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Sunday, 25 June 2023

The Children of Berlin by Sharon Maas


Synopsis from the Publisher:

"‘I will never forgive you! You had a choice. You could have listened to your mother, your brother, your father, but you chose to listen to those monsters. And that choice remains with you. Forever.

Berlin, 1933. Leah and Magda have been inseparable for as long as they can remember, and one beautiful summer’s day in their courtyard, they vow nothing will ever come between their friendship. But Leah could never have predicted the darkness looming just around the corner…

As Hitler comes to power and the Nazi Party gain even more influence, Magda proudly tells Leah she has decided to join the Hitler Youth. Leah’s blood runs cold before she begs Magda to change her mind – because Leah is Jewish. Magda refuses, and heartbroken Leah knows this will not only destroy their friendship, but put her life in mortal danger. Suddenly, the only light in her life is Magda’s brother Markus, who is furious at his sister and vows to do everything he can to keep Leah safe.

As Magda becomes more entrenched in the Nazi Party, Leah’s life starts to shatter as the Gestapo raid her home, sending her beloved brother Aaron to a concentration camp. Devastated, Leah and her parents are forced to flee and hide. Desperate to save Leah, Markus decides the only way he can help stop the Nazis and his sister is to infiltrate the party as an undercover resistance fighter. But will Magda see through his lie, and how far will she go to prove her loyalty to her FΓΌhrer?"

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I am becoming a fan of historical fiction and this book has only cemented that opinion.

Leah and Magda grew up as best friends but their friendship is put to the ultimate test when the monster that was Hitler came to power and everything changed.

The story is told from both Leah's and Magda's perspectives; Leah's from her memories and Magda's in letter form.  I have to admit that I preferred Leah's story as Magda's was a little repetitive and 'wordy' however it did show how easy it was for people to be brainwashed and to take a path in their lives that has far reaching and devastating consequences for them and those they love.

The Children of Berlin is a gripping and powerful story of love, loss, bravery and forgiveness and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to those who enjoy this genre and many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this book.

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Don't Swipe Right by L.M. Chilton


Synopsis from Goodreads:

"Finding true love can be murder.

Gwen Turner, 29, entrepreneur and part-time barista.

Likes: true-crime podcasts, cheese-based snacks (the more unnaturally orange the better) and constantly refreshing her dating apps.

Dislikes: two-day hangovers, people who refer to themselves as entrepreneurs... and discovering her latest match is actually a serial killer (probably should have put that top of the list).

They say romance is dead – but if Gwen can’t catch the mystery killer who’s targeting every man she’s ever dated – it’s about to get a whole lot more deadly…"

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This is a debut novel for the author and, in my opinion, a pretty successful one at that.

Gwen is trying to move on after the end of a long-term relationship and she does this by throwing herself into finding a new man by using a dating app.  Unfortunately, things don't work out quite how she would want with her experiencing some pretty dodgy dates but when those dates start turning up dead, Gwen comes under the spotlight of the police.  

Gwen, for me, wasn't the most likeable character and she did do things that made me roll my eyes at times but I did like her sarcasm and sense of humour which made me giggle.

The plot is intriguing and engrossing, the writing is easy to read and the pace is good.  There are twists and turns which kept me guessing who the murderer was until the end and it all came together very nicely.

Overall, a pretty good debut novel and one I would recommend and thank you to Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Don't Swipe Right.

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Sunday, 18 June 2023

The Trial by Rob Rinder

 

πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯ due to be published 22-June-2023 πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

Description from Goodreads:

"ONE MURDER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE CASE. WHO IS GUILTY?

When hero policeman Grant Cliveden dies from a poisoning in the Old Bailey, it threatens to shake the country to its core.

The evidence points to one man. Jimmy Knight has been convicted of multiple offences before and defending him will be no easy task. Not least because this is trainee barrister Adam Green's first case.

But it will quickly become clear that Jimmy Knight is not the only person in Cliveden's past with an axe to grind.

