Beneath The Ashes by Jane Isaac

Description from Goodreads:

“The floor felt hard beneath her face. Nancy opened her eyes. Blinked several times. A pain seared through her head. She could feel fluid. No. She was lying in fluid.

When a body is discovered in a burnt-out barn in the Warwickshire countryside, DI Will Jackman is called to investigate.

Nancy Faraday wakes up on the kitchen floor. The house has been broken into and her boyfriend is missing. As the case unravels, DI Jackman realises that nothing is quite as it appears and everyone, it seems, has a secret.

Can he discover the truth behind the body in the fire, and track down the killer before Nancy becomes the next victim?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After I read “Before It’s Too Late” by Jane Isaac, I said that I would certainly read more as I had enjoyed it so much so imagine my delight when I was offered to read "Beneath The Ashes" in return for an honest review by The Legend 100 Club. I wasn’t going to say no was I?

We are quickly immersed in a riveting crime story being investigated by DI Will Jackman. I have said it before and I will say it again, I really like Will as a character. He is a really interesting, complex and likeable Police Officer who, despite carrying a lot of baggage around in his head, is methodical and driven to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Nancy and her missing boyfriend.

The story moves at a good pace and flows really well so is easy to read. The story is told from the perspectives of DI Will Jackman and Nancy in alternating chapters which, I think, works really well. There are twists, turns, secrets, lies and red herrings before the reveal at the end which I didn’t see coming.

This is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a great mystery with very likeable characters and if you haven’t read any of Jane Isaac’s work before, I would suggest you give her a go - she certainly doesn’t disappoint and I for one can't wait to read the third book in the series - The Lies Within - which is due out in May 2017.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Website - Jane Isaac, Crime Fiction Author

Author Twitter - JaneIsaacAuthor

Publisher website - Legend Press

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Book One

Click here for my review

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Three due May 2017

Picture taken from The Legend Press website

Click here to read the blurb

Medea's Curse by Anne Buist

Description from Goodreads:

"Forensic psychiatrist Natalie King works with victims and perpetrators of violent crime. Women with a history of abuse, mainly. She rides a Ducati a size too big and wears a tank top a size too small. Likes men but doesn’t want to keep one. And really needs to stay on her medication.

Now she’s being stalked. Anonymous notes, threats, strangers loitering outside her house.

A hostile former patient? Or someone connected with a current case? Georgia Latimer — charged with killing her three children. Travis Hardy — deadbeat father of another murdered child, with a second daughter now missing. Maybe the harrassment has something to do with Crown Prosecutor Liam O’Shea — drop-dead sexy, married and trouble in all kinds of ways.

Natalie doesn’t know. Question is, will she find out before it’s too late?

Anne Buist, herself a leading perinatal psychiatrist, has created an edge-of-the-seat mystery with a hot new heroine — backed up by a lifetime of experience with troubled minds."

**************************************************

I was really drawn to this book from the blurb and was grateful to Legend Press via the Legend 100 Club for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this a really difficult book to review because on the one hand, the story was captivating and interesting despite it being about some pretty despicable crimes (infanticide, child and domestic abuse, stalking and violence) but on the other, the writing style made it really, really hard to read which spoiled it for me in a big way. There are a lot of characters and the story jumps around a bit; I normally don’t mind this if there’s a thread which connects them all but in this novel, there were different threads that crossed but weren’t necessarily linked so this made it difficult for me to keep track. I also have an issue with the main character, Natalie King. Again, she’s difficult to critique. On the one hand she’s a very strong, independent woman but on the other, I found her to be extremely unlikeable and I wasn’t able to warm to her at all.

Having said all that, it’s very clear that the author knows her stuff and despite the difficulties I had in reading this particular book, I would be tempted to read another written by her.

**************************************************

Publisher website:  Legend Press

Author Website:  Anne Buist

Armadillos by P K Lynch

"A good début"

Synopsis:

“Aggie is fifteen, a ‘sub’ from a ‘sub’ family, one of Texas’ downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that ‘sub’-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world.

