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]

🎙🎙🎙 Narrated by Naomi Frederick🎙🎙🎙

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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The Quiet Tenant by Clémence 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.

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Other books by Michael Wood I have read and reviewed:

For Reasons Unknown (DCI Matilda Darke #1)

The Murder House (DCI Matilda Darke #5)

Stolen Children (DCI Matilda Darke #6)

Time Is Running Out (DCI Matilda Darke #7)

Survivors Guilt (DCI Matilda Darke #8)

The Lost Children (DCI Matilda Darke#9)

Silent Victim (DCI Matilda Darke #10)

 

 

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

🎙🎙🎙 Narrated by Sofia Zervudachi 🎙🎙🎙

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: