Release Date: 31/01/13
SYNOPSIS:
If he can't have you no one will...
Darcy was just trying to be friendly to the new boy in the office. But it's gone horribly wrong. At first it was just unwanted invitations but now Joe is sending her abusive emails, calling her late at night, unwilling to take no for an answer.
And every step, Darcy takes to distance herself from him is just adding fuel to Joe's obsession. And now he knows where she lives...
REVIEW:
Writing can, at times be as subtle as a brick when hard combat is meshed with the battlefield, yet when you read a crime novel, you sometimes want that manipulative whisper that penetrates deep into the readers subconscious so much so that when aspects of the plot are revealed fully you end up wondering why you didn’t spot it before.
In this new title by Katia, it is perhaps her best to date with some wonderful subterfuge, some great writerly sleight of hand and when blended with solid prose as well as great story arc really keeps you glued until the last page it is turned. Add to this some wonderfully realistic characters that the reader wants to spend time around which when blended with some great dialogue really adds up to one solid crime title that will haunt your mind for some time to come. Great stuff.
Release Date: 03/01/13
SYNOPSIS:
Los Angeles Harbour is one of the world's busiest ports. It's also where the ocean, in the words of Dinko Babich, meets the ghetto and a locus for theft, extortion, drug smuggling and human trafficking. Dinko is a third generation longshoreman, and while no stranger to a little extra-legal activity himself, he's simply got used to looking the other way. Until he's paid to transport Lita - a beautiful and surprisingly sweet Mexican dancer - from the harbour front to a Hollywood club. Lita's seen something she shouldn't have, something that links her to a shipping container filled with 13 corpses. Can Dinko keep Lita safe while the LAPD catch up? Or will the lethal predators who stalk the docks prove too powerful to escape? Inventive, razor-sharp, and with an unflinching eye for detail, Joseph Wambaugh intertwines suspense, tragedy and humour into the everyday life of the cops and residents of Los Angeles Harbour and Hollywood. Starring a host of colourful characters from the Hollywood Station series - the surfer cops known as 'Flotsam and Jetsam', aspiring actor 'Hollywood Nate' Weiss, young Britney Small - Harbour Nocturne is the brilliant new novel from the grandmaster of crime.
REVIEW:
If you’re a fan of Crime Fiction and want something that feels like its larger than life then you really have to try Joseph Wambaugh’s new book Harbour Nocturne that brings back characters from his Hollywood Division. It’s quirky, blending crime with humour and for a reader looking for something a little different really makes it something not only unique but a title that’s a lot of fun to spend time reading.
Add to this a wonderful sense of storytelling mixed in with real life experience (his own and other cops from the real LA Division) and all round this book is a real hit for relatively new publisher Head of Zeus as they continue to forge their own way in a weird and wacky world.
Release Date: 01/01/13
SYNOPSIS:
KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. A COLD DAY FOR MURDER: Somewhere in twenty million acres of forest and glaciers, a ranger has disappeared: Mark Miller. Missing six weeks. It's assumed by the Alaskan Parks Department that Miller has been caught in a snowstorm and frozen to death, the typical fate of those who get lost in this vast and desolate terrain. But as a favour to his congressman father, the FBI send in an investigator: Ken Dahl. Last heard from two weeks and two days ago.Now it's time to send in a professional. Kate Shugak: light brown eyes, black hair, five foot tall with an angry scar from ear to ear. Last seen yesterday...
REVIEW:
Whilst this book has been available for quite some time in the States, it’s being brought to the attention of the British public by new publisher Head of Zeus. Whilst the series is now well established, as a reader I love to go back and start from the beginning with authors who’ve established themselves to see how they’ve changed their writing over the time.
Yet for all that, we have to remember that this was a first book and as such learn to expect that there will be problems with the prose, the pace and at times even the plot. What this book does for me is a wonderful introduction to a culture I really don’t know that much about, the author brings the tempestuous relationship between the native peoples and the government over wonderfully and the story is definitely one that whilst investigating the disappearance of two men, really does a good job of allowing the reader to get to know the principle character.
Add to the fact that she’s quite single-minded and all round it’s a book that has more than intrigued me to read the others in the series. Yes there are problems such as the loss of pace in parts, yes there are problems with some of the other elements but Kate is definitely a heroine that will find a place in a great many readers hearts (alongside Mutt, her pet) and whilst for many she’s a seasoned veteran of the bookshelves, to the UK, she’s new and definitely ready to rumble with the others on the shelf.
SYNOPSIS:
KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. A FATAL THAW: Eleven days ago, Roger McAniff bought himself a new Winchester 30.06 rifle. Ten days ago he went out to test it. Now nine people are dead. But only eight were killed by McAniff...Stephen Syms. Patrick Jorgensen. Lyle and Lucy Longstaff. Lisa Getty. The Weiss family, John, Tina, and their two children. All slaughtered. Considering she would have been his final victim, Kate Shugak almost regrets not killing Roger McAniff. But Lisa Getty was killed by a different rifle. Different rifle, different shooter. And Kate Shugak is tasked with tracking this unknown killer down before the case goes completely cold...
REVIEW:
OK, so I’m straight back in for my second outing with Kate Shugak, and as a reader, getting the chance to compare the first two titles so close together really does allow you to see the lessons that the author has learned from the original. Here the characters are crisper, the plot line slicker and of course the reader is in for a treat as a mystery comes to the fore wrapped up in an enigma that Kate has to solve.
There’s some wonderful twists, a host of cast members that are wonderfully fleshed out and when added to a plotline that works wonderfully well on so many levels, definitely demonstrates that the reader is in for one hell of a good read with these books. Whilst shorter than quite a few other books out there now, it doesn’t suffer for it as it keeps it pretty punchy. All round a great read and one that proves that Kate is definitely not a one shot pony.