And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas’ barren landscape, she is a survivor…

In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she’s been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realises there are some problems you can’t run away from.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, I want to thank the Publisher, Legend Press, for sending me a copy of this book in order to provide an impartial review as part of the Legend 100 Club. It’s not a book I would normally pick up to read and therefore I had no expectations at all but overall, I was pleasantly surprised although it is not a “happy” story rather one that is quite dark and intense.

This is a “coming of age” story about 15 year old Aggie - a strong, young, female character who is brave and wise for her years. The book is told from her perspective both the present and flashbacks.

Aggie is a survivor born into a dysfunctional family which she suddenly decides to escape from one day to undertake a dangerous journey to find a better life. She starts off in the Texan desert going from one truck stop to another using her experiences to survive before arriving in the city where she befriends “Freak” and moves into a squat full of colourful characters. It is during this journey that you realise Aggie is one tough cookie and very intelligent despite her upbringing. Despite her best efforts though, Aggie is not able to leave her past behind and there is an inevitability that she will return home and confront what deep down she already knows but has yet to accept.

I thought the book was extremely well written and flows really well resulting in it being easy to read. The author has an excellent ability to tell a story and to describe locations, situations and characters - she makes them believable and come to life off the page.

On the negative side, the story was interesting enough to keep my attention but I was left feeling something was missing. It’s hard to explain but I was reading with anticipation that something “big” was going to happen, it never really did and I felt even the ending was a bit of a let down and anti-climax. However, as I've said, I didn’t know what I was expecting as it’s not my usual genre - I am used to twists and turns and things being thrown at you in surprise - this isn’t that type of book but what it is, is an exploration of a young woman’s need to live a normal life and her attempts to get there - Aggie is a memorable character and I for one will remember her.

Overall, this is a good début and an author I will look out for in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Publisher website: Legend Press

Author website: https://lynchpinpauline.wordpress.com/

Author twitter: @lynchpinpauline

When We Were Alive by C.J. Fisher

In the minority ... once again!

Blurb from Goodreads:

"When we first meet Bobby, he is a shy, twelve-year-old magician who falls in love with his best friend.

William is consumed with self-hate and drinks to escape the memories of his father’s sadness and his mother’s death.

Myles is writing letters to a mother he has never met.

Three different people from three different times each explore the dark side of relationships, search for beauty in sadness and try to bear the burden of guilt from living in a world we are powerless to fix."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First off, I want to thank Legend Press for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. Secondly, I want to apologise to Legend Press and the author for not actually finishing the book because, sadly, it just didn’t grab me in the way I think books should.

Now having said that I didn’t finish it, I will say that what I did read was well-written and the author definitely has a gift for description but, for me, it was a little too descriptive and long-winded and I found myself losing the thread part-way through a paragraph and having to go back and start again or skipping it totally. On reflection, I think this was part of the problem - doing this resulted in me losing interest and I had to force myself to read on and there were times when I would do anything other than pick it up. It was at this point, that I decided not to continue reading it - I hate doing that but life is too short and my “to-be-read” pile is massive!

I definitely think the fault is with me rather than the book - I just love getting lost in a book that excites me and gets my heart racing and my brain buzzing but, unfortunately, this book didn’t do that for me, then again, it isn’t being sold as such so this isn’t surprising.

After reading other reviews, it looks like I am in the minority (once again) so I would suggest that people who enjoy literary fiction and are tempted by the excellent cover and blurb, give it a go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Publisher website: http://www.legendtimesgroup.co.uk/legend-press

Author website: http://oldhotradio.com/

Nowhere Girl by Ruth Dugdall

Description from Goodreads:

“A psychological crime novel from an author with 10 years experience as a probation officer in high security prisons

When Ellie goes missing on the first day of Schueberfouer, the police are dismissive, keen not to attract negative attention on one of Luxembourg’s most important events, its annual city fair. Probation officer Cate Austin has moved for a fresh start, along with her daughter Amelia, to live with her police detective boyfriend, Olivier Massard. But when she realizes just how casually he is taking the disappearance of Ellie, Cate decides to investigate matters for herself. She discovers Luxembourg has a dark heart. With its geographical position, could it be the center of a child trafficking ring? As Cate comes closer to discovering Ellie’s whereabouts she uncovers a hidden world, placing herself in danger, not just from traffickers, but from a source much closer to home.”

