The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

 

Description from the Publisher:

"Alfred Smettle adores Hitchcock.

And who better to become founder, owner and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a remote, sprawling Victorian house sitting atop a hill in the beautiful White Mountains, New England. There, guests can find movie props and memorabilia in every room, round-the-clock film screenings, and an aviary with fifty crows.

For the hotel's first anniversary, Alfred invites the five college friends he studied film with. He hasn't spoken to any of them in sixteen years.

Not after what happened.

But who better to appreciate Alfred's creation?

His guests arrive, and everything seems to go according to plan. Until one glimpses someone standing outside her shower curtain.

Another is violently ill every time she eats the hotel food. Then their mobile phones go missing.

You should always make the audience suffer as much as possible, right?

The guests are stuck in the middle of nowhere, and things are about to get even worse. After all, no Hitchcock set is complete without a dead body."

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I haven't read anything by Stephanie Wrobel before but the fantastic book cover drew me in, unfortunately, it was just an OK read for me and I'm still in two minds as to whether it was worth my time.

This started pretty slowly and whilst I understand you have to set the scene, it was a bit too much and went on for too long.  I didn't really like any of the protagonists and whilst this doesn't usually bother me that much, I think it affected how I felt about the story as a whole as I really wasn't bothered what happened to any of them.

At about the halfway point, the 'action' started to grow, although I use the word action very loosely because there wasn't much of that at all but more than there had been for the first half; it was more of a creeping sensation that something was going to happen to someone and when it did, it was a bit of an anticlimax if I'm honest and the ending was a bit too easy.

Overall, not a book that I can rave about unfortunately but thank you to the author, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for enabling me to read The Hitchcock Hotel.

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Dead Man Walking by M.K. Murphy [Audiobook]

 🎙🎙🎙 Narrated by Ethan Kelly 🎙🎙🎙

Description from the Publisher:

"His team is compromised

As dusk falls the night before the trial of notorious crime boss Thomas Unwin, the prosecution’s star witness is brutally murdered, his killer escaping in plain sight from a secure hotel.

His girlfriend is in danger

Detective Rick Turner spent months building the case against Unwin, and he’s not willing to give up now. But Unwin has one final trick up his sleeve to turn the trial in his favour: he has Rick’s girlfriend, Jess, kidnapped in a plan to coerce Rick into throwing his own testimony.

The biggest case of his life hangs in the balance

Faced with a stark choice, Rick must find Jess or give false testimony which would cost him his career and let Unwin walk free. But with the net closing in Rick must soon face a terrifying truth: the killer is closer to him than he ever expected, and as the case turns personal there is no one he can trust, not even his closest colleagues…"

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This is the first in a new series starring Detective Rick Turner and I, for one, became totally immersed and engrossed in the story.

I admit to initially thinking that this wasn't going to be the book for me as it took me a while to get into it but once I did, I couldn't stop listening so desperate was I to find out how it all worked out and I wasn't disappointed.

With great characters, an intriguing plot, some great twists and excellent narration, this is a really good start to a new series and one which I am looking forward to reading/listening to more of in the future.

Many thanks to the author, HarperCollins UK Audio, HQ Digital and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of this great start to a new series.

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Life or Death by Michael Robotham

Description from Goodreads:

"Why would a man escape from prison the day before he's due to be released?

Audie Palmer has spent a decade in prison for an armed robbery in which four people died, including two of his gang. Five million dollars has never been recovered and everybody believes that Audie knows where the money is.

For ten years he has been beaten, stabbed, throttled and threatened almost daily by fellow inmates and prison guards, who all want to answer this same question, but suddenly Audie vanishes, the day before he's due to be released.

Everybody wants to find Audie, but he's not running. Instead he's trying to save a life . . . and not just his own."

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I am slowly getting round to my 'to-be-read' pile and this has been on it since 2015!!!  I can't believe it has taken me this long to read this as I definitely missed a treat.

