The Hanging Club by Tony Parsons

"Once again, a great book"

Description from Goodreads:

“A band of vigilante executioners roam London's hot summer nights, abducting evil men and hanging them by the neck until dead.

SENTENCED TO DEATH

- The gang member who's abused vulnerable girls.

- The wealthy drunk driver who's mowed down a child.

- The hate preacher calling for the murder of British soldiers.

As the bodies pile up and riots explode across the sweltering city, DC Max Wolfe hunts a gang of killers who many believe to be heroes.

And discovers that the lust for revenge starts very close to home …”

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I admit to being a bit of a fan of Tony Parsons having previously read and enjoyed “The Slaughter Man” so I was more than pleased when I was accepted to review The Hanging Club by the publisher RandomHouse UK Cornerstone via NetGalley and for which I am grateful as, yet again, Mr Parsons has written a great book.

This is the third in the DC Max Wolfe series and although this is part of a series, I don’t feel you have to have read the others to enjoy this as a standalone. The story is gripping and scarily plausible. The writing style is such that it’s easy to pick up and very hard to put down. The characters are complex and interesting with Max being even more so given that he is a single father. The glimpses of his relationship with his young daughter are touching and a relief from the horrors he has to face investigating the brutal and very public vigilante murders.

The story is set in present day London but also has glimpses into the historical London. I found this fascinating and added to my overall enjoyment of the book.

This book is not only a compulsive read, it also makes you think about justice and your own personal ethics and morals. I’m sure a lot of us have been dismayed at a particular sentence for a heinous crime but would you take the law into your own hands? What must it be like for the Police, lawyers and judges being stuck in the middle? What of the families and friends of those on both sides? Yes, this book gets you asking those questions and gets you thinking a bit and I, for one, would definitely recommend it and Tony Parsons as a great British author.

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Author/publisher website - click here

Author twitter - TonyParsonsUK

I also found an interesting website devoted to the main character DC Max Wolfe - http://dcmaxwolfe.com/ - where you can explore a little bit more about Max.

Die of Shame by Mark Billingham

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“From British thriller master Mark Billingham, a recent finalist for the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library, Die of Shame is a chilling story of addiction, subterfuge, and murder.

Every Monday evening, six people gather in a smart North London house to talk about shame. A respected doctor, a well-heeled housewife, a young male prostitute . . . they could not be more different. All they have in common is a history of addiction. But when one of the group is murdered, it quickly becomes apparent that someone else in that circle is responsible. The investigation is hampered by the strict confidentiality that binds these individuals and their therapist together, which makes things difficult for Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner, a woman who can appreciate the desire to keep personal matters private. If she is to find the killer, she will need to use less obvious means. The question is: What could be shameful enough to cost someone their life? And how do you find the truth when secrets, lies, and denial are second nature to all of your suspects?”

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I am a huge Mark Billingham fan and am at the front of the queue when a new book comes out so it is with massive regret that I have to say that this one just didn’t grab me by the neck like his other books have - you have no idea how upset this makes me feel. It’s not that it is a bad book - it’s well written, has interesting characters and a good story line - but I found myself being rather indifferent about reading it and it took me a little longer than it normally does to read it when I compare it to others written by the same author.

The story, as the synopsis indicates, is set around a support group for people who have addictions and when one of the members is murdered, it becomes clear that another of the group is the culprit. The book is written in the “now” and “then” with the “now” covering the investigation of the murder and the “then” covering a period of time before the murder happened. At times I did find this a little confusing but I think it’s because I was reading it on a Kindle which made it a little harder to flick back and forth to double check which time period you were reading; had it been a physical book, I really don’t think I would have any problems with this.

The characters are interesting however not particularly likeable and this includes the lead investigating officer DI Nicola Tanner who has very few redeeming qualities and whom I found to be cold, rude and antisocial. I could not connect to anyone and found myself not caring about them, their stories or what happened to them.

The story itself is a little slow going with a lot of it covering the group sessions; this, together with tidbits of life outside the group for its members provided plenty of suspects to the murder which kept me guessing and re-evaluating who I thought did it and although I didn’t guess right, it did take quite a while to get there and there weren’t many twists or turns on the way.

Overall, although not a bad read, it just didn’t capture me in the way I would like but please, please don’t let this put you off from reading other Mark Billingham books.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.

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Author Website: http://www.markbillingham.com/

Twitter: @MarkBillingham

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My reviews of other books by Mark Billingham:

The Dying Hours

Time of Death

The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh

"A fantastic book"

Description from Goodreads:

“A woman disappears

One moment, Selena Cole is in the playground with her children and the next, she has vanished without a trace.

A woman returns

Twenty hours later, Selena is found safe and well, but with no memory of where she has been.

What took place in those missing hours, and are they linked to the discovery of a nearby murder?

‘Is it a forgetting or a deception?’”

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I have read “Hidden” by Emma previously and found it to be a riveting read so when “The Missing Hours” appeared on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it and am grateful to the publisher, Random House UK, Cornerstone, for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.

What a fantastic book! I was completely absorbed from the start - a 7 year old girl has wandered off from her mum and younger sister only to return to find mum has disappeared and her sister left alone on a swing. This little girl is already trying to come to terms with the death of her father and her greatest fear has come true - her mum has gone now too. Meanwhile, a body of a local solicitor is found on a ledge off an isolated road in the mountains - could there be a link between the 2 cases?

The story is unique (for me anyway - I haven’t read anything quite like it before) and is told from different perspectives. I can safely say that the cast of characters is excellent - all of them are interesting, believable and add to the overall authenticity of the story. The pace is just right and flows really well and the snippets of case studies from the Kidnap and Ransom world were an interesting addition.

This is a great murder, mystery, crime novel - well written, great story, brilliant characters, excellent twist, etc., etc., and I will most definitely read more from Emma Kavanagh in the future.

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Author twitter: @EmmaLK

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

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."

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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.

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

Author website: http://oldhotradio.com/