Release Date: 01/01/13
SYNOPSIS:
KATE SHUGAK is a native Aleut working as a private investigator in Alaska. She's 5 foot 1 inch tall, carries a scar that runs from ear to ear across her throat and owns half-wolf, half-husky dog named Mutt. Resourceful, strong-willed, defiant, Kate is tougher than your average heroine - and she needs to be to survive the worst the Alaskan wilds can throw at her. DEAD IN THE WATER: Last March, two men disappeared whilst loading supplies on a remote island in the Bering Sea: two million square miles of dark capricious ocean and tempestuous squalls. Their Skipper, Harry Gault, should have been fired, at the least. But six months later he's still aboard the Avilda, and the families of the missing men are making noises about corruption. With the crew backing his version of events, what the authorities need is an investigator who can survive the torturous conditions on an Alaskan fishing trawler. Someone like Kate Shugak...
REVIEW:
The third book in the series and whilst this one still kept me going, it was more a book about the people and land than a real mystery bound up within which to be honest is a bit of a problem when that’s the key element to which this series is based. Don’t get me wrong, the characters are still wonderfully rounded, the descriptiveness of life on a crabbing vessel works well and with the inclusion of a native tradition, its something that does keep you more than interested due to the fact that she brings it all over wonderfully well.
All in a solid enough title but for me, it really doesn’t surpass the second outing and whilst I’ll continue to read the series, I am a little apprehensive leaving it for a while in case I tend to remember the negative rather than the positive aspects.
Release Date: 01/10/12
SYNOPSIS:
Julian Wells was a writer of dark non-fiction works that detailed some of the worst crimes of the 20th Century. Was it this exploration of man's inhumanity to man that caused him to take his own life? When his body is found in a boat drifting in a pond in Montauk, New York, his best friend, the literary critic Philip Anders, begins to reread his work in order to prepare a eulogy. This rereading, along with other clues, convinces the critic that his friend has committed a terrible crime, and that it was as punishment for this crime that Wells took his own life. Anders' investigation sparks an obsession with unravelling the mystery of the man he thought he knew. His journey towards understanding leads him from Paris to Budapest, spans four decades, and takes him deeper and deeper in to the heart of darkness that was Julian Wells...
REVIEW:
To be honest with you, I found this book quite hard going, as its something that requires the readers attention throughout and whilst it is beautifully written, I did find that with some of the repetitive descriptions in regard to the principle character I lost my chain of thought and missed some of the key parts due to my distraction.
Don’t get me wrong it has a wonderful sense of pace, some cracking turns of phrase but when I get distracted when I’m trying to read that really doesn’t bode well for the book staying with me or for me to get the pay off. All in a reasonable book and one I will try to reread in the future to see if it was just a case of being in the wrong frame of mind upon the original reading. I can wait but see.
Release Date: 12/04/12
SYNOPSIS:
In a cold, windswept field on the outskirts of Edinburgh, lies the brutally mutilated body of a young woman. As DI Rob Brennan looks at the tangled mass of limbs and blood, he feels his heart freeze. Like Fiona Gow five years earlier, this girl has been strangled with her own stockings, sexually mutilated and her eyes have been gouged out. Is this the work of an Edinburgh Ripper? The press certainly think so. Rob Brennan is determined to uncover the truth - however painful that might be. But truth is hard to come by in a world of police rivalries, media hysteria and copycat crime.
REVIEW:
There are some authors who when they release a new title, allow the reader to feel that they’re catching up with an old friend. In this Tony’s second book following DI Rob Brennan the reader is thrown headlong into a murder investigation that has a horrible feeling of déjà vu for our lead character.
What makes this book from Tony a wonderful read is his tight prose, solid arc and when backed with a character that is fully fleshed that feels like a familiar friend after a short time, makes this a title that is not only hard to put down but nigh impossible. All in a wonderful read and as the title builds to its inevitable conclusion I found myself reading slower to have more time within the pages. Cracking.
Release Date: 21/04/10
BOOK BLURB:
The Detective: Meet Jo Birmingham. Single mum, streetwise detective, and spiky as hell. Recently promoted, she is one of the few female detective superintendents on the Dublin police force. But with a failed marriage behind her and two young sons at home, trying to strike the right work-life balance has run her ragged. The Serial Killer: When Jo identifies the missing link in a chain of brutal killings, she comes under fierce scrutiny from her male colleagues in the force, especially her boss and ex-husband Dan Mason. But as the body count rises, so do the body parts. As fear stalks the city, it soon becomes obvious both to the police and to the media that a serial killer is at large. A Terrifying Game of Cat and Mouse: And so Jo embarks on a terrifying psychological journey to find out who the killer is, and how he is choosing his victims. Soon she is involved in a deadly game in which there are no rules. Because the killer is waiting for her...
REVIEW:
If you’re looking for a crime story that’s a little different with a new setting, then you really can’t do much better than this offering by Niamh. It’s fresh, it has great characterisation and with traits within Jo Birmingham that many a reader will recognise, she has something that can be latched onto so that the reader has an almost instant connection.
Add to this mix a plot that takes the reader around the streets of Dublin as the character struggles to face events from the past alongside a string of murders that she needs to solve and the reader has a title that will stay with them. It’s definitely different to the many crime stories out there and for that reason is well worth a punt. You won’t regret it.