The plot is engaging and compelling being written in the past and present perspectives.  It's full of excellent characters, twists, turns, action and all written at a great pace.   The tension is palpable so much so that I had to take a break towards the end as I was desperate to get to the end and reading so fast that I felt I was missing things but when it came, it was very satisfying.

Definitely recommended to lovers of this genre and if you haven't read this yet, go and find it ... you won't be disappointed.

Many thanks to the author, Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Life or Death.

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The Wartime Nurse (The Dutch Girls #3) by Imogen Matthews

 Description from Goodreads:

"An ear-splitting blast blows me sideways and debris starts to fall on top of me. In my shock it takes me a moment to realise the very worst has happened – the hospital has been bombed. The screams of panicked patients are deafening. But I can only think about one thing – my darling Will. Where is he?

1944, Nazi-occupied Holland. As Nurse Freddie cycles through the tulip fields, she looks like any other law-abiding citizen. But beneath her innocent smile lies an iron will to fight for freedom. The Nazis have no idea she is part of the resistance, and that she risks her life every day to deliver food and messages to hidden refugees.

After a failed attempt to take the life of a Nazi collaborator, Freddie is sent to an underground hospital to tend to a group of injured Allied airmen. And when unconscious English pilot Will wakes up and locks his dazzling blue eyes with hers, her heart jolts. As she tends to his wounds, she can’t help but fall deeply in love with this charming English officer.

Will and Freddie start to dream about a future after the war, but when the hospital is bombed by the Nazis, they lose each other in the chaos. With her heart shattered, Freddie vows to find Will and get him to safety – even if that means letting him go forever.

But Freddie’s world comes crashing down when she learns that Will has been captured. To save him, Freddie must infiltrate the hospital where he is held captive. But will saving him cost Freddie her life or her heart?"

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Although this is a fictional story, the characters are based on real people and after reading this book, you will want to go and do a search but be warned, you will find yourself down a rabbit hole and quickly engrossed.  

I cannot begin to imagine what it was like for the people of Holland having to live in their country with a brutal occupier who didn't even think twice about making lives even more difficult than they already were and that's for the Dutch; what it must have been like to be a Jew ... I cannot comprehend.

In this book we focus on Freddie, a young nurse who just happens to be in the resistance. I'm not going to go into all the ins and outs of the story but what I will say, is that it's heartbreaking, uplifting, full of tension and totally riveting and one I would definitely recommend to those of you who enjoy reading books covering this period that has a touch of everything.

Many thanks to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this riveting book.

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The Ballerina of Auschwitz by Edith Eger

Description from Goodreads:

"In 1944, sixteen-year-old ballerina Edith was sent to Auschwitz and endured unimaginable experiences. When the camp was finally liberated, she was pulled from a pile of bodies, barely alive.

Celebrated therapist and Holocaust survivor Edith Eger captivated millions with her incredible tale of survival and strength in her best-selling book The Choice.

Now, in The Ballerina of Auschwitz, Edith revisits her wartime experiences in a deeply personal retelling, through the eyes and emotions of her teenage self. Through this reworking of her poignant narrative, Edith brings readers of all ages into the heart of her experiences, offering a compelling message of hope and resilience that will ensure her story is never forgotten."

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I was lucky enough to have read Edith's original memoir, The Choice, which was extraordinary; this is no different and whilst, I think, it has been written for young adults in mind, I feel it can and should be read by all ages.

This sets out Edith's teenage life before, during and after the war ... her hopes and dreams that were dashed by the horrors inflicted but the power of the mind which, regardless of what is done to you, remains your own and something which you retain control over when you may have lost control of everything else.  

I can't even begin to fathom how someone, who has experienced what Edith and countless others went through and witnessed, can come out the other side even close to being able to function back into society and then have the bravery and strength to re-live it by talking and writing about it in the hope that the atrocities committed are never repeated or forgotten?  In my view, that takes a special type of person.

Memoirs like these are harrowing and disturbing to read BUT they are also stories of hope, strength, love; they are essential and a lot of lessons can and must be learned from them and I thank Edith, Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this important and must-read book for all ages.

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