An Honest Life by J.F. Conroy

 

You can buy "An Honest Life"...Here

You can follow J.F. Conroy...Here

357 Pages

• The Blurb

Ruthless crime lord Declan Hennessy has  only one ambition; to rule Dublin’s northside. Once he is in control of the drug trade, he can take his foot off the pedal and enjoy the empire he has built for his family. ​Incompetent amateur Martin Lynch has charm and no real malice. At heart an honest man, he struggles to provide for his family as a result of bad debts and worse luck. Declan and Martin despise each other but over the past two decades, their families’ lives have become intertwined in unsettling ways. Despite the common traits they share, nothing can resolve the long-standing conflict between them.When two rival gangs enter Declan’s territory, a violent struggle for power ensues; a struggle that both families cannot avoid.  Whilst Declan and Martin will do anything to protect their families, they soon realise that the only thing they need protection from is… themselves. If they cannot find a way to unite, they will lose everything. An Honest Man is a powerful and stirring crime novel with a dark sense of humour that reveals the redemptive power of adversity.

• My Review...

The author has created an unusual yet enticing mix of black humour, tragedy and crime. 

The book really falls into three parts. In the first part we focus on the the lovable loser Martin. He is a Del Boy type of character but with added alcohol issues and we learn a little of Declan's backstory. This section is paced at a relaxing, enjoyable meander rather than a romp. We learn of the episodic comic exploits of Martin. While the tales are enjoyable you struggle to see the relevance of them. This however becomes clear when something unexpected happens in the middle of the book. It will have you gently sobbing into your tea. The author does a great job of breaking your heart and it was at this point I realised that the first part of the book was subtly and subconsciously drawing you in to investing in the characters, before punching you in the face. It was a Mr Miaggi moment, when I realised the wax on, wax off of the first half the book was sneakily developing you for what was to come. 

Throughout the book there is a strong sense of community and friendship but tempered by hardship. Its a very working class sense of community. It reminded me of the sense of innocence and hardship in the film "Belfast." and indeed my own childhood growing up in the Welsh valleys. 

The wives of the two protagonists are friends as are their adolescent sons. These friendships are not without their challenges as the fathers issues with each have a detrimental effect. The last part of the book deals with the gangland war and focuses more on Declan, the vicious gang-lord, and the redemption of both men. This part was more straightforward.

Some call it banter, some call it taking the piss, here it is called giving out and it is brilliantly done. The humour is as thick and black yet there is a sprinkling of thought provoking home truths that help cut through the bravado.

An unusually plotted crime novel, with a rich vein of black humour. Makes you laugh, makes you cry. All you could want from a Irish tale. Chapaeu Mr J.F. Conroy

• Selected Quotes

"Now what's with this drinking all the time? You don't see me at breakfast with a can of lager with my toast do you?

    I don't see you at breakfast at all Da - you're always sleeping off the drink from the night before"

"Love comes and goes, but jealousy is bred on the bone."

"It takes years to get to this size.

Is it a gland problem ye have?

No it's a repetitive knife and fork problem."

"What are your plans over the Easter holidays?

Shrugging his shoulders, Martin raised then dropped his hands to his sides in surrender.  'The same as Jesus' he quipped 'disappear on Friday, turn back up on Monday"

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

Struggled with this because I haven't come across many books like this 

best I could do...

A Man With One Of Those Faces by Ciamh McDonnell

Ways To Die In Glasgow by Jay Stringer

• About the Author

If you have already read An Honest Life, you are probably thinking, ‘That’s a fine story told by a good solid Irish writer’...Well, the truth is, I am about as Irish as a Caribbean coconut… ok, let me take that back a notch. This story starts from humble beginnings rather much like my own. My mother and father moved over from Ireland to the UK and met around 1970. They married and had three children that grew up at 22 Holmewood Road, Brixton Hill, LONDON. If you tap this address into Google Earth, you will get a feel for the surroundings from chapter one. I grew up amongst the Irish community attending céilithe and festivals and absorbed in the characteristics of the Irish charm. So, rather much like an onion soaked in vinegar, you could say that I am a pickled Irishman… yes, I like that statement. I am a pickled Irishman.

Love You Gone by Louise Mullins

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy "Love You Gone"...Here

You can find out more about Louise Mullins...Here

Louise Mullins is heavily involved with indie publisher "Dark Edge Press"         

 which you can find...Here

252 pages

NB "Love You Gone" has previously been published as "The Woman In The Woods"

• The Blurb...