Release Date: 01/11/10
BOOK BLURB:
Featuring twenty of the year's standout crime short stories handpicked by one of the world's best thriller writers, Best American Mystery Stories 2010 showcases not only the very best of the crime genre, but the best of American writing full stop. Within its pages, literary legends rub shoulders with the hottest new talent. Contributors in the past have included James Lee Burke, Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Connelly, Alice Munro and Joyce Carol Oates. This year's guest editor is Lee Child, the creator of Jack Reacher and a simultaneous bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic.
REVIEW:
One of the mediums in the publishing industry that feels like its not used to its full potential is that of the compendium. With financial times being what they are, readers tend to stick to what they know spending their hard earned cash on established as well as firm favourites over someone that they might have heard good things about.
Here in the compendium is the readers chance to try some top talent in the mystery genre. Whilst each story has been handpicked as well as published before they are brought together here for the first time and released in the UK by Corvus. It’s got some gems, it has a lot of serious talent and above all else the reader has got some serious reading time ahead of them. Add to the mix that it’s all short stories and the reader can quite easily delve into these on those boring trips to work or even in a lunch hour. Great stuff and above all else is a title that I’m giving a thumbs up to for UK readers. Get to know what is selling well in the US and see why these authors are names that have staked their place in the genre.
Release Date: 08/07/10
BOOK BLURB:
When the body of a young woman is discovered deep beneath the icy waters of Lake Grant, a note left under a rock by the shore points to suicide. But within minutes, it becomes clear that this is no suicide. It's a brutal, cold-blooded murder. All too soon former Grant County medical examiner Sara Linton - home for Thanksgiving after a long absence - finds herself unwittingly drawn into the case. The chief suspect is desperate to see her but when she arrives at the local police station she is met with a horrifying sight - he lies dead in his cell, the words 'Not me' scrawled across the walls. Something about his confession doesn't add up and deeply suspicious of Lena Adams, the detective in charge, Sara immediately calls in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Shortly afterwards, Special Agent Will Trent is brought in from his vacation to investigate. But he is immediately confronted with a wall of silence. Grant County is a close-knit community with loyalties and ties that run deep. And the only person who can tell the truth about what really happened is dead.
REVIEW:
As a huge fan of crime, I always get butterflies in my stomach when a well known author brings out a title. Why? Well it’s due to the fact that I know that I’m going to get a certain level of book, I like to savour it as at some points of the year I really get some titles that don’t hit my reading tastes and these books are real pick me ups.
Within this, the latest offering from Karin, is a tale of murder, of blackmail and above all else a beautifully written piece of prose with a descriptiveness that takes the reader by the hand to the location. You get great characters, you get fully rounded emotional context and just when you think you’ve got things fathomed, you get smacked around the face with a verbal baseball bat that leaves you just as confused as you were originally. It’s a great way to take the reader on a tale, it’s a magical way to give them what they want and above all else there’s no prison term at the end for the reader to suffer. Great stuff.
BOOK BLURB:
Taut, tense and terrifying - AMERICAN DEVIL marks the thrilling debut of an outstanding new talent. The Progression of Love: his ultimate artistic creation. Now all he needs is seven beautiful women. For the violent killer stalking New York's streets, the trophies he will take from his victims are essential if he is to complete his masterpiece. That he also likes playing games with the police and his prey is a bonus. He can outwit everyone he comes up against. Or can he? Detective Tom Harper is the NYPD's best chance of catching the American Devil. But he's on suspension for punching his superior. With panic gripping the city, Harper wants the challenge even if it means he has to undergo therapy from police psychologist Denise Levene. She believes he can be brought back into the fold, but can the NYPD trust him not to fall apart? A deranged murderer and a volatile cop. Time is running out and there can only be one winner...
REVIEW:
Crime novels are fast becoming a dime a dozen, so an author who is trying to establish themselves needs something different to not only set themselves apart or a gimmick that makes sure people review their work and gets their name known.
What unfurls within this debut is a crime thriller that is not only dark but one that has a killer that you’re never sure which way they’ll go. Back that up with a bitter divorced main character with a chip the size of Manhatten with a temper larger than an NYC cabby and you know it’s going to be explosive.
This offering is definitely different to a lot of books out there and whilst you may think that its over about half way through the author twists things so that you’re back to square one with time becoming a factor. Count down overload will hit the readers mentality and turn what you thought was a short read before bed into one that you’ll still be gripping the pages of as the dawn rises. A great book.
BOOK BLURB:
One step away...Seven years ago Beth Denison was attacked by a killer named Chevy Bankes. Since then, she's created a new life for herself and her daughter. But now Bankes is out of prison and the gifts he sends her ? disfigured dolls that carry the same mutilations as his victims ? tells Beth he's coming for her. One breath away...Ex-FBI agent Neil Sheridan is driven to investigate a chain of murders that are eerily similar to a disturbing case from his past. When the killer's trail dead-ends at Beth's doorstep, Neil finds a beautiful woman with a secret she'll do anything to keep. One scream away...Yet even as Beth surrenders to Neil's protection, she can't tell him why Bankes hungers to hear her scream, and why she'll soon consider doing the unthinkable: face Bankes alone.
REVIEW:
A romance crime thriller and one that will more than likely win Kate fans the world over as it’s a beautiful piece of fiction. Overall the main cut and thrust of the tale is about the serial killer on the principle protagonista’s tale and whilst the romantic sub plot is there, its used to help lull and sooth the reader after moments of high tension and action. It is a cleverly conceived plot with characters that gel within the readers imagination and whilst they both have their weaknesses it only goes to show how together a pairing can be made stronger. A tale I was more than satisfied with by its conclusion and one that I’m more than happy to recommend to readers.