**************************************************

I haven’t read anything by this particular author before but because I had read and reviewed Before It’s Too Late by Jane Isaac for the Publisher - Legend Press via NetGalley, I was invited to read this one by the same Publisher. Well, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I accepted but unfortunately I was left a little disappointed.

Although the book is well written and easy to read, it was also easy to put down and didn’t have that “just one more chapter before I go to sleep” moment which I found a little bit sad because I hate it when that happens. Unfortunately, I did not feel a connection to any of the characters which is a shame and, in addition, none of the characters seemed to have much of a connection with each other either particularly Cate and Olivier. Now I got the impression that Cate and Olivier are a fairly new couple and should still be in the stages of ‘dreamy-eyed love’ but I didn’t get that sense at all … don’t get me wrong, I’m not one for romance and gushing love but they just seemed to be on totally separate wavelengths to me … it’s really hard to explain but it felt unnatural.

The story itself is interesting and whilst parts are scarily believable and there were a couple of twists I didn’t see coming, the way it played out felt a bit too contrived for me and how it was all wrapped up at the end felt rushed and a little far-fetched. I did however like how the story was told from different perspectives and I particularly liked Amina and found her the most interesting character in the book.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad read but rather I found it a bit frustrating and it just didn’t grab me as much a I would have liked. From reading other reviews, I get the feeling that to get the most out of this particular book, you need to have read the previous one which introduced Cate - “Humber Boy B” - so I would recommend to anyone thinking of buying this, to buy and read that one first.

Before It's Too Late by Jane Isaac

Description from Goodreads:

“I concentrated hard, desperately listening for something familiar, the sound of life.

I heard nothing.

Just my own breaths and the wind, whistling through branches above... The thought made me shiver.

I am buried alive.

Following an argument with her British boyfriend, Chinese student Min Li is abducted whilst walking the dark streets of picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon alone.

Trapped in a dark pit, Min is at the mercy of her captor. Detective Inspector Will Jackman is tasked with solving the case and in his search for answers discovers that the truth is buried deeper than he ever expected.

But, as another student vanishes and Min grows ever weaker, time is running out. Can Jackman track down the kidnapper, before it's too late?”

**************************************************

I haven’t read any of Jane Isaacs’ books before but after reading this, I will certainly read more by her and I feel very privileged to have been invited to provide an honest review by the publisher, Legend Press, via NetGalley. This invite in no way influenced my thoughts on the book and I say it as I read and feel it!

Before It’s Too Late introduces us to a really interesting, complex and likeable Police Officer - DI Will Jackman. He is thorough, methodical, logical and driven and is the sort of Police Officer that I would want looking for me if I had been kidnapped but, if I was a miscreant, I would be quaking in my boots. Will is also a troubled man with a huge amount of guilt being carried on his shoulders following a car accident which seriously injured his wife. Jane excellently delves into Will’s mind and describes his thought processes and reasoning as well as his frustrations with the investigation in a way that feels natural. I really like Will and feel there is quite a lot of mileage with him and his colleagues.

The victim, Min Li, is another great character and I love the way the Chinese culture is brought to life and explained by Jane in an interesting way without being cliche or patronising. I found the sections told from Min’s perspective when she was in the pit were so well described that I really felt like I was in there with her and I could really feel her absolute terror.

The story moves at a good pace and kept my interest from start to finish. There are some red herrings and twists and despite me guessing what was going on when the 2nd person was kidnapped, I still enjoyed how it all played out to the end. I’m not sure I would go as far as to say that this is a psychological thriller, well not for me anyway, but I do think it’s a good crime thriller and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre.

One last thing, this is the first fiction book I have read that mentions THE greatest motorcycle rider EVER - the Doctor himself - Valentino Rossi - this alone adds a star to my rating ;)