Reporter, Rachel Harper, begins to investigate the disappearance of a local student. In the hope of redeeming her career, she is determined to find out what happened to Gemma. But beneath the surface of her professional life lies a secret she is too ashamed to confront.

When Gemma's body is discovered in Leigh Woods, Rachel becomes obsessed with finding her killer. But as the list of suspects mount it is clear that someone is following her every lead.

Can Rachel discover what happened on that cold winter night before her own demons catch up with her?

• My Review...

After reading this novel it's seems that Louise Mullins title as the Queen of Domestic Noir is well earned. This is a twisty tale of marital infidelity, middle-class alcoholism and retail addiction and last but not least murder. All this could be be happening in your street. Strong but flawed female characters abound throughout this book

The tale is told from three viewpoints and two timelines, which if you're not careful, can lead to confusion. So make sure you check the headings at the start of each chapter which give the characters' name and date.

The three main character's are Gemma a young student who has recently lost her mother, Lee a teacher who is an ex- alcoholic but has now traded his old addiction for a new one and Rachel who is a barely functioning journalist and heavy drinker. There is a murder early on  and we subsequently bounce around different viewpoints trying to ascertain the killer. As we head to the denouement  the pace quickens and the last few chapters were a blur of rapid page turning, which is always a good sign.

There were some interesting points in the narrative. There is a serial womaniser/cheater yet he isn't a horrible character. As if society (or the author) isn't passing judgement on him. I don't think I have seen this very often. I suppose in most novels it is frowned upon even if infidelity is technically legal. 

Interspersed throughout are press reports written by Rachel (a clever embellishment by the author.)  The last one in the book ties up all the loose ends (again a clever idea.) However it didn't quite ring true as a newspaper report, it seemed more akin to an epilogue. I couldn't work out for a while, why that was. Eventually after reading a paper it cam to me. The author uses first names in the report, while the paper I read used last names or full names. Such a small thing, but slightly alters the feel. 

Everybody's life in this book is cocked up, it's just some can wing it a bit more than others. These are all broken people, to a more or lesser degree and as such are true to life. Everyone in this book is using some sort of crutch to get by day to day, whether its alcohol, sex, shopping, drugs or just being close to another person. I suppose at the end of the day we are all dependant on someone or something.

Enjoyable read. Does what it says. Twisty domestic noir.

• Selected Quotes...

"306,000 people, including children, were reported missing in the UK, which is an average of 838 per day. Thirty- six percent of those are adults and eighty- nine percent of missing people are found or return home within forty- eight hours."

"she will always have work and money. And she needs money. Her drinking career depends on it."

"Little snippets of their conversation the night before beg to be set free from her still murky brain."

"His parents willing participants in the ultimate crime: denial."

"When her mum had grown weaker and her face took on the pale sickness that she remembered her nan wore before she passed away, Gemma tried to pretend she could not see death rearing its ugly head and coaxing her mum towards its grip." 

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

Crimson Snow by Jason R Vowles (Click Here for our review)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Snow by John Banville

• About The Author...

Dubbed the Queen of Domestic Noir, Louise Mullins' titles often delve into the darker aspects of the human psyche where more often than not somebody a little close to home knows more than they're willing to admit. All her novels aim to bring light to social issues, and so far she's covered the following subjects: addiction, suicide, grief, psychopathology, child abuse, serial killers, missing persons, rape, kidnapping, murder, domestic violence, cults, drug smuggling, human trafficking, and arms dealing.

Louise Mullins writes full-time using the experience she gained in a prior life working in the field of forensic mental health, working with offenders and survivors of serious crimes.

​

She lives in Bristol, England, with her husband and three children.

Count To Three by T.R. Ragan

 

⭐⭐⭐

You can buy Count to Three...Here

You can follow T.R.Ragan...Here

NB This review is by...Owen Powell 

• The Blurb...

For a private investigator on the trail of a missing girl, every second counts in a gripping thriller by New York Times bestselling author T.R. Ragan.

On her first day of kindergarten, five-year-old Tinsley disappeared without a trace…

Five agonizing years later, her divorced mother, Dani Callahan, is a private investigator. She and Quinn Sullivan, a promising young assistant determined to prove herself, are devoted to helping others find missing loved ones. And for Dani, finding Tinsley is still a never-ending obsession.

