The Choice by Alex Lake

 

Description from Goodreads:

"A kidnap…

Matt Westbrook only turned his back for a moment. But when he looks around, his car – with his three young children inside – has vanished.

A ransom…

Panicked, Matt assumes a car thief has got more than he bargained for, but then he starts to receive text messages: This is a ransom. If you want to see your children again, you will exchange them for your wife.

A choice…

Matt and his wife Annabelle are horrified. They can’t involve the police, or their children will be killed. Which means they have to choose: Annabelle, or their children. Either option is unthinkable. But one is inevitable. And they have only hours to make their decision…"

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My exact words when I finished this book ... "Wow - that was good!"

This is sold as being "The gripping new thriller you won’t be able to put down!" and I am going to have to agree ... I wasn't able to put it down and read it way too late into the night but it was worth it.  From the very first to the very last page, there is no let up and it grabs you, throws you around and doesn't let go.

I loved everything about it - the characters, the plot, the pace, the writing style - everything and it's not often I say that.  The only "complaint" I have is that it is so good, I found myself reading it faster and faster because I was desperate to find out where the next twist and turn would take me so I ended up finishing it way too quickly and felt sad when it had ended.

I have read a couple of books by Alex Lake previously "Seven Days" and "Copy Cat" and this is by far the best one yet and I very much look forward to reading the next which is due out in 2021 - a sneak peak of which I found at the end of The Choice.

Thanks must go to HarperCollinsUK, HarperFiction via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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The Spread: Book 1 (The Hill) by Iain Rob Wright

 

Blurb from Author's Website:

"An ancient land hides a new threat…

The Scottish Highlands; a sparse, mountainous region some say was carved by the gods themselves. Few places are as untouched as this harsh, prehistoric landscape. It is no place for man.

But nestled deep within the wilderness lies a cottage, and behind that cottage is a hill…

When a group of friends travel up from Manchester and hire the cottage for a weekend of boozy fun, they discover a threat far greater than the harsh landscape and unwelcoming weather.

Something deadly lies upon the hill.

And it’s spreading."

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I would definitely class myself as a fan of Iain's books; I have read a fair number and have rarely been disappointed.  Iain's stories take me back to the books of my youth and although I am a number of years past my youth now, I still enjoy a good horror/creep-fest book every now and again and Iain is more and more my go-to author.

Here we have the first in an as yet unknown number of books in a new series.  I can't go into much detail about the plot as I don't want to spoil it for anyone but a group of Manchester lads go on a stag weekend in the wilds of Scotland and whilst investigating the area, climb a hill and find something odd ... everything starts to go badly wrong from then on.

Well written, excellent characters, perfect setting, great pace, plenty of tension and excellent body horror scenes makes this a great read and I eagerly await Book 2: The Village which is out on 6th October 2020 ... I want to read it now!

Disclaimer: As a member of Iain's "street team", I was sent a copy of this book before publication however I didn't get chance to read it before it was published so decided to buy it anyway to support him so he can continue to write great stories and also because I'm good like that 😉

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Knife Edge by Simon Mayo

 

Description from Goodreads:

"You never know where danger may come from...

6.45am. A sweltering London rush hour. And in the last 27 minutes, seven people have been murdered.

In a series of coordinated attacks, seven men and women across London have been targeted. For journalist Famie Madden, the horror unfolds as she arrives for the morning shift.

The victims have one thing in common: they make up the investigations team at the news agency where Famie works. The question everyone’s asking: what were they working on that could prompt such brutal devastation?

As Famie starts to receive mysterious messages, she must find out whether she is being warned of the next attack, or being told that she will be the next victim..."

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I was really looking forward to reading this having been a fan of Simon Mayo for many years in his other guise as a radio DJ so was quite disappointed that it didn't really do it for me.

The start was brilliant and had me hooked but it just went a bit "bleh" for me in the middle and although the ending was as good as the start, it just didn't make up for the middle because by that time I had lost a lot of interest and just carried on reading because I hate not finishing books.  The characters were interesting but not particularly memorable enough to connect with me so I didn't really care what happened to them either way.  The themes and plot of this book are up to date and you can certainly see them playing out in the real world unfortunately but it felt a little over complicated at times.

As usual, I am likely to be in the minority on this one as there have been many 4 and 5 star reviews given; maybe I was having a bad week! so I suggest you give a go for yourself.  I have to say that this won't put me off reading Simon's books in the future purely based on the start and end of this particular book.

Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

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Slow Burn (Dan Shepherd #17) by Stephen Leather

 

Description from Goodreads:

"Should we bring them back?

There are thousands of jihadi brides in refugee camps in the Middle East. Some of them were once British before they were stripped of their citizenship. Were they brainwashed or simply naive when they set out for Syria as teenagers? And, if they were allowed to return, would they pose a threat to our country?

Spider Shepherd is about to be sent on an extraordinary mission to the Syrian border by his MI5 boss. There he will have to decide which of the women he meets is still a threat, and if not, which of them has information useful to the Secret Service and can be allowed back. His are life or death decisions.

But there is one bride he must take back to the UK whatever her circumstances. She is the wife of a notorious ISIS bombmaker, Salam Jaraf. Jaraf is an asylum seeker who has information on terrorist cells in Britain. But the bombmaker will only tell MI5 what he knows if his wife and son are brought to him. But it soon becomes obvious that hostile forces are following Spider and Mrs Jaraf across Turkey. Bringing this woman back from the warzone will become one of the most dangerous missions Spider has ever undertaken."

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Number 17 already ... I can't believe it ... I never get bored of reading about Dan "Spider" Shepherd's escapades, scrapes and feats of derring-do!  Mr Leather is extremely adept at keeping things fresh and exciting; these books never get old or feel like they are being re-hashed just for the sake of it and if you haven't yet read any of them, what is wrong with you!!!  You don't even need to read them in order to appreciate them but be warned, once you read 1 you will want to read them all.

Here we have the topical and very believable and scarily plausible tale of home-grown terrorism, the use of drones as weapons by terrorists, the question of whether to allow jihadi brides to return to the UK and the minor story of Chinese spies.  This sounds like a lot but don't be put off, it flows seamlessly and effortlessly and, for me, it feels like an accurate reflection of the life of an MI5 agent having to keep lots of plates in the air at once whilst trying to stop a disaster of epic proportions from happening.

This is an exciting read full of brilliant characters which is hard to put down ... yes I know this is a cliché but absolutely accurate in this instance.  There is less of the personal story in this one and more action ... I wonder if this is because the next instalment sees Spider and his son, Liam, team up on an operation?  Or is it going to delve into the Chinese intelligence angle?  Whatever it is, I for one can't wait, so hurry up Mr Leather and write faster 😀

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.

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Cry Baby (A Tom Thorne Thriller) by Mark Billingham

 

Description from the Publisher's website:

"It’s 1996. Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne is a haunted man. Haunted by the moment he ignored his instinct about a suspect, by the horrific crime that followed and by the memories that come day and night, in sunshine and shadow.

So when seven-year-old Kieron Coyne goes missing while playing in the woods with his best friend, Thorne vows he will not make the same mistake again. Cannot.

The solitary witness. The strange neighbour. The friendly teacher. All are in Thorne’s sights.

This case will be the making of him . . . or the breaking."

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I am a huge fan of Mark Billingham and of his character, Tom Thorne, and have avidly followed the series and so I was absolutely thrilled to see a prequel was available which went back to the beginning in 1996 when "portable" phones are a novelty, smoking in pubs was the norm and England weren't doing too badly in the Euro's!

Tom is a young Detective Sergeant going through a bit of a rough patch after separating from his wife and experiencing recurring nightmares of an old case when along comes every persons worst nightmare ... the abduction of a little boy from a local park.  The book follows the investigation into the abduction where everyone is a suspect and the mystery deepens when the body of one of those suspects turns up, quickly followed by the body of the boy's father.  

This is a tense read written mainly from the perspectives of Tom, Cat (mother of the abducted child) and Kieron (the abducted child); the pace built up as the investigation progressed and I loved it.  I particularly enjoyed meeting the characters that I have grown to love at the beginnings of their relationship with a particular highlight being the first meeting between Tom and Phil Hendricks which made me literally laugh out loud.

I would most definitely recommend this book and you don't have to have read any of the others in the series as this makes a really good starting point for those of you who haven't discovered the delight that is Tom Thorne and who have clearly been living under a rock!!

I was extremely lucky to have won a copy of this book via a Facebook competition but thanks also to Little, Brown Book Group via NetGalley for an e-copy in return for an unbiased and honest review.

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