The Man on the Roof by Michael Stephenson

Blurb:

"Someone has been creeping in the dark while the others sleep, and they've done terrible, terrible things. 

“There was a man on your roof,” claims curmudgeonly lane-hermit Herbert McKinney. Then, he initiates an unprovoked fight with a local punk. Drama escalates when that punk's dead body is found hanging at mid-street one August morning—a boastful killer messaging their next prey. All fingers point to Herbert as the culprit. Soon, the five couples he calls neighbors come under suspicion, too. When detectives divine blackmail as the motive, eyes cross to find who hides the most shameful secret. Husband versus wife, friend versus friend, the shiny suburban veneer of innocence has been forever tarnished. As hidden deviousness boils from their pores, there lurks a thief, a pill addict and a sadist—secrets worth killing for. 

Now, as the man on the roof helps guide justice and watches devious neighbors slip in and out of sleepy houses, confusion and questions persist. Who dies next? What have they learned? Who is becoming a monster? Who already is one? And just how many secrets can a small group of multi-ethnic Ohioans have? Only one cemented truth exists: the killer will kill again. 

A taut domestic mystery-suspense thriller, The Man On The Roof propels the reader through a tangled, volatile and suspenseful thicket of deception, murder and friends, inviting the reader to discover the murderer and who hides which lie. First there was Gone Girl. Then there was The Girl on the Train. Now, there's The Man On The Roof."

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Hmmmm ... if I could only use one word to describe this book, it would be ... frustrating!  Now don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, it's just infuriatingly annoying.  Let me try and explain.

The story is basically about the murder of a young lad found suspended from a banner in a cul-de-sac of houses where we find the main suspects who, we learn, all have secrets that they don't want to come out.  In comes the police to investigate the crime and the various suspects that live in the cul-de-sac.  Sounds ok so far however, therein lies the problem.  There are so many suspects, none of which are particularly likeable, it was difficult to keep track of who was who and who was married to who and as the secrets were revealed, whose secret was it!  In addition, each of the chapters is written in different styles from different people and you don't always know who the people are ... I ended up being very confused.  There's lots of description and whilst some of it is good, e.g. people's gestures and behaviour, a lot of it is unnecessary and this makes it a very long book ... well it seemed long to me.

There are some inconsistencies as well which I found annoying.  For example, the names of the police officers change ... one minute they were Detective Cady Lambert and Detective Braidey Fitzsimmons and then they were Cady and Braidey and then they were Lambert and Fitzsimmons ... this may seem trivial but when you have so many characters, it's hard to keep track so changing their names throughout causes you to lose the thread of who is who.

Now don't get me wrong, as I said this isn't a bad book, it actually has the bones of being an excellent dark and gritty thriller but there's just too much going on that affects the flow of reading for me and I just think it needs tidying up.

I am grateful to the author for sending me a copy of his book after finding my blog.  I really appreciate the time and effort he has made in writing a complex story and putting it out there for people like me, who couldn't write a decent letter, to criticise and pick apart ... that is brave and I salute you Mr Stephenson and encourage you to keep going.

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Connect with the author:

Website:  Are You Not Entertained

Twitter:  @filmbooksbball

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.”

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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.

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Publisher website: Legend Press

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

Author twitter: @lynchpinpauline

The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood

"Full of people you love to hate"

Description from Goodreads:

"Apologies for the general email, but I desperately need your help.

My goddaughter, Coco Jackson, disappeared from her family's holiday home in Bournemouth on the night of Sunday/Monday August 29/30th, the bank holiday weekend just gone. Coco is three years old.

When three-year-old identical twin Coco goes missing during a family celebration, there is a media frenzy. Her parents are rich and influential, as are the friends they were with at their holiday home by the sea.

But what really happened to Coco during her father's 50th birthday weekend?

Set across two weekends - the first when Coco goes missing and the second, at the funeral of Coco's father, where at last, the darkest of secrets will be revealed..."

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This is a subject matter that is any parent’s worst nightmare; their 3 year old child goes missing but, in The Darkest Secret, that is only the beginning of the story and when money and reputations are at stake, it becomes something even more sinister.

The story builds from the first page and takes a very firm grip on you. It covers 2 main timelines - the days leading up to Coco’s disappearance and the days leading up to her father’s funeral some years later. It’s told from various perspectives which, I think, was very clever as it provides different views of the same events and how each of the characters explain and, at times, justify their actions.

We meet some of the most thoroughly abhorrent and loathsome characters you are ever likely to meet but, on the other hand, we meet 2 sisters who, despite their childhood and upbringing, turn out to be half decent human beings. There are characters that you dislike at the beginning but develop sympathy for and their are others you take an instant aversion to which grows in intensity as the book develops, the story unfolds and the shocking truth starts to emerge.

I can’t recall having read anything by Alex Marwood before but after reading this, I will certainly read something by her again. If you enjoy dark, twisty stories that are full of people you love to hate, then this is the one for you.

I want to thank the publisher Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for a copy of this engrossing book in return for an honest review.

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Author website - click here

Author twitter - AlexMarwood1