Their newest case is Ali Cross, a teenager who vanished off a Sacramento street while walking home. A troubled boy’s eyewitness testimony to Ali’s abduction provides their only clues. And as their search for Ali gets underway, new information about Tinsley’s disappearance begins to surface too.

As their investigations lead down two twisting paths, disturbing secrets are revealed and new victims find themselves in mortal danger. Time is running out, and the hunt is only getting grimmer.

• My Review

Count to Three is very much your standard crime thriller, and if you enjoy those kind of books, you’ll probably enjoy this one too. The story, whilst somewhat basic, remained entertaining, intriguing and engaging throughout. The chapters are relatively short, each of them focusing on a different character’s perspective. We experience how the protagonists, the abducted child and the antagonist all view the current situation they find themselves in. This was a refreshing change of pace from the usual method of focusing on one character throughout. I also noticed that this story can be quite dialogue-heavy, sometimes making it more akin to a script than a book, which is not necessarily a bad thing depending on your tastes. The characters for the most part are thoughtful and fleshed out, each presenting clear motives for their actions. There are also a few heart-to-hearts between them which proved to be some of the more uplifting moments of the book. In contrast of this, the more disturbing aspects of this story appear towards the end, and they are honestly just not very nice at all. I don’t think of myself as a squeamish person, but there were certain moments that succeeded in making my skin crawl. 

There are some aspects of this story that I didn’t quite believe or thought could be improved upon in some ways. Without giving too much away, in this book there is a twelve year old witness of a crime. Let’s just say this boy is way more articulate than I was when I was twelve. If I’m not mistaken it’s also mentioned in this book that this kid is less socially developed than his peers, which makes me wonder how intelligent those peers must be. I also found the protagonists to treat the kid as somewhat of a third PI rather than an actual child. They invite him to question relatives, and even allow him to participate in a stakeout. I didn’t find these parts to be wholly believable, but what do I know? I’m a student, not a PI. Maybe that’s how they do it. I also believed that the antagonist could have been developed a little bit more. We are told briefly about his backstory, which is another disturbing aspect of this book, but I think it could’ve been explored a bit further to fully explain his actions, rather than a bad thing happened and now they’re a bad person. However, these criticisms do not really distract from the overarching story unless you let them. At its core, Count to Three is a fast paced page-turner that’ll keep you searching for answers throughout. 

• Selected Quotes

“It was still, after all this time, impossible to make sense of what had happened. Dani’s world had truly been turned upside down, her hopes and dreams broken, tossed away, destroyed.”

“They both had their own inner pain to deal with, but having each other made the world a brighter, better place.” 

“And she was glad for it because feeling angry was so much better than feeling pain.”

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

Little Lamb by Tom Franks (Click Here for Grumpy Old Books review)

Dead Man's Grave by Neil Lancaster

Six Days,Six Hours and Six Minutes by Alex Smith

• About the Author...

T.R. Ragan (Theresa Ragan) is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. Her exciting Lizzy Gardner series: Abducted, Dead Weight, A Dark Mind, Obsessed, Almost Dead, and Evil Never Dies, has received tremendous praise. In August 2015 Evil Never Dies hit #7 on the Wall Street Journal Bestselling List. Since publishing in 2011, she has sold over three million books and has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times, PC Magazine, Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly.

Theresa grew up in a family of five girls in Lafayette, California. An avid traveler, her wanderings have carried her to Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, China, Thailand, and Nepal, where she narrowly survived being chased by a killer elephant. Before devoting herself to writing fiction, she worked as a legal secretary for a large corporation. Theresa and her husband Joe have four children and live in Sacramento, California. (from theresaragan.com)

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

288 pages

You can buy Brighton Rock...Here

• The Blurb...

A gang war is raging through the dark underworld of Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, Pinkie is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold, who is determined to uncover him.

• My Review...

Wow. There is just so much to unpack here. First of all it was written in 1938 and is set in 1930s criminal underworld of Brighton, so it is of it's time. The many references to the Catholic religion may also now seem to be of a past age. The language may seem odd in parts. e.g. milky means weak, a polony is an average person and so on. Also the sense of time and place is interesting e.g. starting handles on cars etc. I saw a review where this put a reader off but I think they all add to the immersion in the tale.

As well as setting the scene, Greene creates some remarkable characters. Ida is a buxom, woman of the world who enjoys the company of men, singing gaudy songs in pubs and the odd Guinness. She is a vivacious, outgoing character with a lust for life. The man Pinkie kills briefly meets Ida. Ida after consulting a ouija board decides to find out what happened to the dead man and to find the person responsible because it's the right thing to do and it is fun.