BOOK BLURB:
Someone had spent time with her - someone well-practised in the art of pain...Three and a half years ago former Grant County medical examiner Sara Linton moved to Atlanta hoping to leave her tragic past behind her. Now working as a doctor in Atlanta's Grady Hospital she is starting to piece her life together. But when a severely wounded young woman is brought in to the emergency room, she finds herself drawn back into a world of violence and terror. The woman has been hit by a car but, naked and brutalised, it's clear that she has been the prey of a twisted mind. When Special Agent Will Trent of the Criminal Investigation Team returns to the scene of the accident, he stumbles on a torture chamber buried deep beneath the earth. And this hidden house of horror reveals a ghastly truth - Sara's patient is just the first victim of a sick, sadistic killer. Wrestling the case away from the local police chief, Will and his partner Faith Mitchell find themselves at the centre of a grisly murder hunt. And Sara, Will and Faith - each with their own wounds and their own secrets - are the only thing that stands between a madman and his next crime.
REVIEW:
Authors generally tend to keep different series and characters apart but here for the first time, Karin brings the two together in one offering as Sara Linton comes face to face with Will and Faith in a case set in Atlanta. It’s an absolute corker and whilst the principle characters of the tale are Will and Faith this type of cross over is always appreciated by the fans. Well written with cracking dialogue and character interaction its definitely one of Karin’s best works to date if not the best. Something that will not only please the fans but one that will win the author a few more as she demonstrates why she’s such a favourite with a title that can be read with ease by those new to discovering her .
BOOK BLURB: Beautiful Lies
If Ridley Jones had slept ten minutes later or had taken the subway instead of waiting for a cab, she would still be living the beautiful lie she used to call her life. She would still be the privileged daughter of a doting father and a loving mother. Her life would still be perfect—with only the tiny cracks of an angry junkie for a brother and a charming drunk with shady underworld connections for an uncle to mar the otherwise flawless whole.
But that's not what happened. Instead, those inconsequential decisions lead her to perform a good deed that puts her in the right place at the right time to unleash a chain of events that brings a mysterious package to her door—a package which informs her that her entire world is a lie.
Suddenly forced to question everything she knows about herself and her family, Ridley wanders into dark territory she never knew existed, where everyone in her life seems like a stranger. She has no idea who's on her side and who has something to hide—even, and maybe especially, her new lover, Jake, who appears to have secrets of his own.
Sexy and fast-paced, Beautiful Lies is a true literary thriller with one of the freshest voices and heroines to arrive in years. Lisa Unger takes us on a breathtaking ride in which every choice Ridley makes creates a whirlwind of consequences that are impossible to imagine . . . .
REVIEW:
The first thing that I’m going to say is a general statement for the first two novels by Lisa Unger, do not try to start anywhere else other than book one as otherwise you’ll end up getting not only confused but miss out on a whole lot of background.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, lets tackle this series one book at a time. Here in the original outing for Ridley Jones we get to see that a life that has the feel of something close to perfect is not all that she’s been led to believe. As after saving a child from a speeding car see’s her whole life turned upside down as revelations about her past lead her to question her whole background.
It’s different to the usual crime thrillers out there. It’s extremely well written and above all it’s a tale that gave me an immense sense of satisfaction upon its completion, not that it was a struggle but it was a real pleasure to read and whilst knowing that I had another three books ahead of me, made me glad that I’d finally been turned onto this authors writing.
BOOK BLURB: Sliver of Truth
Recently, Ridley Jones stepped off a street corner and into an abyss of violence, deception, and fear. She is being a lot more careful about where she steps and trying to get on with her life when another seemingly mundane act- picking up a few envelopes of prints at a photo lab- puts Ridley at the nexus of a global network of crime. A shadowy figure of a man appears in almost every picture she's taken in the last year, lurking just far enough away to make identification impossible. Everyone from the federal government to the criminal underworld wants to know who the man is- and where he is- and some people are willing to kill to find out.
Now the FBI is at her door, some serious bad guys are following her every move, and the family she once loved and relied on is more distant than ever. Ridley has never felt so confused or alone in her life. Everyone she loves has turned out to be a stranger- she even feels like a stranger to herself. Is she a product of nature or nurture?
At once hunting down a ghost and running for her life, Ridley doesn't know if she ever had the power to shape her own destiny or if love exists anywhere beyond her imagination. The only thing Ridley knows for sure is that she has to get to the truth about herself and her past if she's ever going to find her way home.
Charged with relentless intensity and kinetic action, playing out with unnerving suspense on the streets of New York and London, and seen through the terrified but determined eyes of a young woman whose body and heart are pushed to the point of shattering, Sliver of Truth is another triumph from the New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Lies.
REVIEW:
The second novel by Lisa and one that I really hoped would live up to the expectations that I’d garnered since reading the first one. Would Lisa keep the reader glued with this her second, and in most authors opinions, the harder novel to write or would everything fall apart?
As with the first novel, its the principle heroine who really keeps the reader glued as her tale is told in a personal voice that makes you relax and want to know more about her. After the events of the first novel, here Ridley has to deal with a lot of the fallout from the end of the first novel along with dealing with having to reinterpret past relationships as well as a possible deception. Finally, add to this great dialogue as well as a fast moving plot and it’s a series that I am hooked upon.
BOOK BLURB: Black Out
When my mother named me Ophelia, she thought she was being literary. She didn't realize she was being tragic.
On the surface, Annie Powers's life in a wealthy Floridian suburb is happy and idyllic. Her husband, Gray, loves her fiercely; together, they dote on their beautiful young daughter, Victory. But the bubble surrounding Annie is pricked when she senses that the demons of her past have resurfaced and, to her horror, are now creeping up on her. These are demons she can't fully recall because of a highly dissociative state that allowed her to forget the tragic and violent episodes of her earlier life as Ophelia March and to start over, under the loving and protective eye of Gray, as Annie Powers. Disturbing events—the appearance of a familiar dark figure on the beach, the mysterious murder of her psychologist—trigger strange and confusing memories for Annie, who realizes she has to quickly piece them together before her past comes to claim her future and her daughter.
