rosie’s escalating violence culminates in a terrifying incident at home, Sophie is faced with a choice that no parent ever wants to make. A choice that will inevitably plunge her into a set of unimaginable new circumstances which will test her to the limit.

A true test of a mother’s love.

Could you send your child away?

What did I think?

Oh my word, what an emotional rollercoaster of a read this is.  Home is so full of emotion that I felt every bump in Sophie's road with her. She has such difficult choices to make and it is so interesting to see so many different sides of the story: that of the immediate family but also how it is perceived by others.  Home is such a brave and eye-opening story that even the coldest heart won't fail to be moved by it.

Sophie is on her own with two beautiful daughters: 16 year old Chloe who is studying for her exams and 12 year old Rosie who has autism.  Rosie's autism sometimes presents in an entirely loving manner but in other times it can result in violent outbursts that cause harm to others and Rosie herself.  Sophie makes the heartbreaking decision to put Rosie into a residential home and it is clear that this decision was the hardest decision that Sophie has ever had to make - the despair was practically jumping off the page.  We go on to see how Sophie's decision impacts on the whole family and every family member gets the chance to get their feelings across.  

Home is a pure unadulterated love story.  A mother's love can sometimes mean that the hardest decisions have to be made, a decision that may appear selfish to some but is actually so completely selfless.  Kate Hughes has managed to effortlessly show all the sides to this story, whilst injecting humour along with the bundles of love.  Talking of humour, I felt like I had to get my fly swatter out as Greg and Mark started buzzing around Sophie like annoying bluebottles on a sunny day!

Something so completely different and emotion-full, Home is a heart-breaking, yet heart-warming read and is 100% recommended.  Read it and weep, I know I did.

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

My rating:

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Vixenhead - Eve Seymour

Somewhere in Vixenhead, I’m certain the truth lies…

A sudden disappearance…

When Roz Outlaw's partner Tom mysteriously vanishes, she knows his life is in danger. Tom has been distracted lately, afraid, as though he is being hunted…

A desperate search…

With the police showing little interest Roz knows it falls to her to find Tom. But as Tom's secrets are uncovered nothing can prepare Roz for the dark lies and twisted truths she finds. She thought she loved Tom, but quickly realises she has been living with a stranger – a man with murder in his past.

A house of evil.

The key to unlocking Tom's past lies in his childhood home – Vixenhead. A house of wickedness that keeps its secrets well hidden. Can Roz find Tom before it's too late or will the evil within Vixenhead claim her too…

What did I think?

HarperImpulse turn to the dark side with Vixenhead and it's a book that I absolutely whizzed through.  It's so easy to read and hooks you from the start when Tom appears to have the perfect relationship with Roz yet vanishes without even saying goodbye.  The catalyst being his photograph appearing in a magazine - what or who is he running from and why does he not want to be found?  The answers are all within the intriguing pages of Vixenhead.

Firstly, I have to say that I loved the homage to Robin Hood with characters named Roz Outlaw and Tom Loxley.  It did make me smile but if I thought Vixenhead was going to be a light-hearted read, I was so wrong.  Roz and Tom seem to be so in love but then one day Tom disappears - he just packs up and leaves without a word.  Roz can't understand what went wrong and turns into a bit of a Miss Marple as she hunts high and low for Tom.  Roz isn't at all prepared for what she might uncover and it leads her into terrible danger at Tom's childhood home, the rather imposing Vixenhead.  

I did rather enjoy Vixenhead; it is fast-paced and intriguing enough to keep you hooked and ensure that the pages turn as fast as possible. The only slight gripe I have is that the house, which the book is named after, doesn't really appear until the latter chapters and I would have loved to have felt my skin crawling as I was introduced to the imposing structure.  I loved Roz's determination to get to the bottom of the Tom mystery and my reading pace increased in line with the dangerous circumstances at the end.  Vixenhead is a good solid relationship-based thriller that held my interest throughout, it begs the question 'how well do you know the person you are sharing your life with?'  I think it would make a good holiday read rather than the late-night spine tingler that I expected.