While Pinkie is an absolutely astounding character. A 17 year old thug who is both innocent and vicious. He is simultaneously vulnerable, lacking in knowledge of the ways of the world and also a terrifying, razor-carrying monster, capable of murder. Pinkie is a Catholic and knowledge of his soul and it's eternal damnation weighs heavy on his shoulders. In addition he is a virgin and is both fascinated and horrified by the thought of sex. Think cute toddler carrying a hand grenade and that's Pinkie.

Pinkie kills a man and Rose, a 17 year old waitress, has information that could land Pinkie in the hands of law. To stop this eventuality Pinkie decides to woo (showing my age again there!) and marry Rose as a wife cannot be made to testify against her husband. Pinkie begins to groom her. When Ida finds out Pinkie's plan she now has the motive of saving Rose as well as doing the right thing in memory of the dead man.

Bearing in mind that Greene was a strong Catholic I find it interesting that the "good guy"is a hard drinking, promiscuous, occult dabbling woman and the villain is a Catholic, tea total,  man and the seemingly naive, seemingly gullible Rose is also a Catholic.

I must confess that I do like the way Greene writes. Greene is known as the catholic author and this heavily influenced his writing. He has a way of getting in one's head so that you are wrestling with the moral implications of the book days after you have finished reading. It's like an ear-worm for  literature rather than music. It burrows into the conscience and will not be removed. 

So, Greene's  prose gets you to examine your own moral compass. However, there is an air of self loathing and misery as well as impending doom through-out the book, that can start to seep into your soul after a while. I don't know whether that's down to the writing or the guilt ridden religion of the writer.

Next time I tackle a Graham Greene book I think it may be one of his espionage ones (Our Man In Havana, The Third Man etc) as I am led to believe they are bit less spiritually complex. Not that I haven't enjoyed this book. I love a thick, juicy steak but I couldn't have one every day, time for beans on toast I think.

• Selected Quotes...

“People change,' she said
'Oh, no they don't. Look at me. I've never changed. It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton. That's human nature.”

“I know one thing you don't. I know the difference between Right and Wrong. They didn't teach you that at school.'
Rose didn't answer; the woman was quite right: the two words meant nothing to her. Their taste was extinguished by stronger foods--Good and Evil.”

“But you do believe, don’t you," Rose implored him, "you think it’s true?"
"Of course it’s true," the Boy said. "What else could there be?" he went scornfully on. "Why," he said, "it’s the only thing that fits. These atheists, they don’t know nothing. Of course there’s Hell. Flames and damnation," he said with his eyes on the dark shifting water and the lightning and the lamps going out above the black struts of the Palace Pier, "torments."
"And Heaven too," Rose said with anxiety, while the rain fell interminably on.
"Oh, maybe," the Boy said, "maybe.”

“Don't you believe it. I'll tell you what life is. It's gaol, it's not knowing where to get some money. Worms and cataract, cancer. You hear 'em shrieking from the upper windows- children being born. It's dying slowly.”

“He laughed again: the horror of the world lay like infection in his throat.”

• If you liked this then you may like

The Power And The Glory by Graham Greene (See our review Here)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (See our review Here)

To select the The Road may seem an odd choice especially given the vast differences in the prose of the two authors, McCarthy being pared back and direct while Greene is more loquacious and self theorising. However what struck me is that both novels have an over-arching and inescapable air of doom and tragedy. 

• About the Author

Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenplay writer, travel writer and critic whose works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world. Greene combined serious literary acclaim with wide popularity. Although Greene objected strongly to being described as a “Catholic novelist” rather than as a “novelist who happened to be Catholic,” Catholic religious themes are at the root of much of his writing, especially the four major Catholic novels: Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair, and The Power and the Glory. Works such as The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana and The Human Factor also show an avid interest in the workings of international politics and espionage. (from Goodreads)

Little Lamb by Tom Franks

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

292 pages

• The Blurb...

DS Scott Harris was bored. A once celebrated, successful detective, he was responsible for the conclusion of several high profile cases, but action and excitement in his
profession had become few and far between. Scott needed a challenge, he craved it and without it,his cynicism grew by the minute. 

Little did he know, his greatest test was right around the corner and his disillusion
would lead to someone’s life hanging in the balance.When a girl goes missing, his scepticism leads to him dropping the ball early and by the time he becomes aware
of his blunder, it may already be too late. Scott would have to draw on all of his experience, resilience and cunning to rescue the girl and rectify his mistake in
what would truly become a matter of life and death.