The only thing that's certain is that this is a trial which will push Adam - and the justice system itself - to the limit . . ."

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I like reading the odd court room drama but find they can be a little dry and lacking in excitement sometimes but The Trial isn't one of those books and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In Rob Rinder's debut novel, he has created a veritable smorgasbord of excellent characters, a totally engrossing story with twists and turns and all written at a good pace.  I particularly liked the chapters given over to conversations and messages between Adam and his mother, who is determined to marry him off to a good Jewish girl, which adds humour to the story.

Although a work of fiction, it is clear that Mr Rinder has put a lot of his own experiences into the book which added a level of authenticity and realism without it being dry and boring and I, for one, hope there is more to come as I want to know how Adam develops as a barrister and to make sure he is eating enough and/or whether he finds a nice Jewish girl!!!!

Many thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Trial.

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Terminal Threat (A Leine Basso Thriller #13) by D.V. Berkom


πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯ due to be published 12-July-2023 πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯

Description from Goodreads:

"A former assassin makes a new start in a small town on the coast of Italy, but puts herself squarely in the sights of an old enemy when she helps the townspeople fight back against the local crime boss.

Leine Basso is settling into her new life in a quiet village in Italy when a small-time crook threatens the town. Leine steps in to help, drawing the attention of an old adversary who she thought was long gone.

When her enemy learns that Leine is still alive, he orders her assassination. But Leine is not an easy target, and she eliminates the hired guns sent to kill her. Frustrated by his failed attempts, her adversary vows to take vengeance and kill her himself.

As tension builds and the threat escalates, Leine's past collides with her present, blurring the line between friend and foe. In a breathtaking showdown, Leine unleashes her deadly skills to protect not only herself but the tight-knit community she has grown to love. Will she succeed--or will her enemy destroy everything she holds dear?

With adrenaline-pumping action and a formidable female lead, D.V. Berkom takes readers on a thrilling ride as Leine fights to protect her new home and herself from the ultimate terminal threat."

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Once again, DV has surpassed herself and created another enthralling adventure to add to the already amazing Leine Basso back catalogue which just keeps getting better and better.  I think with this one, it works well as a standalone but I would recommend reading the rest of the series as you won't be disappointed.

Ava (aka Leine) has decided to retire and move to a village in Italy to open a book shop.  Sounds idyllic and simple?  Well ... with Leine nothing is that straightforward and when she gets embroiled in the death of a local villager and a local racketeer, it's not only her life that is under threat but the life of the entire village and so she engages her colleagues from her previous life to help out with heart-stopping consequences.

As with DV's previous books, it is littered with excellent characters with Leine being one of my all-time favourites; she is strong, brave, not afraid to kick bottoms but with a soft side that is endearing.  The story is exciting, the pace is fast and the setting is perfect.

All-in-all, this is another hit for me and one I won't hesitate to recommend to lovers of books that are full of action with a strong female lead.  I can also highly recommend this series and once again, thank you to D.V for accepting me as a member her ARTeam and for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Terminal Threat and my hungry eyes can't wait to read the next!

 

Sunday, 11 June 2023

Conviction by Jack Jordan



🌟🌟 Due to be published 21-June-2023 🌟🌟


Description from Goodreads:

"TO STEAL A MAN'S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground. 
 
When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence. 

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.
 
Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.
 
Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger."

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This is a really good legal thriller that had me flicking my Kindle screen at break-neck speed to find out what further twists were to be revealed.

Neve is a top lawyer so when she is handed the case of defending Wade Darling after his original barrister jumped in front of a train, she sees the opportunities open before her to make her name as a top barrister.  Unfortunately, she has a secret that she is desperate to keep hidden but someone knows and threatens to reveal it if she doesn't lose the trial.  What should she do?  Throw the trial and destroy herself or defend her client to the best of her ability and threaten not only herself but those she loves?