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

My rating:

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Revenge Of The Malakim (The Grooming Parlour Trilogy Book 1) - Paul Harrison

It’s high summer and the streets of Bridlington East Yorkshire are awash with tourists. A serial killer is on the loose. DCI Will Scott and his team embark upon a fast paced investigation to catch a killer with a unique agenda. As the body count rises the killer randomly moves location and the police are unwittingly drawn into a dark and sinister world where cover-ups and corruption reigns. A place where no one can truly be trusted and nothing is ever what it seems.

What did I think?

Do not judge this book by the cover!  It may not have the most polished artwork on the cover but it's what's inside that matters and this is one cracking crime novel that makes your skin crawl.  I can't even write my review without my skin standing rigid on high alert.

Crikey, what a hidden surprise this book turned out to be!  I thought I was in for a run of the mill British police murder investigation but oh, how wrong I was!  Think Jimmy Savile multiplied by ten and you get some idea of the scum hiding in East Yorkshire.  They think they are hiding, but somebody knows who they are and what they are up to.  As a killer rids the county of such vile characters, they want the police to link the crimes by leaving a little calling card - a silver metal angel, known as a malakim.

Will and Daisy are called in to investigate and I loved the dynamic between the two of them, so I'm rather pleased that this book is the first in a trilogy, meaning we get to read more about them.  I do feel as if we've only scratched the surface of their characters, so I can't wait to read more!

There's a vigilante on the loose in East Yorkshire, so those people in glass houses better batten down the hatches and hope they're not next!  I think that's what hit home for me whilst reading Revenge of the Malakim, people think they are above the law and won't get caught. People in authority often exploit their position without a second thought for their victims, so I found myself in rather an unusual position of rooting for the killer rather than the victim.  

A rather surprising page-turner, Revenge of the Malakim is a riveting British crime novel and deserves every single one of the 5 stars I have awarded.  More please!

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Broken Branches - M. Jonathan Lee

Family curses don't exist.  Sure, some families seem to suffer more pain than others, but a curse?  An actual curse?  I don't think so.

A family tragedy was the catalyst for Ian Perkins to return to the isolated cottage with his wife and young son.  But now they are back, it seems yet more grief might befall the family.

There is still time to act, but that means Ian must face the uncomfortable truth about his past.  And in doing so, he must uncover the truth behind the supposed family curse.

What did I think?

Whoa!  What have I just read?  Part ghost story, part psychological thriller - it certainly kept me on my toes right to the very end.  Welcome to the Perkins family, who appear to have a curse hanging over them which takes their first born sons.  Only by investigating the family tree will Ian Perkins get to the root of the curse and save his family from certain doom.

Ian inherited Cobweb Cottage under unfortunate circumstances.  Being back at the cottage with his wife and young son brings back memories of his youth.  A youth where he had a brother and an uncle, both since erased from the family tree.  The only constant being the sycamore tree that looms menacingly on the front lawn, seeing everything but not revealing its secrets.  The tree plays such a pivotal role in the story that it's almost a character in its own right, and is it wrong of me to say that it was my favourite character?  Even thinking of it now gives me goosebumps!

Broken Branches really plays with your mind as you see the curse being played out in front of your eyes.  Ian is frantically researching the family tree to get to the root of the problem, but can he save his own son from the destiny that awaits him?  I called Ian's sanity into question many a time, as his wife has a lock on her bedroom door and he sees strange apparitions in the night.  How much is real and how much is insanity?  That's for the reader to decide, after you release the breath you didn't realise you had been holding throughout the last few paragraphs.  Broken Branches is one mighty fine book and I heartily recommend it, as I flick through M. Jonathan Lee's back-catalogue wondering what to read next.  This is Quality writing with a capital 'Q'!

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

My rating:

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Girl 99 - Andy Jones

Before Tom finds The One, he needs to find himself.

When Tom’s girlfriend walks out on him the day before Christmas, he feels humiliated but not necessarily heartbroken. Sadie wasn’t, after all, The One. If we’re being precise, she was number eighty-five.

Tom’s first mistake is sharing this information with his best friend El. His next mistake is listening when El suggests that he bring his eighty-five up to a nice, neat one hundred.

It was never going to be a good idea, not least because everything else in Tom’s life is in complete chaos. His best friend is dying of a slow and cruel disease, his teenage sister is at war with his well-meaning but dogmatic father, his elderly neighbour is having romantic problems (and makes a dreadful cup of tea), and he has to shoot four commercials with four children and a bad-tempered producer.

And then Tom meets Verity. Whether she’s The One remains to be seen, but she’s certainly more than just another number.

What did I think?

I absolutely loved Andy Jones' debut novel, The Two of Us, so I didn't need to think twice before reaching for a copy of Girl 99.  There's something so very refreshing and appealing about Andy Jones' style of writing; it's so honest and genuine that it feels like the book is talking to you.  Although you don't need to have read The Two of Us to enjoy Girl 99 (but seriously you NEED to read The Two of Us), I was thrilled to see the inimitable character of El make another appearance and welcomed him as if he was an old friend of mine rather than Tom's.

Tom is a very multi-faceted and hilarious character.  On one hand he is a lad's lad but on the other he is a loving part of a very close knit family, a family that is stronger than ever after suffering the devastating loss of Tom's mother when his sister was very young.  Tom has almost taken on the mother role as he acts as intermediary between his Dad and his teenage sister, Bianca.

Tom gets himself into trouble and ends up breaking up with his girlfriend, Sadie, when he admits to kissing a colleague, Holly.  When Sadie is collecting her things from the flat she finds Tom's diary (I know, a man with a diary!) but it's more of a notches on the bed post record than a diary as Sadie sees she is number 85 on Tom's list of conquests.  Furious, she then makes plans to get her revenge and it ends up in a superb custody battle over the Mini Cooper!

When Tom meets his friend, El, for a night out to drown his sorrows, El encourages Tom into a bet that he will make it to 100 ladies before a set deadline.  It's a gamble that Tom willingly accepts and sets off on his quest to hit that magic number, but he didn't gamble on falling in love along the way.

So warm, witty and all-round good fun, Girl 99 is as charming as it is hilarious.  Seeing so many sides of Tom, I thought I would despise him for treating women like a number but that's not who he is underneath.  The way he acts with his family and his elderly neighbour, Doug, shows the strength of character he really has.  Add to this Andy Jones' ability to make me laugh on almost every page and you have a winner of a book; I should have known not to read it whilst eating as I almost choked on my rice salad when reading at lunchtime about Tom's first 'dorty book'.  With hilarious quips about Brighton and Paul Daniels, I could not contain my laughter and I was gutted that I had to stop reading to wipe the tears of laughter from eyes.

Another fabulous book from Andy Jones, who is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.  A recommended read for anyone who loves a good romcom with an emphasis more on the realism of lad-lit than the mushiness of chick-lit.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

BLOG TOUR: The Mayfly - James Hazel

I'm thrilled to be on the blog tour for The Mayfly, which is sure to be one of the most exciting books of the year.  Before we get on to my review, I have a fabulous guest piece from James Hazel about the films that inspired The Mayfly.

The films that inspired The Mayfly

Whilst I love crime fiction, I’m relatively late to the party. For most of my early life I was a passionate reader and watcher of psychological horror. It wasn’t particularly the gory slasher films that intrigued me; it was the supernatural, the unknown.

Unsurprising then that subtle elements of horror have crept into The Mayfly, although not without belittling its status as, fundamentally, a crime novel. Here’s a few of the films and TV shows that directly or indirectly influenced the shape of The Mayfly.

In Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, a film I watched at far too young an age, the everyday is suddenly turned into a nightmare. A seemingly benign part of our everyday background, the birds, suddenly take on an apparent collective consciousness and start working together to wage a war on mankind.

It struck me that this was real horror, a concept that utterly destroyed our intellectual trust with life. Hence the members of the House of Mayfly are the everyday. Towards the end, Priest reveals that the members comprised, “politicians, bankers, lawyers, coppers. Even a fucking geography teacher.”

The character of Priest was inspired by a whole mish-mash of heroes, from Sherlock Holmes to James Bond and Luther (the Volvo!). You could pick any decent film featuring the former two protagonists and find a little bit of Priest in there.

The final scenes are partially inspired by the strange happenings in Eyes Wide Shut, in which the main character, Dr Bill Harford, stumbles on a secret society practising a sexual ritual at a secluded mansion. 

There’s an obvious connection with Silence of the Lambs, as Priest’s brother, William, is a convicted serial killer incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, although Dr William Priest has never admitted to eating any of his victims. The similarity with Hannibal Lecter is more to do with the interplay between William and Charlie, with the former acting as counsel to the latter in all matters gruesome and murderous, a bond that will develop in future Priest’s thrillers.

The Mayfly also features a German SS doctor, Kurt Schneider, who was responsible for experimenting on inmates at Buchwald concentration camp during the Holocaust. The novel raises questions about Nazi ideology and the nature of evil and I have to thank a host of films for inspiration, from the iconic Schindler’s List to the glorious technicolour romp in Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Readers will also note that Priest suffers from a form of dissociative disorder and this affects his perception of reality. At its most extreme, Priest has full-on out of body experiences and strange hallucinations and, in so doing, I am always reminded of the unreality brought to life in The Matrix. For more insight, some sufferers of depersonalisation disorder, a particular type of dissociative disorder, describe a feeling of being trapped powerless in their own bodies, much like the artificial intelligence trapped in the robotic cells in the science-fiction television series Humans.

Finally, this list wouldn’t be complete without reference to Charlie Priest’s favourite film Freaks. A 1932 American film in which the ‘freaks’ of the travelling circus are the real heroes, while the ‘non-freaks’ are the villains. What better way is there to celebrate being different?

So what did I think about The Mayfly?  Here's my review:

A mutilated body discovered in the woods. 
A murderous plan conceived in the past.

A reckoning seventy years in the making . . .

When lawyer Charlie Priest is attacked in his own home by a man searching for information he claims Priest has, he is drawn into a web of corruption that has its roots in the last desperate days of World War Two. 

When his attacker is found murdered the next day, Priest becomes a suspect and the only way to clear his name is to find out about the mysterious House of Mayfly - a secret society that people will kill for. 

As Priest races to uncover the truth, can he prevent history from repeating itself?

What did I think?

Like a pesky bluebottle, the buzz about The Mayfly on Twitter was hard to ignore - not that I could ever ignore such excitement surrounding a new book!  So like a moth to the flame I was powerless to resist The Mayfly and picked it up almost as soon as it dropped on my mat.  What an intriguing book this is, I am certain that we have not heard the last of Charlie Priest and I, for one, can't wait to read about what he gets up to next.

I could probably write a whole review about Charlie Priest, yet I get the feeling that we have only just scratched the surface of his fascinating life.  Charlie is an ex-policeman who retrained as a lawyer, he suffers from dissociative disorder and has a brother who is a serial killer.  See - intriguing or what?  Add to this a dual timeline with a post-war experimentation slant and I was lucky to finish the book without getting papercuts from turning the pages so fast.

Charlie aside, I absolutely loved his associate, Simon 'Solly' Solomon.  Solly is an accountant - he likes numbers not people, which is pretty much how I describe myself - but oh my word, he is such an amusing character.  He's completely OCD and I almost choked with laughter as he revealed his inner Sheldon Cooper (of Big Bang Theory fame).  Like a typical accountant, he's forgotten about as you never see him arrive or leave and he's left to beaver away in a dark and dusty room, but he's always there to be relied upon.  

I think it's always a worry with dual timelines that the reader sometimes feels as if they are reading two separate books.  I felt a bit like that when I started The Mayfly as I couldn't see how these two stories were related or how they would ever come together at the end, which is why The Mayfly is so brilliant as it all slots together perfectly.  James Hazel is a refreshing and exciting new voice in crime fiction and I'm already looking forward to more Charlie Priest adventures.  Believe the buzz on this one, and make sure you catch a copy of The Mayfly.

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

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

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