REVIEW:
As with the previous two novels its beautifully written and whilst the author has changed principle protagonista its one that works extremely well also allowing them to grow. A change allows the series to stay fresh and its something that I really can’t recommend more to the reader than you have to read it. It’s a great blend of Fiction and Thriller and something that I really can’t praise higher than that. Definitely an author who has not only survived her baptism of fire, but came out stronger and with more talent with each successive novel as more twists and turns conflict the protagonista so she doesn’t quite know which way is up.
BOOK BLURB: Die for You
Isabel and Marcus Raines are the perfect couple. She is a well known novelist; he is a brilliant inventor of high-tech games. They've been married for five years and still enjoy a loving romance.
But one morning, Marcus says he loves her, leaves for work, and disappears into thin air.
Isabel relentlessly tried to reach him when he doesn't return home. But when his call finally comes, she hears only aman's terrified scream. The police are of no use. The screams she heardmay be a television show, a prank, they tell her.Men leave. They leave all the time.
Isabel races to Marcus's office, trying to find some answers. Instead she finds herself in the middle of an FBI raid, and she is knocked unconscious.When she awakes in a hospital, she learns that everyone Marcus worked with is dead.
She returns home to find their apartment ransacked, and the police are there. They urge her to check her bank accounts. Her money - their money - is gone.
Then the police discover that Marcus Raines is a dead man. Long dead. Years dead. Isabel has been married to a stranger.
And now the chase is on, because Isabel will not rest until she finds the truth about the man she loved, who he was, where he's gone, and how he was able to deceive her so completely.
REVIEW:
As with book three we get a new heroine to follow who after her husband’s disappearance seeks to solve the crime herself. What Lisa Unger does well is create a character that the reader can care about blending it with a cracking plot outline and ties it all up with some top notch twists and turns that will keep the reader on tender hooks. Lisa continues to grow from strength to strength with each successive novel and as such is fast becoming an author to set the standard by. A real gem of a novel which leaves me wondering exactly what Lisa will come up with next., the sky is no limit it seems to this author.
BOOK BLURB:
Cambridge is home to 18,000 students, 1,500 academics - and one serial killer. The discovery of the headless, mutilated body of a female undergraduate in her bloodsoaked college room heralds the start of a series of bizarre and extremely violent murders. For the students of Ariel College, a siege mentality has developed following weeks of media interest in the 'Cambridge Butcher'. University life has become not about surviving their exams, but surviving full stop. Forensic psychiatrist Matthew Denison is sure that his traumatised patient, student Olivia Coscadden, has the killer's identity locked up in her memory. That within the little clique she belonged to lurks someone with a grudge. Someone who has yet to finish settling their score. In order to get to the truth, Denison must delve into the secrets hidden within Olivia's subconscious. Secrets that are about to lead him into a nightmare beyond imagining.
REVIEW:
A debut that really made me sit up and pay attention to the author, who’s crime novel twists the reader round her little finger with clever devises and a plot line that not only interests but keeps you fascinated regardless of what is being perpetrated on the page. Whilst this does work on a number of levels, the major problem is with the characters. Whilst the supporting cast are dislikeable, they are more real and believable for this. However its with the principle protagonists that the author runs afoul as they feel under developed and as such makes it harder to get a tentative grip upon them let alone allowing the reader to become emotionally engaged with leaving them heavily under utilized. Perhaps future offerings will fix this problem and if it does, then she is definitely a name for some serious crime reading pleasure.
BOOK BLURB:
In America to escape London and the violence that nearly killed him, forensics expert David Hunter has returned to the research facility where he trained – the Body Farm in Tennessee. He needs to know whether he's still up to the job of confronting death in all its strange and terrible forms.
So when his former mentor invites him to accompany him to a crime scene, he agrees. He'll be there as an observer, so what could possibly go wrong?
But even he is unprepared for what awaits them in the remote cabin out in the woods. The victim has been bound and tortured, the body has decomposed beyond recognition. Although fingerprints seem to identify the killer, Hunter is uneasy: nothing is quite as it should be.
Then a second body is found. And it becomes clear that the investigating team faces a nightmare of deception and misdirection. Hunter knows they're dealing with a killer who is dangerously familiar with the intricacies of forensics. As the death toll rises and tensions mount, he is pushed deeper into the heart of a desperate manhunt. But has he met his match? This time is David Hunter on the trail of a maniac who simply cannot be stopped?
REVIEW:
I’ve loved Simon’s work since I discovered it with his debut “The Chemistry of Death.” Wonderfully engrossing with factual tip bits dropped into the readers lap, the author has not only kept he reader glued to his writing but comes up with believable plots as well as characters that you just want to get to know. Whilst other authors in the Forensic Crime genre tend to get more attention focused on them, you really have to try a Beckett novel. It’s a title that not only keeps you focused but he weaves some left handed magic whilst keeping you distracted with the right up to and including the titles confrontational conclusion.
BOOK BLURB:
'You have an enemy, Dr Brennan. It is in your interest to learn who placed that call'. A routine case turns sinister when Dr Temperance Brennan is accused of mishandling the autopsy of a missing heiress. Someone has made an incriminating accusation that she missed or concealed crucial evidence. Before Tempe can get to the one man with information, he turns up dead. The heiress isn't the only elderly female to have appeared on Tempe's gurney recently. Back in Montreal, three more women have died, their bodies brutally discarded. Tempe is convinced there's a link between their deaths and that of the heiress. But what - or who - connects them? Tempe struggles with the clues, but nothing adds up. Has she made grave errors or is some unknown foe sabotaging her? It soon becomes frighteningly clear. It's not simply Tempe's career at risk. Her life is at stake too.
REVIEW:
What perhaps has gotten to readers of Reichs’ over the years is Brennan’s unnerving ability to be permanently right and never to suffer from self doubt which has caused a number of readers to fall out with Kathy’s writing. As a fan I was more than happy with this offering, I got what I’ve come to expect from her writing, a cracking story, character growth and above all a mystery that keeps me guessing up to the last few pages. With this offering many of Kathy’s fans will be happier with the way that she’s returned to an earlier writing form and given Tempe a bit of discomfort as she has to learn that she’s not always right.
BOOK BLURB:
There is a killer loose on the London Underground. He kills without leaving any forensic trace, and seemingly without motive. Genecrime, the UK's elite forensic unit, are stretched to the limits trying to find one usable clue. And there is another problem facing Genecrime. Before he was sacked as head of the unit, Reuben Maitland developed a system to predict latent homicidal behaviour from people's DNA. Now rogue elements in the police, believing that prevention is better than cure, are using Reuben's research to hunt down and incite latent psychopaths beyond their breaking point. Reuben must track down whoever is misusing his technology and stop them before more lives are destroyed. But what he cannot know is that his investigation will lead him directly into the path of the Underground killer.
REVIEW:
Readers of the crime genre love a great deal of different themes within the titles that they read. What makes this one a bit different is that its more on the science end of the genre with some credible and easily accepted information in regard to the human genome. Well written with suspicion laid at every door as the paranoid principle protagonist doesn’t know who to trust and who is out to get him making this a twisted tale that will keep many a reader guessing to the last minute. Different from a great many crime novels out there its worth noting that you always get something different from John and in this, the third book in the series, he takes it to a new extreme.
BOOK BLURB:
The year is 1152, and Jerusalem is still in the hands of the Crusaders, although the lofty ideals of before have now been replaced by subtle power-play. Meanwhile, inEngland, King Stephen is waging bloody war against Henry Fitzempress. The Templar Order, now fifty years old, is a wealthy power, glittering with tempting riches. Against this background of bloodshed, Robert de Payens, grandson of Eleanor, one of the co-founders of theTemple, and Englishman Edward Sendal find themselves caught up in a murder mystery when Raymond, Count of Tripoli, is brutally assassinated. Who would have wanted to murder Raymond, and is it possible that the answer may lie within the hallowed ranks of the Templar order itself?
REVIEW:
If you want a mystery and are unsure on what to present as an unusal gift to that adventure Histocial Fiction/Crime fan in your life then you can pretty much guarantee that if they have a love for the mysterious Templars, that this, the latest offering by Paul Doherty will find a willing reader as his adventure unfurls. Taking myths and blending his own unique style of story telling to the adventure the reader will be kept on a rollercoaster as they try to keep up with our protagonists as each step appears and takes them in a new direction. A fun book and a good bit of light escapism.
BOOK BLURB:
London, 1196. At the command of Richard the Lionheart, Sir John de Wolfe has lft his beloved West Country for the Palace of Westminster, where he has been appointed Coroner of the Verge. But with the king overseas, embroiled in a costly war against King Philip of France, Sir John is dismayed to discover that the English court is a hotbed of greed, corruption and petty in-fighting. The murder of one of the palace clerks, stabbed in broad daylight and thrown into the River Thames, leads John to suspect that there's a conspiracy underway to overthrow King Richard. And with the visit of the dowager Queen Eleanor fast approaching, the new Coroner must risk his life to prove his suspicions are right, root out the traitors within and prevent a national catastrophe.
REVIEW:
As you’ve come to expect from Bernard by now a well written tale that has a cracking set of clues and puzzles that lead to demonstrate the corruption of those with the opportunities afforded to them by power in Norman Britain. It is, in my opinion, Bernard’s best book to date and one that kept me more than amused as I tried to figure it out before the conclusion beautifully wove its way to its conclusion which I failed to do so much so that it increased my delight upon completion. If you want a mystery that will keep you guessing, a cast of characters that continue to grow and all set in a historical past that’s as mysterious as the crimes within then you really can’t do better than this author. Whilst you don’t have to have read the other books in the series you’ll have sadly missed out on a wonderful set of mysteries.
BOOK BLURB:
'For several hours I believed that my daughter had drowned and my wife as alive, when in fact the reverse was true'. It is bitter mid-winter when Katrine and Joakim Westin move with their children into the old manor house at Eel Point on the Swedish island of Oland. But their new home is no remote idyll. Just days later, Katrine is found drowned off the rocks nearby. While Joakim struggles to keep his sanity, Tilda Davidsson - a young policewoman fresh out of college- becomes convinced that Katrine was murdered. Then, on Christmas Eve, a blizzard hits Eel Point. Isolated by the snow, Joakim does not know that visitors - as unwelcome as they are terrifying - are making their way towards him. For this is the darkest night of the year, and the night when the living meet the dead.
REVIEW:
With publishers looking further afield than their native lands to discover new talent its probably comes as no surprise to many that the Scandinavians are being picked up by the Crime publishers over in the UK. Here in Johan’s second novel is a tale of intrigue told almost from an Urban Fantasy point of view rather than the pure crime angle which gives this a new flavour within the genre as well as steadily building to a conclusion that leaves the reader wondering which way its going to go. A definite author to watch and with this being Johan’s second novel will definitely make him a force to reckon with in future releases. Cracking.
If there is anyone who has a route into the mind of the Police Detective it's an ex Police Officer, so it might come as a bit of a strange fact that its one of the jobs that Craig Russell held (also an Advertising Copyrighter and Creative Director) before settling on writing. Craigs other great passion was Germany in particular Hamburg, so blending the two together generated perhaps one of the most unique Crime Thriller series to date.
Originally bursting (or perhaps slashing) his way into the publics imagination with Blood Eagle back in 2005, each subsequent novel in the series brings bizarre killers to the light of day. Now expanding to include a new Hero, Lennox, who's set in 1950's Glasgow, he's becoming not only prolific but very successful with his plot devices, his twists and above all a gripping writing style that just refuses to let the public go. As fans, we couldn't believe our luck at getting an interview with him that follows here. Beware the Writer my friends, his words may slash a deeper path to your imagination...Falcata Times: Writing is said to be something that people are afflicted with rather than gifted and that it's something you have to do rather than want. What is your opinion of this statement and how true is it to you?
Craig Russell: I definitely think that writing is something you have to do. Whether it’s an affliction or a gift is hard to say. I once heard about a writer who fastened her leg to her desk with a belt so she had to focus on her writing – I would say that it was an affliction for her. For me, it’s a blessing. I love writing and being a writer. The best way of summing it up is that if I were to win millions on the Lottery and knew I would never have to work again, I would devote my leisure time to doing exactly what I currently do for a living. Just for the love of it. I consider myself a very lucky man and I am eternally grateful to the readers who buy my books or borrow them from a library for allowing me to continue with my work.
FT: When did you realise that you wanted to be a writer?
CR: I can’t pinpoint an exact moment. For as long as I can remember, from the time I first became aware of what an author was, I wanted to be a writer. I have done other things before becoming a writer, but I was always aware that it was like I was observing the world in preparation for becoming an author. Until I became an author, it was almost as if I was a witness rather than a participator.
FT: It is often said that if you can write a short story you can write anything. How true do you think this is and what have you written that either proves or disproves this POV?
CR: I think this is absolutely 100% right. I still think the short story is the purist form of writing and tests your skills as a writer like no other. Also, a lot of the writing that inspired me as a teenager was in the form of short stories. This kind of goes back to your previous question too: I remember reading The Golden Apples of the Sun anthology by Ray Bradbury when I was about thirteen or fourteen and thinking ‘now that is exactly what I want to do’. From there I went on to read the short stories of Guy de Maupassant, Poe, Gogol, Chekov, Kafka, James Joyce, Sholokov, William Trevor, Heinrich Böll... Some of my favourite pieces are short stories rather than novels. In fact, there are key short stories that I can point to as being more influential than almost anything else I’ve read: The Sound of Thunder by Bradbury, Pale Anna by Böll, Thithyphuth, or my Uncle’s Waiter by Wolfgang Borchert, Metamorphosis by Kafka and The Other Son by Pirandello (which is mentioned in one of the Fabel series, Eternal).
In fact, I had set myself a target of getting a literary short story published before writing a full-length novel. It was, so I did. The short story was called Crab and was the reflections of a put-down teacher who also suffered from synaesthesia. Looking back, it was terribly pretentious and self-important, but it got published and determined me on the course of writing a full-length novel.
FT: If someone were to enter a bookshop, how would you persuade them to try your novel over someone else's and how would you define it?
CR: I would define Lennox as classical noir. Maybe neo-noir.
I would define The Valkyrie Song as being that little bit different to the normal crime output. It explores many serious contemporary themes.
FT: How would you "sell" your book in 20 words or less?
CR: Lennox – classic, intelligent noir page-turner with black, black humour and a charming, violent, cynical protagonist you’re a little ashamed of liking.
The Valkyrie Song – if you like Henning Mankell’s Wallender, then you’ll love this. Sympathetic cops and crimes with roots in recent European history.
FT: Who is a must have on your bookshelf and whose latest release will find you on the bookshops doorstep waiting for it to open?
CR: Chris Brookmyre, Jeff Lindsay, George Pellecanos.
FT: When you sit down and write do you know how the story will end or do you just let the pen take you? ie Do you develop character profiles and outlines for your novels before writing them or do you let your idea's develop as you write?
CR: A little of both. I tend to have a main theme for the book, a core idea and a conclusion. The best way I can describe it is like going on a road trip where you know where you want to end up and the kind of places you want to visit along the way, but you allow yourself the scope and flexibility to take as many detours and excursions from the main route as you feel like – to the extent of maybe ending up at a different destination.
As for characters, they come to life and almost have an independent will. Very often I find that they just won’t do what I had planned for them to do in a certain situation.
FT: What do you do to relax and what have you read recently?
CR: Take my dog, for long, long walks. Paint (pictures, not walls and skirting boards). Cook. Continue my twenty-year long struggle with the German language (I speak it fluently but ungrammatically – life’s too short to master Second Conjuctive Past). Watch classic films in my home cinema. Talk to my kids.
I don’t read when I’m writing, but during my ‘break’ I re-read Room at the Top by John Braine and The Stories of William Trevor. I also revisit Heinrich Böll frequently. I’m slowly beginning to catch up with the 21st Century.
FT: What is your guiltiest pleasure that few know about?
CR: My pleasures aren’t that guilty I’m afraid. Don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, drink only moderately, work out four times a week... My wife has said to me that June Whitfield has a more rock’n’roll lifestyle. Although, I have to say... if I open a bag of liquorice allsorts...
FT: Lots of writers tend to have pets. What do you have and what are their key traits (and do they appear in your novel in certain character attributes?)