• My Review...

This is an excellent debut thriller from Tom Franks. Mr Franks has a gift for storytelling.

It's not a police procedural in it's strictest sense as the story is centred on several disparate characters through out the book. Namely, the perpetrator, the victim, the victim's parents and the cop. The cop is interesting in that he doesn't seem to be a particularly warm human. He drives a BMW (fed flag right away there!), refuses to drink Irish whiskey, frequently ignores others and on occasion doesn't flush or wash his hands after going to the toilet 🤮. Wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't take the shopping trolley back and votes Tory 😉. 

One thing I did like about the book was it's raw and realistic approach. It's not a "rainbows and lollipops" book. It can be quite emotionally brutal at times. I particularly enjoyed (if enjoyed the is the right word) how the author described how the aftermath of the kidnapping affected the parents. It felt true to life, to what would really happen. A wound so tender it hurts just to read it. We don't often see that in crime fiction novels.

The author does employ a nice trick. He starts most chapters from a few minutes (in the time frame of the narrative) before the last chapter ended but from a different person's viewpoint. This serves to emphasise an episodic nature. So much so that I found myself mentally saying "previously on..L.A. Law"  before a new chapter. Giving my age away there. It's a nice sleight of hand and because the second retelling is from a different viewpoint it is not detrimental to the story, actually it's quite the opposite.

As some of you know I am conflicted about giving star rating for books. On one hand it's an easy reference for potential readers on the other it misses all the nuances in the narrative. I thought long and hard about giving this book 5 stars. The only reason I didn't is because the plot is a simple one. There aren't a myriad of mysterious clues to be deduced, that implicate our villain. It isn't Sherlock Holmes and a study in Scarlet. In fact the plot could be consigned to a short story rather than a full novel. However, this where the author's storytelling skill comes into play. He teases the short story into a novel with his thorough approach, with such skill that it doesn't feel like a short story being extended. He squeezes the story to get every ounce of narrative juice out. 

The author has a nice style. It feels like the literal equivalent of oral storytelling. You can imagine the author sat round a campfire telling his tale to an enthralled audience. See the first selected quote for an example.

All in all an excellent start to Tom Franks literary career.

• If You Like This You May Like...

The List by Grahan H Miller...Click Here for our review

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

• Selected Quotes

"A powerful, brutal wind billowed around them, the occasional gust almost wiping them from their feet, the dense trees that reared above them were swaying back and forth almost like the crowd urging a marathon runner towards the finish line. Each creak of the timber that strained against the strength of the gale sounded like a disappointed groan."

"He was greeted by the strong scent of damp, that made him scrunch his nose up in disgust. The scent was mingled with something else, something chemical, a cleaning product perhaps. Sniffing the air a few times, he came to the horrifying realisation that it was bleach. Bleach! His stomach churned and sank in his career he only ever associated with bleach with one thing and it wasn't positive."

"Scott caught Lock staring at him. Don't look at me like that mate. I know I look like shit. I don't need you to tell me that I look like shit. He removed his jacket, placed it on the back of his chair and slumped down into it, behind the table where he had thrown his files.

Did you... sleep in your suit Sarge? Lock enquired cautiously."

"The barman placed his drink in front of him on a small napkin and walked away without taking payment - he knew it wouldn't be the only glass the detective would have. Scott frequented this place more often than he cared to admit, his dismal outlook on life causing him to habitually self medicate."

• About The Author...

Tom Franks is a former forestry worker turned crime fiction/ thriller writer. He was born and raised in Hampshire, England but now resides with his American wife in Colorado, USA. Tom is a keen rugby player and fan, lover of dogs and good whisky, He excelled in literature at school at school and college, especially creative writing. At the age of 16, he wrote a short-story, for a GCSE coursework piece,that received top marks and was used as a ‘perfect example’ of creative writing for several years after. 15 years later, while navigating the American green card process, which didn’t allow him to work, he had been given the gift of time. He used that time to turn that short-story into the prologue for his novel ‘Little Lamb’ and then built the story from there. His aim with his writing is to create suspenseful thrillers that are so gripping, so captivating, it can give you a complete break from the stresses of everyday life.

The List by Graham H Miller

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

291 Pages

You can buy The List...Here

You can follow Graham H Miller...Here

• The Blurb...