Conviction is a rollercoaster of a ride that builds and builds with tension, full of twists and turns that had me hanging on every page not knowing what was going to happen next.  Full of great characters and written at a fast pace, I would recommend to lovers of great thrillers and courtroom dramas.

Definitely one of my reads of 2023 and thanks must go to Simon & Schuster UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Conviction.

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Read my review of the audiobook "Do No Harm" also by Jack Jordan:



The Last Holiday by Amy Sheppard [Audiobook]


πŸŽ™πŸŽ™πŸŽ™ Narrated by Naomi FrederickπŸŽ™πŸŽ™πŸŽ™

Description from Goodreads:

"One last holiday together. One of us wouldn’t come home…

Saturday night:

It starts as an innocent holiday game amongst old friends. As we sit around our campfire, the evening sky streaked with peach, my little boy sleeping peacefully in our tent, the wine flows and secrets are spilled.

It should be harmless fun, but Annie ’s questions worry me. She’s always been the keeper of our secrets. She knows all the infidelities, the indiscretions, the stolen kisses…

I just hope she knows when to stop. Because there’s something I can’t let her bring to the surface…

Wednesday morning:

It’s the little things that stay with you. The hurried rip of zips being opened. Figures stumbling into the cold night air. The screams echoing across the campsite as flashlights scour the ground. That’s what happens when someone you love is murdered.

One of us is responsible for Annie’s death. One of us will stop at nothing to keep our secrets hidden…"

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This is the first book I have listened to/read by Amy Sheppard and, overall, I wasn't disappointed.

The story centres around a group of friends on a camping holiday to celebrate one of the groups daughters 18th birthday.  It becomes pretty clear early on that the group is full of secrets and angst that ends up having deadly consequences.

The narrator did a great job but due to the amount of characters with each chapter being from a different point of view, I did find it difficult to keep track of which character I was with.  You wouldn't have this problem with a physical book but dipping in and out of an audiobook (as I tend to do), made this a tad confusing and did reduce my enjoyment just a little but not by much.

The characters were an interesting and eclectic bunch most of which I found not particularly likeable so didn't have a lot of sympathy with what befell them but I loved the twists and turns that I didn't see coming which kept me listening intently until the whole story was revealed.

Overall, a good audiobook but I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the physical book but I must thank Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Last Holiday.

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Sunday, 4 June 2023

The Quiet Tenant by ClΓ©mence Michallon


Description from Goodreads:

"Aidan Thomas is a hard-working family man and a somewhat beloved figure in the small upstate town where he lives: he's the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. But Aidan has a dark secret he's been keeping from everyone in town and those closest to him: he's a kidnapper and serial killer. Aidan has murdered eight women and there's a ninth he has earmarked for death: Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed fearing for her life.

When Aidan's wife dies, he and his 13-year-old daughter Cecilia are forced to move. Aidan has no choice but to bring Rachel along, introducing her to Cecilia as a "family friend" who needs a place to stay. After five years of captivity, Aidan is betting on Rachel being too brainwashed and fearful to attempt to escape. But Rachel is a fighter and survivor, and recognizes Cecilia might just be the lifeline she has waited for all these years. As Rachel tests the boundaries of her new living situation, she begins to form a tenuous connection with Cecilia. And when Emily, a local restaurant owner, develops a crush on the handsome widower, she finds herself drawn into Rachel and Cecilia's orbit, coming dangerously close to discovering Aidan's secret."

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This is a pretty good debut and one which I enjoyed.

This is a different interpretation of the 'abduction and kept prisoner' stories; it's told from the perspectives of Rachel (the captive), Cecilia (the daughter) and Emily (the bartender/love interest) but also with chapters told from the victims points of view which were particularly powerful and unsettling however, there is nothing from the killer, Aidan which I found unusual and I'm still not sure if I liked it as it did leave me with quite a lot of questions as to how and why he did what he did however, maybe that was the point?