CR: I have a labradoodle who’s probably got a higher IQ than mine, two cats, one of whom has a serious catnip habit. I don’t mention them or base any canine or feline characters on them. I worry that, if I did, they would get an agent and a lawyer and claim a cut of the royalties.
FT: Which character within your latest book was the most fun to write and why?
CR: In Lennox, I’m ashamed to say it’s Twinkletoes McBride. He’s a friendly, chatty sort of fellow who, despite not being an intellectual giant, is very focussed on self-improvement: mainly by reading the Reader’s Digest. I try not to let the fact that he is also psychopathically violent to order and earned his nickname as a torturer for a gang lord (it involves boltcutters, taking off his conversational partner’s socks and shoes and reciting “this little piggy...”)
In the Fabel novels, Jan Fabel himself, or feisty Anna Wolff.
FT: How similar to your principle protagonist are you?
CR: Well, I have two principal protagonists: Lennox for the Lennox novels and Jan Fabel for the Fabel series. I have to say that I am much more like Fabel than Lennox (I hope!)
FT: What hobbies do you have and how do they influence your work?
CR: Painting, cooking, reading (of course), keeping fit, watching good film. They influence my work insofar as they allow me much-needed downtime. Sometimes ideas pop out of the air when I’m preparing a meal or on the cross-trainer.
FT: Where do you get your ideas from?
CR: Everywhere. I research constantly and sometimes, when I’m on the trail of something to do with the book I’m working on, a completely irrelevant fact will emerge that sparks off a completely new idea.
FT: Do you ever encounter writers block and if so how do you overcome it?
CR: Not really. But if I’m going through a sticky patch, I tend to work through it: I just keep on writing, even if I have to throw out what I write. It’s all about keeping your brain running.
FT: Certain authors are renowned for writing at what many would call uncivilised times. When do you write and how do the others in your household feel about it?
CR: I work from about 8.30am until 6pm. When I’m well into a book, I’ll write in the evenings and weekends, but I always find time for the kids.
FT: Sometimes pieces of music seem to influence certain scenes within novels, do you have a soundtrack for your tale or is it a case of writing in silence with perhaps the odd musical break in-between scenes?
CR: I definitely write to a soundtrack and it’s always relevant to the book: Herbert Groenemeyer, Annette Louisan, Mia, BAP, Wolfgang Haffner, Lars Danielson, theEsbjörn Svensson Trio and countless other German and Scandinavian acts when writing Fabel (we share the same music tastes); Mel Tormé, Julie London, Edmundo Ros, Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman, etc. when I’m writing Lennox.
FT: What misconceptions, if any, did you have about the writing and publishing field when you were first getting started?
CR: I don’t think I had any. I had been a freelance writer for twelve years before becoming a novelist and I was pretty much in the know. Maybe I would have to say that one of the surprises is how much fun it is: the people you deal with, editors, publicists, agents, booksellers, librarians... they’re not like other ‘business’ people. You are still dealing with ‘book people’ – they’re in it because they love books and literature.
FT: If music be the food of love, what do you think writing is and please explain your answer?
CR: Truth is, I think writing is two things: self-psychotherapy and a workout for the brain. I think I write partly to sort out who I am and where I am in the world. Each book I write leaves me a slightly different person. I also like to think I learn more about the world and people with every book I research and write.
20) What can you tell us about the next novel?
CR: The Valkyrie Song is published on 6th August. It involves Jan Fabel in the desperate race to track down a highly-trained professional assassin: a woman known only as the Valkyrie. At the same time, there is a spate of murders of male customers in Hamburg’s red light district, and the press begin to claim that the ‘Angle of St Pauli’, a much feared female serial killer who disappeared from view ten years before, has reappeared.
I am currently working on The Long Glasgow Kiss, the sequel to Lennox, in which a big-league bookie meets a sticky end and Lennox gets dragged into finding out who did it. And into the world of illegal bare-knuckle fighting and worse.
FT: What are the last five internet sites that you've visited?
CR: www.allaboutjazz.com
www.leo.org (a German language site with on-line dictionaries and fora on the German language)
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.hamburg.de/onlinewache (the website of the Hamburg Police)
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/
and, of course...
http://members.lycos.co.uk/falcatatimes/
FT: Did you ever take any writing classes or specific instructions to learn the craft? If so please let us know which ones.
CR: No. I’ve never gone to writing classes. For me, writing is like bodybuilding: the only way to really improve your form is to work at it every day. Just write and write and write.
FT: How did you get past the initial barriers of criticism and rejection?
CR: I feel almost embarrassed to say that I was enormously lucky and didn’t have to go through the soul-destroying rounds and rounds of submission and rejection. The Fabel series sold almost instantly in the UK and Germany, with auctions in both markets, and then very quickly into 23 languages. Almost all of the criticism I’ve had has been positive and being nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger and winning the Dagger in the Library was a real boost. It’s perhaps a cowardly thing to say and do, but if I’m alerted to particularly negative reviews or comments, I don’t read them. I was advised by a very experienced author to ignore such comments as there’s usually some other agenda behind the remarks.
FT: In your opinion, what are the best and worst aspects of writing for a living?
CR: To be honest, for me there is no downside to it. The best aspects are the act of writing and creation itself, where you can immerse yourself in a completely different world, as well as that moment when someone comes up to you and tells you that they’ve really enjoyed reading your book – that, for me, is what it is all about.
I suppose the one thing I don’t really relish is big author events when the books come out. I am naturally quite a quiet person, not overly reserved, just quite quiet. I really enjoy bookshop events where you have genuinely interested readers and you can really get to talk to them – I’ve even used one of these events as a sort of ‘focus group’ to discuss elements in my writing. But I don’t want to be a ‘showman’ writer.