Seven names on a list. No birthdates, no addresses, just seven names.

Jonah Greene has been exiled from CID into the role of coroner’s officer. His first body, a homeless man who didn’t survive a freezing night, has left him with a list of seven names to decode.

Jonah’s determination to investigate sees him going up against his boss and a system that wants the whole matter forgotten. But he sees this as his one chance at redemption, and refuses to give up as the stakes increase, until his life is threatened.

Buy The List today and begin to unravel the mystery in the first Jonah Greene novel.

• My Review...

Jonah Greene was a Detective Constable but he's lost his bottle, his nerve has gone. When he comes back to work after therapy nobody wants to work with him, so he gets "promoted" to Coroner's Officer with little chance of face to face action with crims and no-one to let down because he is working on his own. Until a homeless body is found, Patrick froze to death. Soon a friend of Patrick tells Jonah that Patrick knew he was going to be killed and in that event he was to hand the police a list of names and so begins a twisty conundrum of a plot. 

Jonah begins to investigate but there are some rich and powerful political people involved who have influence over the police. The Police refuse to investigate (bang on trend there! shades of Boris and the Met) There is also a whiff of "Crime & Punishment" in the "We are the elite, the law is meant for you not us, we are exempt" attitude in the antagonists. Again this is right on the zeitgeist. (There again thinking about it, sadly, it's probably always been on the zeitgeist and always will be.) Nonetheless, Jonah ploughs on with a sense of obligation to the homeless man and a chance of redemption for himself, but the further he digs the more the pressure mounts.

It was good to see an up to date, crime thriller set in Cardiff. Lets hope Jonah becomes to Cardiff, what Rebus is to Edinburgh.

I found myself really identifying with Jonah. Older, Welsh, ex rugby player, stuck in his ways, married to the love of his life, with two grown up kids. Slightly gone to seed and gradually putting on a bit of timber. Unlike me, he is a meticulous and relentless man who cannot leave a stone unturned. I Could quite easily see Richard Harrington of Hinterland or maybe Mark Lewis Jones of Keeping Faith as Jonah.

As well as liking the protagonist, I thought the plot was well contrived and the gradual reveal of the timeline back over 20+ years was really well done. We  begin at the end, and Jonah eventually works his way back to the beginning at which point the plot all makes sense. It's sort of like looking the wrong way down a telescope, working out how to use it properly, then looking down it the right way then thinking Ah! now I can see how it works. 

Loved the protagonist, loved the plot. It's a Yes from me! The second Jonah Greene book "Buzzard House" is going on the TBR

• Selected Quotes...

"Just because someone wears a suit doesn't mean they're not a criminal. In fact they're more likely to be."

"A full church diluted the grief somehow, made it less obvious."

"Prof had come and gone like shade. All he'd left behind was a used coffee cup, a faint musty smell and a list of names. He hadn't even left his name."

"It's like if I wake up and grab two black socks, one from Marks and Spencer and one from Asda. I know they'll look the same if I wear them but I just cant do it. He looked up to a blank look from Alex. Or like having the knife, fork and spoon all matching and lined up the right way round. Or the loo roll hanging the right way round."

• If You Liked This, Then You May Like These...

The Nesting Place by Jacqueline Harret (Click link for our review)

Crimson Snow by Jason R Vowles (Click link for our review)

Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin

• About the Author

Graham H Miller has been writing since his teenage years when he had a scenario printed in a role playing magazine. Since then he’s written articles, guest posts and a book on pagan subjects. His brain is always at work, with more ideas than time. He is a house-husband proudly perpetuating the stereotype by writing books while his three boys are at school. He has two blogs that are erratically updated - one about life as father to three special boys and the other covering his thoughts on writing and the publishing process. His interests include prehistory, classic cars, anything Viking and learning Welsh. Fascinated by everything, he lives in South Wales and is older than he thinks he is!

Haunted Mind by Jason R Vowles

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

321 pages

You can buy Haunted Mind...Here

You can see a review for Crimson Snow....Here

You can follow Jason R Vowles...Here

• The Blurb...

WHAT HAUNTS THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO KILL FOR LOVE?
A GRUESOME MURDER
The remains of Jennifer Ruben-Claire – the daughter of a wealthy London family – is found drenched in acid outside her flat in the leafy streets of Hampstead Heath. Beloved by many, the motive for her murder seems unclear.
A KILLER ON TRIAL
As DC Hudson supports Leigh and the team with the Ruben-Claire case, the trial of the century for another killer looms. Concerned that the person he once loved may go free, the troubled detective is forced to get creative.
A HAUNTED MIND

With the pressure mounting to solve a new murder, and his nightmares returning with a vengeance, can Hudson help put away two killers, or will his own demons finally consume him?

• My Review...

Following on from the first DC Daniel Hudson adventure, "Crimson Snow" Jason R Vowles has done it again. He takes on another gripping and stressful escapade that will leave you exhausted but wanting to read just one more page, just one more chapter.

Daniel is down, awaiting the trial of his serial killer ex girlfriend . His colleagues don't rate him, and are not afraid to let him know it. How bad must a DC be if his girlfriend is a serial killer and he had no clue? He is having therapy for the nightmares. He is banging heads with his bi-polar sister and his landlady, when he is seconded on to another murder investigation. Oh and on top of everything his mum and grandad are coming to town...for a month. No wonder the poor bloke is going out of his swede!

Mr Vowles does love a gruesome and horrific murder. Post mortem lobotomies in Crimson Snow and now face melting acid, cant wait to see what he comes up with in book 3! 😱

The victim is a posh socialite from an equally posh family and with a posh group of friends. Some of whom are hiding things other than murder. The intensity of the acute current murder plays well against the background of the chronic dread of the trial of the girlfriend/serial killer. The ending leads nicely into what will be book 3.

I feel that the USP of this series is that it is modern and up to date in a societal/political sense. This can be further broken down into two main aspects. Firstly, it is of its time in a cosmopolitan, metropolitan environment. The murder investigation team really is a melting pot of ethnicity. I think I came across at least a Nigerian, a Ghanaian, a Scot and a Japanese. Being from semi rural West Wales where there is nowhere near the diversity of London, I find these sections intriguing to read. People from all backgrounds working in well... not harmony but working with purpose.

Secondly the character of DC Hudson is unusual in that he is not your typical hard man protagonist of a police procedural, he is no Rebus or Jimmy Perez forthright and sure of himself. Hudson like a lot of people today is a ball of anxiety and depression, always overthinking. Prone to emotional outbursts and mentally hanging by a thread. Very relatable in this day and age. All very modern and very PC and all the more interesting because of it.

As always we come for the plot but stay for the characters... Looking forward to book 3

• Selected Quotes...

"Danny. I’m about as true a person as they come.’‘I don’t believe that. I don’t think you know what truth is.’‘We’re all compelled by our own truths, Danny. Why should mine matter less?’

‘Partly because my truth is universally accepted and backed by law and human empathy, and yours is twisted, psychotic and tends to lead to dead bodies.’

"...they see a Black kid in a hoody and assume he’s carrying a gun, two knives and a kilo of cocaine. When really, he’s just nipping down to a Londis to pick up some fucking Haribo.’

"this seemed eerily like fate. A concept I didn’t hold much weight in. Fate assumed a master pulling strings. Which, naturally, I rejected. I was the architect of my work.

I knew who I was and never shied away; I never feared my own thoughts."

"Truthfully, I had only overheard a few people who actually welcomed their sentence. Their punishment. They carried a more nonchalant air about them. Or perhaps I was misreading apathy and depression for intelligent resignation to their predicaments. Yes. Probably the latter."

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

August Lost by R.G. Vaughn (You can read the review... Here)

Killing Evil by John Nichol (You can read the review...Here)

The List by Graham H Miller

Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham

Dead Simple by Peter James

• About the author...

Jason R Vowles was born and raised, well, almost everywhere in England. Born in Lincolnshire, he moved to Norfolk as a kid, then to Northamptonshire and Bristol for studies. Finally moving to Wales, he settled in Cardiff where his writing career finally took off.

A voracious reader of multiple genres, Jason plans on releasing more than just a few crime novels. A fan of all good things such as animals, food, and booze, he finds plenty to keep himself occupied and fuelled whilst writing his next book.

If God Will Spare My Life by Mike Lewis

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

375 Pages

You can buy If God Will Spare My Life...Here

• The Blurb...

Pembrokeshire, West Wales 1904: Solicitor Arthur Nicholas seeks one William Batine James, heir to a Fishguard farm. He discovers James emigrated to Canada in 1871 and enlisted in the US Seventh Cavalry at Chicago, but the trail goes cold. Arthur knows 210 soldiers of the Seventh were massacred by thousands of Native Americans at Little Bighorn – Custer’s Last Stand – in 1876. Was James among them?
Based on true events, Mike Lewis’s debut novel reveals the lingering curse of a brutal schooling during the ‘Welsh Not’ era when children were punished for speaking their native tongue. As the unsuspecting Seventh head towards their Armageddon, James – plagued by dark forebodings and nightmares –reflects on his troubled past and lost love and ponders desertion after coming to realise he is as
much a fugitive as the Native Americans he is pursuing.

But the one thing a man can never escape is himself…

• My Review..

This is a book that it is difficult to pigeon hole (as can be seen by our "If you liked this you may like this" section!) It is definitely historical fiction, it's also and adventure story, an investigative story and has a smidgen of romance thrown in. It's a wonderful mixture that really works.

Mr Lewis has clearly used his experience and skills as a journalist in developing this narrative. As Sargent William Batine James of the US 7th  is inexorably heading towards the battle of Little Big Horn and General Custer's last stand, we see in flashback how he came to be there and how he came to be the man he was. This is told in the first person. Interspersed in this is the tale of apprentice solicitor Arthur Nicholas who is set the task of tracking down the aforementioned Will James some 30 odd years later for inheritance purposes. This is written in the third person. In addition we are shown several letters between Will James and other parties. This 3 prong approach works well as we do not become bogged down in one viewpoint (personal, historical or geographical)  yet the narrative flows well.

The author has created a vivid and rich picture of several locations and generations. I found this an enjoyable and comforting read. It really placed the reader in both 1870s USA and 1900s West Wales. I would look forward to getting a few chapters in at every opportunity. I have recently tried one of those 3D Virtual Reality PS5 headsets and this book had much the same effect of feeling as if I were actually there, albeit on a more subconscious and literary level. From the pastoral idyll of West Wales to the dusty Badlands of the American west, I found this book to be very immersive.

Looking at some other reviews I noted that some readers felt the practice of using language of the time to be distracting. Personally I found the opposite to be true. It landed straight back into the era every time I picked up where I had left off and really added to the flavour of the book.

It touches, lightly, on many points including, but not limited to the similarity in attitude to native Americans and Welsh people, sexual abuse and women's rights and this all helps to develop a more rounded account of the era.

Some other very interesting points in this book were that in the author's bio, at the back of the book, Mr Lewis states that the book is based on a true story and Will James did indeed emigrate from Pembrokeshire and was at the Battle of Little Big Horn as part of the famous 7th Cavalry, and this was what inspired him to write the novel. Thoughtfully, there is also a bibliography at the end of the book 

You end up routing for Will despite his rough points, and hoping beyond hope that he makes it out of the forthcoming military disaster. Does he do it? Guess you'll have to read the book!

• Selected Quotes...

"I found myself remembering those passages from Father’s book that had so gripped me as a child. Ahab, the sea captain had dragged the Pequod’s crew to their doom on his ill starred quest to find the great white whale. Would Custer, a fellow so clearly cut from the same cloth, in time lead us all to destruction on his own obsessive chase?"

"a soldier was a fellow too proud to beg, too dumb to steal and too lazy to work."

‘They took our land and made it their land,’

"Yet being soldiers we could feel something was coming in our bones. The same kind of feeling you get afore a prairie storm blows up. Fellows who talk much go real quiet and those who don’t normally say boo to a goose wont hold their tongues"

• If You Liked This You May Like...

Little Big Man by Thomas Burger

None So Blind by Alis Hawkins (click link for our review)

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

Rape of the Fair Country by Alexander Cordell

• About the Author...

Mike Lewis hails from the former fishing village of Aberporth, West Wales, where his family have farmed for generations. Having joined a local newspaper straight from school, he proceeded to work as a writer and sub-editor on a number of national titles in London, including “The Guardian” and “The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs”. A lifelong rock and pop music fan, in the 1990s he coauthored biographies on Scott Walker and Syd Barrett, of Pink Floyd. Mike later worked as “The Sunday Telegraph” boxing correspondent, covering the Beijing Olympic Games of 2008. Having returned to his native West Wales to raise a family, and while working for the “Fishguard County Echo” he stumbled across the story of William James, the West Wales farmer’s son who emigrated to the United States and joined the Seventh Cavalry. Mike Lewis Mike subsequently found previously-undiscovered letters James had sent back to his younger brother from America which form the framework of If God Will Spare My Life... A father-of-five, married to Sue, Mike combines his writing career with helping to run Cardigan Amateur Boxing Club.