Anyway, The Quiet Tenant is a dark story of survival in the most extreme of circumstances but it's also a story about a man who is able to project an image of goodness and normality whilst hiding who he really is from those closest to him and the small community in which he lives.

It's a bit of a slow-burner, there is a little too much description at times and there are bits that are a little beyond the realms of reality however, as you read, there is a creeping sense of tension and dread that had me hooked and desperate to know how it was all going to play out and I wasn't disappointed. 

Overall, a pretty good read and I commend the author for writing a book that's not in her first language and thank you to Little Brown Book Group UK, Abacus and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Quiet Tenant.

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The Seventh Victim by Michael Wood


Description from Goodreads:

"On a cold February afternoon in 1990, seven-year-old Danny Redpath disappeared from his home. Four months later, his body was found in the nearby forest, wrapped in a sheet and washed clean of all evidence.

Apprehended while attempting to abduct another child, Jonathan Egan-Walsh was charged with the murders of more than a dozen boys. Convicted on all counts, he received life in prison and went unrepentant, still refusing to reveal the whereabouts of one of his victims, Zachery Marshall.

Twenty-five years later, Zachery’s mother Diane is still searching for his body. When Jonathan dies in custody, she realises she will never know its location – until she receives a letter he left in his cell, in which he admits he was guilty of all the crimes of which he was accused, except the murder of her son…"

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I really love Michael Wood's DCI Matilda Darke series but this is a standalone thriller from him which is equally as good and no-less riveting but please be warned, it does deal with child murder and abuse so if this is a trigger, I would suggest you look elsewhere.

Mr Wood treats us to a cast of excellent characters that leap out of the page and grab hold of you from the beginning to the very end and whilst not all of them are particularly 'nice', they are all well developed and all have their place in the story and what a story it is.

Dark, disturbing, powerful, emotional, riveting and full of tension with a twist I didn't see coming, this is a must read for all thriller fans and my thanks go to One More Chapter, HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Seventh Victim.


 


 

The Girls on Chalk Hill (Detective Lexi Bennett #1) by Alison Belsham [Audiobook]


πŸŽ™πŸŽ™πŸŽ™ Narrated by Sofia Zervudachi πŸŽ™πŸŽ™πŸŽ™

Description from Goodreads:

"They lie on the hillside, wearing matching white dresses, tiaras in their blonde hair. Each of them clutches a red rose. They could be sleeping, but frost shines on the lashes of their wide blue eyes, frozen open forever…

Detective Lexi Bennett is devastated when she finds the two teenagers lying side by side on the quiet green hillside, their throats cut. Convinced this is no ordinary killer, she vows to draw on all her profiling experience to find justice for these beautiful girls who will never have the chance to grow up.

But when the victims are identified as Lucy and Eden Carter, Lexi’s blood turns cold. The sisters were triplets – and the third girl, Paige , is missing. The case suddenly feels frighteningly personal. Lexi was a triplet too, and she and her sisters were abducted as teens. Two of them escaped but Lexi’s dreams are still haunted by memories of the faceless man who took them, and her sister Rose , who she never saw again.

Her boss thinks she’s too close to the case, but Lexi is sure the monster who took her is back with a message. She throws herself into the investigation, hunting down every clue, certain that time is running out to save Paige.

Then she returns home to find the back door open and Rose’s diary on the kitchen table. As she traces her beloved sister’s handwriting, her heart breaking, Lexi swears she will not rest until this brutal monster is caught. Will the diary help her find him before Paige is killed? Or is she walking into a trap designed just for her?"

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Absolutely gripping and a great start to what I imagine is going to be an excellent new detective series and with a narrator that absolutely nailed it!

Excellent story, gripping plot, brilliant characters, perfect setting, a pace that is spot on with oodles of tension and a narrator that only adds to the suspense.

Definitely recommended and I very much look forward to following this series and thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of The Girls on Chalk Hill.

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Read my review of another of Alison Belsham's books: